Government data information breaches have gained a lot of attention in the media lately, but the government isn’t the only one at risk. Private and public companies are susceptible to data leaks as well. If it hasn’t happened to you, it might be hard to imagine that it could.
The reality is, data leaks can impact any company. If your company’s confidential records aren’t properly secured, compromised data could have tremendous consequences.
The beginning of a new year is the perfect time to introduce new practices for safeguarding your most important records. Below, we’re discussing five reasons why it’s important to keep your confidential records safe. We also have recommendations on how to do that.
1. Confidential Records Help You Stay Competitive in Your Industry
No matter what industry you’re in, staying relevant over competitors is an important element of business success. If your company has trade secrets or sensitive information that helps you stay competitive, you want to protect that at all costs.
A leak of confidential records could benefit a competitor by giving them a glimpse at your practices and helping them develop a strategy to respond to that. Protecting your sensitive information is the best way to ensure you keep whatever upper hand you have.
2. Value Your Employee’s Privacy
Some data leaks expose sensitive and personal information about a company’s employees. Falling victim to that kind of leak can create an unpleasant work environment. You want to prove to current and potential employees that you value their privacy by doing what you can to keep their information safe.
3. Customers Expect Protection
From credit card information to family data, customers provide a lot of private information to the companies and businesses they work with. This is especially true of patients who provide confidential information to their medical providers.
If confidential records with customer information were to be made public, the trust your customers have in your company would be severely compromised. They may choose to take their business elsewhere, and will likely advise friends and family to do the same.
4. Your Reputation Matters
Even if you have an incredible reputation for customer service and satisfaction, one data leak is enough to change that in the public’s mind. When it comes to bad news, the public tends to have a long memory. You don’t want to be remembered for compromising their information. And you don’t want one negative situation to overshadow the good work you’ve done.
5. Protecting Data is Easy
For whatever reason, some companies may choose not to protect their sensitive information because they believe doing so would be difficult and expensive. The truth is, record management and offsite shredding services make it easy for any business to secure sensitive data.
Is there a cost associated with it? Of course. But it may be far more expensive not to protect this information, especially if a leak does occur.
Ready to Start Protecting Your Confidential Records?
In today’s increasingly technology-driven world, sensitive information stored online is vulnerable. Hackers or malicious software can do extreme damage, and ruin a company’s reputation in the meantime. But these situations are avoidable.
Protecting your records protects your customers, your employees, and, ultimately the success of your business.
