How To Choose The Right Security Service For Your Organization

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StrategyDriven Risk Management Article |Security Service|How To Choose The Right Security Service For Your OrganizationRunning a business successfully goes beyond making profits and retaining customers. Operating safely and managing physical threats are crucial for all organizations these days. The security needs of businesses vary as factors like location, type of products, asset value, and team size come into play. Retail enterprises have to ensure employees and customers stay safe. Factories need to prioritize worker safety. Likewise, banks have to protect cash and assets. So you cannot take a one-size-fits-all approach to secure your business. Essentially, you must choose a service that covers all your needs and safeguards your premises, people, and assets. It is worth paying for as you can save money, prevent crimes, and protect your reputation in the long run. Let us share some tips to help you choose the right security service for your organization.

Start with a comprehensive assessment

The first step to determine the apt security services for your business is a comprehensive assessment of your needs. Experts consider several factors such as your location, lighting, landscape, and fencing to determine your risks. Further, your working hours also decide your needs. For example, businesses running around the clock require extra security after dark. You may not invest a lot if just operating a daytime business in a high-traffic area. Your existing safety and security measures also play a role in deciding the best arrangement for the future. A comprehensive overview gives a clear picture of your overall requirements.

Understand the level of security

After a complete assessment of your business, you will have a fair idea of the level of security you need. You cannot afford to take a chance if selling luxury products or hosting high-profile events and crimes. Investing in armed security services is imperative for such businesses. You will also need trained and armed guards if your establishment is located in a vulnerable area. Having armed officers on-premises gives you peace of mind and a sense of security. They are equipped to respond to dangerous situations and unexpected emergencies. So you can be sure about the safety of your employees, customers, and visitors.

Decide the number of security personnel

The number of security personnel is another matter of concern for businesses while collaborating with security providers. After all, you have to pay for their services, so it makes sense to invest wisely. Once again, the number depends on the need and size of your business. You will require more guards for a large facility or for a business that transports valuable assets. Some businesses require coverage for the office space and the parking lot, so more guards have to be there. Everything boils down to these individual factors, so it is worth paying for more if you have greater needs.

You must not take premises safety frivolously because threats and risks abound in the commercial space, regardless of the size and domain of businesses. Consider your specific needs and challenges, and pick security services to match. You will not have to worry about criminal activities again!

Speak to the companies you are considering hiring

When choosing the right security services for your organization, it’s important you meet up and interview the companies you want to employ. This gives you the opportunity to speak to them in person and ask them any important questions. In fact, before calling them or meeting them in person, research the best interview questions to ask in order to put you in the best position when meeting.

Effective Ways To Protect Your Customer’s Data

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StrategyDriven Risk Management Article |Protect Customer Data|Effective Ways To Protect Your Customer's DataAlmost every week, a new data breach is announced in the news. Data leaks are becoming more common, whether it’s hackers penetrating company computer systems, politicians forgetting USB drives on the train, or furious ex-employees pilfering critical files.

If you own or operate a business, you must take precautions to safeguard the information you collect and maintain, particularly information about your clients. Not only will their names and financial information be compromised, but your company’s image will suffer as well, as customers will abandon your business.

Here are a few pointers to help you along the way.

1. Only save information that is useful.

Even while it may be tempting, especially for promotional or communication purposes, to save all the information you can about your clients, you are increasing the danger of a breach. Limit the amount of data you keep on them to only what you really must. You may also wish to delete any information about clients who have stopped doing business with your company, because if they have made no attempt to contact you again, there is no need to retain their data on your system.

2. Protect the information of your clients.

The more difficult it is to hack into your computer, the more secure your customer data will be. As a result, keep your equipment up to date with the most recent firewalls and anti-virus software, and password-protect everything, especially anything relevant to your customers’ account information. An IT specialist can also offer suggestions on how to protect your PC even more effectively. An off-site document storage facility should be considered as well. In the unusual event that data is stolen, this type of business will have the most up-to-date security measures in place and will be held liable. As a result, clients will be more willing to utilise your services if they know that their personal information is safe.

