Keep Your Company Safe With These Proactive Security Policies

17 Feb Keep Your Company Safe With These Proactive Security Policies

Employees are one of your biggest security holes. There is no foolproof method to prevent human error, which is why employee mistakes are the most common security breaches. So, how do you prevent it? Your company needs preventative security policies detailed in your employee handbook and ensure your employee reads through it and signs off on agreeing to abide by them.

These proactive measures can drastically reduce the chances of a security breach. Here are areas to keep in mind when developing your own security policy:

1. Internet Security

Employees spend the majority of their business day at their computer, browsing the internet. To make the best of their time, make sure to do the following:

1. Employees should use the Internet solely for business purposes. Consider establishing a website blocker, not only will this safeguard your digital assets, your employee will be more productive and focus their time appropriately.
2. Prohibit unauthorized downloads. Most malware are hidden in downloads – Additionally, downloads take up space on the hard drive and can slow a computer’s processing speed dramatically.
3. Accessing personal email should not be done on business devices. If employees must access their own email account during the day, they can do so on their smartphone or other personal device.

These are just a few of internet policies to get started, but you should also consider including information on your recommended browsing practices and your policies for using business devices (such as company phones) on public wifi.

2. Email

Just like with the Internet policy mentioned above, company email accounts should only be utilized for business use. That means your employee should never send personal files, forward links or perform any type of business-related activities outside of their specific job role.

3. Passwords

We’ve all heard the importance of a strong password. Alphanumeric encryption is now standard practice for most businesses. Most employees will create the easiest passwords for their accounts – which makes these accounts most vulnerable to attack. There are many sites that can generate secure passwords for your employees. Stay away from generic business passwords everyone uses like the company phone number, or a mix of the company name and address.

4. Data

Whether or not you allow your employees to conduct work on their own device, it is important that you have a stringent ‘Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD)’ policy in place. Make sure to explain that any data on your workstation is business property. That means employees aren’t allowed to remove or copy it without your authorization.