Keep your customers safe with these data protection tips

It may seem surprising that nearly half of all cyber-attacks target medium to small-sized businesses and companies. The main reason for many cyberattacks is that these businesses often do not have the necessary security measures, similar to those present in large enterprises. However, this does not mean that larger companies are safe.

As the recent high-profile data breaches have shown, nobody is safe from cyber-attacks. Customers are progressively becoming more and more troubled about the security of their data. It is becoming a significant concern whether their preferred brands protect their private information. The situation creates a problem for marketers who rely on customer analytics and data to appreciate better and predict the customers' needs.

Fortunately, you can put a few measures in place to keep your customers' data safe and nurture trust for your business.

1. Maintain A Clear And Honest Privacy Policy

Trust is vital in ensuring the readiness of your customers to share their data with your company. Providing misleading information about how the data is collected and used could land your company in legal trouble, not to mention negatively impact your reputation. Trade bodies and agencies have intensified how they deal with companies that utilize deceptive statements in privacy policies, as is often the case with smartphone apps companies. Ensure your privacy policy is accurate and regularly updated to avoid landing in legal troubles that negatively affect your business.

2. Encrypt The User Data

Encrypting the data is an effective way to safeguard the customers' private information. It would therefore be vital that you invest in the latest encryption technology and regularly update it. You should also encrypt emails from the company to prevent possible information leaks. If you do not use practical encryption tools, the chances of your customer's information falling into the wrong hands increase substantially.

Encryption ensures that in case hackers access the data, it is unreadable and poses no risk as they can access no information.

3. Limit Access To Sensitive Data

Not everyone within the company requires direct access to the customers' sensitive data. Your company is at risk of malicious or reckless employees. Sloppy security protocols can compromise your security system, leaving you exposed to cyberattacks, leading to a data breach. Limit the number of employees and techniques that have access to the data as this reduces the number of systems that you have to protect and fewer employees who could error.

4. Test For Weaknesses

Businesses need their sites examined and tested regularly to discover any vulnerabilities that the current security measures may have missed. It is no longer enough to have the minimum-security standards in place and hope they will keep the customer data protected effectively. You might find it necessary to hire the services of ethical hackers or experts who will try to locate and fix any weaknesses present in the system. The team at messente.com stated that this can be prevented by a user authentication process through a web app or a smartphone app. You could also invest in high-level security apps for increased security of the data.

5. Verify Data Instead Of Storing It

Due to the high number of cyberattacks and security breaches on businesses, you should distinguish between collecting the data you require from data you do not need. Essential stored data include names and addresses of the customers, while credit card information is not required.

Because of the high risk associated with keeping such data, experts highly advise against it, especially considering that the data is not essential and is only necessary to provide the customer with convenience. It is a lot safer to allow a third party to handle and process the credit card information. The measure could be helpful, especially if their security measures are much stricter than yours. It also minimizes the risk of data breaches in case of cyber-attacks.

6. Use A Dedicated Server

The majority of businesses use shared servers to cut down on costs. Nonetheless, this is a significant security risk since these servers share risks with other sites as well. An excellent hosting company always has measures in place to protect the data on the server. However, if another location on the server is compromised, your data could still be affected. Despite the high costs of dedicated servers, you will receive extra protection for your customers' data.

With the recent surge in cyberattacks targeting small businesses, the attackers will likely go after your customer data is high. By applying the above tips, you could protect your customer information and ensure future sales.