5 Ways To Secure Data In a Collaborative Workplace

Organizations that operate without a well-defined security awareness plan (for email, file transfer, or even Internet use) are open to major security risks, risks that require little training. . And they can easily be prevented with forethought, but unfortunately, they are often overlooked.

If this sounds like your workplace, fear not. Even without following the policy, there are ways you can implement security practices in your current role and workplace to protect yourself, your information, and your company's data from prying eyes and malicious scams.

Lock your computer every time you leave your desk

This is a simple step you can take to reduce risk in your workplace. Whenever you leave your desk, even to get a cup of coffee or go to the bathroom, you should lock your computer. This won't stop outside hackers from stealing sensitive company data, but it can prevent employees or "visiting guests" from spying on your information while you're away.

If you're worried about being forgotten during a busy workday, most computers allow you to set a default lock whenever your session is idle for x minutes. Ask your IT department how to set it up, then set it up until there's a balance between security and usability.

Implement advanced access control

Multi-layer protection is essential when you need to improve your security. This will limit access to the most sensitive data to only those who need to access it.

Sensitive information should require multiple logins. Employees who do not work with this data will not be able to access it. Hackers will also find it difficult to access data that requires multiple login steps.

Must be password protected. Don't let your employees write them down in notebooks. They shouldn't be easy to measure. You should also change the password regularly.

Use smart password protection strategies.

Password security is a common obstacle for many companies. Recommendations for how to create strong passwords vary, and unfortunately, implementing strong passwords increases the likelihood that users need only one strong password to remember and use for countless login credentials. Will be will choose. This inadvertently creates a single point of failure that can provide access to multiple systems and services.

Instead, we recommend that businesses rely on a combination of encrypted and salted passwords (using a tool like 1Password or LastPass) and multi-factor authentication. Together, these measures virtually eliminate the threat of dangerous passwords.

Implement two-factor authentication

Verifying a user's identity is an essential element of access control. Access usually requires a username and password. With two-factor authentication, you can increase the security of remote work by creating two access requirements instead of one. In short, it creates an additional layer of access security.

Two-factor authentication uses two pieces of information to provide access. It uses credentials such as username and password, along with a secret question or PIN code, which goes to the user's phone or email. This method makes it difficult for attackers to gain access to the system, as they are unlikely to have access to both information. Everyone has used to this process.

Review policies and procedures regularly

Policies and procedures are documents that establish the organization's rules for managing data.

Policies provide a general outline of the principles of the organization, while procedures describe how, what, and when things should be done.

This is another area where ISO 27001 can help. The standard contains a comprehensive list of tests that organizations may choose to determine whether they face an identified threat.

We discussed earlier that there are a number of policies that organizations must implement, including remote access, password creation and management, and acceptable use rules.