Today’s businesses run on the data-driven model. Digitization of users’ experience is one of the major motives for businesses to keep good upkeep of the latest information. These information packets can be varied from user-generated data to the mining of software and technology.
Hence, it’s a major ‘make or break’ for companies that are solely based on information stored on digital media, the security becomes several inches more important. You don’t want to be a part of data breaching that could lose you dollars within a minute. That’s why with no question, protecting your highly sensitive information takes the first position on your priority list.
Don’t you worry, with this introductory blog, let us breakdown the steps for you:
- Find out the Risk Involved
To evaluate the risk involved with certain information that you’re storing offline or online, you’ve to think like a hacker. Invest in great minds who would help you identify all corners of losses that could be made. For a holistic overview, you need to discover the impact on the following pointers:
- Financial Impact: Document the usage of the information. If it is directly related to your finances like expenditure, accounting, company’s revenues, etc. then mark it as sensitive. In a further study of these data, tie them to the risk of losing them anyhow. Map out what differences it makes on your company.
- Operational Impact: The management and operations head need to brainstorm all the necessary data that requires a high level of security. In case, someone sabotages the data, you should know the impact that it could cause to the operations.
- Intelligence Theft Impact: Are you one of the producers of research and development data. Is your company related to the groundbreaking discoveries? These businesses are especially under threat and attack of cybercrimes. Many international agencies have anti-theft department just to keep the breachers off the bay. Having Z-level security for your information should be your priority along with the stakeholders involved.
- Reputation Impact: To deeply understand the overall cost of any information breach, you’ve to relate it with the reputation in the market. Reputation is earned for years and years and can be destroyed by one act of callous decision. You could not only lose the potential revenue but also the interest of investors, marketers and consumers.
Once you’ve assigned the degree of loss associated with the information, if leaked, you’re ready to look into formulating an effective strategy to safeguard your data.
2. Conceptualizing and Coining of an effective Anti-Breach Strategy
Preparing your team for such an environment of work where keeping the official documents under scrutiny can be a task. However, who else but the employees be a better army to make sure your business is strictly secured? To do so, you need to:
- Train them about Information security and compliance around the company. You should inform them about the reason to do so and the potential harm it could bring to the business if a leak occurs. This shall be done in a strategic manner to ensure that employees do not feel threatened but also abide by the protocols developed by the business.
- Timely upgrade the skills of the employees when it comes to giving the charge of security. Technologies are updating at every quarter of the year. Whether you secure your files online or offline, there are many changes in how things were done. We’ve moved from offline register keeping to geo-location or biometric attendance marking. From saving sensitive data on the local drive to encrypted cloud storage and blockchain technology. Hence, employees need your assistance in upgrading the information security.
- Incentivise early detection: Company policies that promote maintaining high-security check within the workforce will always win the game.
3. Executing the Strategy in Action
Once you and your team are ready with the process, it’s time to put pieces into their places. You might be interested to look into the following ways to do so:
- Lock away the sensitive files
Whether digital or offline, the files need to be set into order from highly sensitive to low-risk documents. The highly sensitive documents should only be accessed by a handful of stakeholders. Access keys to the lockers or passwords to be ONLY shared with them and nobody else.
- Prepare a backup & security unit
Physically handled documents have higher chances of damage due to many other reasons like accidental fire, building collapse or unforeseen event. Hence, professional document storage companies in india can help to store your documents securely.
- Give Labels to Documents
Easy access to the document is an essential feature. From offline to online files, assign labels to segregate the files in case of emergency.
- Regular Audits
Don’t let your sensitive data get dusted under a pile of papers or in the mess of digital storage. Timely audit to your Record Management System is a necessary step to take.
Did you find value-added information for your business within this blog? Do you think you need help to maintain your importance records? Let us help you to take the right step in the direction of Information Security and Compliance for your company.
