You know that computer hacking is on the rise. What you may not know is that you have free tools at your disposal to secure your home improvement company’s customer data and digital assets.
Here is a quick, 5-minute rundown of how to secure your business, using free tools that are easy to implement yourself. If you’re in a rush, skip to the 3 bolded action items to secure your company today!
Be more secure than just a password
Think of your password like a lock on your email account. Your password keeps your email safe from hackers, who could gain access to your email and pretend to be you, or mine your emails for sensitive customer information like credit card numbers or loan application data.
Think of Two Factor Authentication as an additional deadbolt that helps your password stay locked. Two Factor Authentication is a system where you receive a code on your phone when you log in with your password, and you need to enter that code to gain access.
A hacker would have a much harder time gaining access to your password AND your phone, so this is a quantum leap for your cybersecurity!
Action item: Activate Two Factor Authentication on your email systems and anywhere else where it is available.
Don’t re-use your passwords
This sounds like silly advice, but it’s true! Don’t re-use your password.
When a company is compromised by hackers, your account credentials may be leaked on the internet. Not a huge problem if that is the only place that your email and password were being used.
Hackers are a wiley bunch, though, and they will start using those leaked passwords and trying to guess your login elsewhere! If you re-use your password multiple places, the hackers can use that to gain access wherever you re-use it.
Don’t want to remember dozens of passwords? Not to worry! Google Chrome can remember them for you, even across devices these days!
Action item: Use Google Chrome, and pay attention if it tells you that your passwords have been breached. Change any passwords that Google Chrome tells you are insecure!
Look out for your company security
Be careful who you send your login information to. It is common practice, but sending your login info to vendors to let them manage your accounts is a risky move!
We’ve seen vendors hijack important assets like websites, email accounts, and valuable tools like Google Analytics – so be sure to protect yourself from bad actors!
A better way to give your off site vendors access is to create them a new account as a user, and offer them access that way. When you offer them their own account, you can revoke access if ever you need to!
Action Item: Make sure each of your team members and outside vendors has their own login. If you stop using a vendor or if a team member leaves, remove their access once it is no longer needed!
These are the quick steps you can take to secure your business and be a great protector of your customers’ privacy and information! Here at LeadPerfection, we take your security to the next level with our CRM platform. Your customer information could not be safer than with our security-minded team of IT experts.
If you’re looking for a partner to keep your customer information secure, give us a call today! We’d be happy to help you manage your home improvement business in a smart and secure way.
