The holiday season is a time many associate with spending quality time with friends and family while taking a break from work. However, criminals view this time with plenty of opportunities to commit crime as they can break into businesses to commit theft. Therefore, you must follow some security measures to ensure that your business is well-protected against crime.
- Review security policies with your employees
A vital step you can take in securing your business is reviewing your company’s security policies with your employees, ensuring that you are on the same page. Some points that you should check with your employees include the protocols regarding how valuables are locked up during the holiday season. If there are employees who will be conducting their work remotely during the holidays, they should be aware of the company’s cyber security policy. In the case of an emergency occurring, employees should also be aware of the security action plan.
- Ensure that security equipment is working
Once your employees know the company’s security procedures and policies, you must make sure that your security equipment is working correctly. Before the holidays, ensure that you test all the equipment and, if necessary, make any adjustments. The security equipment you need to check includes; fire alarms, panic buttons, the access control system, the cybersecurity system and security cameras. Testing your security equipment before the holidays ensures that you have better peace of mind. If you decorate the office during the holiday season, ensure that the decorations do not obstruct the security equipment such as security cameras and alarm systems. Any decorations that obstruct equipment such as security cameras or motion detection sensors could lead to false alarms or compromise your system if someone were to break in.
- Check what you dispose of in the trash
During the holiday season, your business might receive many deliveries that contain sensitive information. When emptying these delivery boxes, ensure that you do not throw them away directly. Be careful about how you throw away original contents and shipping labels, as you should always throw this information away in trash bags. When disposing of the contents, you should do so so that outsiders do not know which valuables are inside your offices, as this could make you a target.
- Do not use public Wi-Fi
It can be tempting to check office emails during the holiday season using public Wi-Fi, and it might seem completely harmless; however, this could not be further from the truth. When using public Wi-Fi, your personal and confidential business information is at risk of being hacked. To ensure that the company’s data is protected, you can use a Virtual Protected Network (VPN), which allows employees to retrieve company resources without physically connecting to it, which can be beneficial when employees are working remotely.
- Be vigilant
Once the building has been closed, you should check what can be seen inside. Refrain from placing equipment, merchandise and high-value items near windows where intruders can easily detect them. Placing them where criminals can easily see them will not only tempt them but also makes it easier for criminals to smash and grab the items. You should also encourage employee vigilance as an essential aspect of keeping your business safe is through being vigilant. You should lookout for any suspicious activity or people. It would help if you also asked the reception to notify you when they have doubtful callers who ask for any sensitive information.
- Lock up
The most obvious yet most essential business security tip you can follow to protect your business is ensuring that you lock all your business’ entrances and windows before heading out for the holidays. This is especially important for individual offices as they contain sensitive data that you do not want anyone to access.
If your organisation has an access control system, it is recommended that you review the codes and confirm which of your employees have access to certain company areas. Through updating the control system access, you will ensure that you do not leave the building unattended and vulnerable to crime.
Conclusion
The holiday season might be a time for you to take a break, but criminals never take a break. Even if you feel that your business is adequately protected, you can never be too safe. By going through the security tips in this article, you will guarantee that all your assets are well-protected.
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