Thanks to technology’s rapid evolution, security risks are more prevalent now than they’ve ever been. It is true that sophisticated software has been created to answer those risks, but is it enough to solve the problem? One of the most effective solutions to security risks is actually very low-tech; it’s the culture in your company.

Who Is Responsible?

Although a risk-aware culture is the first line of defence against security risks, 33% of UK companies are still unclear about who is responsible for ensuring the protection of data. Some others have not had briefings with their boards about security risks, either recently or in their history. Both of these occurrences are actually causing more data breaches to take place, with 90% of large companies being affected by them in 2015. An astonishing three quarters of those data breaches were related in some way to human error.

Making Staff Aware

The only way to reduce the number of security breaches due to human error is to increase staff awareness about them. However, where is the best place to begin? First, staff must be aware of all of the data that exists in your company, and in what form.

Staff must be educated on the fact that company data exists on paper, as well as digitally. It can live on mobile phones, removable media, laptops and even printers and fax machines. The next thing to ensure is that staff know who keeps that data. Perhaps some data is the realm of IT staff, while other data is housed in other departments.

Awareness also includes helping staff understand the many ways that data security may be being breached on a regular basis. However, they must, at the same time, be made aware of the consequences of these breaches. For example, a discarded company USB drive can easily end up in the wrong hands, resulting in any number of risks to the company brand. Staff must also be educated to understand how to deal with data that may have reached the end of its useful life.

Putting Measures In Place

For staff to be able to deal effectively with data, a structure must be in place for its secure collection and disposal. It is not enough to have recycling bins at every desk; the solution must employ its own security measures, not allowing access to any staff once items have entered the disposal bin.

Data wiping may need to occur on some forms of media like hard disks and removable drives. This part of security must go beyond the blanket data erasure solutions that exist on the market. Only a certified and trusted provider should be tasked with the wiping of data. That provider should also be ready and willing to provide a guarantee of data erasure or destruction.

Take Data Security To The Next Level

At Absolute IT we have intimate knowledge of data security at all levels. Our services include not only data sanitisation and secure item storage and pickup, but we also specialise in the complete physical destruction of hard drives, removable media and credit and ID cards.

Our shredding units are fit for purpose, allowing all manner of items to be shredded to 6 mm particulates, which conforms to the strictest data security regulations. We also specialise in professional disposal. Offering a market-leading data erasure solution, all erasure takes places in our secure mobile recycling vehicles, where a data erasure lab is ready to wipe data from every device, including desktop computers and server infrastructure.

In addition to industrial-strength physical destruction and data erasure, our services also include safe storage options for all items. Three simple steps allow you to choose the level of storage you need, use it to store unwanted items, and arrange for pickup via one of our secure mobile vehicles for on-site destruction.

When your company culture includes staff awareness about security breaches, knowledge on who handles that data and a connection to professionals well-versed in data disposal, your data security strategy can be considered complete.