Strategies Companies Should Use to Bolster Corporate Security

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Knowing how to best protect your information from threats to your valuable company data coming from such varied sources can be difficult. These may include employee accidents or incompetence, active corporate sabotage or espionage, and ever-evolving threats from malware, viruses, and cybercriminals. The second World War proved the validity of the watch phrase “loose lips sink ships” by encouraging military members to keep quiet about relevant details. The modern era has only served to cement its wisdom. Protect your business and invest in its future success with these strategies companies should use to bolster corporate security. 

Easily Avoid Needless Errors with Automatic Updates and Employee Policies 

Given the sheer volume of potential ways your business could be vulnerable to a data breach or other intrusion, experience has shown that human errors account for many of the issues your corporate security may encounter. Whether it happens to be an employee deciding to open a corrupted file or visit a suspicious web address, forgetting to log out from their business-issued PC, or simply neglecting to maintain regular security updates, it can be all too easy to create the conditions for unforced errors. 

Thankfully for you and your business interests, simple solutions can be implemented to help reduce and, ideally, prevent such incidents from occurring. Perhaps one of the easiest methods for keeping your company data secure is ensuring that all your security systems have enabled automatic updates so your software cannot be exploited for running outdated versions. Doing so will help prevent many possible errors and save you and your business significant time and money. 

Another excellent strategy to boost your business security is creating a comprehensive employee policy regarding corporate best practices, cybersecurity tips, and what to watch out for. Educated employees are much less likely to cause a security breach accidentally. In addition, they are more likely to know the importance of reporting the error to prevent further loss or damage. 

Limit Access to Data, Use MFA Technology, and Perform Regular Assessments 

Much like understanding that the best way to keep information to yourself is not opening your mouth, a similar principle of secret keeping also applies to security strategies and their implementation. To prevent employees from accidentally or deliberately sharing data they have no legitimate need to review, preventing them from being able to access such data at all is a simple yet effective solution. By setting up individual security accounts for each person in your company, you can exert granular control over data access and ensure that everyone has the information required to perform their job responsibilities and nothing else. 

You are almost certainly familiar with reCAPTCHAs (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart), which require you to identify traffic lights or motor vehicles and allow you to access a given website. While the average netizen may scoff at such security methods, the utility of MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) technology is one of the best ways to verify that someone is who they claim to be. One of the most common forms of MFA technology is 2FA or two-factor authentication, which involves a traditional username and password and additional security factors, including apps that randomly generate access codes and digital tokens stored on devices like smartphones. Implementing such mechanisms can provide much better security for your business and prevent unauthorized access. 

Prevent Illicit Apps, Check Wi-Fi Security, and Change Your Passwords Often

If you find yourself constantly wondering how to improve security measures and ensure compliance with your corporate policies for internet use and other digital activities, do not overly worry. One of the simplest methods of preventing potentially dangerous apps or services from impacting your cybersecurity is not to allow employees to access them from company devices in any circumstances. While some workers who are more enthralled by the distractions of social media and other diversions may protest, the importance of preventing unauthorized access to your software cannot be overstated, and controls should be implemented as standard corporate policy. 

As the backbone of many small and medium-sized businesses, the humble Wi-Fi network serves as a platform for your business to hopefully grow and ultimately succeed. It is truly awful to consider how many cybersecurity breaches can be traced to easily avoidable mistakes, including not having your wireless network set up correctly or not changing the default password on your Wi-Fi router. Although checking the security settings of your Wi-Fi network on a regular basis may not be the most exciting part of owning your own business, it is undoubtedly one of the most important for your long-term success. 

While this might seem like obvious advice for those experienced with cybersecurity protocols and best practices, business accounts and devices should have their passwords reset regularly to help prevent unauthorized access. While the typical advice about using complex passwords with uppercase and lowercase letters and unusual characters is always helpful, having employees reset their passwords frequently helps prevent common passwords from being learned and distributed is also vital. Requiring passwords to be changed every 90 days will help increase your corporate security and prevent your business data from being hijacked by cybercriminals and other malefactors. 

Since there is no perfect solution that will provide unbreakable privacy and protection for your corporate security, you will need to take the time to research the best and most appropriate options for the size and scope of your business. In addition, regular maintenance and awareness of potential problems will save you untold grief and frustration in the future. 

About Dan Martin: Daniel Martin is a technology researcher and writer with more than a decade of experience. He is a professional librarian and an experienced tech teacher, writer and blogger. Specializing in technology, Dan has taught courses in technology and writing at the college level, developed web pages for businesses and higher educational institutions, written on tech topics for leading national publications and created numerous how-to guides.