Most business organizations around the world have files containing data that are very important to their business and workflows. Safeguarding these files is of paramount importance because you don’t want your company’s business-critical information available to all prying eyes. Personally identifiable information, electronic personal health information, confidential contracts, and other business data need protection during storage and even when being shared. Careless transmission could lead to a breach in data privacy especially if transferred through unsecured channels. Hackers are always lurking in the corners of the internet space looking for any vulnerable victim. You should be wiser than they are by enhancing file security measures in your organization. Here are some tips to guide you.
Secure channels for file sharing
One of the easiest ways to lose your company information is during sharing either within the organization or with some client. The majority of hackers looking to steal important files for ransoms (ransomware) do so when those files are in transit on the internet space. As a company hoping to ward this off, it is good practice that all files are authorized and secure which may include security controls such as NIST 800-53. All the possible ways that files can be transferred should be audited and private devices like personal USB drives or hard drives should use data theft protection software.
One secure file sharing platform is Massive. It is an ultra-fast large file transfer platform and is one of the most reliable options for videographers and content creators to transfer critical files to their clients. There are no limitations or plugins. It is a pay-as-you-go platform. Though Massive is just like other large file transfer services, the advantage here is that there are no file size limits, software, port-forwarding problems, expensive annual contracts, storage limits, slow file downloads, or frustratingly-slow upload speeds. The interface is not complicated and to cap it up, there are no transfer failures. Massive leverages on a dedicated global accelerated network when it comes to files that are as large as 100GB or more. Speed is crucial and they do this maximally to any location around the world without firewall changes. You can read more about this platform here.
Strong and different passwords for each department
The first step to take in enhancing file security measures in your organization is to identify sensitive data. Once you are aware of the files in which your most important and sensitive data are stored, you will be able to allocate more resources to protect those files. Sensitive data may only be about 15% of all the company’s data but an attack on your sensitive files can result in a devastating loss than the damage a compromise on the remaining 85% would cause.
Your files with sensitive data should be locked away with strong passwords. There are policies for ensuring strong passwords and this is necessary if you must fight off a number of password-hacking tricks out there. Use a combination of alphabets, numbers, and symbols. It is not good practice to use the same password for different files too. As much as possible, each department and every employee should have different passwords. This can be managed easily with a password management tool. Multi-factor authentication is also advised and this could prove useful as an extra layer of security if hackers somehow manage to beat the passwords protection. Examples of multi-factor authentication are biometrics, smartcards and token authentication, and push notifications to phones. If you have an applicant tracking system, please make sure to secure that too.
Do a proper backup of the organizations files
Another important measure towards securing company files is by having regular security checks and data backups. This is necessary for when a breach does happen. For example, ransomware has a hacker stealing some of your data and asking you to pay huge amounts to get it released back to you. However, if you have a proper backup plan in place, you can access your lost information from your backup folder. An automatic backup on a weekly or daily basis is very important for a successful business.
Protection through updated software, such as the NAKIVO Backup & Replication, and efficient antivirus tools, such as McAfee or Kaspersky, is also a necessity but you must be able to trust any employee you would put in charge of that and the candidate should also possess a high level of skill in that aspect.
Final word
Starting a successful business is never an easy feat. After watching your business grow over the years, it would be a shame if you allowed your priced asset to crumble just because you neglected file security measures and got caught up by a hacker in the process. A hacker could end your business in so many ways. You need that protection from the ravaging wolves and these tips here will guide you as much as possible. Becoming a successful business is a difficult task, but sustaining yourself is much more challenging. In today’s world of immense cybersecurity risks it is really important for you to be pre-equipped with the security tools and privacy enhancements that are needed to safeguard your most valuable asset – your data.
