Automated information systems have become an indispensable part of the functioning of businesses irrespective of the scale of business. The wide reach of e-commerce and the ease and efficiency of process management over automated information systems has firmly established these systems as a part of business processes.
With these systems comes the need for cyber security. Taking measures for computer security and network security is essential to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data. It is important for you to put in place systems that prevent data theft and detect unauthorized access.
As all data is stored on computer systems, you cannot afford to jeopardize system security in a manner that you lose important data. Cyber security measures are essential even for small businesses for the following reasons.
1. Guarding against data theft
In organizations, not all information is accessible to everyone. Give the right to access and to make changes to information only to a specific group of people to retain data confidentiality. Put in place systems that allow you to detect an unauthorized access and its origin.
2. Security of sensitive financial data
Customers share their contact details with organizations with a belief that the data will not be shared with a third party. Information collected from people may also relate to credit card data. It is important for you as an entrepreneur to protect data of your client base to make sure that your clients do not suffer due to a lapse in information security at your end.
3. Securing systems against sabotage
As software applications form the core of our businesses processes, it is important to make sure that the system is not subject to malicious piece of code that can wreak havoc on normal functioning of a system. Use firewalls and anti-malware applications and secure the system and network settings.
4. Avoiding loss of productivity
Protect the systems to avoid data corruption and system sabotage which may lead to loss of employee productivity. It is important to backup important data. A back server is also needed to enable smooth functioning of business processes even when a system is subjected to cyber attacks.
Make sure that you do not compromise on security for the sake of ease of use.
5. Preventing denial of access (DoS) to e-commerce websites
A denial of service is possible through an over the web attack on an e-commerce portal. This is likely to lead to loss of business opportunity for the organization. It is also possible that you may end up with a disgruntled set of consumers if they are not able to get immediate attention to issues faced by them.
Websites serve as the basic platform for interaction with consumers in case of e-commerce portals. Order data is received here for further processing. In case of organizations that are not into e-commerce but are using software applications in business processes with a distributed database system, securing of data is important.
As a small business owner, you must make sure that your systems are secure against data theft and other threats.
About the author: Alia Haley is a blogger who is a tech freak. She has a weak side for gadgets and fashionable stuff she loves collecting them. Recently she added an organic foundation makeup and an electronic grooming kit to her collection. Recently she wrote articles on office design ideas and Flying car.
Image Credit, Flickr User – Lasse Kristensen