3. Don’t use paper copies!

Scanning and digitizing your data for cloud storage or on your desktop computer eliminates the need to retain paper copies of anything anymore. Consequently, shred any paper waste and dispose of it properly; alternatively, use a paper shredding service to discard any sensitive material on your behalf. Remove everything that contains client data and you will have less of a possibility for data to be breached, whether by a disgruntled employee or a trespasser who has acquired access to your company. You should also teach employees how to safely use their computers and devices to avoid any unauthorized entry into your systems. This includes logging out whenever they leave their desk and using regularly changed and secure passwords.

Finally

When clients place their faith in you, you owe it to them to do all in your power to keep them happy. The first step in preventing a data breach is to ensure the safety of any personally identifiable information (PII) that may be stored about them. If you don’t, the implications might be devastating for you and your clients!

Staying Ahead Of The Curve With Software Security How To Protect Your Business Data

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StrategyDriven Risk Management Article |Software Security|Staying Ahead Of The Curve With Software Security How To Protect Your Business DataWe live in a fast-paced and highly competitive world. Businesses need to stay on top of the latest trends and innovations in order to grow and succeed. One such trend that all companies should keep an eye on is software security. However, as with any new technology, it can be hard to know how to best protect your data from security breaches.

The golden rule for staying safe in today’s world is to always update your software, make two-factor authentication a regular part of using your passwords, and use different passwords for different accounts. This guide will teach you how to stay ahead of the curve and secure your business data so that you can build a more promising future for your company.

Why Software Security Is Important

While it may seem like an unnecessary hassle, software security is essential for any business. Whether you’re a freelancer, startup, or global company, there are many reasons why security should be your top priority. It not only protects your reputation but can help your business to grow.

Data is the lifeblood of any business. Without the information stored on your computer or servers, you won’t have anything to sell or offer to customers. With this in mind, it’s important that you take every precaution possible to protect this data from breaches and theft. Hacks can happen at any time, and from anywhere in the world, so you want to make sure that your business data is safe from hackers who might be able to get into your system with one simple password guess.

When people come across a company that doesn’t protect their data or passwords adequately, they may think twice about buying from them in the future. This could hurt your brand reputation and cause potential customers to turn away from your business. Security is a win-win situation. Not only do you get peace of mind knowing that your data will be safe from hacks and theft, but you’ll also build trust when potential customers see how careful you are when it comes to handling their data.

The Basics Of Software Security

Software security is one of the most important things to consider to ensure your company’s data is safe. One of the best ways to protect your data is simply by updating your software. Outdated versions of programs can leave your data vulnerable to hackers since they know what vulnerabilities are available in older versions.

Many programs will automatically prompt you when it’s time to update, and while this may sometimes occur in inopportune moments, it’s best to make sure you update as soon as possible. A second way to keep your company’s data secure is by using two-factor authentication. This means using two different types of information to unlock an account; typically, this is a password and a physical device like an ID card or cell phone. It makes it harder for hackers to break into accounts because they need both pieces of information in order for their login attempt to work.

How To Stay Ahead?

No matter what kind of company you have, keeping data safe is essential. Any company that stores customer information or handles financial transactions needs to protect itself from hackers and other security breaches. One of the best ways to stay ahead is to build a data security infrastructure from the ground up. This includes investing in software that will make your business more secure.

Another way to stay ahead of the curve is to invest in adequate software security testing to ensure that there are no gaps in your software security. When looking into testing methods, it can be a daunting process to find what will work for your programs. However, you can find help and expert advice in this guide to software security testing from ForAllSecure.

The Importance Of Updating Your Software

One of the most important ways to protect your data from security breaches is promptly updating your software. Almost anything can be hacked in today’s environment, and outdated software is a major liability.

