Did you know that 47% of American adults have had their personal information exposed by cyber criminals? Even the safest people have their information stolen because businesses they trust are hacked.

If you want to protect your business from cyber threats and avoid customer data theft, you need this guide. Keep reading to learn how to prevent data breaches.

Limit Access to Data

If every employee has access to your most valuable data, someone is bound to make a mistake that leads to data theft. There’s no reason for all employees to have access to critical financial information and business secrets.

If you limit who is allowed to view business documents, you narrow down the number of employees that could click on a harmful link that threatens business security.

You can use access control systems to prevent data breaches.

Conduct Employee Security Training

Human error is a common cause of data leakage. Employees, even accidentally, may threaten the business data security chain.

Employees may receive and open suspicious emails that can cause viruses within the business network.

To prevent your employees from being the weakest links in the security chain, conduct security training more than once. If you are serious about safeguarding data, you’ll want to schedule regular classes because one is not enough.

Employees that hear the same message over and over will change their behavior and think twice before clicking on something suspicious.

Regularly Update Software

If you have a business IT support in-house or if you outsource IT support, they will complete regular software updates for you.

IT experts recommend keeping application software and operating systems updated to avoid data theft from outside hackers. Your business network becomes vulnerable when programs aren’t updated or patched.

This is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to stop attacks before they occur.

Make sure your network is set to update automatically. Hire an IT team that can complete this task for you. You can find IT support at https://synergy-uk.com/it-support-sheffield/.

Although easy, it’s common for employees to forget to update software regularly.

Create a Data Breach Response Plan

Few companies have a plan in place for when a data breach does occur. Even if you have multiple security systems, it’s important to create a just-in-case plan.

Developing a data breach response plan helps employers and employees understand the possible damages that can happen.

Employers need to be transparent if data theft ever occurs. A great response plan can limit productivity loss and prevent reputational damages.

The response plan should begin with evaluating what was lost and when the breach occurred. If possible, find out who was responsible.

Prevent Business Data Theft Now

Businesses are often the target of cybersecurity threats and hackers. If you want to prevent business data theft, you need to limit employee access, train employees on security, and regularly update software.

Create a preparedness plan in the case that a breach does occur. An IT support company can help with all of these steps.

For more business articles like this, check out the other posts on our blog.