Data Security Measures, Research Paper Example

Data security measures in any organization deserve serious consideration to avoid potential damage to business that is attributable to potential breach. One of the easiest ways of upholding data security is establishment of strong passwords. The password must be hard-to-crack with an average of 8 to 12 characters both numbers as we as symbols, capital and lower case combined (Howe, et al. 2007). All users must have individual usernames as well as passwords for login in to the system; shared password must never be used.

Establishment of strong firewall is also applicable in protection of a network. This is achieved through controlling the internet traffic that enters and leaves the business. Installation of antivirus protection is a mandatory requirement measure for protecting the data in an organization. Software for anti-malware together with antivirus are perfect security weapons in internet connected computers. They effectively shield the network against unwanted attack. The programs in the computer must also be regularly updated as a security measure/ all great software that are installed in the computer must be maintained so that the user can derive the maximum benefit from the programs without compromising security of data. The security of applications is greatly enhanced by periodic updating which consequently elevates the safety to the user (Howe, et al. 2007).

Scheduling of habitual backups of data in external hard drive also plays a crucial role in securing data. The data may also be sent in cloud. As a general rule, complete backups for servers must be executed on weekly basis with incremental backups executed each night (Howe, et al. 2007). Complete backups for personal computers must also be done on weekly basis but incremental backups can be spaced with few days. Compromising data is usually an agonizing experience and the best solution to avoid such an occurrence is effective backups.

References

Howe H. et al. (2007). Method to assess identifiability in electronic data files. Am J Epidemiol. 165(5):597-601