Tag Archives: data protection

Protecting Your Business in Case of Death

Protecting Your Business
Data Backup, Security, Technology, , , ,

It would be a shame and an unfortunate waste if a business cannot continue operating after the owner’s death. Fortunately, we have ways to circumvent this, beginning with a highly efficient thing called digital estate planning. When protecting your business, this is an effective way to prepare before death.

There are a few scenarios where the business can continue past the owner’s death. For example, we have sole proprietorships and traditional partnerships, where the dissolution automatically happens when the owner dies. But for many other cases, digital estate planning plays a role in ensuring the business will continue running under new management in the coming years.

Why Protecting Your Business & Digital Estate Planning Is Important

The main reason digital estate planning is now a critical element for businesses is that most business transactions and operations are processed digitally. Correspondence, marketing, and sales all happen online. This means that the wealth of a typical business’s assets is now digital. That is why protecting your business digitally is now also crucial.

Now, if the owner dies, and he is the only one with access to these digital assets, the people left in the office will have a huge problem. How can the successors of the business continue running the business when they can’t even log into the accounts in the first place?

As the business owner, when protecting your business it is your job to create a digital estate plan so that in case anything happens to you, or even if you are just temporarily incapacitated or unable to run the business for whatever reason, the person who is going to take your place would have all the data to gain access and to run the business.

How to Create a Digital Estate Plan

It might sound difficult, but creating a digital estate plan is straightforward when protecting your business. It is like making a will but for the digital assets of your business. You will begin by taking an inventory of all your digital assets. Make a list and make sure that everything is included. Anything that is in digital form should be on the list and must be planned for accordingly. This includes documents, databases, images, videos, login information for accounts relevant to the business, and so on.

After completing your list, think carefully about what you want to happen to them. In your digital estate plan, name the person you wish to entrust with each asset. Explicitly state what you want them to do to it, how you want the assets managed, and so on. Each appointee should receive a copy of all the login names and passwords needed to fulfill their responsibility.

Importance of Password Management in Protecting Your Business

This brings us to the crucial aspect of password management in digital estate planning. Turning over a list of passwords to your would-be successor is not enough when protecting your business. You must guarantee these passwords are current. Giving them a list of defunct login information is as good as giving them nothing.

The easiest way to ensure this is to use a password manager: a software application that securely keeps all your login names, passwords, and other sensitive information. Each time you change a password, which should be periodically, update the records accordingly.

Be Ready with a Well-Organized Digital Estate Plan

Having a business, you can pass on to your loved ones is a huge accomplishment. But it is just as important that you should be able to pass it on with no hitches. That is why as early as now, you should already start protecting your business and prepare a digital estate plan that will enable your loved ones to take over just as you wanted, after your death.

To help you make some of these business decisions, we’ve created two helpful downloadable infographics: A Digital Estate Planning Checklist and a Password Cheat Sheet. Pass these two resources around the office so everyone is up to speed on these important topics.

Call us any time you are ready to take the next step!

What is Personal Identifiable Information?

identifiable Information
Cybersecurity, Data Backup, Security, , , , , ,

Personal identifiable information, or PII is a term that is frequently mentioned these days concerning data breaches. It means any information that can find the person to whom the information is connected. With that being said, PII is considered to be confidential and must be treated as such. This information is why companies invest in cutting-edge data protection solutions to keep these details secure. PII is also the target of hackers when they break through a company’s database or network. With access to this private information, they can carry out their malicious activities, such as identity theft, more easily.

What Information Is Considered “PII”?

NIST lists an individual’s name, biometrics, and social security number as their primary personal identifiable information in the US. The NIST list also includes home address, email, passport number, driver’s license, vehicle plate number, date of birth, and more. These are also known as pseudo-identifiers or quasi-identifiers. A person cannot be identified from some of this data, such as the birthdate, because millions of people share the same date. But when put together with other information on the list, they make it clear who the person is. Individually, pseudo-identifiers are not considered PII in the US but they are so in Europe and a few other countries.

