Top 10 Data Protection Strategies

To celebrate Data Privacy Day, Jay Livens, director of product and solutions marketing at Iron Mountain has compiled a checklist of top 10 strategies for businesses who want to keep their information safe and from getting into the wrong hands.

1. Encryption is key. Make sure all of your data is encrypted—whether it’s information you keep in digital storage, tape, or on your employees’ mobile devices. Wherever there is sensitive information, there should also be encryption.

2. Manage Mobile Devices. The ever-mobile employee of today can have a lot of sensitive information on their phones and tablets. Make sure you have a mobile device management solution or policy in place to protect those devices, whether corporate or employee-owned.

3. Out with the Old.  Ensure that comprehensive corporate policy accounts for the secure destruction of old and sensitive company, employee, and customer information.

4. Store Smart. You should always know how your information is secured—whether it’s in the cloud, in a data center, or housed locally. 

5. Plan Ahead. Make sure you have an end-of-life plan in place for assets you no longer need or that will be destroyed. People tend to hold on to information for longer than they need. Make sure you dispose of IT assets in a safe and consistent manner to protect from a potential data breach.

6. Password Protect. Use complex passwords, change them frequently, and use two factor authentication whenever possible.

7. Virus Protection. It seems like a no-brainer, but keeping up-to-date with virus protection is a great way to keep data safe.

8. Don’t Forget Firewalls. Firewalls and intrusion detection are also a key piece of the data privacy puzzle.

9. Privacy is the Best Policy. Create an enterprisewide policy to protect private information from unauthorized access or inadvertent disclosure.

10. Education Nation. Properly train your employees to treat information appropriately, and make sure everyone is up to speed on the latest policies and procedures.

Source: Iron Mountain