Companies need to take active steps to keep their private information secure, particularly those that handle third-party’s information. Here are five things that your company should do to safeguard information.
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1. Ensure Compliance with All Applicable Legal Regulations
Massachusetts statutory law regulates the activities of companies that handle certain types of individuals’ personal information. They are required to adopt a Written Information Security Plan. A WISP must outline procedures for the safe storage, transmission, and disposal of protected information. It must identify an individual within a company or organization who is responsible for ensuring compliance.
2. Train Staff on Information Security Procedures
In addition to creating written policies about keeping information secure, staff training has to be an important part of your procedures. Policies won’t be effective if staff aren’t aware of them. Don’t expect that people will review policies on their own initiative. Provide practical training for staff on cybersecurity and data storage, and incorporate it into the orientation process for all new hires.
3. Send Encrypted Emails
In order to safely transmit sensitive information, your company’s email platform should have an easy way for employees to send encrypted emails. Secure messages will protect information in the event that it is intercepted or unintentionally sent to the wrong party.
4. Require Proper Disposal of Documents and Materials
Some information can’t simply be thrown into the trash. Documents containing personal information should be shredded and digital materials such as discs, external drives, or hard drives on machines that are no longer used need to be destroyed. For help with hard drive destruction Boston MA, work with a company that can retrieve your materials onsite.
5. Implement Secure Logins
Logging into your company’s network or email accounts should involve unique user passwords. It’s typically preferable to avoid standard password conventions such as names or birthdays because they can be compromised too easily.
