If your company is IT compliant, that means your IT infrastructure protocols meet certain legal and industry standards. Those standards are in place to protect your network and devices, which ultimately protects client and employee data.
A business that doesn’t meet compliance laws and standards puts all its assets at risk. Fines can be issued, and the reputational and operational damage from data loss are often irreversible.
“What happened to that little staffing agency down the street?”
Not too far away and not so long ago, there was a little staffing agency that locals loved. It wasn’t one of those agencies that just places people into grunt-work jobs that require warm bodies. It was an agency that worked with candidates to find their dream jobs.
Other local businesses, too, loved the agency. They got their best leads for new staff from the agency’s thoughtful recommendations.
Then, almost like it had happened overnight, the staffing agency disappeared.
As it turned out, the firm had sub-par IT compliance practices in place, and it cost them.
The staffing company wasn’t shut down by any regulatory organization, but because of resulting reputational damage. When the staffing agency’s network was hacked, employee information like social security numbers and employment history were stolen. The goodwill the company had built with so many job seekers was undone in an instant.
If only this little firm had known that 71% of security breaches target small businesses. Over 60% of the small businesses affected end up shutting down.
A little compliance could have gone a long way for this staffing agency. Take your security and compliance into your own hands with these 5 steps to compliant IT.
5 steps to compliant (and effective) IT
Follow these steps with the help of your IT service provider.
- Set up security protocols
- Back up data regularly
- Patch up operating systems
- Whitelist applications (approve the software that can run, then block the rest)
- Manage admin privileges (only your IT team should install software)
Prioritize your IT resources by focusing on protecting your business in the areas where data faces the greatest risk. Work with your IT provider to identify those risks and craft a plan to mitigate them.