Security is a significant consideration for organizations, and in the digital age, businesses face even more security issues to deal with. Organizations can no longer focus on securing their business premises and equipment; cybersecurity, and data breaches are also significant factors which need to be addressed. Nowadays, cybersecurity and physical security are interlinked, with a violation of one of these areas often impacting on the other. If you want to keep your business protected, here are some factors to consider:
Building Security
With so much emphasis placed on data breaches and cybersecurity, it is easy to forget the importance of physical security. Physical security is necessary for protecting your stock and is vital for ensuring that equipment containing customer information is not stolen.
Data breaches don’t always happen as a result of someone thousands of miles away gaining access to your systems. They can be as simple as a memory stick being stolen, or your server room being broken into.
During opening hours, ensure only authorized personnel can enter back office areas of your business premises. Security systems such as keycode entry pads can help to keep intruders from sneaking into your business.
Compliance Issues
Your business inevitably holds information on customers or suppliers that is considered to be sensitive data. Addresses, bank details, and other information should be handled according to the law and current regulations. For example, cjis compliance is something that should never be overlooked by an organization. Appropriate security measures need to be implemented to ensure that you are handling the data securely.
Ongoing training in compliance and what the regulations mean for your organization and how it operates is essential. Staying up to date with the latest rules will help to prevent you from falling foul of the legislation which could have serious consequences.
Employee Authorization
No matter how robust your organization’s security measures are, they mean nothing if your staff is not following them. Having robust and clear security guidelines, and ensuring that your employees are up to date with them is vital. Ongoing training will help everyone to understand their role in keeping the organization secure.
Employee security issues to consider include; not letting unauthorized people onto the business premises, and ensuring that all visitors sign in and out.
To protect sensitive information, staff should never share passwords for the computer system and software access with other employees. Computer screens should also be locked when employees leave their desk so that others can not access them.
Be mindful of allowing employees to take work equipment and files home with them, as these could easily fall into the wrong hands. A work laptop stolen from a staff member’s car could signify a significant data breach, and cause your business financial and reputational damage.
In Summary…
Security breaches are something that every organization wants to avoid. Having adequate software, and physical security in place can make your business far less vulnerable. Robust security procedures and well-trained staff are also vital to keeping your business secure.