Are you concerned about having a secure business online?
We’ve all been there.
Opened up your email in the morning expecting some good news from a customer or your boss and instead... a barrage of SPAM emails offering you the chance to receive millions of dollars from a long-lost uncle, in Nigeria.
But, even though email security is important, there are a few other areas that even the savviest of businesses can fall short in.
We’ve unpacked 3 good ideas to implement for when you want the best out of your online environment.
By reading this post, in addition to getting an action plan to creating a secure business, you will also get the disadvantage to trying too hard to have a secure business.
Let's get started with steps to creating a secure business and actions to avoid when trying to create a secure business.
START WITH ANTIVIRUS/MALWARE SOFTWARE
This is the “gatekeeper” when it comes to preserving your online security, and not just against hackers and SPAM emailers.
Having top-quality antivirus software is becoming increasingly demanded from clients as well as regulatory bodies, and this is especially true when your business deals with clients' biographical and or secure data. Think credit card numbers, social security numbers, and banking information.
Good software will also supercharge your computer’s performance as well as ensure protection from removable devices. This is the age of the global hacker and if you want to stay one step ahead and be taken seriously by your peers in your network and most importantly, your customers, then this has to be where you start.
ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT TRACKING AND MONITORING
With the rise and rise of email and other online messaging and mailing systems, it’s become easier than ever to conduct business. Remember the days of having to send a “back-up”, hard copy document to back up your email? Or worse yet….YOUR FAX!
Now, we send millions of electronic communications all over the world, every day, and one way to keep track of all of these documents is to use file tracking software, also known as document tracking software.
With a “DMS”, you can automate how your documents are accesses, searched for and how they’re edited, and perhaps most importantly, by whom. You’ll also get document security, third-party integrations as well as document storage and if you’re in the type of business that requires a lot of documents to be signed as well as tracked, you should also look into online resources that help you create safe, secure and traceable electronic document signatures. Google has a wonderful option that allows you to insert a signature in google docs.
NETWORK SECURITY
While good antivirus software can take care of the integrity of your computers’ systems, you also need to look a little deeper down the line, to your networks. Networks, servers, and data storage sites can all be compromised and this is also one of the areas where major conglomerates and government departments get hit the hardest.
Read: Definitely worth getting right. Whatever systems you need to be protected and however your IT department chooses to do that, you have to make sure that your IT officer has installed and ensures secure authentication methods, that your software is regularly upgraded with the latest security patches, that all of your ports are physically secured and access controlled and that your data is encrypted and all users are required to use BIOS passwords.
When all the chips are down, the buck is going to stop with you. It’s always a good idea to learn about how to grow your business and your brand, but remember to take some time to thoroughly audit your security environment too.
Gmail Spam Filter: The Disadvantage of Having a Secure Business
Clearly, you want a secure business.
If you don't have a secure business, you leave your business vulnerable to hackers and other online criminals.
However, you don't want to have such a secure business that you actually end up costing yourself business.
That's what happened to me.
My spam email ends up caught by my Gmail spam filter where I can't see it.
On the iPhone, Spam is Called Junk.
On the computer, go into your Gmail. Scroll down until you see the Spam folder. Click on it. You may find you have offers of financial opportunities just like I do.
I was never in the habit of checking my Gmail Folder to see if my email caught by the Gmail spam filter in fact wasn't spam after all.
When I eventually remembered to check my Junk Mail, I found many emails that are prospective clients offering me legitimate financial opportunities.
It gets worse: Spam emails only remain in the Junk Folder for 30 days. Since I wasn't in the habit of checking, it's likely I lost business that landed in the Email Spam Folder.
While it's true that people follow up just in case their emails landed in the Spam Folder, if the same follow-up emails land in spam again, I won't see the follow-up inquiry.
The prospective client assumes I am not interested in the opportunity.
By being confident I had a secure business and let the Gmail Spam Folder collect my spam emails, I potentially lost business that wasn't spam after all.
Have you heard of a Whitelist?
You add emails to a Whitelist so your email provider knows the email is important to you and puts the emails from the sender in your email box.
Do you use a Whitelist? I don't. I'm confident potential business inquiries get to where they should.
In my attempts to have a secure business, I'm too confident and possibly cost myself money.
Secure Business FAQ
Use a spam catcher, anti-virus software, and electronic document tracking.
Wrapping Up: How to Have a Secure Business
In closing, this post provided actionable strategies for you to make sure you have a secure business online.
However, this guide also gave you fair warning: The Gmail spam filter may be catching emails that actually aren't spam.
Readers, please share so online entrepreneurs know the pros and cons of having a Gmail spam filter in their attempts to have a secure business.
