Stealing company information used to be the specialty of spies and conspirators. It was something that only happened to the most powerful of corporations and branches of government.
Nowadays, stealing data is commonplace and anyone can become a victim at any time. The person standing in line behind you might be running a profitable side business stealing other peoples??? sensitive data. The reality is, however, that ???inside??? jobs are the most common when discussing business data theft.
Instead of looking through the crowds trying to pick out the law breakers, and instead of spending boatloads of money conducting thorough background checks on all those whom you encounter in your business, it???s easier to simply protect your data from prying eyes and malicious intentions.
Easier, yes. But protecting company data isn???t something that many small business owners do. Into their computer programs they input their products and pricing, their vendors, their EINs and TINs, their checking account numbers, email addresses of family members, their proprietary information, their marketing plans and formulas ??" everything goes into the computer.
What???s worse is when a business owner stores this type of information on a laptop computer, an item especially vulnerable to theft. Someone stealing laptops probably could care less about the information that is stored on them, but why take that risk. If you???re going to protect your sensitive company data, it???s all or nothing.
And protecting data is definitely your responsibility if you are an accountant or you specialize in other types of financial businesses. Your clients assume you are protecting their financial documents and their other sensitive records. But are you? Kudos to you, if you are. If you are not, you better take this issue seriously right now, before the damage occurs.
The best way to protect data is by using encryption software. Encryption means making data unreadable to everybody except those who know or understand the key or the code. When data is encrypted, it is far more secure than it is if just protected using a password.
Passwords that are required to login to a program are considered authentication methods, where the identity of the person logging in is simply authenticated, or verified. But passwords are easy to figure out and anyone capable of figuring out passwords will still have access to the data contained within.
So for data to truly be protected, you???ve got to go the extra step and encrypt it. There are many encryption programs available today. The most sophisticated of those protect our nation???s secrets.
But for the small business owner, who has minimal understanding of encryption methodologies or terminology, and wants it to stay this way, ease of use is what???s important.
Behind the scenes, all encryption software uses an algorithm or some other complex mathematical processes to scramble the data. Keys or strings of binary numbers (bits) are created and are what is used to mix up the data. The binary numbers and the data mix together and the result are data that is unreadable.
When more binary numbers are used, more encryption combinations are possible. Therefore, longer strings (more binary numbers or bits) are preferred when encrypting because this makes the code even more difficult to break. So it makes sense that 128-bit encryption software is more secure than 56-bit encryption software.
Data that is encrypted is safe from prying eyes which means that your business data is safe. To view data that has been encrypted, it must be decrypted.
Whether you need to protect your e-commerce website, your email, your business data or that of your clients, be sure you use encryption software.
Copyright © 2005 Cavyl Stewart. Get more software tips, strategies and recommendations by signing up for my Exclusive 100% free, 100% original content ecourses. Visit: http://www.find-small-business-software.com/free-ecourses.php
Lincoln Stretch rentals Alsip ..Hi, Guys,I believe a lot of programmers are trying to... Read More
Microsoft Great Plains, designed back in 1990th as database transferable... Read More
With many manufacturing shops heading over seas in favor of... Read More
Before being able to choose a secure Internet communication system,... Read More
Rapid Application Development (RAD) is a software development methodology. In... Read More
We live in a post-industrial age where information is the... Read More
Microsoft bought Navision, Denmark based software development company, along with... Read More
In this short FAQ style article we would like to... Read More
Microsoft bought Navision, Denmark based software development company, along with... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions CRM data conversion deserves FAQ type of... Read More
Pirated software is on the increase and now accounts for... Read More
The fact that a software tester is a most infamous... Read More
When it comes to screenplay software each screenwriter needs to... Read More
When you think... Read More
Anyone who has ever used Microsoft Word knows that it... Read More
What is 'adware'?Adware is basically software or scripts that are... Read More
You probably didn't casually invite, or extend a formal attendance... Read More
If you've been using MySQL database to store your important... Read More
Are you a whiz at calculating financial information? Not the... Read More
After seeing many people complain about their weak Internet security... Read More
Looks like Microsoft Great Plains becomes more... Read More
The Windows registry is a huge database that ensures normal... Read More
Navision Software was purchased by Microsoft and now it is... Read More
In this small article we will be looking at the... Read More
When making a decision to buy any piece of software... Read More
Western Springs shuttle limo ..Looks like Microsoft Great Plains becomes more and more popular,... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is written in Great Plains... Read More
Icons are used everywhere; right from software applications, to internet... Read More
... Read More
Using professional icons in your application or website can bring... Read More
Considering whether or not your software company should hire a... Read More
Former Great Plains Software Dynamics/eEnterprise and currently Microsoft Business Solutions... Read More
There are certain pluses and minuses in both cases and... Read More
#5 All your hardware components like Printers, PCs etc come... Read More
Finding the best spyware removers to detect and remove spyware... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions CRM is present several years on the... Read More
In part III of this ISDN primer, we learned that... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains was designed back in the... Read More
Microsoft has never released a service pack for Windows98 SE,... Read More
If you have been using the Internet for any amount... Read More
MSN messenger is a pretty cool invention. I mean I'm... Read More
Microsoft Great Plains and Microsoft CRM become more and more... Read More
If you're online using a dialup Internet connection, you'll probably... Read More
Usually, the easiest way to tell you have spyware is... Read More
Sales are all about leverage, because there is only so... Read More
Executive SummaryAn effective plan for entering, cleaning and updating the... Read More
I like my software simple. If it's too complex or... Read More
It won't matter how effective your WinRunner Team is if... Read More
Several years ago Microsoft purchased Great Plains Software, then Navision... Read More
I have always regretted how Microsoft price gouges and rips... Read More
Software |