Imagine: you have just received your brand-new software that will improve your company’s performance on the market and make the staff’s work more automated and relaxed. You are excited to upload all your data into the cloud and start work. But then a thought crawls into your mind. “How safe is my information online? Won’t someone accidentally (or intentionally) obtain access to it?” You cannot let this happen. What if your data is seen by a competitor, and they steal your ideas? What if someone gets access to your company’s documentation?

To avoid these kinds of accidents, think about data encryption in advance. From the first stages of your software development, pay attention to the safety topic.

Remember the story of just recent years when Facebook was caught red-handed for compromising its users’ passwords that could be easily seen by the site’s employees. This led to a series of incidents where the users’ personal data was revealed. 

Besides, cyber terrorism is becoming one of, if not the most dangerous threat in the modern world. Ransomware attacks have been a nightmare for many big businesses. 

Of course, a situation like this is unacceptable. What can you do to protect your valuable information and sleep peacefully at night?

Ask the software development company you are working with about the options of data encryption that they offer. There are two major types of encryption: at-rest and in-transit variety. The first type, as you can probably understand from its name, is focused on the files that you keep on your disk and that don’t usually go online and aren’t often accessed by the apps. This type of data is commonly protected by an antivirus program or a firewall, but unfortunately, they don’t give a 100% guarantee of safety. This is why it is highly recommended to consider extra layers of protection. In-transit data is something that is used regularly or can be accessed online, so it needs a higher level of protection. 

The principle of data encryption is translating the data from one form to another, that unauthorized users cannot access. If you choose this form of data protection, you are given the key that gives you, and only you, the tool to decipher the encrypted data.

What steps should you take to ensure the safety of your data? Simply relying on a username and password or an antivirus makes you vulnerable to hackers. Consult with your IT department, or better take time to find a reliable software company that specializes in data encryption as well. It will be much more efficient if the company that develops your software is the same one that develops a data security strategy, than if you install third-party apps. 

One of the best ways to combat these threats nowadays is multi-factor authentication. This type of protection implies that only the combination of a particular device and information (for example, your PC + your password) allows access to the data. 

There is something that is often overlooked while is extremely important to protect: your back-up. A lot of regular users and businesses keep their essential information on more than one device. An external source, such as a hard drive, should be encrypted as well as the main device. You might be thinking that the device that is not linked to the cloud cannot be accessed from aside, but the very moment you connect it to a PC or a cellphone, it becomes vulnerable to an attack. So every time you plug in your device, make sure that both at-rest and in-transit are covered.

Only one conclusion can be made from this: data encryption for businesses is crucial, whether they are large or small, and whatever their product is. So, be diligent and do not dismiss this important step. If you don’t want undesired guests to get their hands on your valuable data, consult with a software company today. Being safe means being successful, and it is available to anyone!