Did you know that the average cost of data breaches is increasing significantly? A data breach could have a devastating impact on your company. And as a business owner it's your responsibility to take information security seriously.
So what is information security and what steps do you need to take to keep your data secure from cybercriminals? This article tells you everything you need to know about this crucial topic.
Keep reading to learn more.
1. Confidentiality
This means that your organization has an information security policy that allows only specific individuals to access data. Confidentiality is very important if you deal with a lot of customer data.
It's your responsibility to make sure this data doesn't fall into the hands of hackers. For example if you're running a hotel you might need to record customers' passport numbers. If hackers accessed your database and copied these passport numbers that would be a breach of confidentiality.
In most countries this could leave your organization exposed to the risk of legal action. Not only that but you'll also expose your company to reputational damage. Customers these days are very conscious about data security and they're less likely to work with a company that has a reputation for data breaches.
2. Integrity
Integrity refers to keeping your data complete and accurate. One of the main ways companies do this is by making sure only specific individuals can edit amend or add to your data.
For example if someone no longer works at your company this should be properly reflected in the database. At many companies people are not correctly removed from company databases.
This means that ex-employees could potentially gain access to sensitive information. To achieve true data integrity you need to have a great IT system. Managed IT services can help you ensure your data is adequately protected.
3. Availability
Another essential part of information system security is making sure your data is available when it's needed. For example you should be able to access your employee database at any moment.
Specific issues could have an impact on the availability of information. For example if your data is stored online an internet outage could prevent you from accessing it. Also you could be subject to a denial of service attack by an external actor.
Having a robust IT system is essential if you want to keep your data available at all times.
Information Security is Crucial
Information security is a crucial part of running a modern business. Your data is the lifeblood of your organization and you'll need to make sure it's kept confidential secure and available if you want to be successful.
Information security is a monumental task so you may consider bringing in an external IT managed services company to help if you want to work with a professional IT company that can help you with all your information security needs check out our contact page.
