Research indicates that many small UK businesses do not have adequate systems in place to safeguard their crucial data, and that over 40% of companies without adequate systems in place never re-open after suffering a major data loss.

While the recent flooding and terrorist attacks have been a tragic and dramatic reminder of the vulnerability of many businesses, there are far more common but equally damaging causes of data loss. In fact, the vast majority of situations where a business loses crucial information are simply down to corruption in software programs, hardware failure and human error, the vast majority of which are virtually unavoidable for most small business owners.

With many people now working remotely and travelling on the job, theft and accidental loss of laptops is a problem facing more and more small businesses, and which will only get worse as mobile working becomes more common. Added to this the increasing number and malignancy of computer virus‘s, it is clear that many UK small business owners need to take better measures to safeguard their data.

over 40% of companies without adequate systems in place never re-open after suffering a major data loss

 

By now, you may be dangerously near the feeling of being overwhelmed by both problems and solutions. But don‘t despair, just remember, prevention is always better than cure.

So, what can you, as a small business owner or manager, do to ensure you don‘t suffer a catastrophic loss of business data?

  1. Don‘t try to tackle the problems yourself. The people potentially attacking your network are experts, so you need industry expertise to combat them. Seek expert advice with regards to what you need to protect both your time and your business data.
  2. Take out insurance. Backup up your data, online, automatically.
  3. Take care if you are moving to broadband. Although there are compelling business reasons to use it, an ’always-on‘ connection does make your business more vulnerable to hackers who try to gain access through continuous port scanning.
  4. Having remote access to company information is particularly important for small businesses. But remember that information passing over the internet is not secure. Even if people don‘t break into your network they may monitor data in transit. Employees connecting remotely should always use a secure communications method such as VPN (virtual private network) which uses a high level of encryption.
  5. Make sure to keep up to-date and purchase software that delivers you updates of their software. This will help to make sure that you are protected against the latest viruses. You take insurance out for your house, car, life, etc. Take at least two insurance policies out for your business. One is called online backup of your data and the other is antivirus software to help prevent your business being attacked.

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