10 Actionable Tips to Help You Protect Your Business Data

As a business owner, the last thing you want to happen is hackers stealing your data. It takes time, money, and effort to collect useful data needed for your business growth, and you have to be careful about your data to achieve your business goals. 

An estimate suggests that it takes around 196 days to recover from a data breach. Adopting proven data security practices is the only way you can keep your data safe and avoid wasting time needed to recollect new data. 

If you’re a business owner looking for data security tips, you’re at the right place. Keep reading this blog to find ten proven tips to ensure that hackers don’t steal your data – let’s dive in!

Use A VPN

Going online to share your files or communicate with your team without using a trusted internet connection can result in a data breach. You have to ensure that you use a reliable internet connection that doesn’t expose your IP Address and shields you from hacking attacks. 

One of the best ways to secure yourself online is using a VPN connection. You can choose a vpn for pc so hackers can’t find your IP Address to access your sensitive data. 

There are many free VPNs available in the market. You should not try cutting your operational costs by using a free VPN as a business owner. It’s better to use a trusted VPN service offered by a reliable organization to stay as secure as possible. 

Avoid Spam Emails

Not all the emails you receive are worthy of your attention. Most of the time, hackers use obscure email addresses to send emails that contain malware or unsecured emails. You need to ignore any email you receive from an unknown email address. 

Always be careful about downloading and opening any file you receive in your email inbox. Make sure you only open those files that are sent to you by someone you trust. Do not share your email address online, as it can also allow hackers to steal your valuable data. 

Install Antivirus Programs

Malware, ransomware, and other malicious programs can make their way to your computers even if you adopt all the security practices. It can prove troublesome for you to scan all your files. A simple way to ensure that no viruses are present on your computer is to use an Antivirus program. 

The good thing about an antivirus program is that it makes it easier for you to get rid of computer viruses. Instead of using a free antivirus program, it’s better for you to rely on a paid antivirus program to maximize your safety. 

Create Strong Passwords

Hackers will easily break into your computers if you don’t use strong passwords. If you use common phrases as passwords, you will never be able to shield yourself from the attacks launched by hackers. It’s your responsibility to create strong passwords that are difficult to crack. 

Creating a strong password is not difficult at all. You can read the guidelines for creating a password, or you can use an online password generator instead. 

Make Copies of Your Data

Adopting all the security practices doesn’t mean you’re 100% safe from hacking attempts. If you want to ensure that hackers don’t get their hands on your data, you have to create multiple copies of it. 

Creating copies allows you to retrieve your important files even if hackers break into your local or cloud storage. It’s better to store the copies of your data in several places. It’s better not to tell anyone about the places where you’ve stored your data, so hackers can’t try to remove copies of your data. 

Keep Your Software Updated

Almost all businesses have to rely on 3rd-party apps to complete their daily tasks. The 3rd-party programs installed on your computers can easily allow hackers to get their hands on your files. If you don’t want to give a “hacking opportunity” to the prying eyes, you have to keep all the apps updated.

Using updated software tools ensures that hackers cannot use a bug in any of the 3rd-party apps you use to steal your important business data. 

Share Files with Reliable People

As a business owner, you have to share files with people every now and then. Whether it’s an NDA agreement or a sales invoice, you have to be very careful about how you send the files and which person receives the files. 

Being careless about sharing your files can result in a data breach. Only send your files to those people who you trust. Avoid sending your sensitive files to anyone who might break into your computers. 

Erase Data before Selling Equipment

With new tools and gadgets hitting the market every now and then, you have to sell your old equipment to start using the latest gadgets. But remember that you have to be careful about whom you sell your equipment and remove your data before selling. 

Any file stored on your gadgets might allow hackers to break into your computers. Before you decide to sell your old equipment, make sure you erase all the files, so nobody can use the information stored in any of your old gadgets. 

Boost Your Knowledge

Hackers keep coming up with new tools and strategies to steal business data. Therefore, if you want to stay safe from data breaches for years to come, you must boost your knowledge and enhance your skill set. 

Learning new information is not as difficult as you might think. You don’t necessarily have to enroll in “cybersecurity classes” to learn about keeping your data safe. To save time and effort and stay updated about cybersecurity, you should follow the leading publications in the cybersecurity industry. 

Educate Your Employees

You must entrust your employees to use your computers and access your files. Therefore, you must train your employees to ensure that they can follow the best cybersecurity practices and ensure that hackers don’t break into your computer. 

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