Taking steps to protect ourselves against foreseeable harmful events makes sense. However, when it comes to protecting key risk management data, often those in charge are unaware of how vulnerable their information is and are perplexed when information is suddenly compromised or lost. Recovering important data can be time consuming and costly particularly if data needs to be re-entered because of inadequate data security procedures.
Smart risk managers understand the importance of a security blanket to protect their risk information. Getting to know the many facets of data security, even first principles, is a great knowledge investment that risk managers find effective to challenge the IT policies and procedures used to manage their risk data.
Although every organisation operates within a unique IT environment, there is a range of basic checks that can be made to bolster confidence that data protection measures are working and robust. Some areas to consider include:
Avoid ‘death by spreadsheet’!
If your risk data is being held on spreadsheets, here are some of the pitfalls to be aware of:
· Spreadsheets can be prone to errors compromising data integrity.
· Multiple versions of same spreadsheet mean data can be hard to rely upon.
· Password protected spreadsheets can be easily hacked.
· Confidential data cannot be encrypted.
· Data is easily changed and there is no audit trail.
Use a secure risk management database.
Some basic information security features to look for include:
· Only authenticated users can access the system.
· Confidential data can be segregated between users.
· Individual records can be locked down to a group/person.
· Automatic change logs can be easily viewed and exported.
· Data views can be configured based on security permissions.
Compare data security in the cloud v internal operations.
Some basic comparisons to consider include:
· Is my data safe? - compare SLAs, past outages, data downtimes, reportable incidents.
· How much is data costing? - compare hosting costs to internal infrastructure maintenance.
· What level of data security? - compare data security standards/compliance attained.
Improve working from home protocols.
Some basic security protocols to consider for team members include:
· Never use public/free wi-fi – only trust home or mobile internet services.
· Allow automatic updates on all devices so security is up to date.
· Adopt strong, unique passphrases that are complex and unpredictable.
· Ensure staff connect to the office via a VPN (Virtual Private Network).
· Don’t transport data using portable devices.
· When online, exercise caution, stay vigilant and beware of scams.
Risk Wizard knows security and is expert at protecting your risk data.
Our risk management database is a ‘’fit for purpose’’ platform providing proper security over risk information. Comprehensive access permissions ensure data is segregated and restricted to authorised users.
Information is held at highly secure data centres run by Amazon Web Services and these offer the highest levels of security. Employees working from home can access their private data according to their security level and be confident that sensitive data is always safeguarded.
To see how it works, simply sign up for a free trial. We will provide an online demo of the software so you can see it in action before you try out the software in a free, private, and secure cloud environment.
Get a demo: Visit riskwizard.com/demo or email to: sales@riskwizard.com