Cybersecurity used to be something you could invest minimal resources into and still feel relatively secure. Just in the past year, however, it has become a huge monetary risk to many businesses. The World Economic Forum’s Global Cybercrime Outlook found that 77% of organizations reported an increase in cyber fraud and phishing attacks. One of the simplest and most effective ways to protect your data from hackers is to store it in a secure customer relationship management system (CRM).
Businesses gather a lot of personal information from customers and employees alike. Everything from address and phone number to banking and credit card information is stored in your databases. Your business is a lucrative target for hackers. As a business owner, you have a responsibility to keep them out. Beyond monetary losses, data breaches break trust, and once trust is broken, it is hard to regain, especially when there are dozens of other businesses ready to accept those customers. The consequences, however, can be far worse in sectors like healthcare or finance, where patient and customer confidentiality is protected by law.
Main Sources of Data Breaches
Data breaches happen when too many people have access to sensitive data and the systems they are stored in, when the wrong tool is used for the job (i.e. using a shared Google spreadsheet that anyone can request access to), and when systems aren’t kept up-to-date. Even the most well-trained, digitally literate employees can let their guard down. Keeping your most precious data in a CRM can mitigate the damage that both a malicious hacker and a well-meaning yet careless employee can do.
The Role of Your Customer Relationship Management System
The right customer relationship management system (CRM) will greatly reduce these various threats. Most CRM systems will give you end-to-end encryption, access controls, regular updates of cloud-based software, secure backups. These features are especially important in highly regulated industries such as healthcare, finance, and law. A CRM like HubSpot, for instance, gives you the auditing and access controls necessary to comply with laws like HIPAA.
Access Controls
With a CRM, you decide who gets access to which data and documents. Most CRMs allow you to assign roles to users and grant different levels of permission to view, edit, and delete data and files. Sensitive data will be accessible only to the employees who need it.
Single Point of Access
Instead of users accessing different spreadsheets, databases, documents, and dashboards with multiple passwords and sharing them as they see fit via email or chat, a CRM keeps everything in one place so you don’t have to worry about keeping half a dozen systems and platforms secure.
Back Up Your Data
Some CRM systems, such as Odoo, host and manage backups of your databases. It also allows you to schedule daily backups and back up data manually. Regularly scheduling and maintaining backups protects your business from losing data due to user error, system failures, or cyberattacks. These backups are especially important if you’re about to do major system upgrades, move sensitive data, or test third-party integrations. If something goes wrong with an upgrade or integration, your backups allow you to roll back to a stable, working state.
Find the CRM That Is Right for You
As a technology-agnostic agency, our main concern is building a tech stack that will help you achieve your goals. No matter your industry, growth goals, sales and marketing strategy, or budget, we can help you choose and implement the right CRM for your business. Our technology experts are ready to get your business using technology more effectively and automate the tasks that are keeping you from focusing on your business.
