3 Ways to Keep Employees from Accidentally Disclosing Confidential Information

We all have images of hackers lurking in a dark room working hard to break into businesses’ networks. Their goal is to spread havoc with malware and viruses and steal confidential information. Yet multiple studies have found that the number one cause of a data breach is human error. In a recent survey, over 70 percent of employees noted that they had made email and data handling mistakes in the last year due to pandemic-related stress and distractions while working remotely.

Here are a few ways your business can minimize the chance your employees will leak confidential information.

Properly train employees

Have a regular, systemized training program in place to educate employees. Train them to recognize phishing emails and spam messages. This will minimize the chance they will introduce malware into their computer and network systems.

In order to keep client data confidential, employees shouldn’t discuss client information in public. You never know who could be overhearing the conversations.

Remind your team of any confidentiality/non-disclosure policies that exist in the business. Regular training is important so they understand what constitutes confidential information.

Enforce a strong password policy

Every business should initiate a password policy. The policy ought to outline the minimum length of passwords, what is acceptable, how often the passwords need to be changed, etc.

Multi-factor authentication (or 2FA) is recommended as an additional layer of security when appropriate. Should a user’s password become compromised, the hacker would have difficulty accessing a site or data without confirmation via text or an authentication app.

Install security tools

In an era where remote work is settling in to be the norm, the use of security tools will give that extra layer of protection that will minimize human error. Keep all email communication secure with email encryption. Should email become intercepted or compromised, the email will be unreadable without the encryption key.

Most mobile devices such as laptops and cell phones can have data encryption services enabled. If a company device is lost or stolen, your company and/or client’s data will not become compromised. Many devices can even have data wiped remotely should the device fall into the wrong hands.

Advanced threat detection solutions will increase security by blocking malware & phishing attacks. Data loss will be minimized by preventing a compromised system from data theft.

Reach out to our team at 508-892-5555 and discuss how ClearCom IT can help put these systems in place for your organization.