Data breaches are becoming increasingly common and increasingly damaging to individuals, companies, and even governments. Nobody wants their personal information compromised, and everyone should take measures to protect themselves.
For businesses, just like for individuals, compromised data can have serious financial consequences. Businesses also have more than just their internal company information to protect: they have their suppliers’ and clients’ information to safeguard as well.
While there may not be a way to guarantee the safety of electronic information, there are many fairly simple measures businesses can take to make it harder for hackers. One way is to use a WMS that stores your files and records in a cloud.
Warehouse Data Security Benefits of a Cloud System
One of the benefits of using a cloud system provided by another company is that they are the ones liable for a breach or compromise. Hosting all your information on your own servers means you could be fully liable for damages not only to your business but to your clients as well.
A company that provides cloud storage as a service can likely afford better security than you could if you hosted the information yourself. It would almost certainly cost your business much more to achieve the same level of security internally than to purchase a WMS that handles the cloud storage for you.
Find out what kinds of security are in place for different cloud storage options and choose a company that shows—not just says—that it takes the safety of your data very seriously.
Other Important Steps to Take
No system is perfect. Be vigilant in protecting critical systems and information from malicious attacks. Whether or not you choose cloud storage for your company’s data, make sure you have the following precautions in place.
Password Protection
Password protect all computers and other devices used to store or access sensitive information.
Use strong passwords. This means your passwords should not easy to guess. For real security, passwords should not be obviously related to your company name or industry. Using a variety of characters can help, but the trick of replacing letters in a word with symbols (like $ for S) does not add security. The more random a password is, the better.
Strong passwords are long passwords. The number one indicator of a password’s security is length. It’s simply, really: the longer a password, the more difficult it is for brute force attacks to crack.
Change these passwords regularly. Every quarter or every six months is recommended.
Secure Your WiFi Network
Use a strong password and regularly change both the default username and password for the router login. The longer you use the same username and password, the more time you’re giving data predators to figure them out and get into your system.
In our world of electronic information, there is no excuse for neglecting basic precautions to keep your data secure. As you know, information can be just as valuable as product. You wouldn’t leave your doors unlocked; don’t leave your data unlocked either.
