In the wake of the Equifax data breach, which placed the personal information of 143 million users at risk, the issue of data security is at the forefront of social consciousness. Your organization needs to go about its daily business as if it will experience a data breach at any given moment. This involves looking at the worst-case scenario, and planning for it so that you’re never caught unaware.

Here are three preventative measures that you can take to secure your business.

Use Strong Passwords and Two-Factor Authentication
Passwords are often the only thing standing between your online accounts and your personal data. Think about it; a string of maybe 8-to-10 characters is the only thing keeping your sensitive information secure. Doesn’t it make sense to make this password as complex and difficult to crack as possible? You would think so, but a surprising number of folks still use the word “password” as their password. You should be using both upper and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols, formed into a seemingly random string of characters. Doing so keeps hackers from guessing your password and accessing an account.

Secure Your Network with Unified Threat Management
Network security depends on both internal and external measures, which include network-attached security devices like a Unified Threat Management (UTM) tool. A UTM consists of an enterprise-level firewall, antivirus, spam blocker, and content filter, all to keep threats from taking root on your network in the first place. Furthermore, you’ll be able to react to issues that become prevalent before too much damage is done, which is a valuable opportunity in its own right.

Educate Your Users on Best Practices
Your employees access important information on a day-to-day basis, and they are often in contact with more threats than you’d like them to be. Something as simple as a spam message in the wrong inbox or a carefully disguised link could be all it takes to expose your business to dangerous situations. Take the time to teach your employees how to identify potentially dangerous scenarios, like phishing phone calls and sketchy emails or attachments. Often times, you’ll stop attacks from taking off simply by keeping your employees informed.

By using these three methods to secure your organization, you’ll be less likely to suffer from a data breach. To learn more about network security and other ways to keep yourself secure, subscribe to our blog, and call our IT professionals at 810.230.9455.