Category Archives: Security

Protecting Your Business in Case of Death

Protecting Your Business
Data Backup, Security, Technology, , , ,

It would be a shame and an unfortunate waste if a business cannot continue operating after the owner’s death. Fortunately, we have ways to circumvent this, beginning with a highly efficient thing called digital estate planning. When protecting your business, this is an effective way to prepare before death.

There are a few scenarios where the business can continue past the owner’s death. For example, we have sole proprietorships and traditional partnerships, where the dissolution automatically happens when the owner dies. But for many other cases, digital estate planning plays a role in ensuring the business will continue running under new management in the coming years.

Why Protecting Your Business & Digital Estate Planning Is Important

The main reason digital estate planning is now a critical element for businesses is that most business transactions and operations are processed digitally. Correspondence, marketing, and sales all happen online. This means that the wealth of a typical business’s assets is now digital. That is why protecting your business digitally is now also crucial.

Now, if the owner dies, and he is the only one with access to these digital assets, the people left in the office will have a huge problem. How can the successors of the business continue running the business when they can’t even log into the accounts in the first place?

As the business owner, when protecting your business it is your job to create a digital estate plan so that in case anything happens to you, or even if you are just temporarily incapacitated or unable to run the business for whatever reason, the person who is going to take your place would have all the data to gain access and to run the business.

How to Create a Digital Estate Plan

It might sound difficult, but creating a digital estate plan is straightforward when protecting your business. It is like making a will but for the digital assets of your business. You will begin by taking an inventory of all your digital assets. Make a list and make sure that everything is included. Anything that is in digital form should be on the list and must be planned for accordingly. This includes documents, databases, images, videos, login information for accounts relevant to the business, and so on.

After completing your list, think carefully about what you want to happen to them. In your digital estate plan, name the person you wish to entrust with each asset. Explicitly state what you want them to do to it, how you want the assets managed, and so on. Each appointee should receive a copy of all the login names and passwords needed to fulfill their responsibility.

Importance of Password Management in Protecting Your Business

This brings us to the crucial aspect of password management in digital estate planning. Turning over a list of passwords to your would-be successor is not enough when protecting your business. You must guarantee these passwords are current. Giving them a list of defunct login information is as good as giving them nothing.

The easiest way to ensure this is to use a password manager: a software application that securely keeps all your login names, passwords, and other sensitive information. Each time you change a password, which should be periodically, update the records accordingly.

Be Ready with a Well-Organized Digital Estate Plan

Having a business, you can pass on to your loved ones is a huge accomplishment. But it is just as important that you should be able to pass it on with no hitches. That is why as early as now, you should already start protecting your business and prepare a digital estate plan that will enable your loved ones to take over just as you wanted, after your death.

To help you make some of these business decisions, we’ve created two helpful downloadable infographics: A Digital Estate Planning Checklist and a Password Cheat Sheet. Pass these two resources around the office so everyone is up to speed on these important topics.

Call us any time you are ready to take the next step!

A Step-by-Step Guide to an Effective Digital Estate Planning

effective digital estate planning
Data Backup, Security, Technology, , , ,

In our previous blog, we began talking about the digital assets of a business—what they are, why they are vital to the business, and how to protect them. We have also mentioned how important it is to protect them even after you, the business owner, have passed away, through effective digital estate planning.

A digital estate plan will give authorized people access to business accounts, and all other restricted aspects of the business when you are no longer around or have become incapacitated. But how does one create an effective digital estate plan? It’s not something that you do every day. What are the things to include? How can you guarantee that the business you have worked so hard to build can go on properly? Here are the important steps that you need to take.

Take an Inventory of All Your Digital Assets

First, you need to create a list of all the digital assets of your business, which might encompass a wider range than you think. These are all the digital files that have value for your business, from photos and videos of your products to transaction records and everything in between. It also includes all accounts you maintain for your business. Taking inventory of your assets is an effective digital estate plan.

Decide How to Manage Your Digital Assets

For each item you have listed, you must specify how to proceed with it after you pass. Who will have access? What should be done with them? How do you want them managed? It is important to be clear and concise in leaving these instructions because they will be followed when you are no longer around to make clarifications.

In selecting your designated backup person, the one who will have control over the digital assets of your business when you cannot do so, pick one who is both capable and trustworthy. In addition, they should also be well-versed in the operations of your business.

Keep an Updated List of Passwords for an Effective Digital Estate Planning

Practically everything now is online and requires a login name and password. It is crucial to keep all of this login information in a place that is not only completely safe but also accessible to authorized entities when the time comes.

A great way to store your passwords as an effective digital estate plan is by using a password manager. Here, you can safely store any online credentials. It also conveniently allows any authorized entity to access the login information. With a password manager, you can also easily update the saved passwords whenever you change them.

Strengthen Your Digital Security

When a business owner passes away, there will be quite a few entities with a vested interest in the business. This people will try to get their hands on it. They might think that since the owner has died, no one would watch the gates, and getting in would be easier. This would not be true if you increased your data security as early as now.

Multi-factor authentication is one of the most popular methods people are using today as a login procedure. This is because it can add a robust layer of security to any account. Besides traditional passwords, you should also activate the use of one-time passcodes. This is to ensure that only authorized individuals will gain access to your digital assets.

Final Thoughts for an Effective Digital Estate Planning

Preparing in the event of death is no different with a company’s digital estate. To help you prepare for the inevitable, we have created a Digital Estate Planning Checklist and Password Cheat Sheet that you can download for free.

This guide contains a lot of useful information that you would need to organize a complete digital estate plan. This is one of many things you can do to protect your digital assets. If you have questions or need further assistance, our team is just a call away!

