July 12, 2018

Preventing Data Breaches: Prevention via Internal Processes

Many organisations depend on a strong cyber security system to protect their confidential data. However, cyber security alone isn’t enough to keep your and your clients’ data safe. Much more has to be done for data breach prevention. Not all security threats occur online. Here are three of the key vulnerable areas of any business that can be secured with the right physical security protocols in order to prevent data breaches.

1. Not knowing where disposed data ends up

When it comes to physical data such as documents, quotes, contracts and personal or client information, many organisations are aware of the confidential nature of the information yet implement insufficient safeguards for its disposal, thereby running the risk that it may be treated as regular rubbish. Of particular concern is that, once this data leaves the organisation’s building, it is impossible to keep track of the documents to ensure that they have been properly disposed of. If the data falls into the wrong hands, the organisation has no way of knowing until it’s too late. Besides security implications, companies also open themselves up to potential fines if personal or client information is disclosed to unauthorised parties.

2. Not accounting for human error

A study found that most data breaches in 2016 could be traced back to some form of human error. In many cases, the employees did not intentionally leak data, but their negligence contributed to an accidental breach. Often this can be attributed to insufficient or infrequent training of staff on the latest security protocols. Not only do threats keep evolving, but employees tend to get complacent over time, especially if there are no new breaches. By conducting annual data handling training and refresher sessions with all staff accidental breaches caused by negligence can be minimised. Every employee plays an important role in the safekeeping of your organisation’s data.

3. Not implementing the right policies

Training your employees will only get you so far. Security threats keep evolving and businesses need to keep abreast of the latest best practices. By implementing the right policies, employees will be armed with a proper system to follow in order to protect their organisation’s and clients’ data. For example, by implementing a Shred-it All policy, employees do not have to bear the burden of deciding which documents can be disposed of together with other waste materials and which should be shredded as they may contain confidential data. With policies such as this, the risk of a data breach is decreased.

By putting in place the right policies and ensuring that your staff is adequately trained on them, as well as being aware of how your data is processed and monitoring what happens to your physical data after it leaves your premises, you can protect your business and your clients from data breaches beyond the digital space. A good place to start is by implementing a Shred-it All Policy. Once documents are shredded, there is no worry about them ending up in the wrong hands. Consider shredding your documents as permanent physical encryption!