[BreachExchange] Six Ways To Ensure Your Data Stays Private

[Audrey McNeil]

https://lerablog.org/technology/data-security/six-ways-to-ensure-your-data-
stays-private/

Data is one of the most important parts of your company, and of your
personal life. It is, therefore, an essential part of your security
strategy to protect it, and ensure that all your data stays private, both
the data of your employees, your clients, and yourself. Data being
compromised and falling into the wrong hands can be disastrous. While you
can always reinstall any operating systems and applications you use daily,
the same cannot be said for your important, private data. It is truly
unique and potentially irreplaceable if lost entirely. However, what are
the best ways to ensure your data stays private and protected, for both
your peace of mind and the sanity of your clients? With the GDPRcoming into
play this month, it’s never been a better time to learn how best to protect
your data and ensure it stays private. Follow our six steps to protect
yourself and your company from online threats and not face any hefty fines
from the GDPR!

Install Antivirus Protection
Antivirus and anti-malware software is the first port of call for the
security of any business, whether they operate an online store or it’s
internal databases. Furthermore, it is best to set your preference to
update these protections often, even as often as once a week. You can then
protect your data further from any potential infections by installing
security patches for your operating system and other software programs.

Back Up Your Data
This is possibly the most overlooked data protection tip but is the most
important when trying to protect your data. Ideally, this should be to a
separate device, perhaps a network drive, external or removable hard disk
drive, even the cloud. Using a private cloud is arguably one the best ways
to ensure your data stays private, because your data is regularly backed up
and secure at all times, and all your workers can keep up to speed, whether
they are working from their desk in the office or remotely. All they need
is a simple log in, and they can access from wherever they are.

Disable File and Media Sharing
This is another measure that is often overlooked but is very handy when
wanting data privacy. If this is a feature that you rarely take advantage
of, it makes sense to disable it when you don’t need it. A weak home
network, wireless routers can be breached using default passwords, for
instance, will soon leak information to third parties, and files stored on
shared network folders will make the loss of data a bit easier for
attackers.

Secure Your Laptops and Technical Devices

Because of their portable nature, laptops are at a higher risk of being
lost or stolen. It’s important to take some extra steps to make certain
your sensitive data is protected. The best way to ensure your data stays
private is to encrypt your laptop. Encryption software changes the way
information looks on the hard drive so that, without the correct password,
it can’t be read.

The same can be said for smartphones, for they hold so much data these days
that you should consider them almost as valuable as company computers – and
they’re much more easily lost or stolen!

Establish Strong Passwords
Applying strong passwords is the easiest thing you can do to strengthen
your security and ensure your data stays private.  It is recommended to use
a combination of capital and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols and
make it 8 to 12 characters long. Never use any personal data such as your
birthdate, common words (even spelled backward), or those that are close
together on the keyboard.

Be Careful With What You Post

It may seem a simple point, but it is one that is very worthwhile noting,
especially in today’s oversharing, social media happy society. Whenever you
are posting online, whether that’s on your company website or a Facebook
status update, it’s vital you don’t reveal too much information. Hackers,
once they have access to one source of your data, can easily corrupt and
attack a host of different areas simply by knowing key private information
about you. This information can include your birth date, your mother’s
maiden name, and even the place where you got married if you use them for
any security question answers.
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