Businesses continue to collect and use more and more data to help them make decisions regarding things such as advertising, gauging what customers want, and more. Having assistance with making these decisions can be very valuable; however, it comes at the cost of having to protect the data, which often contains sensitive personal and financial information about customers. Here are four things that businesses can do to protect their data.

1. Use Passwords

Using passwords is one of the oldest and most obvious ways to keep data and other information secure, but it is still worth a mention. There are many ways to create a strong alphanumeric password, such as by ensuring that it has enough characters, is not composed of something obvious like a birth date, and contains a mix of letters, numbers, and special characters.

In addition to an alphanumeric password, businesses can also use defense methods such as facial and fingerprint recognition to secure the devices that employees use. Of course, passwords only work when people use them correctly, such as by following the previous advice as well as by making sure they lock their devices when they are away from them.

2. Take Advantage of the Cloud

The cloud refers to the online location where users store files, generally in contrast to storing those files on their computers or other personal devices. One advantage of using the cloud is that another company provides the platform for data and file storage, rather than the company itself having to provide a dedicated team and infrastructure to handle those needs. There are many secure cloud file sharing services for businesses to choose from. These services provide companies with things such as:

The ability to control which employees see what files
The convenience of being able to send a protected link to the cloud by email
The ability to send files from any type of device to any type of device

3. Secure the Physical Infrastructure

Even when using a cloud service, workers still generally keep sensitive data on their computers. This is why it is still important, even with password-protected files, to keep computers and other physical devices in an office locked away and secure. Managers can help do this by limiting the number of employees who have access to a certain area of an office only to those who need access to that location.

Many companies have badges for employees to access secure areas of a building; however, this comes with the risk of an employee losing their badge and it being found by someone with ill intentions. Managers can mitigate this risk by requiring employees to report right away if they are unable to find their badge.

One riskier but necessary thing that some employees do is bring a laptop when they are traveling, whether for business or pleasure. In these cases, it is important that they have a secure password to protect their device and use two-factor authentication when gaining access to the device. Two-factor authentication involves a user going through a second device to indicate whether or not they are the person trying to access the original device. This can be helpful in case a laptop or tablet falls into the wrong hands.

4. Encrypt Files

If an employee is traveling and has files on their mobile device, or if an employee has no choice but to send a file via email, it is important to encrypt those files. Encryption takes any data in a file and turns it into code that only the computer can read. Authorized users then take an encryption code, sent separately, to be able to see the information in the file. Proper training lets employees know which files they should encrypt.

When a company experiences a data breach, it can cause customers and clients to lose faith in that company and its ability to keep the information that customers give to the business secure. By doing a combination of these four things as well as other methods, as appropriate, companies can help avoid the crisis of a data leak and maintain the trust of their customers.