Business information, much more than data
Author: Veren Carolina
The corporate information security goes beyond simple data storage. As business-critical information, must also prevent loss and ensure the confidentiality and availability at any time.
We often hear about the importance of storing and protecting a company’s data, but more important to know what data should be safeguarded, and how. At COLT we talk about business information. This information is much more than an indefinite amount of data to be stored for later reference occasionally. This is vital information for a company, information that is used daily, often without giving more importance, but whose loss would result in closure.
The names and addresses of customers and suppliers, contact details of company personnel, financial accounts, or design ideas and intellectual property are part of the business information that companies must protect. In many cases there are also laws and regulations requiring protection, and this task falls not just IT staff but is the responsibility of all employees. Protecting this information is to safeguard the business, making it more reliable and ensure its continuity. To achieve this you have to take measures to prevent both the loss and its interruption, and prevent damage to sensitive information and systems that are vital for the proper functioning of the business.
For SMEs
SMEs working in highly competitive environments, and depend on a small customer base. Any loss of information would impact the entire business, with an effect that would be much more catastrophic than in the case of a large company. First, a disruption of their activities seriously affect the company’s financial situation further reducing an already tight cash flow. Secondly, a security breach the company would harm the reputation he has in front of customers, an effect that would last long term.
Another common attitudes by which SMEs perceive less risk is the belief that their business information is very valuable, which are an attractive target for thieves and hackers. But crimes such as identity theft and phishing are all too common, and businesses, regardless of size, always involve attractive to criminals. In addition, it is not only to protect the business itself but there is a moral and legal responsibility on the information possessed by the company, especially when it comes to personal data of customers and employees. An effective security plan must anticipate a wide range of risks and know what to do in case one occurs.
Viruses, worms and Trojans are also terms familiar from the IT staff of companies, although risks can be prevented by anti-virus software. But beyond these risks there are other less unpredictable computer that can affect equally to electronic information company, as an accidental fire or flooding of the facilities of the company, by accidental deletion of part or all of the data or a fault in a computer hard disk.
How to protect business information
Staying safe from security threats is a full time job and many times, especially when it comes to a small company, the IT staff has too many demands to spend more time on security. Computer scientists are faced with the dilemma of solving the immediate problems of day to day or ahead of the latest threats as they emerge, as more and more, be aware of new risks requires investing more time. When calculating the financial investment in security, there are companies that put much effort in protecting the physical devices, such as hardware, while in many cases the value of corporate information stored on them is far greater than the value of own team. The economic cost to the company would be the loss of that information should be in the balance calculation, so as to balance the value of information with the cost of protecting it.
Increased protection is not necessarily expensive. COLT offers small and medium enterprises a wide range of security products specially designed for them, and other custom security services for medium and large enterprises. The company also has experience in over 1000 financial institutions, demanding a specific sector of data security. These include 24 of the 25 largest financial institutions worldwide, 20 sacks and 24 of the 25 largest European hedge funds.
COLT manages its security operations centers internationally 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and has ISO 27001 certification, the standard that recognizes leadership in systems security management. The company helps organizations not only to protect their IT systems and business information, but also to manage the concerns of daily life, freeing IT staff and selecting the most important business priorities. Knowing that someone is constantly working to keep business information safe provides peace of mind to concentrate on your business.
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