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There’s a lot of moving parts when it comes to starting a business. And always the topic of security will come up.
Security is one of those things that has been discussed in detail, but to arm your organization, it’s about making sure that you understand what threats you are up against. It requires a number of physical, digital, and mental security measures to protect your startup; here are some tips that can help you protect your company and promote longevity.
Proper identification
If you want to secure your premises, you’ve got to look from the outside in. Exterior security comes in many different ways, like security cameras, security guards, or fencing, but one of the simplest methods you can use to prevent any intrusion is to issue company ID badges for every member of staff. There are a number of external components that you can leverage, but you must think about proper identification as being a simple notion that underpins your entire business.
Communicating properly
It is essential to make sure your employees are knowledgeable in basic security that can minimize threats. Something like phishing scams is still commonplace, and one of the biggest reasons that companies fall foul of these is because they’re not communicating security measures in simple language. When we talk about security and compliance, we can easily start to overcomplicate the language, and providing information in the most basic ways that everybody can understand means you are not suffering from oversimplification but are benefiting from over-communication.
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Security is something we must work hard at for our business and of the major problems that can be endemic in startups is using overly complicated language, not just in security but in every other aspect of our business. Ensuring we talk about things clearly and in language that everybody understands can get our point across so the message will spread further.
Appropriate surveillance
Whether inside or outside of your business, you can benefit from surveillance like CCTV, but there’s more to it than just the most up-to-date security system. Surveillance is also about providing deterrence. Potential intruders will weigh up a location to see if it is worth breaking into before anything else. While a security camera can be enough to deter a thief, there are other methods, like clear signage and a professional security firm, that provide reassurance. Surveillance is easier to achieve than ever, as long as you ensure your physical surveillance is more robust you should have no problem protecting your assets.
Internal physical startup security
The topic of security is not just about the exterior. Ensuring that we go beyond ID badges and provide greater access to certain members of the business (and limited access to others) is about a logical approach to investing in security. There are a number of methods beyond ID badges you can take advantage of; physical barriers are one approach, but you can also limit access to more sensitive locations, like data centers, where certain members of staff would not be able to infiltrate. While this can go against the grain of transparency in an organization, if you are looking to protect a number of physical assets from within, you have to implement greater supervision. One of the more common methods of theft comes from within.
Related: 3 Biggest Cybersecurity Threats Facing Small Businesses Right Now
Understanding your employees can steal too
When we place a lot of trust in our employees and someone breaks that trust, it can hurt. Breaking trust can make us feel more inclined to increase our security measures. This is partly why simple internal security measures like a security camera can do a lot, but it’s also about making sure that you recognize the signs of a fraudulent employee.
Backing up data
Regular backups are a simple thing but are critical to disaster recovery. The act of regular backups to a cloud system is one approach. However, if you are not utilizing the cloud yet and are still using hard drives, these can be physically stolen. Keeping them under lock and key is one simple approach. On the other hand, you should implement company policies that stipulate backups need to be stored securely.
Embedding a culture of startup security
To increase your security measures, you need to prioritize a security-oriented culture. Many startups are aware of the importance of culture. They see it as a way to increase trust and help onboard new team members. Whenever somebody comes into your business, this is the ideal opportunity to reiterate your security-based objectives. When you start to bring new team members on board, you can start bringing in new rules. You can also start fine-tuning those security practices. We should take advantage of bringing in new practices especially if we found our security methods have been underwhelming in the past.
It is such a simple thing. When you start to bring newer team members on board, you can give them greater understanding in what makes a more secure business. The foresight to adopt new measures and adapt to older ones will provide greater reassurance. A culture of security within your business has nothing to do with your budget or your employee skill set, but it is one component that greatly improves a business in subtle ways.
When employees have a greater level of autonomy, they will work better. For this to work for your business, you’ve got to fine-tune the culture. Fine-tune what makes a great culture in the first place. Employees need to have that peace of mind. However, you must also ensure you are running a safe company. Placing trust in your employees and implementing autonomous practices can significantly enhance your business’s security. This can be done without necessarily requiring additional equipment investment.