You work hard to keep your business safe and to maintain a good relationship with your customers – but then the worst happens, and your company is hit by a data breach or fraud. You might wonder how you're ever going to recover, much less prevent such a thing from happening again. Don't despair, though. Believe it or not, it’s possible to pick up the pieces and move on – and for the sake of your customers and employees, you must. Today, Wolex Technologies explains how.
Recovering Quickly
When you realize that something has gone wrong and that your business' data is at risk, your first step must be to identify the issue and secure your systems. Figure out exactly what has happened, and find the source of the breach and which information has been impacted. Next, change all passwords, and implement a temporary security fix so that no unauthorized parties can continue to access your data. Call in a professional to help you if necessary.
You must then reach out to authorities and your customers. Give the authorities as much information as possible, and they'll give you further guidance about how to handle the breach according to industry standards. Next, notify your customers, and do this as soon as possible. Tell them the time of the breach or fraudulent activity and a bit about the nature of the issue, especially what kinds of information were accessed. Also, give your customers some advice about how to protect themselves, such as canceling credit cards, and assure them you're doing everything possible to ensure their security. Reach out using more than one method of communication so that your customers receive this critical message. Send an email, but follow up with a letter or phone call, for example.
Now you enter into the long process of cleanup that involves recovering and reorganizing your data, permanently fixing breached areas, reestablishing customer trust, and making sure that the worst doesn't happen ever again.
Preventing Another Occurrence
As you begin the process of preventing future data breaches or incidents of fraud, consider hiring a security consultant to advise you on making your system as strong as possible. Upgrade your cybersecurity systems and software, and develop a secure data backup method at the very least.
Also, spend time training your employees about data security. You can, for instance, show them how to create strong passwords. The strongest passwords are those that combine lower- and upper-case letters, numbers, and symbols. Offer advice about keeping passwords safe and organized, and suggest a secure password manager.
You can also protect your business from a cyber attack by routinely updating patches, using high-end antivirus software, securing your infrastructure, and identifying which data is most sensitive. Using an invoice maker is a good way to retain back-ups of any billing or payment records, as well.
Finally, pay attention to the security of your communications with customers and other businesses as well as in-house communications. If you send invoices by email, for example, you can send them securely as PDF files. When you send these invoices to customers, encrypt them for an extra layer of security.
Returning to Business as Usual
While it's difficult to return to business as usual after an episode of fraud or a data breach, you can do it with some time, effort, and care.
Wolex Technologies provides cost-effective, world class service to our clients by researching market changes and staying consistent with current technology trends. Call (503) 662-2190.