The Importance of Keeping Customer Data Safe - And How You Can Achieve It

When you first started your business, you might not have been aware of the responsibility that comes with holding customer data whether they have brought something from you or simply asked for more information about your products, you are likely to have at least their name and email address on your database.  

In a time of increasing cybercrime, keeping customer data safe should be at the top of the list of concerns. This is because the repercussions of a data breach could involve legal action against your business and an irretrievable loss of reputation. These two factors combined are likely to mean the end of your business, so to ensure this does not happen, you need to take action in these areas. 

#1 Implement basic security measures

If you have not already, you need to ensure that you have the correct number of firewalls in place for both everyone in the office and those who work for you remotely. You should also limit access to customer data to only those who absolutely need it, like finance or customer-facing staff. In addition to this, you should use encryption when transmitting any customer data.  

As well as limiting access to customer data, you need to review how long you are keeping it. Of course, you might have to keep records of purchases for tax purposes, but there is no need to keep the email address of somebody who enquired about your product three years ago and has been quiet ever since.

#2 Educate and train employees

As your employees are often the weakest link in the security chain, you need to make sure that they are fully informed about the possible forms of cyberattack and what that can mean to the customer.  

• End-user training can make them aware of threats like phishing emails; vishing attempts over the phone, and other social engineering tactics. The number of techniques cybercriminals use is increasing, so any training needs to be ongoing and not just completed once.
• They should also be made aware that the most common consequence of a data breach is an account takeover. This is when the partial data gained from a data breach is used to take over a customer’s account either with you or, more damagingly, with a financial institution. Once they have control of the account, they can do pretty much what they like - including draining funds or using the access to contact others in an attempt to harvest more data. 

#3 Have the right processes in place

As well as end-user training and employee education, you should also have a clear privacy policy in place. This lets anyone who buys from you or gives you their data for any other reason know how it will be used. You should also have a process in place to let any customers know as soon as a data breach occurs – though, of course, you hope you will never have to use it.  

To help with this, you should also consider bolstering your IT department with more cybersecurity resources or outsourcing the whole thing to a specialist company.