There’s no question that keeping your business premises secure is a major priority for any company. A laissez faire attitude towards security has been the downfall of many big businesses, that have lost important files, produce or, even worse, customer details.
As the age of the internet marches on, facilitating the gig economy with every weary tread, security means more to your brick-and-mortar premises than ever.
As such, you’ll need to cover all major bases – for your own peace of mind as well as those of your stakeholders.
With that in mind, here are the key areas of security you need to focus on.
Brick and mortar premises
Despite how far we’ve moved into the digital age, you’ll still need a brick-and-mortar premises to work from, whether it’s a small office or a grand corporate skyscraper, and you need to be able to keep it secure.
CCTV equipment is therefore a necessity and can be purchased from a number of reliable outlets, includingsecurity products firm ADT– it has a fantastic reputation for working with businesses.
Beyond this, keeping tabs on all employers is vital if you want to effectively operate a safe company. This can be as simple as creating a sign-in sheet at your company’s entrance, or for larger businesses, a swipe-card entrance for employees.
Independent contractors
If you look after independent contractors, you need to ensure their security if you want to maintain a business with integrity.
Personal chaperone devices can be bought fromsecurity firms such as Safe Shores Monitoring. These products work bypairing GPS technology with an SOS function if a worker gets into trouble, making them an essential for the lone worker.
These simple devicesare invaluable when paired with a mobile phone, because they allow workers to stay in regular contact with their company. This is important in a lone working environment whereemployees can easily be accused of any misdeed.
The internet
Massive losses of data have occurred at numerous high-profile institutions, including the UK government and the US State of Baltimore. But these are the thin end of the wedge – companies are constantly sharing your data, some of whom are tragically underqualified to do so.
If you’re an SME, the least you can do is have effective antivirus software on every computer you work with. This will bat away the vast majority of viruses which are flinging themselves at your servers every day.
Beyond that, you’ll need to get SSL certification for your site. Effectively, this will encrypt your data during important customer transactions such as retail purchases. At one point in time, SSL encryption was an optional extra for a site, but not anymore – now Google will penalise sites that fail to incorporate basic encryption like this.
Those are our recommendations, but the security landscape is constantly changing. As safety concerns broaden, so too will the requirements of your company.