4 Tips for Protecting your assets and your brand

With Digital being the way of the future and more businesses streamlining into paperless offices, the risk of your data being exposed also increases. With yet more Data Breaches in the news, it’s just another reminder to make sure that, as a business, you are protecting your and your customers’ data.

Here are 4 easy tips on how to better protect yourself!

1. Use Strong Passwords unrelated to your assets!

Those little encouragements to create strong passwords with a combination of letters and numbers aren’t just there for enlightenment. The longer this little mix of characters is, the longer it takes to crack. With 11 characters, a blend of Numbers, Upper and Lowercase Letters as well as symbols, your hackers are looking at 34 years just to crack that one! This should be the first step in protecting your assets! 

2. Protect yourself and change your passwords often.

Following on from a strong password: changing these every six months is recommended. Imagine your hackers taking 34 years to crack one password. By that stage, you’ve already changed your password 68 times! With combination passwords, the options are endless, so make sure you aren’t recycling already-used passwords! Remembering these passwords can be difficult, but there is a range of safe password manager tools available.

3. Hot Tip – Set up 2 Step Verification

This second layer of authentication can be arranged via a code sent through text message, an authenticator application and facial/fingerprint verification. The more layers of verification you have, the better the security. If you don’t already have an authenticator app, this is certainly ideal, as the codes change every 30 seconds, making it harder for hackers to crack.

4. Don’t forget to pay attention to Software Updates

Software providers are constantly correcting security concerns as weaknesses are discovered. By applying these patch updates regularly, you will be less vulnerable to becoming hacked.

Business best practices should always include data protection! But it’s not just for businesses; you should also incorporate this into your private business. Especially where your social media is concerned. Don’t forget that your Facebook Business page is linked to your personal page, so if your personal account gets hacked, it will give them access to your business page. If you have ever run Facebook Ads before, then this also gives them access to your credit cards, and you don’t want that to happen!