The Importance of Cybersecurity and Third Party Risk Management for Your Business

Ensuring that your business is not only up-to-date when it comes to its technology platforms, but also airtight from a security perspective is paramount in the modern era. Cyber security has burgeoned into a massive industry with layered intricacies, but there are basic practices to follow in order to maintain your security integrity and third party risk management.

Tech employees to use strong passwords

This seems blindingly obvious, but it’s still something that people neglect to pay attention to quite frequently. A lot of online security breaches are possible because weak passwords are easier and faster to decrypt. Employees often have sensitive information on their laptops, or in their email accounts; so password training for all employees is basic essential for information security. Remember, “1234” and “password” are not secure options.

Be careful about what you share online

It might seem like sending an email is no different to having a conversation, but in terms of legality and  the fact that emails are hackable, that’s not necessarily the case. A simple example would be someone under a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). If you’re not allowed to publicly discuss something, but send a friend an email with sensitive information regarding the topic of the NDA, and it gets hacked or released somehow, you could be liable for that transgression. Sometimes it pays to be overly cautious, and with information regarding bank accounts, confidential business data, or other sensitive information it’s better to keep its circulation minimal.

Keep all business software updated

Most software and IT companies put a lot of time and effort into making sure their applications or programs are as secure as possible – and they generally maintain things like an app’s or program’s security functions via updates or patches. Staying up to speed with those patches is vital to make sure that the latest, and most secure, version of the software is being used by your business. It could be something as simple as updating your email app to the latest version because they fixed a security weakness, but something that simple could be a big headache in the event of a security breach.

Know what data your business collects and protect it

If your business collects customer information as part of the business operations, it’s often a legal requirement to go to extensive lengths to protect that information. If a customer shares information with your business that is confidential or it may be harmful to their business or reputation if compromised, it’s your business’ responsibility to make sure it’s as difficult as possible for an outside party to gain access to that information. This obligation also applies to any vendors or suppliers that support your business. Once a company gains information about their customers, they’re obligated to protect it, and by extension their vendors and suppliers, too. Thankfully, there are ways to ensure this.

Consult experts

At the rate that IT conventions and digital technology is changing, it can be difficult as a business owner to stay up to date with all your digital information risks and responsibilities. Going back to the previous point – if you know you collect client information and want to know how it needs to be protected and what the potential dangers are, contact us for the best advice on what solutions and practices will keep that information secure.

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