When it comes to securing cyber assets, many people often think of only mitigating cyber risks like spam, phishing and malware. However, cyber assets can also be compromised physically.
Here are the physical exposures your cyber assets face and the steps for mitigating these risks:
Minimize and safeguard printed materials with sensitive information
The most effective way to minimize the risk of losing control of sensitive information from printed materials is to minimize the quantity of printed materials that contain sensitive information. Establish procedures that limit the number of copies of printed reports, memoranda and other material containing PII.
Safeguard copies of material containing sensitive information by providing employees with locking file cabinets or safes. Make it a standard operating procedure to lock up important information. Train employees to understand that simply leaving the wrong printed material on a desk, in view of the general public, can result in consequences that impact the entire company and your customers.
Ensure mail security
Your mail centre can introduce a wide range of potential threats to your business. Your centre’s screening and handling processes must be able to identify threats and hoaxes and eliminate or mitigate the risk they pose to facilities, employees and daily operations. Your company should ensure that mail managers understand the range of screening procedures and evaluate them in terms of your specific operational requirements.
Dispose of trash securely
Too often, sensitive information, including customers’ PII, company financial data and company system access information, is available for anyone to find in the trash. Invest in business-grade shredders and buy enough of them to make shredding convenient for employees. Alternatively, subscribe to a trusted shredding company that will provide locked containers for storage until documents are shredded. Develop standard procedures and employee training programs to ensure that everyone in your company is aware of what types of information need to be shredded.
Dispose of electronic equipment securely
Be aware that emptying the recycle bin on your desktop or deleting documents from folders on your computer or other electronic device may not delete information forever. Those with advanced computer skills can still access your information even after you think you’ve destroyed it.
Disposing of electronic equipment requires skilled specialists in order to ensure the security of sensitive information contained within that equipment. If outside help, such as an experienced electronic equipment recycler and data security vendor, is not available or too expensive, you should at a minimum remove computer hard drives and have them shredded. Also, be mindful of risks with other types of equipment associated with computer equipment, including CDs and flash drives.
Cyber Assessments:
With the increased usage of technology in people’s lives to stay connected while mostly working from home, cybersecurity threats have also become a growing issue and require proper assessments to manage any security gaps and risks that can harm your business.
Therefore, it’s important to conduct proper cyber assessments to mitigate the possibility of having your company’s cybersecurity system breached.