Protecting Your Business through Digital Estate Planning

digital estate planning
Cybersecurity, Data Backup, Security, Technology, , , ,

Keeping your business protected is very important. But you should ask yourself if you have all areas covered. Security cameras and restricted entry areas are vital for protecting the physical location. To protect employees, implement all their necessary rights and privileges, and so on. All this is important, but one thing to prioritize as a business owner is protecting your digital assets through digital estate planning.

What Are Digital Assets?

Digital assets comprise everything in your business that is, well, digital. These include data, software, applications, and intellectual property. If you are like most businesses today, your daily operations rely heavily on these digital assets. It makes sense that you safeguard them to the best of your ability with digital estate planning.

Effective Strategies for Protecting Digital Assets Using Digital Estate Planning

Cybercriminals are now very creative in launching their attacks, so business owners must be extra vigilant and meticulous in protecting digital assets. Here are some of the most effective strategies for digital estate planning that you can use.

Strong Passwords

It is surprising how many businesses today still use passwords that are so easy to crack. Hackers might have advanced strategies for infiltrating your system, but you can make their job much more difficult by using unique, complex, and strong passwords. Also, be sure to change passwords periodically to minimize the risk of a data breach. This is common practice for digital estate planning.

Access Controls

One of the easiest but most effective ways to protect your digital assets is to restrict access to them. This step will drastically reduce the risk of data falling into the wrong hands, and should there be a leak, it will be easier to trace where it originated.

Digital Estate Planning – Data Encryption

No matter how confident you are in your data security measures, you should never underestimate the capabilities of cybercriminals. In case they steal your data, high-level encryption will protect it from being exposed or used for illicit purposes. That is why a part of digital estate planning is always encrypting your data.

Biometrics

Biometrics is now a popular alternative to conventional sign-in methods. Not only is this more convenient for the users, but it also offers more security. Using fingerprints or facial recognition ensures that no one other than the allowed individual can log in. Also, people would no longer need to remember passwords or write them down, which only adds to the vulnerability of the old method.

Backup and Recovery

If anything happens, you should have a reliable data backup and recovery plan, which is essential for protecting digital assets. You must save and store backups regularly in multiple secure and protected locations.

Employee Training

Your employees can be valuable in protecting digital assets, but ironically, they are also usually the weakest link. With regular employee training, however, you can turn them into a robust first line of defense and circumvent most security threats.

Security Software

There is a wide range of software created for protecting digital assets, firewalls, threat detection applications, antivirus software, and so on. If you are unsure of which software to get, you can always enlist the help of an MSP who will recommend the best security solutions to match your needs.

Importance of Digital Estate Planning

An element of protecting digital assets is that many companies do not even think of digital estate planning. It is simply preparing your digital assets. This is so that an authorized person gains access to everything in the event of your death.

This might sound morbid, but it does not differ from other forms of estate planning. It also makes it easier for your business partners, beneficiaries, or heirs to continue the business when you are gone. As this could still be a new concept for some business owners, we have prepared a Digital Estate Planning Checklist and Password Cheat Sheet, both of which you can download for free.

In this, we delve into the advantages of having a digital estate plan, how to go about it, and why password management is a very important part of it. Our team is also ready to help you create a comprehensive digital estate plan, which is crucial for protecting your digital assets, even long after you are gone.

Business Cloud Migration, The Best Move to Make Today

Business cloud migration
Cybersecurity, Security, Technology, , , , ,

The past few years have been all about business cloud migration. As the needs of businesses continue to grow, it has become more tedious and expensive to keep up if you rely only on your on-site business resources. But thanks to cloud technology, you can outsource many business processes to cloud-based providers. This freedom means you can grow your business with less effort and expense!

Why Some Business Owners Are Reluctant to Migrate

The more courageous business owners have immediately leaped since the cloud was first introduced in 2019, while many others have gradually followed suit. But to this day, many businesses still stick with their on-premises resources for their operations. Why is this so? It’s because of fears about the cloud, many of which are unfounded.

The most common fear is that the business cloud migration might put security and privacy at risk. Many business owners think the cloud is a public domain where hackers roam freely. While there are cybercriminals everywhere, cloud providers have tight security measures to help keep you and your data protected.

Other business owners hesitate because they fear cloud services will be costly to maintain or too confusing to use. Again, these fears are speculative. Cloud solutions are much less expensive than investing in on-premises equipment and services. Most of it is very easy to navigate, particularly when you work with a reliable MSP.

What Businesses Can Gain from the Cloud

Once you get past your fears, you will see the wealth of opportunities you can gain from business cloud migration. For many who have already migrated, the number one advantage is scalability. Scaling your business up or down is so much easier with the cloud. Because of the flexibility of the cloud options, you won’t have to worry about having insufficient funds or resources.

There is also the matter of cutting back on significant spending. A cloud service provider will typically charge you for the services that you use. You won’t end up paying for a whole package, most of which you don’t even need, which is what often happens with conventional operations.

Also, there is perpetual access to the latest software, hardware, and infrastructure. When a new version comes out, you can ask your provider to upgrade you, and you don’t even have to pay extra fees. In addition, the cloud also gives you better data and network security, more efficiency for your business, and improved overall business performance.

How to Go About Business Cloud Migration

Cloud migration is moving all your company’s digital resources, applications, databases, and servers into the cloud. Yes, it can be a colossal operation, especially if you go for a full migration. But the good news is that you don’t have to do it alone. If you have a trusted MSP, you can sit back and let them complete the process for you. That is exactly what we can do for you.

Whether you want to go the whole nine yards and do a full cloud migration, or just partially, we will help you with the transition in a way that meets all your business needs.


To learn more about the cloud and find out more details on how it can benefit your business, download our FREE Infographic, “5 Fears and 5 Benefits of the Cloud.” Are you afraid of the Cloud, or are you open to cloud solutions and how to use them to grow your business?