If you run a business or an organization of any kind, you don’t need to be told that keeping your data safe is important. Along with preventing your data from being stolen, you also want to ensure that it’s available and has not been compromised.

 

That’s why you need to prioritize information security. Doing so can help you avoid a wide range of headaches.

 

This guide will help. Keep reading to learn what you can do to improve information security throughout your organization.

 

What is Information Security?

Before learning about what you can do to optimize your information security, you may be asking yourself “What is information security?” Some people make the mistake of assuming that information security is just another term for cybersecurity.

 

That’s not actually the case. Information security does overlap with cybersecurity to a degree. Both cybersecurity and information security focus on protecting confidential data and ensuring its integrity.

 

However, cybersecurity generally involves protecting data solely in digital form. Information security involves protecting data in any form, including physical forms, like paper documents.

 

Information security will play a critical role in your business’ operations. Be aware, if you don’t take reasonable steps to keep your information secure, you could face a range of consequences, such as being fined for a HIPAA violation.

 

An entire book could be written on the ways in which you can boost your information security practices. A single blog entry can’t necessarily tell you everything you need to know about this topic. However, the following tips will help:

Choose the Right Cloud Storage Solution

It’s growing increasingly common for businesses and organizations to turn to cloud storage providers for their data storage needs. Storing data in the cloud involves storing it on another company’s servers. This can reduce costs by eliminating the need for a company to store data in servers of its own.

 

Even if a company does have its own servers, storing data in the cloud can be helpful if something were to happen to the company’s servers.

 

When choosing a cloud service provider, research the degree to which they emphasize security. It’s important to choose one that will keep your data safe from attacks and leaks.

 

Minimize Access

Whenever you are storing important information, regardless of its form, carefully consider which members of your organization should and should not have access to it. For example, you don’t want a disgruntled employee sabotaging your company by stealing or copying confidential files and sharing them with a competitor. Allow only those who absolutely need access to confidential data to have said access, and train them thoroughly to ensure they understand how to keep said data as safe as possible.

 

Remember, information security isn’t just about digital data. For instance, if you keep copies of important documents in file cabinets, make sure only a few people have access to them.

 

Require Employees to Create Strong Passwords

Make it a company-wide requirement that all employees use strong passwords designed to prevent hackers from accessing your company’s data. It’s also a good idea to require employees to update their passwords regularly. You may even want to use a tool that generates strong passwords for employees automatically.

 

Remember, the importance of strong information security can’t be underestimated. While these are by no means the only steps you can take to improve information security, they are steps you should definitely be taking if you haven’t already.

 

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August 14th, 2021 by financetwitter

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