A security breach occurs when a hacker infiltrates your network and steals your data. Updating your software makes it harder for hackers to find a vulnerability in the system that they can exploit to get in. If you don’t take this precaution, you leave yourself vulnerable to attack and open to losing all of your company’s sensitive information. In the event of an attack, it may take days before you realize there’s been an intrusion. And by then, it might be too late as the damage could already be done.

Locking Down Your Passwords

Let’s start with the basics. Your passwords are one of your first lines of defense against hacking, and they’re also the easiest to forget about. Unless you want to be embarrassed by a data breach, it’s essential to take precautions. Make sure that you use different passwords for different accounts, including your personal email account, work email account, social media accounts, and bank accounts. If you need help coming up with strong passwords for all of these accounts, consider using a password manager. In general, make sure your passwords are not easy-to-guess words or phrases.

Two-Factor Authentication

Many companies have adopted two-factor authentication for their software, which is a simple and effective way to add an extra layer of protection to your data. With this system, when you want to access a specific account online, you’ll need a password and another form of identification, such as a company smartphone.

This is an excellent measure for securing your company’s data. It would be much more difficult for someone to access one of your accounts with two-factor authentication because they would need both the password and the device.

Conclusion

After reading this article, you should have a few more tools in your arsenal to stay ahead of the curve with software security.

As a business owner, it’s essential to make sure you’re taking a proactive stance on software security. It’s not enough to simply update your software. You can take precautions to keep your data safe and your business protected. Stay vigilant and stay ahead of the curve.

7 Features to Look for When Choosing a Turnkey BDR Appliance

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StrategyDriven Risk Management Article |Turnkey BDR|7 Features to Look for When Choosing a Turnkey BDR ApplianceThe term “turnkey” pertains to a product or service that can immediately be used in its full capacity right out of the box. For products like backup and disaster recovery (BDR) appliances, this turnkey functionality is essential. It means that businesses that use the product can go about backing up large amounts of data from day one, and that they can depend on the solution even if data loss were to happen the next day.

For any business operating in this data-driven age, a turnkey backup and recovery solution is a must-have. But what kind of BDR appliance is worth the investment? If your own company is looking for a turnkey BDR solution, here are the top seven features you will want it to have.

Speedy Backup

The most important feature in your BDR appliance is fast backup and recovery from the get-go, creating multiple backup copies in multiple location. If it takes too long for the appliance to back up your business data, you’ll have an even harder time recovering from a disaster and getting your operations back to normal.

That said, you will want a solution that can back up and recover large amounts of data in a matter of minutes. It should also be able to leverage data compression techniques to ensure the most efficient usage of available resources.

Flexible Data Capture Capabilities

The next feature that you want in your BDR solution is flexibility in terms of how it can capture and store data. It should be able to accommodate data in a variety of formats, as your own business data can come in different forms and are used on multiple programs or platforms.

The flexibility in terms of data capture also determines the breadth of recovery methods your solution can offer. Currently, the most common way of backing up large amounts of data is by using snapshots. The more adaptable your solution is and the more recovery options it can offer in dire circumstances, the better it will be for your business.

Regular Automated Testing

BDR solutions require regular testing to see if the system is properly backing up data the way it’s supposed to. However, this is a burdensome task for staff to perform manually, and it takes away from the “turnkey” quality of the device.

It’s good to invest in an appliance that is able to perform regular automated testing. IT personnel can pre-configure the solution to run tests after a certain condition has been met—like after every successful backup. The results of the auto-testing can quickly reveal whether the backup process is has any issues that need to be resolved in order for the solution to perform as it should.

Simplicity and Ease of Use

You will also want a BDR appliance that truly lives up to its branding as a turnkey device—that is, something that’s easy to set up and maintain. Overly complex products may demand too much time, money, or effort just to configure. Not only will that make them less satisfying to own; they may also become an additional liability when a disastrous event occurs.

