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Identity Theft
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How can your business prevent identity theft?
Identity theft is becoming an increasing problem in today’s business world. A significant increase in fraud attempts along with several thousand reports per month regarding suspicious activity should be enough to scare any business owner.
What can your business do to prevent identity theft?
There are two main areas businesses need to consider to help prevent identity theft. The first is by enhancing the security of your business workplace, and the second being enhancing the security level of your business and documents on computers and the internet.
1. Secure your office premises with locks and alarms
Alarm systems have proven themselves to be very efficient in regards to break-ins and unwanted entrances. Alarms are typically effective restraints against criminals thinking about breaking into your business for which they could extract important private hardcopy details and information. External doors should be ensured with deadbolts and windows should additionally be secured.
2. Enclosing all business records and private information under lock and key
It is important to store all physical business records that are confidential, such as business-to-customer reports, expenses, and other hardcopy data in lockable filing cabinets. It is also important to remember to lock these cabinets every night or during the days where you and your staff members would not be able to supervise access, such as lunch hours. Another alternative to storing important documents would be to put them inside a safe or a security deposit box in order to assure ultimate safety – possibly hide the safe away from eyesight.
3. Shred all unwanted documents
A businessman’s best friend is a document shredder. Although this may initially sound like a weird statement to make, you will be surprised just how important shredders play a part in every businessman’s life. It is important to shred all unwanted documents such as old business records, expired customer reports and records, etc. Any information that contains your name and or address should also be shredded. Mail such as billing statements are hardcopy documents allowing possible identity theft. By shredding them, businesses can avoid the potential extraction of important information by fraudsters and you close a fairly common doorway for criminals to start compiling confidential information about you or your business.
4. Phone and email precautions
It is fairly easy for people to fake who they are especially when they are not physically in front of you. This as seen in several telemarketing and internet scams. Be cautious about the people who call you and never give out any personal information over the phone unless you are positive that the caller’s identity is legitimate. This methodology is typically known as “social engineeringâ€. Identity thieves fake being someone else, especially customer support or bank representatives who need to “verify†personal information or personal accounts. An alarming number of people aimlessly provide this information simply assuming that the person on the line is who they say they are. Avoid this common mistake and it will save you a lot of trouble in the future.
5. Limit the access on your computers
Ensure that your computer network has limited access in the form of password protection and internet security. You further have to consider other factors such as employee access to company documents whereby they have to follow certain regulations and not share the passwords to anyone. Certain steps must be taken in order to prevent any other personnel from accessing the computers or databases without authorization. Choosing the right internet security for your entire computer network is crucial especially due to the increasing amounts of viruses on the internet thus putting your network at risk. Be sure to select a reliable internet security system preferably by testing them out yourself or through recommendations from other businesses.
Another way to protect your self is to use an identity theft protection service. There are several companies offering this type of service as very reasonable rates.
John likes helping folks out that may not be aware of the dangers of identity theft.
What can your business do to prevent identity theft?
There are two main areas businesses need to consider to help prevent identity theft. The first is by enhancing the security of your business workplace, and the second being enhancing the security level of your business and documents on computers and the internet.
1. Secure your office premises with locks and alarms
Alarm systems have proven themselves to be very efficient in regards to break-ins and unwanted entrances. Alarms are typically effective restraints against criminals thinking about breaking into your business for which they could extract important private hardcopy details and information. External doors should be ensured with deadbolts and windows should additionally be secured.
2. Enclosing all business records and private information under lock and key
It is important to store all physical business records that are confidential, such as business-to-customer reports, expenses, and other hardcopy data in lockable filing cabinets. It is also important to remember to lock these cabinets every night or during the days where you and your staff members would not be able to supervise access, such as lunch hours. Another alternative to storing important documents would be to put them inside a safe or a security deposit box in order to assure ultimate safety – possibly hide the safe away from eyesight.
3. Shred all unwanted documents
A businessman’s best friend is a document shredder. Although this may initially sound like a weird statement to make, you will be surprised just how important shredders play a part in every businessman’s life. It is important to shred all unwanted documents such as old business records, expired customer reports and records, etc. Any information that contains your name and or address should also be shredded. Mail such as billing statements are hardcopy documents allowing possible identity theft. By shredding them, businesses can avoid the potential extraction of important information by fraudsters and you close a fairly common doorway for criminals to start compiling confidential information about you or your business.
4. Phone and email precautions
It is fairly easy for people to fake who they are especially when they are not physically in front of you. This as seen in several telemarketing and internet scams. Be cautious about the people who call you and never give out any personal information over the phone unless you are positive that the caller’s identity is legitimate. This methodology is typically known as “social engineeringâ€. Identity thieves fake being someone else, especially customer support or bank representatives who need to “verify†personal information or personal accounts. An alarming number of people aimlessly provide this information simply assuming that the person on the line is who they say they are. Avoid this common mistake and it will save you a lot of trouble in the future.
5. Limit the access on your computers
Ensure that your computer network has limited access in the form of password protection and internet security. You further have to consider other factors such as employee access to company documents whereby they have to follow certain regulations and not share the passwords to anyone. Certain steps must be taken in order to prevent any other personnel from accessing the computers or databases without authorization. Choosing the right internet security for your entire computer network is crucial especially due to the increasing amounts of viruses on the internet thus putting your network at risk. Be sure to select a reliable internet security system preferably by testing them out yourself or through recommendations from other businesses.
Another way to protect your self is to use an identity theft protection service. There are several companies offering this type of service as very reasonable rates.
John likes helping folks out that may not be aware of the dangers of identity theft.
Article Source: http://www.articlesGiant.com
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Permission is granted to republish this article, free of charge, as long as embedded links remain in tact and articles are not changed, edited, or reworded.