Another year is drawing to a close. And yet again we’re asking ourselves how our businesses fell prey to malicious actors. Every year entrepreneurs seem to be under attack from new threats, both online and in the real work.
The behaviour of criminals is, obviously, disgraceful. But even today businesses are making their jobs a lot easier by not protecting themselves. For instance, according to the State Of Risk Report, the majority of firms don’t have any systems for tracking sensitive data.
The question, therefore, is what are businesses’ biggest security threats today? And what can those businesses do to fight back against them? Let’s take a look.
Disgruntled Employees.
If you’re a great person with excellent people skills, you probably don’t have to worry about disgruntled employees in your team. By and large, they’re on your side. But if you’ve got poor people skills and can’t manage people without bullying them, then you’re putting your firm at risk.
Why? According to the evidence, employees who are disgruntled don’t just take it. Instead, they find ways to strike back against the company and cause damage. Rogue employees can, for instance, attack data centres and steal stock, all to undermine your business
The solution, of course, is to garner better relationships with your employees. Happy employees are more likely to be loyal to you. Focus on building productive relationships based on trust and a shared mission. Treating employees how schools treat children will change the nature of their relationship with you. They won’t see a future for themselves and your business. And as a result, they’ll extract as many resources from it as they can before they leave.
An Open Door Policy.
Most recent startups seem to think that they only risks to their security are digital in nature. They fawn endlessly over potential cyber security breaches. But they forget that their physical premises are just as in need of protection. As a result, they do very little to make sure that their offices and their people are secure.
There are many things you can do to make your site secure. For instance, you can install CCTV systems, have security patrols and use remote alarm systems. Modern security technology has benefited enormously from the digital technology revolution of recent years. Today’s systems are cheap, easy to use and much more effective than the systems of yesterday.
No BYOD Policies.
Bring your own device (BYOD) has been the working practices story of 2016. Just a few years ago, using your personal device for business use was unthinkable. The security risks were just too high. But today, it’s par for the course.
BYOD has made data theft much easier, according to Jason Cook, CEO of a security firm. Personal mobile devices have made it easier than ever for opportunistic thieves to steal data.
Many employees don’t understand just how vulnerable companies operating under a BYOD system are. Businesses, therefore, must find ways to educate them and make clear what those risks are. Mobile security solutions should encrypt data and protect all business-related apps on personal devices.
