Making your business secure is one of your main priorities, so this means taking steps to protect your property from thieves, vandals, and other intruders. How do you do this? Simple: by strengthening your access or entry points, putting up lights on the outside of your property, or by installing an alarm system and CCTV cameras.
You can even enhance your business premises’ security by enlisting the services of a security guard from security services Oxford specialists like Securipol Ltd. Or, if a security guard is not within your budget, you can rely on an alarm response and key holding service (also provided by the same company, Securipol – find out more about their special security services at Securipol.net).
But whilst it’s relatively easy to take care of your physical security concerns (especially if you enlist the services of a security expert), there is something to be said about protecting your business information and lessening the likelihood of its theft by your own employees. This is a bit more difficult than just securing your physical property. However, there’s good news: you can take certain measures to prevent information theft. Here’s how:
- Averting theft by your staff and employees
One of the first things you can do in order to prevent the likelihood of employee or staff theft is to do a thorough check of every employee’s history and confirm their references. You should also set aside a time where you can speak with all your staff about security, including your policies regarding theft. Let them know that if someone is caught, you are prepared to take serious action.
If you have any areas which can be considered vulnerable such as stock rooms or a room where you store cash and other valuables, you should have access to these rooms restricted. Think carefully about who holds the keys in your business premises and be careful about diverging security codes as well.
- Averting the theft of valuable or confidential information
If you regularly deal with sensitive or confidential information, such as client files and financial records, you should make it a point to have controls on access for your computers in order to prevent unauthorised entry. Make a regular assessment of who in your company has access to confidential information and change your access passwords routinely as well. Your computers and entire IT system should also be protected from external dangers or threats with the installation of anti-virus programmes and software as well as firewalls. You should also speak with an IT professional or provider on how to adequately protect your company from cyber criminals and hackers.
Those who have plenty of confidential paperwork can also take certain steps to ensure their protection. If you have any paperwork that is no longer needed (such as a former client’s records), you should shred it instead of throwing it in the bin. Store your confidential paper files and records in cabinets with locking systems as well.
- Additional tips
Another thing you can do is speak with your local police crime officer about crime prevention. The officer should be able to give you additional advice, especially when it comes to the types of crimes other businesses in the neighbourhood have been a victim of. They should also be able to give you relevant advice on physical protection and how to properly secure your business property. Additionally, even if you already have an existing security system, you should still check it regularly and update it whenever necessary. This is because criminals become more advanced as time goes on, and you need to keep up by having a more advanced and sophisticated security system and security measures as well.
Image attributed to koko-tewan/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
