4 Tips for Fully Safeguarding Your Company Data

The thought of losing all of your company’s data can be terrifying, yet many business owners take a relatively relaxed approach to secure their files and operating systems. Most people just install antivirus software and run periodic scans, assuming that every threat in existence will automatically be found by any antivirus software. The problem is that cybersecurity isn’t the only threat to your data. There are also physical dangers like natural disasters, electronic hardware failure, vandalism, theft, and even the possibility of accidental file deletion. To help you avoid such problems, here are four tips to ensure your company data is fully secured:

1. Store a Physical Backup in a Remote Location

Backing up data in the cloud seems sufficient because the chances of anything going wrong with your Dropbox or Google Drive account are slim to none. Still, uploading and account access errors do happen, so if you ever run into a situation where you can’t access your cloud backup, having a physical backup on-hand will come in handy. It’s also wise to create multiple copies for redundancy and store one of them in a locked self-storage unit off-site. You should update your physical copies at least once per week or month to keep the backup as close as up-to-date as possible. 

2. Keep Security Software Updated

Simply installing antivirus software is a great first step, but it’s also important to ensure you have auto-update features enabled. Likewise, it’s best to use software that provides real-time protection capabilities. Letting your antivirus definitions go out of date means that you’ll no longer be protected against brand new threats, which emerge on a daily basis. 

3. Schedule Routine Backups to Multiple Cloud Accounts

Backing up data to the cloud routinely is a must if you really want to keep your data safe and retrievable in any scenario. However, using a single cloud account creates a liability because you might lose access to that account or it could be hacked. Since this guide is about fully protecting data to the extent that your backup plan is essentially fool-proof, it makes sense to have an extra cloud storage account with a different provider and back up to that along with your original account simultaneously. 

4. Control Access Permissions

It’s important to monitor and control which employees or partners are accessing your data, which files and folders are being accessed, and which items are being downloaded or uploaded to your network or web server. That way, if anyone violates company policies or misuses the network in a way that creates a risk to your data, you’ll be able to see a history of that interaction in the log file and take appropriate follow-up action. 

Corporate Data Backup is Easy and Effective When Done Right

Diligently carrying out all four of the precautions above might seem like a hassle, but once you have these systems and routines in place, it will be easy to maintain on an ongoing basis. 

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