Due to the fact that most small to medium-sized businesses oftentimes don’t have the manpower to employ an information technology team, security gaps arise that create risks. In fact, according to Small Business Trends, 43% of cyber security attacks target small businesses for this reason alone. Tactics range from phishing and firewall attacks to web application flaws that are timely and costly to solve, which is why it’s important to have a data storage and management plan in place.
Data Management in the Cloud
Ensuring that your IT team can safely and securely back up your files will be crucial in prevent various types of cyber attacks. Seeing as IT teams typically backup servers and network drives and not individual computers, it will be necessary to invest in a cloud computing service that is safe. The best way to mitigate the risks of data receptance in cloud computing is to have your IT team or employee contact your cloud computing server to understand how they can work together to ensure that no important data is inadvertently released to third parties.
Establish An Organized File System
Once you’ve got your secured network and cloud all set up, organize your folders by category, such as department, clients, products and users so that they can be properly archived and accessed as well as backed up when needed. By establishing and organized file system that allows for proper data management, you can ensure that vital data is never lost and is protected inside the organization. If it is organized and safe within your organization, you can ensure that it is not accessible to third party attacks. Dedicating a part of your data management plan to this type of protection not only helps increase your company’s anti-theft and anti-leaking measures, but it also helps maintain data integrity.
Safety Issues Surrounding Data Remanence
If you are about to change your entire operating system or perform an office-wide overhaul, you’ll want to be sure that everybody is properly storing their files on an external hard drive or memory card to avoid losing crucial materials. However, residual data that can be recovered from one person’s hard drive or device is called data remanence and is often one of the easiest ways that people get a hold of sensitive company data. While security protocols generally require companies to properly delete files, it is good to get into the habit of requiring your employees to fully encrypt drives or other devices before a huge data overhaul to make all files unreadable during the transfer.
Investing in the Safety of Your Company
The risks of cyber attacks are actually low if you understand how to effectively prevent them. Investing in the services of a data management security company can be a great idea, or even simply dedicating some time to craft and implement a great data management plan for you and your employees to follow. After all, a properly executed managed security goal will protect your data as well as your users, and that’s important in any market.
