Stop,Thief!
We’ve all seen the commercials or heard horror
stories about individuals getting their identity
stolen right from under them. Well, business
owners beware: Without the proper safeguards,
your company data—and the private information
of your customers—could be in jeopardy,
leaving you vulnerable to financial loss, let
alone fines and loss of clientele.
The threat doesn’t appear to be dissipating.
A Federal Trade Commission survey found that
identity theft accounts for over $54 billion in
direct and indirect costs to U.S. businesses and
individuals. While lost or stolen wallets or credit
cards account for a higher percent of the incidents
(as does employee theft), the Internet is a
prime culprit. In 2005, the FTC reported that
fraudsters used Internet solicitations (e-mail and
the Web) as the initial point of contact in 55%
of reported cases.
So what’s a business owner to do? Start by
following some basic guidelines, furnished by the
Better Business Bureau (www.bbbonline.org):
- Lock and key. Store customer records and
other paper-based business documents in
locked filing cabinets and restrict access to
only necessary and trusted employees. Make
sure the premises are protected with similar
security systems, including deadbolts or commercial
alarm systems.
- Weed out information. If you don’t need a
piece of customer information, don’t collect it.
The more you have, the more tempting it
becomes to a thief. Make ample use of the
office shredder to dispose of material so it
can’t be of use to a thief after it’s hit the trash.
- Invest in systems. Limit access to computers
and servers to a few trusted employees, and
mission-critical data such as payroll records and
customer records should be available to employees
only on an “as-needed” basis. Avoid using simple
passwords; rather, employ cryptic phrases combining
numbers and uppercase and lowercase letters.
Users should be required to change their
passwords on a regular basis. Finally, invest in
antivirus protection software for all computers as
well as firewalls (hardware or software) to fully protect
your data. Be sure to regularly download
patches and updates to software to correct bugs
and prevent any security holes.
- Train employees. Develop and enforce a
companywide computer and physical security
policy, which covers such areas as: What to do
when receiving suspicious e-mails, file-sharing
risks, performing designated backup procedures,
and e-mail policies, among other things.
Also make employees aware that broadcasting
customer data is a no-no. Instruct them to turn
computer screens so personal information can’t
be viewed by other customers and not to repeat
customer data out loud where it can be overheard
by others.
BA
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