What Are the 3 Biggest Risks to Your Data Security?

25 Sep 2013
HomeSecurityWhat Are the 3 Biggest Risks to Your Data Security?

Data security is something that companies have to take increasingly seriously these days. If your sensitive data gets into the wrong hands you could face serious problems, and you could even face large fines if you do not protect the personal data of customers or employees properly.

As a result, you may be thinking more seriously about your own data security  and protection measures. So what are the most important areas to focus on? Here are three of the biggest risks to your data security.

1. Employees

Employees present a serious risk to the data security of your business. Employees could pose a risk as a result of malicious intentions, or they could simply increase the likelihood of things going wrong through human error.

To counteract the threat posed by malicious intentions, pay particular attention to who you hire. Carry out background checks, and be very careful about which employees are given access to sensitive data. When it comes to human error, you can help to reduce the risk by properly training your staff. Make sure they know how to handle sensitive data and that they take all appropriate security measures.

2. Hacking

Hacking can pose a serious risk to sensitive data, and you need to take all appropriate security measures to avoid becoming a victim to a hack.

Preventative measures include educating your employees on what they can and cannot download from the internet and warning them about the dangers posed by email attachments. You should also ensure that you have suitable enterprise-level anti-virus protection in place across your business, which is something that your IT department should be in charge of.

3. Ineffective Data Destruction

Another common risk posed to your data security involves how you destroy your sensitive data. If you throw documents and hard-drives away without destroying them properly, other people could easily get access to all of your sensitive business data.

Make sure you have a process in place for destroying all of your sensitive information to ensure that it never gets into the wrong hands. This could involve a secure shredding service that would ensure all of your data is completely destroyed in a secure manner.

Keep Your Data Safer

These are just three of the most common ways in which your sensitive business data could be put at risk. Securing your business data is incredibly important, and if you fail to take the correct precautions you could end up on the receiving end of a data breach and even a large fine where personal data is concerned. So make sure these weak links do not cause problems for your business and keep your data safer.

 

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