Encryption is a powerful weapon against hackers that can prevent them from stealing your data and leveraging it against you. Encryption, in its most basic textbook definition, converts your readable data into an indecipherable jumble that can only be reassembled through the use of an encryption key. Small businesses absolutely must utilize encryption to protect customer information, financial records, and other important or sensitive business data. This ensures that it is as protected as possible against those that might do you harm.

One major benefit of encryption is that SMBs can protect customer data with powerful security mechanisms that are next to impossible for hackers to bypass. Some of the data that might be protected by encryption include names, addresses, credit card numbers, and Social Security numbers–all of which are at serious risk to data theft. Your customers want to know that you’re doing what you can to keep them safe, and you can improve your relationship with them by using encryption. This will establish your business as one that cares about the security and privacy of its clients, making you that much better in the eyes of new customers.

In regards to legal and regulatory compliance, encryption is a vital tool that helps to keep your business in line with the strict regulations that govern private and sensitive data. Some of the regulations that you might be liable for upholding are the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) for healthcare and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) for organizations that handle credit card transactions. Encryption helps businesses meet these standards without the risk of paying steep fines for violating them.

Additionally, encryption can help you protect against data breaches, which can be problematic for any business, small or large. With a data breach, you can expect to deal with financial losses as a result of compliance fines, loss of reputation, and downtime. Encrypting data allows your organization to keep itself safe by making it far more difficult for hackers to conduct a successful data breach. Even if they do manage to steal data, they will have significant trouble decrypting it. At the end of the day, hackers prefer low-hanging fruit, and the more difficult you make their jobs, the less likely they are to want to go through the trouble.

Ultimately, encryption is all about enhancing the overall data security of your business’ data across all of its platforms and devices. Employees who frequently find themselves working out of the office or on multiple different devices or endpoints should absolutely be equipped with encryption. If you implement encryption in this way, you can rest easy knowing that your data is secure as it is accessed on protected devices and networks.

Encryption serves to protect your business from some of the nastiest threats on the Internet, and even businesses with limited IT resources can take full advantage of it. It’s a great way to keep your business’ data secure and to shore up potential vulnerabilities.

415 IT can equip your business with the encryption it needs to stay secure. Learn more by calling us at (415) 295-4898.