Technological advancements have drastically changed the landscape of business. Living in a world driven by information and sensitive data, it makes sense to protect that data at all costs. Everything shared with businesses in the digital age is processed and stored, which makes companies accountable for how they choose to do that.
There are existing policies regarding data processing and storage in most countries in the world, and updated global privacy laws get passed every few years to keep those current.
Your company must comply with those legislations to avoid data breaches and breaking the law. If you’re a business owner wondering what your company can do to double down on security and privacy directives,
Below are 5 of the most brilliant compliance tips for SMEs:
1. System Asset Inventory
Before implementing security measures to protect data, you need to know what data you’re protecting. Use data sets to provide valuable information about what data your company collects, where it gets stored, and how it is used or transferred to third parties.
During this process, be sure to include data stored on mobile devices, such as mobile phones and flash drives. This is one of the most brilliant compliance tips for SMEs.
2. Identify Employee-Related Risks
Data security breaches can have a devastating impact on your company’s bottom line – if the breach is severe or high-profile, it could even destroy your business entirely. Human error with file management accounts for a staggering number of breaches that occur in the workplace, and not because of malicious intent or anything untoward.
Most employee-related data breaches are caused by an employee unwittingly clicking on an erroneous link. The average data breach costs companies somewhere in the region $4 million – which is why you need to do everything in your power to avoid one!
3. Store Less Data
Less data to store means fewer reasons for the bad guys to target your business. If you aren’t storing particularly useful data, such as credit card information, you will minimize your security risks. Use valuable software such as a CDP (Customer Data Platform) to identify and categorize your customer’s data and segment it into useful sets.
Your company can also use this software to set data governance standards, which means your brand can create data access policies to ensure policy compliance is adhered to. Storing less data is another most brilliant compliance tips for SMEs
4. Safeguard Your Data
Implement a unique combination of physical, administrative, and technical controls and policies to secure your customer’s personal information. With the correct safeguards in place, you can greatly reduce the risk of data loss or breach.
A data breach can start at the ground level with a seemingly innocuous physical action, such as an employee plugging their mobile phone into their work computer to charge it. Before you know it, your entire organization could be under attack.
5. Systems Checklist
Have a documented company commitment to data protection regulations and standards, and then ensure that your business practices and corporate culture gets built around those ideals. Appoint a data protection officer to establish a data protection framework of encryption and identity existing risks within your data management system.
Create an easy-to-follow checklist for every employee who can access your company’s digital information and keep it updated with privacy training initiatives and security measures.
You shouldn’t let data security intimidate you – to get ahead of it, you need to get on top of it. This are the five brilliant compliance tips for SMEs
