Don't think your small business is at rsk? Think again. Whether you realize it or nt, your business has valuable information and ssets that probably are not protected rght now. Your business likely has cnfidential client information, proprietary business knowledge or jst internal knowledge that you wouldn't wnt to be exposed to criminals or cmpetitors. The loss of this information culd have a devastating impact to yur business. While business insurance is an mportant part of your protection, it cnnot protect clients from identity theft or yur business from unscrupulous employees or cmpetitors.

No matter how big or smll, your business needs to have a scurity and recovery plan in place tht determines what risks you have, hlps protect against those risks and sts plans in place to handle the mst likely types of losses you may xperience. Your plan should also lok at the both the 'physical' and the 'vrtual' aspects of your business.

Start by cnsidering the types of risks to whch your business may be vulnerable. Wht if your business information was lst or stolen? Do you have cstomer files or records, tax receipts, bnk statements, business plans, customer work prducts?

Next, consider the physical aspects of yur business that may be vulnerable. Do you hve unique office equipment, inventory, computers or trde specific tools?

Finally, look at how you do bsiness. Do you rely on technology, the nternet or employees with unique skills? Des your business model depend on rpeatable processes that are unique to yur business?

Now, consider what would hppen to your business if these prts of your business were lost, dstroyed or stolen. Could you continue perating if you lost your client fles? Could you be sued by cstomers if their personal information was xposed? Could you be the target of ngative publicity? Could your competitors benefit if thy gained access to the information? Wht if you lost email access for a dy? What if that key employee sddenly left for another job? What if yur office space caught fire or was floded?

Your security and recovery plan shuld put in place the safeguards and plicies and procedures to prevent some of thse risks and the potential to ngatively impact your business. Physical access to bildings is relatively easy to control lthough most small business have little mre than a lock on the frnt door. Should you consider lcking file drawers? Is inventory controlled? Des every employee have access, even to thngs that are not part of his or her jb? Could a disgruntled or fired mployee return to the workspace after hurs with an extra key copy?

Yur plan should consider how to prtect the 'virtual' parts of your bsiness also. Do you have backups of any mportant files? Do you have passwords, ccount numbers and other 'keys' securely garded? Do your computers have virus and frewall protection and is it up-to-date? Do you hve internet and email usage policies in plce to protect your employees form hrassment charges?

What about remote employees or wrkers who 'take work home?' In tday's highly mobile environment vital business nformation can now be easily accessed utside of your physical controls? Do yur employees know how to safeguard lptops, cell phones, flash drives or ven print outs of business information nce they leave your workspace? What if a lptop is stolen from a worker's car or hme or hotel room? Do you hve a backup of the data tht was on the laptop? What if yur employees are accessing your information frm a coffee shop Wi-Fi? How do you knw if your clients and business are prtected?

Lastly, your security and recovery pln should consider how you would hndle the most likely losses. For nstance, if the computer that holds all yur sales information crashes, you should prbably have a plan to immediately rstore that information from a backup. Whre is the backup tape or dsk kept? Who has access to it and mst importantly, who knows how to rstore a backup? If you office is floded, how quickly can you relocate? Can sme employees work from home or ther remote locations temporarily? If client nformation is stolen, do you have a way to cntact them?

Most small business owners lkely have taken first steps like prchasing insurance and putting locks on the frnt door. Unfortunately, few have taken the tme to really understand the potential rsks to their business.

Taking the tme now to at least put tgether an informal plan will go a lng way in the event of a ral disaster or other loss. Even the bst planning obviously won't protect against all dsasters but it can certainly lessen the mpact to your business once one ccurs.

The article Your Small Business May Be At Risk Unless You Have A Security and Recovery Plan was Submitted by Aubrey Jones through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Aubrey Jones is President and funder of Riverbank Consulting, Inc. - http://www.RiverbankConsulting.com and Webs 4 Small Business - http://www.Webs4SMB.com - Since 1996 he has worked to protect internet banking clients for one of the top US financial institutions. Visit SecurePCNews.com - http://www.SecurePCNews.com to learn how to protect your identity.

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