Warehouse Storage Facilities and Cybersecurity

These days, the world is becoming more and more reliant on technology to stay connected. Because of this, cybersecurity is quite an important consideration for business owners. This includes those who own warehouse storage facilities.

Keeping Warehouse Storage Facilities Secure

Traditionally, there has been a physical focus in terms of security in warehouse storage facilities. This includes things such as protecting from arson, break-ins, theft and more. However, cybersecurity is something that is often overlooked by many warehouse businesses. This week, we shall cover our best practices for a robust cybersecurity policy in the warehouse.

What are the Risks of a Breach?

Many will view cybersecurity breaches as an inconvenience. However, failing to keep your warehouse secure can come with a number of costly repercussions. This includes:

• Damage to your brand and reputation: this could be something such as having suppliers become hesitant to use your services if they know you have had a brief previously.
• Downtime doesn’t just come with big costs to the business but can result in orders not being fulfilled. This could lead to many negative reviews online.
• Loss or damage to infrastructure and software.
• Should you lose data: you will likely be legally obliged to make a statement and contact those affected.

Be Aware of Spam Emails

An entire warehouse operation can be successfully compromised by a single spam email. This includes the fulfilment system, IT infrastructure, stock system or warehouse management system. You will find many spam emails to be nothing more than sales emails. However, there is a risk that any attachments or links within the content are dangerous. They could contain hidden viruses or malware that could compromise your entire system.

What to do if you Receive Spam Email

In the event that you do not trust an email and you think it may be a scam, do not open it. Instead, forward this email onto your IT provider before quarantining it and blocking the sender. In addition to this, there are a few practical things you can do to cut down on how much spam your business receives:

• Install a third-party anti-spam filter – you can ask your IT provider for their recommendations based on the system you currently use.
• Flag any spam emails as spam or junk – your email client will then block any further communications from associated addresses.
• Discourage staff from using their work email for personal use.
• Never engage with spam emails – doing so will only open up your address to more.
• Be careful with who you give your email address to.
• Use a generic email on your websites, such as hello@ or info@ – using your name may enable scammers to discover who you are and find legitimate ways of contacting you.

Update you Firewalls and Anti-virus Protections

Every electronic device in your warehouse that remains unprotected is in danger. They can become an open door for cyber criminals to access your valuable data and otherwise obstruct your operation. In addition, you should keep all protection on your devices updated when prompted. These updates often come with patches and protection for new methods of online attacks.

Audit your Suppliers

In 2013, US retail giant “Target” was compromised by an online attack. This affected the debit and credit card data of around 40 million customers. The cause of the attack was a third-party air conditioning supplier. To keep the stores running efficiently and at a comfortable temperature for shoppers, Target granted third-party access to remote into their system to carry out ongoing maintenance. An employee then misplaced their login details, enabling hackers to gain access to Target’s system.

Here is what you could do to ensure that a breach via a third-party supplier doesn’t undo your cyber security efforts:

• Only use third-party suppliers you know and trust – do your research and read reviews before you make a decision.
• Question your current suppliers about what they currently have in place for their own business in terms of cybersecurity measures.
• Set levels of access to your system based on what the supplier needs.

Staff Training

Just as any efficiency improvements for your warehouse storage facilities, training your staff is essential for success. Cybersecurity is no different. Here, we have some top tips to ensure that your staff don’t become the weak link in your cybersecurity procedure:

• Make sure that your staff are aware of the company’s cybersecurity policy.
• Encourage your team to change their passwords on a regular basis for work devices.
• Include cybersecurity in your meeting agendas and 1 to 1’s if applicable.
• Train your staff on spam emails and what to do with them.
• Stress the importance of safe-browsing at work to staff members.
• Consider investing in cybersecurity. Alternatively, you could check out the free course by uk.

Secure and Profitable Warehouse Storage Facilities with Monarch Shelving Ltd

We hope that this guide helps you to keep your warehouse storage facilities secure. The next thing you should do is take steps to make it profitable. This is something that can be done with efficient storage solutions by Monarch Shelving Ltd. To learn about our new or second-hand pallet racking and other storage solutions, get in touch.