If the current news cycle has shown us anything, it’s that it’s never been more important for businesses to be serious about security. It may seem like the next data breach is imminent.
For businesses to remain viable, they require customers to trust them with sensitive information, and the consequences of a breach of that trust can cause irreversible damage to reputations and finances.
So how should companies act as responsible stewards of their customers’ data and demonstrate their practices?
Any business can take a few simple steps to ensure that it protects its customers’ data. Here are five of them.
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1. Know the rules and make sure your business meets the necessary standards
Being compliant and demonstrating that your business is operating responsibly starts with being aware of compliance requirements and legislation.
Businesses must comply with a series of minimum security standards, including ISO 27001, and many small businesses are also required to comply with Australian privacy law. The more services you offer, the more standards you may need to meet.
It can be a complex task, but a comprehensive and robust compliance program is the easiest way for businesses to ensure they are covered.
2. Ensure and demonstrate compliance to customers
Regular security monitoring is one of the most important steps a business can take to ensure it is compliant and keep customer data safe.
Automated compliance management software lets you scale your compliance program and easily alerts you to security breaches and ensures your servers and networks are protected. Additionally, an automated platform can save you from wasting time manually monitoring your systems.
Demonstrating to customers that you’re committed to ongoing monitoring to protect their data and stay compliant is equally important for attracting and retaining customers, especially for start-ups.
Vanta Trust Reports provides a transparent, real-time status of your organization’s security and shows your customers the measures you have in place to protect their information. This helps streamline the sales process and shows customers you’re serious about security.
3. Implement a reliable risk management system
Risk assessments should be part of your ongoing compliance strategy to reduce future risks and manage existing ones. To effectively manage and prevent customer data risks, you need to have a rigorous risk assessment process in place.
But managing risk manually can be a complex task, especially for companies new to the risk management process and for small businesses with a number of priorities to juggle.
Vanta is automated Risk management streamlines the risk management process and is based on the ISO 27005 risk assessment methodology which helps to easily guide companies through the steps of risk management. The risk management solution helps you meet compliance requirements that will keep their customers’ data safe.
4. Make sure all software and systems are up to date
Online attackers are constantly evolving their methods and becoming more and more sophisticated. The older the software, the more vulnerable it is to attacks. It is essential that companies regularly update their systems and software to operate in a safe and responsible manner.
Always make sure your browser, operating system, and ransomware are up-to-date to keep your customers’ data safe.
5. Don’t store customer data you no longer need
Another simple way to minimize the risk of a data breach is to simply store less of it.
The more customer data companies store, the more valuable it is to attackers. Collect only the data from your customers that you need and delete those that are no longer needed.
Demonstrating compliance allows a business to strengthen its relationships with its customers and will help protect you from the consequences of customer data breaches. Sophisticated monitoring and risk management strategies are the most important factors a company should have in its compliance management toolbox.
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