You’ve invested your time and money and took the risk of going into business on your own. Let’s face it, you’ve worked hard to get where you are. Now that you’re turning a profit you have a lot more to lose if your business becomes compromised.
While there’s no sure-fire way to protect your business 100 percent, you can take steps to make it as safe as possible.
Shipments/Special Packages
Overnight deliveries are very important to a small business, especially if it’s a contract with a business you’ve tried to acquire for some time. The usual scenario is that the postman or delivery person will leave the package outside in a mailbox or inside at the front desk.
However, if you are not around during the delivery window, that important delivery can end up lost or in the wrong hands. A great way to prevent this from happening is to assign one person to sign for special deliveries in your absence or install an outdoor package drop box that only you have a key to open.
E-Mails Risks
Most businesses have firewalls and backup their computers on a weekly basis to preserve valuable information in the event of a crash or cyberattack.
However, uneducated employees are most often the source of releasing a virus. In many cases, would-be hackers use e-mail as their first choice of obtaining your company’s information. Thankfully, keeping employees informed of what to look for can help prevent this from happening.
A good rule to live by is that, if they don’t know who the e-mail comes from, they don’t open it. Anything that seems suspect should be forwarded and handled by upper management or you, the owner.
Know Your Employees
You conduct many interviews before finally hiring that perfect candidate to join the team. However, people aren’t always as they seem. While no one wants to distrust their employees, monitoring them is important, especially those who have access to personal and confidential company information.
Cameras located discreetly and not pointed out to the staff will allow you to review footage in the event of a system compromise.
Tough Passwords
It’s not the first time, but hopefully, it’s the last time you’ll need to hear that tough passwords are necessary. Using the family pet’s name is cute, however, it is not very clever. Employees or hackers are pros at finding personal information and then using family names, colors, and places to break into your computer system.
Take your time and construct a code that you yourself need to write down. In addition to creating a difficult passcode, never share it with employees. Instead, have just one or two, depending on the size of your business and the number of departments you have. This again will limit the hunt to a select few in the event of a break-in.
After Hours
Some businesses have employees that have a key to open up the business in the morning and close down the business at night. Make it a practice that if an employee quits or is fired, that you change the locks immediately.
While you will absorb the additional cost, the small investment will protect your business information from going to a competitor. Even if the employee left on good terms, the possibility is still there.
Employee Meetings
You may have 5 employees or more than 20. Regardless of the number, it’s always beneficial to the business to conduct monthly meetings. This gives you a chance to review company policies and review security practices.
Your small business is growing and each year you come up with new strategies to improve your bottom line. Don’t leave your business exposed for anyone to acquire information and use it to destroy what you worked so hard to achieve.
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