How to Protect Your Small Business from Internal Threats

Insiders pose a risk to a company’s data security and more companies than ever are becoming aware of this. According to recent research, it was discovered that 58% of all security incidents come from within the organization. Companies often deal with data breaches that stem from insiders, whether it is accidental, due to negligence, or a malicious act.

Most of the time, employees don’t even realize that they are leaving room for today’s hackers to steal data. Whether it is giving a Wi-Fi password out, or using a USB drive from home, it is usually innocuous actions that can put your company at risk. Obviously, it is also very possible for a current or former employee to intentionally cause harm or release your information as a form of revenge or personal gain. Smaller businesses are also at a higher risk of internal threats due to them being less likely to have a protective hiring process that houses full background checks and accessing sensitive data.

Businesses should be on the lookout and know all of the different ways that data breaches can occur, and this is best done with the advice of an It service management partner, like MyTek. Today, we’re going to be discussing the different forms of internal breaches that can occur in your business and how you can protect your company.

Different Types of Common Internal Breaches

A careless or uneducated employee can accidentally put your data at risk in so many different ways. This can be done as a mistake, like clicked an attachment from a scam phishing email, or attaching a sensitive company file to an email without protection. If your employee loses their laptop, USB drive or phone, this is another easy way for your data to be taken. It might even be that they are oversharing on social media or were using an insecure password.

Because of the lack of knowledge, there are many ways your employees may be exposing your data. So what exactly can you do to protect your Arizona small business?

Five ways to Protect Critical Data

  1. Define the Critical Data
    Take the time to understand how data fits into your organization’s strategy and goals. Before you are able to protect your data if you have to know what data you’re protecting.
  2. Find the Critical Data
    Once you have defined the data, you need to be able to identify where it is. It may cost you extra money to identify all of your data as critical and to have security controls on everything, so you need to find the data that actually needs it.
  3. Baseline Assessment
    If you have an already existing security system, we will need to test it for gaps so we can recommend any additional controls necessary.
  4. Create a Cybersecurity Plan
    Once the gaps are identified, we will come up with a cybersecurity plan that will keep your business safe. This includes the onboarding methods you will use so new employees only have the access they need and leaving employees have their access removed. We can also have a remote access ready to go so that if anything is lost or stolen, it can be wiped.
  5. Continuously Monitor
    You don’t want to let security threats sneak up on you. MyTek continuously watches your back to make sure no threats are getting through.

A Phoenix IT Support Company with an Integrated Approach

Like aforementioned, having a good IT service management team to help your company is one of the easiest ways to keep your business safe. Your network can be monitored for traffic, files can be set up with specific access allowances, we can detect any anomalous behavior on your network and so much more. Create a cybersecurity plan with MyTek today.

30 Days of Outsourced Phoenix IT Services at No Cost

We also offer a 30-day free trial so you can try out our services. At this time, you can take advantage of our onboarding, consultation, and services for 30 days at no cost. Call MyTek today at 623-312-2444 to learn more about avoiding internal breaches and to set up your trial.

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