5 Ways Online Businesses Can Improve Data Security

data securityNo online business is ever safe from data security breaches. But don’t make the mistake of taking this as a reason to forgo the necessary measures to protect your business data.  Presented here are five strategies all businesses should employ to enhance the safety and security of business data online.

Build a secure data infrastructure

It is imperative that you use layered security technologies to stay protected from cyber attackers and hackers. Layered security technologies make it difficult for hackers to gain access to your systems since they have to overcome a lot security features to access your systems. Such an infrastructure will also keep your operating systems up to date and fit them with the latest security patches to thwart any attempts to steal your business data.

Consider data encryption solutions

Business data is most vulnerable when it is being transmitted via internet protocols. It is very easy at this moment for the hackers to intercept it and use this stolen information for malicious purposes. The best way to avoid this is to invest in data encryption solutions which will help you transmit business information in an encrypted format that the hackers cannot easily decrypt.

Regularly backing up of data

When considering the safety of your online business data, you should also consider what happens in the event that you lose your data to unfortunate disaster (e.g. fire, digital theft, accidental deletion of files, databases, etc.). The best way to sail through such situations is to regularly back up your data. You can do this automatically or manually once a week. With regular backups, you won’t have to lose your sleep due to loss of crucial business data.

Use complicated passwords

By having simple passwords, you allow hackers to find easy access to your accounts where they can have access to your crucial data. It is highly recommended that use complicated passwords that are difficult to crack. These passwords should not be very obvious, such as the name of the business or common numerical combination. As a matter of fact, you need to use a combination of alpha numerics as well as special characters to make the passwords very difficult to crack.

Train your employees about data security

It is also important that you train your employees about keeping your online business data secure. They need to understand basic internet safety practices such as using strong passwords, avoiding clicking suspicious links, not installing unauthorized software programs etc. You also need to establish policies and procedures that will determine the nature of the information that your employees can access. As a rule of thumb, they should never have access to all data, but only the specifics they need to get their jobs done.