Athena Security Solutions

The United Kingdom has experienced a significant uptick in natural security threats over the last several years. Protect Duty/Martyn's Law is a newly proposed national law aimed at enhancing the security of public spaces and protecting all employees and visitors from potential terrorist attacks and other threats.

If the Martyn's law gets passed, business owners across the country will have to mitigate the risks of terrorism and threats by creating a counterterrorism plan for their companies. However, this plan shouldn't only apply to physical threats of violence and terrorism because criminals are now finding ways to attack businesses by stealing their stored digital data.

Digital Footprint

Any business with a private or public data network will have digital footprints left behind. For example, when an employee or member of the public posts information online or through a network, they create a digital footprint of themselves. Digital footprints get made from virtually all network activities, whether posting content on social media or managing your online banking.

Company employees have to be particularly careful when it comes to digital footprints. Once they share information online, it is almost impossible to remove these digital footprints because the data has already spread to computers worldwide. This can become a severe problem for the company if the employees have access to sensitive digital information and don't implement safeguards to protect it from getting accessed by unauthorized individuals.

It is no longer just anonymous hackers who are interested in tracking and retrieving sensitive information from digital footprints. Terrorist groups, criminals, and others with malicious intent are also eager to get their hands on this information.

The Best Ways to Protect Your Sensitive Digital Footprints

Many of the security recommendations from the Protect Duty legislation can be used to protect the digital footprints of your employees and customers.

Let's explore some of these ways below:

Conduct Digital Security Assessments
Execute a digital security vulnerability assessment to determine your digital data's susceptibility to hacks and theft. Identify the areas of your security system which need the most security improvement. This assessment will give you a better idea of how many new upgrades you'll need to make to your digital security system and professional information network.

Determine the Threat Level
Did you find your digital security system vulnerable to terrorist attacks online? If so, the next step is creating a security plan to improve your security system. Then you'll be better prepared to stop future potential terrorist attacks on your security system and digital information.

Upgrade Your Digital Security Measures
Once you've conducted the security risk assessment and determined the threat level to your digital security system, the next step is to initiate the proper upgrades to the most vulnerable areas of it. These new security measures could involve deleting metadata, requiring employees to use complex passwords, stricter computer privacy settings, etc.

Do You Need a Security Risk Assessment?
Athena Security Solutions can help you conduct a security risk assessment of your professional information networks and security systems. Call us at 0800 020 6200 or email us at info@athenasecuritysolutions.co.uk to contact one of our security experts today.