It’s important to look for a solution that you can simply “set and forget.” The ideal product will ensure swift and accurate data backup and recovery without too much effort on the part of your staff.

Full Protection Against Data Breaches

Data breaches occur, even on dedicated devices for data backup and recovery. These breaches can happen anytime, even when your business data is being backed up. Therefore, you’ll want a solution that can safeguard data when you are scrambling to recover your business operations.

Buy a product that encrypts of your data while it’s being backed up and after it’s been backed up. Get assurance from the BDR vendor that your data will be encrypted from the source before it’s saved to another network for storage.

Adequate IT Support

Though you may be purchasing a turnkey BDR solution, you’ll still need the help of human personnel from time to time. Your vendor’s IT support staff should be able to help you troubleshoot more advanced problems that may come up with the device.

Make sure to buy a solution from a company that has the best people behind it, and not only the most cutting-edge software. Read reviews not only for the product itself, but for the extent of IT support the vendor offered customers when something went wrong.

Scalability for Your Business’s Future

Lastly, you will want a BDR appliance that can keep up with your company’s growth. The larger and busier your company becomes, the more complex your requirements will be for successful data backup and disaster recovery.

Get a solution that will be able to meet your demands as your business grows. For this, you’ll need to properly size your BDR appliance and not go with the cheaper option that’s not properly sized. This will be much easier for you when you’ve outgrown the appliance that’s not properly sized because you’ll have to either replace your current appliance, or shift to a brand-new solution.

Conclusion

System failures, natural disasters, and data breaches could be financially devastating to your company. There’s no telling when these will actually occur. But regardless of when they happen, a dependable BDR solution like the one offered by Quorum will help you bounce back instantly. In the event of a calamity, you shouldn’t have to think too hard about what to do in order to get your business back to normal—and a turnkey BDR appliance will help you do just that.

4 Ways You Can Manage The Risk Of A New Business

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StrategyDriven Risk Management Article |New Business|4 Ways You Can Manage The Risk Of A New BusinessAre you thinking about setting up your own business? If so, it’s important to remember that the majority of new companies fail on the market. Indeed, some reports suggest that up to 90% of new businesses are likely to fail within their first year. That’s why it’s important to make sure that you are managing the risk effectively when setting up your company. Here are some of the ways that you can do this.

Kill The Costs

First, you need to think about the issues with costs in your business model. If you want to effectively manage the risk of setting up a new company, then you need to make sure that the costs remain under the right level of control. One of the ways that you can do this is by making your business more green. A green friendly company will always be far more cost friendly overall and that’s exactly what you need. One of the best ways to do this would be to consider investing in renewable power solutions for your business.

Set Your Business Up As An LLC

During the initial set up process of your business, you should consider establishing your company as an LLC. With an LLC, you can make sure that if you ever do run into money trouble with your business, then you can keep the debt confined to your company. You won’t have to worry about it spreading over to your personal finances at all. You’ll need a legal firm to help you here, one with years of experience.

Invest In The Right Insurance

Next, you should consider the insurance options that are going to benefit your business. The right choices with insurance will guarantee that your company is not left exposed to potential storms on the horizon. There are lots of insurance plans that could be beneficial to your business model. For instance, you might want to think about investing in general liability insurance. This will protect you and your company if anyone is injured or negatively impacted by the actions of your company. Cyber-security insurance can also help you handle the costs caused due to a hack or attack on your business.

Keep It Flexible

Finally, you might want to think about taking steps to ensure that you improve flexibility levels in your business model. By improving the flexibility, you can make sure that you will be able to adapt your business for different challenges that might exist on the market. One of the ways that you can keep your business flexible would be through hiring outsourcing services or freelancers. You might also want to think about avoiding the office altogether, instead allowing your team members to work from home.

We hope this helps you understand some of the key steps that you can take when you are managing levels of risk setting up your business. By exploring the best possibilities you can ensure that it won’t be a complete disaster if your business does fail while also improving the chances of longevity.