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It’s no secret that data loss can be a costly nightmare for a small business. Recent estimates citing the total cost of data breaches exceeding $2.1 trillion in 2019.

Unfortunately, cyber attackers increasingly target small businesses because they are less likely to have security protection in place. Accidental loss or loss due to a natural disaster can be just as harmful to a business. Recovery efforts and delays will grind productivity to a halt.

Follow these tips to improve security and protect your small business from data loss.

Educate your staff

When you think of data loss, you may immediately think cyber attack. In reality, nearly half of data loss happens when employees don’t know how to protect company data or are careless.

Let your staff know how important data security is to your business. Discuss potential security risks and restrictions on employee access to HR, customer and financial data. Go over specific strategies for keeping paper and computer files secure. Here are some examples: Keep personnel files locked in filing cabinets. Restrict access to sensitive data with security passwords. And take care not to download apps that might carry malware.

Make a security plan

Every company, big or small, should have a customized plan in place to outline their information assets, identify security risks and the specific steps your organization will take to mitigate those risks.

Think of your data security plan as a living document. You will need to update it regularly to keep up with shifts in technology as well as changes in personnel. A key aspect of your security plan will be to outline how you’ll ensure employee access to data terminates when they leave your company.

You’ll also want to conduct regular audits to test the effectiveness of your security plan, by monitoring how well your staff follow protocol. Following an audit, you’ll be able to revamp or fine tune your strategies to keep your business safe and your data secure.

Include a device policy

It’s hard to imagine small businesses functioning these days without mobile devices. The reality is, many small business employees work from home or remotely, staying in contact via a tablet, laptop computer or mobile phone.

Unfortunately, the risk of a mobile device being lost, stolen or damaged is high. You can protect your company data by requiring staff to keep company data off their personal devices. You can set up work devices to be wiped remotely in the case of theft or loss.

Other key security measures are data encryption, up to date anti-virus protection and tracking software. And nothing can replace a system of regularly scheduled, automatic back-ups.

Final tips

Your data security plan is only as good as how well you and your staff follow it. Take time out to meet as a group, discuss security planning and address any questions about protocol. Be clear on the consequences of a data security breach if the cause was due to employee negligence or theft. Also, reward your staff for the efforts they make to protect your business by strictly following security protocols.