Ways to Protect Personal Identifiable Information

PII needs to be kept safe by both the organization that collects and stores it and the person who gave it to the organization and owns it. As such, in the event of a data breach, companies are not solely liable for any damage or loss that might occur. Despite this, it is still popular public opinion that the company must keep clients’ information safe and secure. So if you are a business owner, it would be in the best interest of everyone involved if you took the necessary steps to protect all the PII in your database.

You can easily do this by using a tried-and-tested Data Privacy Framework. Many are readily available, like the PCI DSS, the EU GDPR, and ISO 27000. We recommend a customized data protection framework that meets your data security needs and fits your company’s organizational structure..

Identifiable information: Creating Your Data Privacy Framework

Creating a data privacy system requires a dedicated IT team to build and manage it. Reputable managed services provider can create a solution to protect your data from nosy people. We can help you build a framework that fits your company and protects your sensitive data, from sales transactions to personal information. We will take a very close look at your company’s structure and design a system that will address all your specific needs and goals.

If you are ready to take the step to secure your data and be more protected from hackers, just let us know, and we will be there right away. In the meantime, if you think you have been hacked, here is our step-by-step guide to what you should do. Then call us so we can begin bolstering your defenses against cyberattacks.

Discussing Your Information Governance Policy with a Managed Service Provider (MSP)

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Staying in control of your business’ data is vital and can be made easier using a managed service provider

Businesses often generate tremendous amounts of data. Consider all of the emails you’ve ever sent, the documents you’ve written up, and the files you store on all of your computing devices and on platforms like Google Drive. Think about surveys you’ve sent to customers, information you’ve collected about their buying preferences and habits, and the data analyses you’ve conducted.

 

 

To stay in control of your data and manage it wisely, you need to develop a comprehensive information governance policy.

The benefits include the following:

  • A sensible system of organization for all of your data, whether it’s a critical file you need immediate access to or older information you can stow away somewhere.
  • Clear guidelines for employees on how they should store, share, or delete data.
  • Improved data security, decreasing the chances that you’ll suffer from a successful cyber attack. (With increases in the rate of data breaches, no organization is safe from getting targeted.)
  • A more effective use of data to glean insights from it and complete your work with greater efficiency and accuracy.
  • Greater trust in the continued existence of your data, instead of worrying about permanent data losses or experiencing unsustainable amounts of downtime as you struggle to restore data after an IT disaster.
  • Reliable compliance with data regulations that affect your industry.
  • Less waste of resources, as you develop more cost-effective ways to store and manage data, and rely on safe ways to dispose of it when needed.

How can a Managed Service Provider (MSP) help?

With an MSP, you enjoy a comprehensive, personalized array of IT services provided by experienced professionals. You’ll receive invaluable guidance and assistance with creating an information governance policy and implementing it in your organization.

One example is your choice of data backup solutions. The wrong software and hardware will endanger your most sensitive data or lead to costly delays in data restoration. There are various solutions to choose from; these range from high-quality cloud storage for critical and confidential information to magnetic tape for older, unessential, and less sensitive data. Whatever you choose needs to make sense for your data and for your organization’s needs. Your MSP will assist you with data backups, including making sure the backups aren’t left incomplete.

Another issue that comes up is how to handle your growing volume of data, particularly if your company is expanding in scope or working on projects involving massive amounts of information. Where do you store it all? Many companies rely on a hybrid of cloud computing and local storage solutions, but the specifics really depend on your particular demands.

Then there’s the need for data security, essential for protecting your customers, business partners, and employees while also meeting regulatory requirements. Your MSP will monitor your network round-the-clock and immediately respond to signs of unauthorized activity. They can safely dispose of data you wish to get rid of and help you make use of encryption, firewalls, anti-malware programs, and other cyber defenses. With your MSP’s assistance, your employees can also undergo training for safer computing habits and remain aware of the threats your organization faces.

Another advantage of working with an MSP when you’re developing and implementing your information governance policy is that your MSP will remain in regular communication with you. They’ll keep you apprised of the health of your IT system and point out areas that could use improvement. Working with their feedback and advice will help you strengthen your organization’s ability to manage and make use of data.

Don’t hesitate to contact us for more information about the services we provide as an MSP. Your data is a precious resource that should never be left in neglect and disarray.