How Do I Protect My Business Information From Being Stolen?

For most businesses these days, electronic information and data is very important.

If your business information is unprotected, it is very likely that your company will be prone to breaches and may be accessed by unwanted third parties.

For this reason, data protection measures are key to the success of any business.

Where Do I Start?

The first thing to think about is to have an organised system to store online information.

Mismanaged information is prone to privacy breaches.

By not knowing where your important company information is located, you will find it difficult to salvage once it has been compromised.

Also, many businesses use cloud-based software to store company information. These softwares are encrypted to prevent hackers from accessing private information.

However, you can’t just rely on encryption to prevent unwanted people from gaining entry to your business information on the cloud.

From within your business, you have to consider limiting employee access to certain information.

Being in control of the information that can be accessed by employees and external contractors will ensure that they will only be able to see what you want them to see.

If you always keep this in mind, you will know who can access your company information and where it’s located.

What’s next?

Here are four simple measures to make your company’s online presence bullet-proof.

1. Basic Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity measures involve more than just complex passwords containing a capital letter and some numbers.

As we all know, the internet can be a source of viruses that infect computers and cause privacy breaches.

The first thing to consider is having a dedicated IT resource for your business.

Depending on your budget, you can hire an external IT firm, an onsite IT expert or an occasional consultant.

Regardless of what you choose, having a dedicated IT team who you can contact as needed will ensure that your business can recover quickly if a breach occurs.

You can also contact these experts when you have questions about more ways to protect your company information.

They can tell you how to set up firewalls, encrypt certain documents and limit employee access to further increase the protection of your business information.

Lastly, raise awareness!

It is important to let your employees know of all the measures they need to take to protect your company’s information.

Simple things like implementing regular password changes, or having scheduled training sessions on how to use cybersecurity software, will help them understand their role in maintaining the privacy of your company’s information.

2. Security Policy And Training

A great way to address confidentiality in your business is to have a security policy for your staff.

A security policy is a document that informs your employees and other approved personnel of their responsibilities to ensure the security of your business.

Your policy should cover what types of information that can be shared, how to use company devices and how to handle online material.

Having this security policy is a good starting point when sorting out the legal ways you can protect the information of your business.

Sometimes, the best way to keep information secure is to keep it a secret or control how it spreads.

This often applies to business process documents and other trade secrets.

Training your staff and increasing awareness about cybersecurity is a priority for businesses.

One wrong click and it’s possible that private company information may be made accessible to those who are not meant to see it.

An effective way to train staff is to implement an engaging, educational program.

Include case studies and practical components to get your employees involved in a hands-on way.

The more involved they are, the greater understanding they will have when it comes to taking cybersecurity precautions to protect your business. 

3. Non-Disclosure Agreements

Non-disclosure agreements (NDA) are a legal tool that you can use to keep important business information, confidential.

An NDA is a contract which can be used when important business information needs to be shared between two or more people.

You can also use NDAs when bringing people into your business.

For example, when hiring employees and contractors you can include a non-disclosure clause in their employment or contractor agreement.

This will provide an incentive for them to not release any sensitive information.

You can also have non-compete clauses which restrict employees who leave from joining your competitors.

This will protect your business from any former employees releasing sensitive company information to your competitors.

4. Insurance

So, you have taken all the measures that you can to ensure that your company’s information is protected.

Somehow, one hacker has managed to crack into your system.

This is where cybersecurity insurance comes in.

Cybersecurity insurance will protect your business if any breach occurs.

Depending on the policy you choose, this insurance will assist you with the costs associated with the breach.

This may involve costs such as legal fees, having to deal with data recovery and any interruptions the breach may have caused to your business.

Make sure you do not overlook implementing cybersecurity insurance!

It’s important as it is very useful if any major security breach occurs.

What To Take Away…

Data security and privacy are important for any small business or startup.

Having the right processes in place to ensure that private business information is not released to unwanted parties is essential to the success of any company.

There are many ways in which you can protect your business information from being stolen.

If you need advice on where to start on implementing security procedures for your business, feel free to contact us. We are here to help!

Esha Kumar

Esha is a law graduate at Sprintlaw from the University of Sydney. She has gained experience in public relations, boutique law firms and different roles at Sprintlaw to channel her passion for helping businesses get their legals sorted.

Tomoyuki Hachigo

Tomo is the co-founder of Sprintlaw and a commercial lawyer with a broad range of legal experience. Before starting Sprintlaw, he was an M&A lawyer at a top-tier law firm advising businesses of all sizes from large corporates to startups.