1. Create Culture Of Security

Organisations should inform their staff of the latest internet scams and new GDPR guidelines coming into force in May 2018. One step for organisations to take is to appoint a data protection officer and implement a security policy. Take a look at our 5 step guide to GDPR and data destruction to prepare for the new Data Protection Act 2018.

2. Educate Staff

Christmas holidays are a popular time for hackers to take advantage of security gaps in your organisation. Educating staff about deceptive phishing scams such as false shipping notifications, deceptive advertisements and dangerous links. Implementing a security policy will enable employees to be aware of the steps to take to prevent a security breach, such as making sure passwords are unique, changes regularly and never shared. Find out how exposed your business is to a data breach.

3. Restrict Access

Often in the Christmas holidays, organisations have a skeleton staff with employees working from home and taking time off to enjoy the holiday season. Laptops should be password protected and confidential files and information should not be left out for prying eyes to see. If contractors are on-site, it is even more important to make sure confidential files are locked in secure storage or in confidential shredding receptacles.

4. Establish A Clean Desk Policy

40% of data breaches happen inside of organisations due to human error. A clean desk policy takes out this risk. By encouraging electronic documents instead of paper documents, it will help employees maintain a cleaner desk and there will be less paper clutter. Once documents are transferred to electronic copies, backups should be a routine. Hard copies should also be securely stored in dedicated document storage or destroyed to shredding standard EN15713.

5. Dedicated Document Storage

Moving archiving to off-site storage can result in reduced risk of any damage that may come to your confidential documents. There are numerous self-storage disasters that highlight the face that you never truly know what you are storing your items next to. The potential for damage from fire is high, as well as the potential for rodents, if the type of material being stored in not monitored. With unrestricted public access, the potential for disaster is again increased, along with the increased potential for a data breach if sensitive information is being stored in self-storage units. These are just some of the potential issues associated with self-storage.

6. Shred All Confidential Documents

As part of clean desk policy, employees should shred all unnecessary hard copies of confidential information. A shred all policy takes out the risk of human error through decision making. Cross-cut shredding ensures all sensitive information is destroyed securely to the highest shredding standard EN15713. Choosing an ISO 27001 accredited shredding firm is cost effective and ensures GDPR compliance – much safer than office shredders!