Online business security is a matter for every owner to take seriously. So today I thought we would take a look at some of the insane mistakes people make with their online business security. If you avoid these things, you’re off to a great start!
Keeping your files secure is of utmost importance in business today, where almost everything is online. Yet statistics have shown some terrible practices are happening out there. Did you know that 42% of organisations rely on sticky notes? … Yes, sticky notes, for their password management!
“Security is always excessive until it’s not enough.” Robbie Sinclair
Your online business security is paramount, but there are some common mistakes. Let’s have a look:
You rely on memory:
If you’re relying on memory for your password management, then you’ve got a real problem with your online business security. Human memory is not reliable enough, especially for such important information. We’re incredibly forgetful, especially when things get really busy. Things you can think of easily one minute, are gone the next. If it’s someone who leaves your business for any reason, and they’ve left with that password security in their head, you’ve got an even bigger problem. I know from personal experience that you just don’t know when the worst thing might happen. When I lost my husband in 2014 a lot of passwords were lost with him.
Your people keep files to themselves:
Another thing people do to make their online filing security questionable is to keep files to themselves. I want to ask you, how many versions of your business files are saved to your desktop, or a team member’s desktop? People can be tucking away things for themselves, putting them in their emails, or saving them to their desktops. Even printing them up and putting them in a folder … all these means is you’ve got a real problem in keeping the versions of your filing safe and secure.
Your passwords are simple:
A very important thing to think about with your online business security is the choice of passwords themselves. Passwords are the actual keys to all of your information. When passwords are simple to remember, it means that those same passwords are also simple to hack. It’s really important to create complex unique passwords for every single platform you log into. Your online business security relies on it, so make the effort with your passwords, and remove the very real risk of people guessing them and logging in to your online platforms.
Your passwords are reused:
This leads to the next thing about password management: never reusing passwords. When passwords are reused, it’s a huge risk to your online security. Reusing passwords is like cutting a copy of your key, and then handing it out to all your neighbours. If a person gets your one password, they are going to have access to everything that you’ve got stored. It’s not a good movie to be reusing passwords. Creating complex unique passwords, using encrypted software, is the only way to go.
I know some people think cloud storage isn’t secure, but many risky practices are happening in everyday business. You might want to have a look at your own. Look, and make sure you haven’t fallen into these traps. Awareness is the first step in creating a safer, more secure business environment.
