When you work incredibly hard to set up a business, the last thing that you want to happen is to see it fall victim to a crime that can put everything in jeopardy. However, far too many companies are finding themselves in this exact situation and the worst thing about it is there are steps that could have been taken to prevent the issue from taking place to begin with. So, here are a few top tips to keep your business safe and secure.
Conduct a Detailed Risk Assessment
First up, it makes sense that you conduct a detailed risk assessment on your business to work out where the areas of weakness exist. To begin with these could be coming from physical security risks and threats around the premises. You should also not forget about the many digital risks that are out there, which are becoming increasingly prevalent in an age when cybercrime is taking over. Rather than throwing yourself in at the deep end trying to solve problems, it makes sense that your first step is a thorough risk assessment.
Secure Your Premises
Whether you run your business from home or you go to an office, you need to make sure that the entire premises is as secure as possible. There are still plenty of people who are looking to break into your place, and the initial point of entry is bound to be the doors and the windows. With this in mind, you could look at the option of access control onto your main property. You should also look at the possibility of installing CCTV and an alarm system. Both of these can act as a deterrent, as well as picking up on any intruders that do attempt to access your property. When you are considering a company formation in the UK, you must consider security as well.
Stop Data Theft
As we mentioned earlier in the general risk assessment section, you certainly need to ensure that you keep a close eye on preventing data theft. Otherwise, it is more than likely you are going to find people trying to access your data and that of your customers. Essentially, you need to get all the basics right including implementing a strong password policy, using up-to-date anti-virus software, and making sure that everything is properly backed up using a cloud-based storage system. Another technique that you can put into practice is to hire a ‘friendly’ hacker to try and access your data and they can then point out where the main weak spots lie.
Keep an Eye on Employee Theft
One of the main issues lies with the fact that employees often leak the data of a company – whether inadvertently or on purpose. To stop the first one, you can aim to put in place a clear staff guideline policy that issues instructions on common issues such as locking up at night, changing passwords on a regular basis and so on. To stop the second, you should ensure that you are conducting all the necessary background checks on them during the interview process and remember to remove access points from fired staff.