It wasn't all that long ago that we stored most of the information about our business in physical files on actual pieces of paper. In today's world, however, most businesses are using computers and storing the information as data. Although this may be very convenient and it certainly can help to save space at the office, it also poses a number of problems that should be considered. If you would happen to lose that data, it is likely that you are also going to lose a lot of your business and may even go out of business as a result. Fortunately, there are some things that you can do to help protect yourself and your business from such a catastrophic loss.
One important thing for you to consider is the type of security that you have on your computers and the server security that is available. If one person that is operating a computer in your office makes a mistake or if a virus is allowed to penetrate the computer, it could affect the entire network. That would mean anything that was attached to the network could be compromised and you may end up losing a considerable amount of data in the process. What can you do to avoid this problem?
One important thing to consider is the type of backup that you are using. You can back up your data in any number of different ways, including backing it up onto a physical drive or backing it up online. If you're going to be using a physical drive, make sure that you do not keep the data in the same location as your computers. One catastrophic event could end up deleting all of the information, including the backup. If you're going to be sending the information online as a backup, make sure that it is secure and that it falls in line with any regulatory conditions that are necessary for your security.
Even if you do everything that is possible to secure your data, it is still possible that a virus or spyware program could give somebody outside access. In order to further protect your data, you need to employ the use of some type of file encryption software. If the data on your hard drive is encrypted, it is going to be useless to anybody that gains control of it. Unless they are able to decrypt the information, which is highly unlikely if you are using a quality encryption program, you can be sure that your information is safe.
Finally, make sure that you are educating your employees on a continual basis so that they are up to speed on everything that is being done. Most of the problems that take place within the office occur because employees are not fully aware of how to operate a computer safely and how to browse the Internet in a secure manner. If you take the time to teach employees how to do so, you will not only find that you are much more secure as a result, you are able to accomplish more because of the effectiveness of your employees.
Daniel Gail wrote this article on avoiding catastrophic data loss in your business to help businesses secure their critcal data. To do this he recommends purchasing file encryption software and server security software on all of your devices at work. Having received a degree in MIS and being in the I.T. industry for over 10 years, he enjoys sharing his knowledge on I.T. security. In his free time he enjoys spending it with his family and fishing.