10 Ways To Keep Your Business's Sensitive Data Safe

Business data has become highly diversified and gigantic in volume. The advent of several communication and engagement platforms is allowing businesses and customers to connect across channels and mediums. These varied customer touchpoints include emails, phone calls, website forms, feedback messages on mobile, social media posts, blogs, videos, in-store customer service, etc. Businesses collect data from all these interactions to understand customer behaviour and predict future purchases. They also collect personally identifiable information of buyers for their database and online transaction purposes.

Entrepreneurs store, process, and analyse all this data to make informed decisions and better serve their customers. However, they have to be extremely careful with utilising and sharing this confidential information that cannot be lost or stolen. They have to comply with the regulations in South Australia and maintain responsibility towards their customers. Here are a few ways that can help them keep sensitive business data safe. It increases data privacy, credibility and accountability.

1. Build A Data Security Plan

Every business has a wealth of information, including customer personal data, employee information, business secrets, confidential legal and financial documents, etc. These must be protected with the help of a systematic plan that details how to store each type of information and who can access it. For example, trade secrets should be accessible only to the top management, while financial information must be shared with stakeholders. The plan must include information about how to deal with a security breach, internal fraud or hacking attack. The communication protocol and ways to handle each problem must be explained in this situation. Budding entrepreneurs who purchase an Adelaide business for sale must ensure they create this plan to maximise data security.

2. Train Employees in Safety Protocols

The data security plan must be informed to all the employees and they must be trained to use devices and data sensibly. They must comply with the safety policy even when working remotely. They should be trained in the latest hacking techniques to identify malware and threats. They must know that they should close all alerts and windows with sensitive information before sharing screens with other team members. They should not leave their devices unattended when taking a break at work and should not click on any links before authenticating the source. These practices can help reduce vulnerability.

3. Use the Latest Tools and Update them

Entrepreneurs must adopt the latest technology to optimise productivity and reduce costly mistakes. Automation allows faster deliveries with high-quality output, which increases customer satisfaction and revenue. They must also update the software regularly to eliminate bugs and access enhanced data security features. This ensures maximum output and a decline in vulnerabilities. Budding entrepreneurs looking for businesses for sale in Adelaide must ensure they find entities with automatically updating software. These tools include project management, accounting, customer relationship management, etc.

4. Maintain Data Backup

Data loss and breaches can leave the business struggling and unable to operate. They can happen due to server crashes, natural disasters, cyber-attacks, etc. Thus, every business must regularly back up data across departments to secure important files and information. It helps to recover data quickly and reduce downtime and losses. The backup must be stored away from the office in a safe location, reviewed, and updated often. Cloud storage also helps to increase security if the vendor is reputed and reliable.

5. Implement Multi-Factor Authentication

Multi-factor authentication is necessary to increase the safety of confidential data. It helps add several layers of protection to safeguard sensitive information. These layers include passwords, one-time passwords sent to mobile phones, biometric identification, etc. It helps ensure that the user is authorised to access the information. Most banking apps use this safety measure to keep financial details and accounts of users safe. Thus, individuals buying a business for sale Adelaide must implement this policy to keep data safe.

6. Pay Attention to Data Encryption

Data encryption is a necessary protective measure that must be adopted by businesses that have to share sensitive information with stakeholders. It allows encrypting data into unreadable code that can be changed into readable content with the help of a secret key. Those with the key can access data, making sharing data analytics easy and reliable. It can also help protect sensitive information in unattended systems and send emails with confidential information.

7. Adopt AI and ML for automation

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are penetrating every business because of their ability to automate repetitive tasks. Besides their human-like creativity and intelligence, the technology can be used to enhance data privacy. It enables the identification of malware and similar threats. It can also help determine unusual patterns that indicate security breaches, such as an unauthorised financial transaction or suspicious website traffic source. Many entrepreneurs who intend to put up their business for sale use the tech to keep data safe during due diligence by potential buyers.

8. Perform Timely Security Audits

Security audits are essential for the evaluation of the existing security systems. They help to identify vulnerabilities and risks, such as weak passwords, careless employee behaviour, etc. An audit is also helpful in ensuring the business is adhering to the expected data privacy regulations as per the Information Privacy Principles Instruction (IPPI). Although these are not applicable to private businesses, they can help maintain data privacy. The regulation that businesses must comply with is the Australian Privacy Act 1988.

9. Keep the Network Secure

Network security ensures the network is safe from intrusions by hackers and unauthorised users. It covers hardware, software, and configurations to maximise the protection of sensitive data. It prevents data alteration and theft by cybercriminals. Network security can be optimised with the help of firewalls, data encryption, anti-virus, access controls, and data loss prevention. It ensures that suspicious traffic cannot enter the network or create a breach. This is a crucial feature to consider when looking for business opportunities in Adelaide.

10. Dispose of Old Devices Properly

Business owners must reduce the amount of sensitive information they need to store by reviewing the data regularly. They must discard old documents and files that are not required. However, this information should be disposed of with caution to prevent it from getting leaked or reaching competitors. All files must be permanently deleted from devices and backups. In addition, remote workers must wipe all the data that is no longer needed. Old computers, laptops and other systems must be cleaned and have no files when being disposed or sold.

Wrapping Up

Businesses have tons of sensitive data that keeps accumulating over the years. They must store and process it cautiously to maintain privacy and accountability. The steps mentioned above can help them keep sensitive data safe.