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SMB Data Access Management: Limiting Employee Access

Summary:

Why Limit Employee Access to Your Business Data?

SMB owners are often too busy operating their day-to-day business functions to think about cyber security, let alone take action to secure their networks. They are busy running the business. Unfortunately, they tend to assume, incorrectly, that only larger companies need to be concerned with cyber threats. That is the mindset that makes small and mid-sized businesses more vulnerable. Business owners can reduce the risk by creating robust cyber security policies to protect company data.

Shouldn’t All Employees Get the Same All-Access Pass?

No. Different jobs require access to different data related to their functions. A graphic designer doesn’t need access to company bank statements, nor does an accountant need access to private client files. Without appropriate limits, sensitive proprietary information can be leaked, deleted or misused by your staff, intentionally or accidentally. It also increases the amount of data affected during a data breach, which dramatically increases recovery costs.

Whether you have a handful of employees or dozens, putting specific restrictions on who has permissions to access which files will help protect your data, your clients and your business’s reputation. You must define who gets access, why they need it and for how long.

Q: Why should small businesses limit employee access to the data only required for their jobs?

A: Because limiting access reduces accidental or intentional misuse of sensitive information, reduces the scope of cyberattacks and ultimately protects client trust.

What Are the Costs of Not Setting Access Control Permissions?

Without a detailed access control policy, strictly enforced, your most valuable data could be at serious risk, and the consequences could be devastating to your SMB. For example, employees might delete or move critical files, and sensitive proprietary data may be shared outside your company. Also, former employees could log into a client account or compromise an existing one, which could expose your entire network. Without an access management plan, problems often crop up when it’s already too late to stop a breach or some other cyber event.

If an employee’s login credentials are stolen or guessed, a hacker will gain access to a lot of data, increasing potential damage and the cost of recovery, notification requirements and exposure to legal actions and regulatory fines. Limiting access is not about trust. It is more about protecting your business from cyberattacks and internal threats and creating a strong cyber-secure business environment.

Q: What can happen without an RBAC policy?

A: Untrained employees might access or alter data. Also, former staffers could retain unauthorized access to client accounts, proprietary information and other valuable resources specific to your business.

How Does Role Based Access Protect Your Small Business?

With role based controls, you assign access permissions based on an employee’s job function. For example, your marketing team doesn’t need access to accounting files and your accounting staff shouldn’t see client data managed by your sales team. Such considerations make RBAC a key component of robust data protection for any sized company. RBAC security helps reduce common human error, streamline the onboarding and offboarding processes, reduce internal threats and comply with any applicable data protection laws.

Role based access is completely scalable and flexible as your company grows and your business’s needs change. When job roles shift, you can adjust access privileges with minimal, if any, disruption. RBAC security works as a frontline safeguard against mistakes, conflicts and intentional or unintentional misuse, providing data access only to the people who need it to do their jobs.

Why Is an Access Control Policy Essential to Your Cyber Security

Without a detailed, written access control policy, your access decisions may be inconsistent, unclear or entirely verbal. That’s a dangerous liability your SMB can’t afford. Access control policies outline who has access to what, under which circumstances and for how long. It’s an ever-evolving document that must be adjusted as roles change in your company.

A good access control approach includes clear definitions of roles, a list of data categories and their sensitivity level, criteria for how data access is granted or modified and methods of user authentication. Creating a policy forces you to stop and think proactively instead of just reacting to problems. It also keeps your team aligned with your compliance expectations, which reduces confusion and additional risk.

Q: How does RBAC improve your SMB’s overall security posture?

A: It assigns access permissions based solely on an employee’s job functions, thereby reducing mistakes and internal risks while immediately improving overall compliance.

What Is Privileged Account Management, and Does My SMB Need It?

Some employees may be granted access to more critical business data than other lower-level staff, depending on their jobs. Accounts with this type of unique access are called privileged accounts. Depending on the employee’s position, it could be an all-access pass to your business.

Administrator logins, access to your servers, financial platforms and system-level tools might all be available to privileged users. Obviously, if a privileged account gets compromised, the damage could be devastating, especially for an SMB. Privileged account management helps safeguard these high-risk accounts.

SMB owners must keep an ongoing log of all privileged accounts and closely monitor their usage. By using strong authentication methods, providing expiration dates for temporary privileges and limiting the number of employees with administrative access, privileged accounts reduce the risks of a cyberattack, limit exposure during attacks, enable audit trails to trace users and protect high-level client and business data. Even in small businesses, managing privileged accounts is a vital part of overall data security that significantly reduces your company’s exposure to cyber threats. The fewer people who have access to high-level data the better.

Q: Why does your business need privileged account management?

A: It protects high-level accounts from being misused and increases accountability by knowing who has privileges and access to the data.

What Costly Mistakes Should You Avoid in Data Access Strategy?

Too many small businesses make the mistake of granting broad access because it’s “easier.” But your convenience today can create a disaster tomorrow. You may be tempted to give everyone access to the same folders or tools to avoid bottlenecks, but this leads to increased disorganization, data breaches and compliance issues.

Many SMBs ignore data access by affording new hires too much access, failing to revoke access for employees no longer with the company, not reviewing access privileges on a regular basis and sharing passwords among team members. These mistakes open the door to preventable data loss and client trust issues. Audit your access systems regularly and amend permissions as job roles change.

Q: What are some common data access management mistakes?

A: Affording too much access to new employees from day one, neglecting termination of former employees’ access privileges and careless sharing of private passwords among co-workers or outsiders.

How Do You Maintain Role Based Security?

RBAC security is important for SMBs. Start by defining core job roles based on your various departments and job functions. Then apply access rules to each one. Use tools that support role-based usage. Many cloud platforms and business applications have some built-in features for this purpose. If you assign access based on job roles, not individuals, you won’t have to adjust settings every time someone joins or leaves the team, as access permissions will already be in place based on the previously defined job category.

The only way to maintain your RBAC system is by reviewing roles quarterly, updating access as jobs evolve and training your employees to handle your company’s data responsibly. Role-based security removes the guesswork from permission settings and keeps your data organized and safe as your workforce grows and changes over time.

What Are the Benefits of Data Access Management for Your SMB?

Good data access control supports accountability and business continuity. When employees can only access what they need, they make fewer mistakes, grow more productive and keep sensitive client data safe. Controlling data access is crucial to a data privacy strategy. There are some valuable advantages to implementing a data access strategy:

The greatest benefit of access management is that you build a culture of accountability. It will help everyone on your team understand that they must take business data access seriously.

Data Access Management — Take Control of Your Digital Environment

Whether your company has two employees or 20, strong data access control helps keep your business protected from cyber events. Start with role based access, implement an access control policy and use privileged account management tools to tighten your security net.

When you limit access appropriately, you safeguard sensitive data, streamline your operations and show clients that you take privacy seriously. RBAC security isn’t complicated, but it needs to be consistent. If you need help creating a practical, scalable access system for your team, contact us or a local managed security service provider (MSSP) that is experienced setting up and maintaining small business network security.