Ways to Protect and Secure Important Business Data

It’s one of those things that you may think won’t happen to you, but it could – almost overnight. If your business is feeling a bit barebones in terms of data security and protection, you need to act as soon as possible. Traditional storage solutions, like hard drives, are fine, but they’re prone to failure. They can be easily destroyed, or lost. In fact, every single week no less than 140,000 hard drives crash in the United States alone.



So, it’s time to modernise, and fast. Your businesses’ data is arguably the most important factor in your survival, and if you lose it, your company could crumble. Natural disasters, theft, fraud, property damage… there are so many ways your business could be hit. Future proofing and updating your security methods means you’ll stand a better chance at survival if the worst should happen. So, why wait.

This post will be your all-encompassing guide to protecting and securing your important business data. Of course, you may already be doing some of these, and that’s great. But for the ones you aren’t, or if you aren’t doing any at all, you should think about changing that soon.

Data encryption

Data encryption may seem hard, but it’s not. At least, not at a basic level. There are many software programs or even basic OS features that can do it for you. You can encrypt just your computer hard drive, and even smaller storage spaces like flash drives and USB sticks.

Additionally, if you like to run the business when you’re out and about, be careful. If you’re using a public wi-fi network, you could be at risk of attack. Hackers can intercept any data that’s going to or from your laptop, so take steps to protect yourself.

You can do this by setting up a web tunnel, or VPN. A VPN creates a secure connection between you and the server, meaning you can browse a lot more securely in public. You may have to pay for this service, but there are ways to get it for free too. So, whether you’re at the airport, pub or restaurant, you can check your sensitive data in peace of mind.

Data backup

It’s a sad figure, but seven out of ten small firms that suffer data loss go out of business within a year. So, to make sure this isn’t you, you need to take steps to protect and secure your data to make it harder to lose. Don’t just rely on physical storage, broaden your scope a bit! Neglecting to give your business a strong foundation is a severe mistake.

For starters, you should have multiple backups of everything. Whether you keep four hard drives or a couple of USB sticks, make sure you have copies of stuff. Using the cloud is also a great way to keep that data out of harm’s way, away from floods and other natural disasters.

You could also store your data off-site, so it’s out of the way of anyone who may want to steal it. Only you should know this location, to make it extra safe.