How to Protect Your Business From Theft
Theft is a major risk to businesses, as losses can be attributed to many factors. Employee dishonesty, shoplifting, electronic fraud, and organized crime and burglary are all real dangers that pose major threats to a business’s finances. To maximize security and ward off both internal and external sources of theft, integrate these best practices into your loss prevention plan.
Conduct a Risk Assessment
You can only protect your business if you’re aware of the risks it faces. A risk assessment details your business’s level of exposure to security breaches and will help you calculate the number of losses that can be attributed to illegal activity. Determine the total monetary value at stake and identify sensitive time periods and weak spots in your current security efforts.
Invest in Commercial Crime Insurance
After assessing your business’s vulnerability, you need to protect it from apparent threats. While you may have commercial property insurance, this doesn’t typically cover losses that arise from crime. Luckily, insurance companies now offer tailored business insurance that protects against commercial crime. Coverages include employee dishonesty, vandalism, burglary, money and securities theft, fraud, and forgery.
Purchase a High-Quality Shredder
A quality shredder is a great investment for protecting your assets. Hard copies that contain sensitive information should never go to the waste bin without shredding—this prevents information from falling into the wrong hands.
Go Digital
Digitizing all your processes covers a major aspect of vulnerability. All correspondence, bank statements, invoices, credit card bills, and company-owned intellectual property should be in digital form. This will also reduce the likelihood of fraud that occurs due to unwanted access to classified information.
Observe Digital Security Best Practices
Many businesses today face collapse due to digital data breaches. You can prevent this by following digital security best practices: use of strong firewalls, offsite data storage, tough passwords, secure wireless networks, rigorous employee training, scheduled virus and malware scans, secure data backup, and cloud-based digital systems.
Invest in Business Security Installations
Start by strengthening all access points, including doors and windows. Install security cameras, motion sensors, and alarm systems, and also utilize keyless entry capabilities, burglar-resistant glass treatments, and other cutting-edge security systems to best protect your business from physical threats.
Focus1 Insurance Group cares about your business’s safety and success. We are an independent insurance broker committed to protecting businesses in southern Oregon and going the extra mile to get you the best coverage from reliable providers. Get in touch today with us today and request a free, no-obligation quote.