Three Things to Secure Your Business Today
Every business, big or small, chooses to accept a certain level of risk, often for convenience or, what I often hear, they simply do not have the time. Do not make the mistake of believing that security is an all-or-nothing endeavor; implementing simple procedures can make a dramatic improvement to your overall level of risk. These are three things that you can do today to instantly lessen your vulnerabilities and supercharge your physical and IT security.
Change your exterior locks
Physical security of your facilities is one of the most important things you can do to secure your business. Whether it is a former employee or a disgruntled customer, old keys have a way of multiplying and finding their way into the hands of people that should not have access to your hard-earned assets. A locksmith can change the cylinders in most locks and create any duplicate keys you need within a few hours of calling, typically for less than a few hundred dollars. After replacing the cylinders and getting new keys, the next step is developing a comprehensive key control plan for your business. Ensuring that only trusted people with a need for keys should have access, and they should sign for them to ensure they are accounted for.
A common misconception is that stamping “DO NOT DUPLICATE” on your keys will prevent locksmiths from duplicating your keys; however, this does very little to deter a motivated thief. A simple key cover or an authorization letter from the “owner” may suffice for some locksmiths or hardware stores.
Supercharge your physical security: To further increase security, invest in a patented lock system that prevents duplication at hardware stores. Additionally, implement software such as Key Wizard or Key Tracker, which automates the tracking process and generates keyholder agreements.
Deactivate former employee accounts
Former employees leave your business with a wealth of knowledge about your processes and, occasionally, access to network resources. When an employee is fired suddenly or your network services are controlled by a third party, network accounts may continue to allow access to your hard work and proprietary information. Without a solid offboarding process, account deactivation or archival can fall through the cracks and leave a severe vulnerability for your business.
Compare your roster of employees against active accounts on your servers. Deactivate accounts for former employees, then check their login history to ensure they have not accessed your network resources since their departure from your business.
Supercharge your IT security: While you are reviewing accounts, take a few extra moments to significantly increase your security by enabling password complexity requirements, maximum password age, and lockout thresholds for repeated incorrect passwords.
Take your cash to the bank
Maintaining any amount of cash above what is operationally necessary is an unnecessary risk that you cannot afford. Consumers have gone almost entirely cash-less, preferring instead to use cards or cash apps to complete transactions. In years long past, retailers would take their cash to the bank once or more per day to keep it out of the building. Because of the shift in consumer shopping habits, many of the retailers I have worked with have reduced their visits to the bank to less than once per week — this is simply an unnecessary level of risk tolerance that can be avoided by taking your cash to the bank.
Supercharge your physical security: Implement simple techniques to lessen exposure, such as varying the time of day that you take money from the business, carry cash in unassuming packaging, and ensure the parking lot is clear before going to or from your vehicle. Also, be sure to discuss security measures with your employees and ask for their input, they spent a significant amount of time in your facility and have valuable insight into your vulnerabilities.
