10 Data-Security Measures You Can't Do Without

Source: Entrepreneur.com | Author: Bianca Male

Data security should be an important area of concern for every small-business owner. When you consider all the important data you store virtually -- from financial records, to customers' private information -- it's not hard to see why one breach could seriously damage your business.

According to the most recent Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report [PDF], an estimated "285 million records were compromised in 2008." And 74 percent of those incidents were from outside sources.

We consulted Roland Cloutier, Chief Security Officer for ADP and a board member for the National Cyber Security Alliance, and Matt Watchinski, Senior Director of the Vulnerability Research Team for cybersecurity provider Sourcefire, to find out the key security measures every small business should be taking.

1. Establish strong passwords
Implementing strong passwords is the easiest thing you can do to strengthen your security

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Cloutier shares his tip for crafting a hard-to-crack password: use a combination of capital and lower-case letters, numbers and symbols and make it 8 to 12 characters long.

According to Microsoft, you should definitely avoid using: any personal data (such as your birthdate), common words spelled backwards and sequences of characters or numbers, or those that are close together on the keyboard.

Use their convenient password checker to see how strong yours is.

As for how often you should change your password, Cloutier says that the industry standard is "every 90 days," but don't hesitate to do it more frequently if your data is highly-sensitive.

Another key: make sure every individual has their own username and password for any login system, from desktops to your CMS. "Never just use one shared password," says Cloutier.

And finally, "Never write it down!" he adds.

2. Put up a strong firewall
In order to have a properly protected network, "firewalls are a must," Cloutier says.

A firewall protects your network by controlling internet traffic coming into and flowing out of your business. They're pretty standard across the board -- Cloutier recommends any of the major brands.

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