Protection Plans: How to Keep Your Company Secure

Every company today needs to have some type of protection plan in place. Criminals often target businesses to steal proprietary information, personal financial data or expensive equipment. Protecting a business means establishing many different layers that make theft or vandalism very difficult. This should involve both digital and physical security measures. Keeping a company secure requires several different steps.

4. Physical Barriers

Companies need to be protected from the outside first. An effective way to prevent theft or vandalism is to install physical barriers at key points. This could be a fence outside the building. Entryways into the building should have strong locks that only a few trusted people can open. Interior doors leading to areas like server rooms, file rooms and storage areas should be locked or outfitted with biometric access systems that log entries. Good physical barriers can deter many people from attempting to harm the business.

3. Data and Network Protection

Data and networks need to be protected on many levels. Internal systems should be separated from public-facing networks by hardware firewalls. Sensitive data should be stored in an encrypted format. Communications across public networks like the Internet should be done through a virtual private network that uses strong encryption and security protocols that cannot be broken easily. The company must also perform security audits and testing after changes or updates to make certain systems remain secure.

2. Employee Access and Policies

Individual employees could present an unintentional security risk to the company. Employees should be granted the minimum amount of access necessary to the building and network. Every employee should have an individual account or means of identification so actions can be tracked if issues occur. Additionally, companies should institute strong security policies. The policies should restrict the use of personal portable drives, online services like social media sites and applications that could have viruses or spyware embedded inside. Strong security policies will ensure employees do not put the business at risk while working.

1. Security and Monitoring Systems

The final piece of a protection plan should be a broad system that allows for intelligent monitoring of the entire company. A wireless security system that includes cameras and motion detectors is a good choice. Companies like Vivint in Indianapolis IN offer 24 hour monitoring for businesses as well. Security and monitoring systems provide added protection that will help if someone overcomes security barriers or breaks policies. It can also provide forensic evidence that can help with a prosecution or future security upgrades.