When someone brings up the topic of security at work, you might immediately think of data breaches that impact your customers’ personal info, or recall those burned-out street lights that make the street around your building super dark at night. Or, you might still be mad at whichever team member stole your supply of Post-Its from your supply room, as well as someone’s leftover lasagna from the work fridge.
As it turns out, all of these scenarios are part of the larger topic of business security. And each one can and should be addressed in its own unique way. Here are tips on how to do this.
Prevent Security Breaching
Unfortunately, no business is immune to the threat of a security breach. While large companies usually make the news when data is compromised, it can happen to mom and pop shops as well. In order to keep your company’s and your clients’ data as safe from hackers as possible, BusinessTown suggests starting with training your employees really well on the subject. For instance, they must be prudent about opening odd-looking emails on work computers; just as they would probably not open an attachment from an unknown person on their home account, they should do the same at work. When clearing out reams of old paperwork, employees should be taught never to simply toss the papers in the recycle can, but rather use the office shredder to take care of anything that is confidential. In addition, if you allow your team to use their own mobile devices for work, make it a company policy that they must have a malware and virus scanning program on each device — you can pay for it if need be — and that they should try to avoid using their smartphone or tablet for work whenever possible.
Keep an Eye on Your Supply Room
Here’s a sobering statement: your trusted team of employees — the ones you hand-selected during interviews and have gotten to know — is probably not above pilfering supplies from your company. As The Atlantic notes, while some items like staplers, notebooks and the aforementioned Post-It notes are ripe for stealing year ‘round, other nefarious employees have figured out a way to get new iPhones and other electronics. For example, if Apple comes out with a new model, an employee may claim that her work-issued phone is broken, so the IT department can give her a new one.
If you notice that supplies are disappearing faster than they are reasonably being used by your team, you could consider installing wire-free security cameras in the supply room. Let your team know what you are doing and why, and review the footage regularly. For the dishonest Apple iPhone person, make it a company policy that any replacements will be a “one and done” type of thing, or that you require a long written explanation as to how and when the phone was broken; if you take away your “no questions asked” replacement policy, this may help nip this security problem in the bud.
Light Dark Areas and Monitor the Property
If your building is super dark at night, it may tempt thieves to come burglarize the company and steal valuable products and equipment. It may also make your employees understandably very nervous to leave the company after dark. To help keep an eye on your building and property and make it less enticing for burglars, start with a set of lights that will illuminate the parking lot, sidewalk, storage facility and other parts of the building; you can go for motion detector varieties or lights that shine all night long.
To boost security even further, invest in a security camera system that will record the goings on at the company throughout the day and night. As Lorex notes, whether you own one storefront or have numerous warehouses, their range of high-performance security cameras with high-definition monitoring and recording will provide peace of mind to you and your team. These cameras capture clear and crisp footage; this way, if you do need to zoom in on the footage to look at a suspicious character, the image will still be clear and not grainy. You can choose from wired in, wireless or wire-free options, and most are pretty easy for a DIY’er to install.
Security Issues Come in a Variety of Forms, As Do the Solutions
No matter what type of security issues have you concerned, there are workable solutions to each one. You don’t have to accept security breaches, stealing at work or burglary as inevitable; you can take tangible steps starting today to boost all types of security at your business.
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