Ask any business owner – from the huge retailer to the one-person shop, and they’ll likely tell you that the security of their business data is a top concern for them. The latest high profile victim of data theft is Home Depot where the recently-discovered data breach could reach back through months of processing and potentially affect all of the retailer’s 2,200 U.S. stores. However, perhaps of greater concern is that 55 percent of small businesses responding to a recent survey said they experienced a business data breach.

How does it happen? There are many vulnerabilities – from poor office procedures causing improper document handling to theft of a computer or staff compromise. The result is lost or stolen data – whether your local database is hacked or that “cloud solution” you rely on is suddenly exploited or goes belly-up overnight – taking your business data with it. If you have not done your own secure data back-ups and kept copies of critical data, then you are at risk.

ErieSense.com says: “The personal information of customers, employees and/or tenants entrusted to you is critical to the day-to-day functioning of your business… Whether it’s a misplaced computer, an improperly shredded document or a hacked database, business data can easily become exposed. If it does, a business data breach could occur.”

Read this article to learn what measures to take to help avoid a data breach.

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