Keeping Your Information Protected from Data Theft

The information that your company holds is its lifeblood. The documents and other sensitive information that is held in physical and digital documents within your company are vital to your success. When physical documents become outdated or unnecessary, often times they are shredded to ensure that the information cannot be used in any other way than it was originally intended.

Digital documents are a bit trickier. Simply deleting a file off of your network is not always going to make the information disappear. As newer technology arises in copy machines and multifunction print devices, those looking to steal your data are finding new ways of acquiring it. Many copy machines are now equipped with internal hard drives that store data on them for retrieval at a later date. This is an important feature because it allows previously copied documents to be reprinted without the need to rescan them.

While this is a great feature in business, it is important to recognize the ways that this could be used against your company. If you lease your office equipment, ensure that all data is erased before returning it. The same practice should be put in effect if you own your devices and are looking to sell them when upgrading to new equipment. Encrypting files is another way to make sure that those who shouldn’t have access, don’t.

When a file is stored digitally, companies are finding the best practices are to encrypt the network and the files separately. That way, individuals with access to the network don’t have full access to everything on the server. This is especially important for companies who have guest access to their network for clients and other individuals who may be in the office.

Don’t let your business fall prey to information theft due to outdated means of protecting your data. Contact us today to find out how your company can utilize state of the art means of information and data protection today!