Security Should Come In Two Parts

As you run your business, you need to remember a few things. First, your digital security is an incredibly important consideration, as your crucial data could be tampered with or stolen outright. However, you can’t forget the shared importance of your physical security systems and how they will keep your business safe as well.

In today’s blog, we’ll review some of the considerations you need to make to keep your physical security up to par.

Access Control
The first step to keeping your business secure is by restricting who can gain entrance to your physical location, and from there, who can access different areas within it. This is accomplished by requiring some kind of identifier to be provided before access is granted, be it an ID card, a pin code, or even biometric data. Access control allows you to keep your location free of unauthorized individuals, and even lets you monitor the comings and goings of employees to catch any suspicious activity.

Identification - This is the key to access control solutions, as it establishes who you are and thereby what you are permitted to access by requiring some form of identification to enter certain areas. Often, security setups will require multiple forms of identification in order to authenticate your identity. This approach is known as 2FA, or 2-Factor Authentication. You’ve most likely seen this before--for example, if you’ve ever needed to enter a PIN number after providing a password.

Security and Monitoring
Quick--could you identify where everyone is in the building at this very instant, including visitors, clients, and others who have entered? Have you made note of where your visitors are supposed to be during their visit? Your security setup needs to include some means of keeping watch over your business--the most obvious component being security cameras, but your access control solutions can play a role here as well by keeping a record of what was accessed, when, and by whom.

Means of Communication
Communication and security go hand in hand. How else would you find out if your company had experienced a security breach? In order to allow this to happen, you need to provide your employees with numerous, reliable means of reaching out to share updates, alerts, and other need-to-know pieces of info.

Document Security
If someone has made the investments necessary to gain unauthorized access to your business, it’s a safe bet that they intend to turn as large a profit as they can. To do so, they will need to access your documentation, so you should ensure that all access to it is secured and only available to those who have been authorized.

Device Management: Of course, modern technology provides more ways to access data than ever before, which means you need to worry about more than just your company's workstations. Mobile devices that can be used to access your data should be equipped with remote wiping software, including devices you distribute as well as those used under a Bring Your Own Device policy.

Employee Training
Your employees need to be involved in your security processes. They are the ones on the front lines, so they need to know what they are supposed to do to help preserve the security of your business. You need to make sure that your workforce is aware of--and follows--best practices that help keep your business safe.

Creating a Security-Minded Culture: One of the more effective ways of prioritizing security is to educate your employees about the realities of potential security risks. Make sure they understand the possible ramifications of a data breach, how potential threats can be spotted, and how to avoid falling victim to them. Each one of your employees can either be a benefit to your security, or can undermine it. Establishing a company-wide drive to be the former may just save you at some point.

How to Improve Your Physical Security
Consider what physical threats exist against your business. While you may have to contend with criminals trying to gain access to your business, threats to your physical security extend far beyond just that. You also need to consider the threat that natural events pose, such as extreme weather and the natural disasters that affect your area.

You need to ensure that your business’ key data and documentation is safe from risks of all kinds. A good way to accomplish this is to utilize a cloud solution to keep a secure copy of your data offsite, safely away from your office and the possibility of a disaster or intruder wiping out everything.

Horne & Benik can help you ensure your data remains secure. Call (603) 499-4400 to get started.
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