Financial services are very important for business operators – but when they lose vital client data via external threats, it can be their death knell altogether. This sets a push towards stronger cybersecurity solutions with a competent information technology (IT) company. Writing for Bankrate.com, Michael Estrin said there’s no reason to relax even when everything seems under virtual lock and key.
The Twin Cities host a number of financial institutions, including banks, mortgage lenders, and even ATM outlets. You may have even taken out a loan from any particular lender in that area to have starting capital for your business. When you are doubly concerned about possible damage from disclosures of your business practices and customer details, time to lock things down with the expertise of small business computer support providers like RB’s Computer Service.
Foundations
Drawing up a secured computer network can be done in partnership with an experienced IT services provider. This is very crucial, especially in protecting customers’ and employees’ financial records. Estrin cited a recent cybersecurity study that outed several mortgage lenders for attempting to expedite convenience with customers but inadvertently rendered them vulnerable to cybercrime by asking them to submit attachments of their personal documents over regular email applications. Such can be countered by setting up a protected accounts/email system on your end and encouraging your customers to log on to them instead.
Keeping Details
When managing your customers’ account data, it pays to identify which details are of public record and which are not. The latter should then be stashed in firewalled servers. An official from a California real-estate company interviewed by Estrin has said that digital versions of important files, such as Form W2s, tax returns, or any document that has a client’s Social Security number, should be kept in a secure data system.
Employee Cooperation
Even your employees must be trained to protect your customers’ details at every opportunity. For starters, you can run disaster recovery drills with your IT provider and teach the employees about data security practices. One likely option will be to strictly discourage non-work-related surfing on company computers at all hours, and to run antispyware programs on them. Some cybersecurity experts say that unofficial surfing can admit programs that turn your computers into bots, which then skim saved data on the network to get personal information for an outside party.
Data breach can have far-reaching consequences, not only in terms of customer loss, but also costly lawsuits that could arise from such an event. When you have a competent Minneapolis IT support force taking care of things on your end, you can assure your customers that their personal data will be a cookie jar nobody else can ever touch.
(Source: Protect your mortgage data from hackers, Bankrate)