Your business data is an essential aspect your venture needs to thrive. However, this data must be properly protected to prevent breaches which could be detrimental to your business. According to research, the average cost of data breaches in the US amounted to $9.44 million. Aside from the cost, data breaches can have serious consequences on your business, including expensive lawsuits and reputational damage. These can affect your small business significantly. Fortunately, you can do the four things below to prevent data breaches. 

1. Keep your software up to date 

Research has shown many benefits of investing in business software. Aside from getting the right software for your business, you must also ensure that it is regularly updated to the latest version to address any security vulnerabilities. Updating your software will improve security and fix bugs and other performance issues. Software updates provide security patches that protect your devices from potential malware, viruses, and cyber-attacks. You may also access new or enhanced features or better compatibility with different devices or operating systems. Remember, staying up to date with the best software for your business guarantees high security and efficiency.

1. Limit access to sensitive data

Every person who has access to your data is a potential vulnerability. For instance, if you have 100 users logging into a system containing sensitive personal details, you have 100 vulnerabilities since any of them may be the weak link in the chain. You can reduce this by limiting the number of persons accessing such information. Ensure that only authorized personnel have access to confidential information, limited to the minimal level required. You can restrict data access in several ways, including allowing different access levels to different user roles and avoiding storing certain data types. 

1. Implement third-party vendor compliance 

Implementing effective monitoring mechanisms such as compliance checks, auditing, and risk profiles can improve your overall data and enterprise security. It will also help to better understand third-party enterprise providers to ensure compliance with personal-data regulations. To do this, verify that all third-party vendors with access to your business data comply with your security policies. For instance, you may use the SPRS score to assess a contractor’s progress in implementing security controls to determine the amount of system access to grant them. 

1. Provide security awareness training for workers

Most data breaches don’t require brute force or complicated processes by a hacker to penetrate your system. Indeed, research reveals that over 85% of breaches are due to human error, particularly those made by workers. It takes just one successful phishing email for a hacker to gain access and compromise your systems. For this reason, training your workers on the best data security practices is paramount. You may carry out a few things to create security awareness. These include training your staff on using strong passwords, avoiding giving them out, and establishing hierarchies and protocols for security. You can also educate your staff on the common threats and regularly audit and reassess your data security strategies.

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