(Your Email address will not be published)
23/05/2016 - Posted by Emily Healey
Almost every business has documents and information they need to keep secure. Whether they are financial documents, need-to-know projects in development, customer information or any other files you want to protect, having a plan to keep everything safe is a must. Getting things organised within your organisation, teaching your staff what to do and not to do with sensitive information and making sure everyone is on the same page can be a big task. Thankfully, we’ve put together a checklist of ways to keep your most valuable information and your business itself protected.
Invest in secure file storage software. The first thing you need to put in place is a secure location to store your data. Investing in something like the FileMaker platform means not only do you get military-grade file protection, you can fully customise your software for how your business works and the kind of information you need to store. The other benefit to this is that not only is your data secure, it’s still easy to access when you need it.
Limit access to sensitive data. Another feature that keeps data secure in the way your business needs it to be, is the ability to limit who has access to specific documents and information. With individual user logins you can easily set and adjust privileges based on what your employees are allowed access to. Keeping things on a need-to-know basis will also help you maintain accountability if something gets out due to employee error.
Always use strong passwords. Teach your staff the importance of creating strong passwords. That means creating a password unique to that account and that no one else will be able to guess. The more complicated and abstract the better but make sure it’s one they will remember without the need to write it down anywhere. Also make sure they know there is no circumstance under which they should be sharing their password or login with anyone else, even other employees.
Log in as needed. Depending on how your employees will be accessing company files, whether on their work computer, a mobile device, or away from the office on a foreign computer, you may choose to have their account be automatically logged out after a certain period of time. If you’re happy to let them stay logged in indefinitely it’s still a good idea to get them into the habit of logging out at the end of the day or when they are leaving the office.
Install new security updates. A system like FileMaker that boasts exceptional security can only do so by adapting to new security threats. In order to get the most protection make sure to install any new software updates as soon as they are available. A big part of these updates is new or better security features, so if you want your files to be as safe and secure as they can be, update your software every time.
Create a data protection policy. It’s one thing to encourage your staff to be responsible in how they access secure files. What any business serious about security needs to develop is a written data protection policy that all staff must abide by. You can develop it with the help of your software designer to make it specific to your company’s system, and once written it should become a part of your employee handbook.
Taking these steps can help your staff understand the importance of data protection and give you a much better chance of keeping your files protected. Making security and discretion a part of your company culture can help create real trust between you and your clients which will give them faith that you’re the right people to be handling their business. With the right software, controlling access doesn’t even have to make things harder for your business to get done, and you can adapt it to suit the levels of security that are right for you.
