There’s More to Data Loss Than You May Think…

Most companies have databases with a large amount of their consumers’ sensitive information (financial data, credit card numbers, social security numbers, health records, etc.) that are supposed to stay confidential and be used for business purposes only. So what happens when that information is compromised? That’s what we call data loss.

The key causes for data loss are typically hardware or system malfunction, followed by human error and software corruptions or program malfunctions. Data loss can happen on ANY device that stores your data.

Recently, a new report from IT research and consulting company Osterman Research found that 69 percent of organizations interviewed indicated that they have suffered significant data or knowledge loss resulting from employees who had left the business. The report stated that many employees are actually taking data with them when they depart, or leaving it in locations that are unknown or inaccessible to corporate data managers.

Human error seems to be a growing cause of data loss and is expected to top hardware issues this year. So what can you do to protect your company data from being taken by former employees? There are a couple of ways to reduce your risk. First, make sure you have detailed IT policies and procedures in place. You will also want to limit employee access to the data and only give them access to what they need to perform their job. An intern certainly doesn’t need access to all data files, for example. Does your system require encryption of sensitive data? What about backing up? The simplest way to protect your data is to have a backup. While this is an easy step, you’ll want to ensure that the backup is daily and automatic, and that you are archiving your data correctly. (Learn more about data backup, here.)

Some other ways companies can protect employee-based data loss include using virtual desktops, content archiving, file sharing and collaboration, encryption, mobile device management and employee activity monitoring. These are all services that managed service providers (MSPs), like Valeo Networks, offer.

In addition to this new trend of employee-caused data loss, you have to be prepared for hardware issues, malware (many different kinds), program malfunctions and more. The best way to combat these additional factors that lead to data loss? Remote location backups.

The ONLY way to completely protect your data and guarantee that you could restore it all after a major disaster is by maintaining an up-to-date copy of your data offsite in a high-security facility. Remote backups (also called offsite backups, online backups, or managed backups) are a service that allows you to maintain a secure copy of your data in a different location than your office.
Want to be sure you have all necessary policies and procedures in place? Valeo Networks offers a FREE Network Assessment (A $250 Value) to all companies, which includes a Data Security Analysis. Contact Valeo Networks at 800-584- 6844 or via sales@saalexIT.com anytime.