Key data, such as personal information about where you live, what your phone number is, where you work, how much money you make, and all kinds of other key data about your life, is tracked and kept by companies all over the internet. And if you’re the owner of a small business, there are even more companies that may want your data as well as your employees’ information.
It’s important to keep your data safe through methods of encryption, backups, and plain old common sense. Data is important for companies and individuals alike to be able to better understand things, like their customer base, employee needs, and how to better serve you. More and more websites today ask you to create an account that may require you to provide date of birth, where you work, and even how much you make in exchange for a service they provide.
As more and more people freely give out their information, it becomes necessary to understand where and how that information is being used and the risks that come with giving a company such information in the first place. Furthermore, it’s a good idea to understand how to protect your data from falling into the wrong hands to protect yourself and your business.
What Ways Can Data Be Lost
Data loss can be a massive setback for any person or business owner. There are a variety of ways in which data is at risk, ranging from the benign to outright fraud. Storage devices that utilize hard drives to store information are mechanical devices that can fail. In fact, according to Kroll Ontrack: 67 percent of data loss is caused by hard drive crashes or system failure. This means the majority of fatal data loss can be attributed not to hackers or breaches, but, rather, your own hardware’s system failure.
Data breaches caused by fraudulent actors are, yet, another way in which data can be either lost or stolen. Cyber criminals can employ a vast array of methods to glean information from unprotected servers and systems. If you’re the owner of a business that stores the data of your customers or employees, then you should assume you’re on the list of targets for such attacks.
How to Protect Your Data
Redundancy is one of the key ways of protecting yourself from potential data loss due to hardware failure or fraudulent means. This means having multiple copies of the data that you keep for your customers and your employees in the form of onsite and offsite backups. As a managed IT services company, Natural Networks can help you establish a working backup system, and provide you with a way to back up your data, both onsite and off.
Encryption is another means of protecting your data. Encrypting the points of storage with a strong and unique password where you keep your data can prevent cyber criminals from easily accessing and exposing the data your holding. Most storage devices, such as NAS’s, Network Hard Drives, and cloud-based data systems, require a password to access such data, but it’s up to you to ensure that these passwords are strong and not commonly used or known.
Active Monitoring with a managed IT service provider can help you find problems within your network or on your computers before they become a problem. A managed IT service company, like Natural Networks, is able to keep track of and prevent potential issues before they become a problem. Having a team of IT professionals ready when you need it most means having your problems assessed and fixed as soon as they arise.
Keeping your data safe is an important part of today’s technology-driven world. With the help of experts in the technology field, like those at Natural Networks, they can help you in ensuring your data is safe. If you have questions or want to learn more, contact us today.
