Are Your Employees The Biggest Data Threat To Your Business?

With the increasing prevalence of high profile data leaks, many businesses are becoming more and more conscious of the importance of data security to both the operation and reputation of their business.

Many people will assume that the most likely threat will come from super technologically advanced external hackers, who are accessing your information from the comfort of their secret location (bedroom?!), and are motivated by either a desire to expose your companies most confidential information, or with blackmail in mind.

However the majority of company directors will actually say that it is their employees that pose the greatest threat to their data security. Whether it be disgruntled employees trying to get their own back on the company, or simple human error (by far the most common of the two options), it is those who are actually supposed to have access to sensitive information that are the most likely to be the source of a leak.

So what are some of the steps that you can take to protect your company from the extremely negative consequences of a data leak?

Set rigorous protocols

The vast majority of employee based data leaks come from simple human error. So to avoid this ensure that you have simple yet stringent procedures and protocols in place and ensure that people stick to them – often simple systems such as getting someone else to do a final check can catch any mistakes before they happen.

Ensure that you data is fully encrypted

There are many systems out there these days that can very sophistically encrypt data to ensure that even if it can be accessed it can’t actually be read. Also think about taking steps such as regularly changing passwords of using two-step authentication processes when people are logging into data.

Don’t forget data destruction

It can be easy to spend all of your time thinking about how to protect the data that your company holds whilst you are using it, however a vital consideration is what happens to data once you no longer need it, or once the hardware that you are storing it on is ready for an upgrade?

In the latter case engaging the services of a specialist computer recycling and data destruction company is paramount. Companies such as Buy IT Back can take your old computers, servers and other IT and telecoms equipment and using government certified data destruction software, completely eradicate any remaining data, before then reconditioning either the whole unit or it’s component parts to be sold on, or recycling any other parts to the highest environmental standards. And the best thing – they can actually pay you for doing this!

To find out more contact Buy IT Back today.

Providing IT Hardware, Data Security, Recycling & Residual Value Solutions For Over 30 Years Since 1992