7 Critical Steps To Protect Your Data

To minimize the significant risks arising from data loss, every company should take specific preventative measures to protect their critical business data. These measures fall into two broad categories: physical security and digital security. We will identify seven critical steps to ensure your data is secure, then look at the additional protection required to keep your data available.

Here, we look at physical security and the three key steps a company should take to ensure their data is protected against environmental changes and physical theft.

Step #1: Secure Access
Protect critical computer equipment against physical theft by placing it in a separate physical space which has controlled, recorded access. Limit entrance to only authorized personnel.

Step #2: Environmental Controls
The space which houses critical computer equipment should be climate controlled through proper heating and air conditioning, including fail-over systems in the event of main system failure. Fire suppression and temperature monitoring with an automatic notification system should be implemented.

Step #3: Uninterrupted Power
Ensure that backup power supplies, including surge suppression, are in place to provide power to key computer equipment in the event of a primary power failure or instability in the primary power supply.
Now, we examine digital security and the four key steps a company should take to ensure their data is protected against unauthorized access.

Step #4: Firewalls
A firewall should be placed between the company