In a world of instant information, we can access all sorts of things. The internet and modern tech have brought a streamlined approach to just about everything we do from banking information to emails, personal photos, and business documents. However, with all the fancy additions and places we can store important information, we often overlook a vital aspect to it: security. Just like the key combination to a safe, it’s critical to protect your information, no matter what it is.

For personal reasons, it’s probably obvious. In another article, I touched over the usefulness of a mobile wallet (your smartphone). However, I also highlighted a few risks that come with storing all the info in one place. While I’ll be covering data security for general usage, from smartphones to personal computers to businesses, some basic precautions will always apply.

Data security doesn’t just refer to locking phones with a password or making sure you didn’t save bank info on a public computer. It’s also a business term, referring to the protection of critical corporate data. It also goes well beyond the loss of files from things like theft, data security includes issues encountered from natural disasters or unforeseen destruction of property.

So why is it important? Mainly it comes down to money. For example, in-depth company projects can require months of investing resources into work, like new software, app building, website management, etc. The loss of this data, in partitions or whole, can be devastating and set a company back thousands of dollars in resources. The loss of time on projects or any endeavor can be equally as costly, especially if certain deadlines were dependent on product releases or the like.

There are other factors to consider when dealing with data security. Some are human error, others are from external sources. Hardware failure, malware, and in rare cases theft can be problematic. Hardware failure can generally be prevented with good investments, but even the sturdiest HDD has a limited lifespan. Additionally, while anti-virus programs are plentiful, there’s always a chance problematic malware can corrupt important data. In worse case scenarios, hackers can steal information too, and most often they go after important consumer data like credit card numbers.

It’s also critical to prep for human error. Everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes they accidentally delete a file, sometimes a file was sent to the wrong place. Anything from a technical oversight to minor mishaps can have problematic consequences if not accounted for. Put it this way: do you want to spend thousands of dollars dealing with simple mistakes that could set things back for a period of time? Or invest in backups and data security options, making it a non-issue?

No matter what, in any field of data you want to have backups, protection, and awareness. A company that doesn’t address technical issues or breaches of security will literally pay for it in recovery. Save your business the hassle and keep your data safeguarded for any scenario.

For more information on this topic and our services, contact us at 847.859.1600 or sales@stratospherenetworks.com