Corporate fraud: Security measures to protect your business

Protecting your business from corporate fraud can be challenging. The source of corporate fraud can either be routed internally or externally within a business. As a result, there are security measures which should be put in place to lower the possibility of this taking place.

Corporate fraud can be a difficult thing to detect within a business initially. Nonetheless, being aware of common corporate frauds can help to ensure you can better protect your business from potential cyber threats and follow best practices. Within this article, you will find security measures which can be implemented to protect your business from fraud.

How a lack of security can impact your business

The need for businesses to invest into security measures is essential. Depending on the size of the company, utilising specific security measures can have a greater impact. For a business within the financial industry or another highly regulated industry such as healthcare, protecting personal data is vital. A lack of security can have a severe impact on your business through the possibility of being hacked and losing sensitive information. Additionally, the financial cost and reputation damage which can be caused is significant.

This usually results in a lack of trust for the security of a business once hacked. Customers will then be more likely to venture to another company. Consequently, this would result in a loss of sales and profits. Aside from the direct impacts of a cyber security breach, there are also legal consequences to deal with. Failure to manage a customer’s personal information in light of GDPR can result in regulatory sanctions. In this case, prevention is better than cure. For companies who have capital to invest a substantial amount into IT and data security, it can be invaluable over the long term.

How vulnerable is your business to corporate fraud?

All companies are vulnerable to some degree to corporate fraud. Nonetheless the type of corporate fraud experienced can be different depending on the sector and size of the business. For instance, a small e-Commerce site can suffer from card payment fraud. A mid-sized professional firm may fall victim to CEO fraud or invoice fraud.

Research also suggests that UK SMEs tend to be targeted by fraudulent scams disproportionately more than larger companies. It seems that while fraud against SMEs increases, many company owners and directors still work on trust which can easily be abused if there is a low level of checks in place.

SMEs could be tempted to prioritise innovation and growth, and forget to focus on completing due diligence, internet controls and risk management for their business. These can often seem expensive and involve a great deal of paperwork. Corporate fraud tends to be slightly different for larger companies. For example, large multinational construction companies may participate in bid rigging by working with other suppliers to fix prices.

What measures can you implement to protect your business?

All businesses, no matter its size, need to ensure everyone involved in the company is up to date with the best methods for protecting data. Enhancing security within your business is a combination of factors. These include educating staff on security measures and best practices when online. Additionally, ensuring that IT infrastructure is in place to protect against potential hackers attempting to breach confidential data can also make a significant difference. Below are a list of several measures that can be in place to further protect your business.

Protect your credit cards and bank accounts

Since this is a common area of fraud for business owners and employees it’s important to be vigilant with bank accounts. A good place to start is by separating your personal banking and credit cards from your business accounts. This will ensure that if fraud were to take place, they wouldn’t be able to take the entirety of your money. Separating your accounts will also make it easier to track your business expenses and report deductions on your tax return.

Next, it’s important to use your card wisely. It’s advised not to hand over your card or card number to employees or companies with which you don’t have a familiar relationship. Additionally, it’s beneficial to switch to online bill pay or make sure you store paper bills securely and use a secure mailbox for receiving and sending bills.

Educate staff

Employees can be a source of vulnerability but also can be used to protect the business. Training staff regularly on security threats and how to prevent them both online and offline will help to limit corporate fraud. This should be done for both experienced staff and new hires.

Training can be about customer and personnel information as well as financial data. For a business owner or senior management, it’s vital to make the right hiring decisions and carry out background checks before employing new staff. A failure to do this could result in malpractice causing the company to lose financial resources and intellectual property.

Have a password policy

With the growth of online businesses and popularity of social media platforms, there has also been an increase in cyber crimes. Using online tools to encrypt sensitive information such as passwords and pins can help to ensure your personal details are kept secure.

Enhancing your online security can be done through utilising a password manager. This can provide greater security amongst hacker attacks. It is also recommended to enable two-factor authentication as another form of security.

Purchase insurance

Fraud and cyber crime does happen; however, you can still seek to cover your damages by purchasing an insurance policy. Having insurance will protect your business against any losses that you may incur from crime or fraud. Likewise, find out what your bank is willing to do to help if your credit card or business account is compromised.

Safeguard your computer systems

A sturdy firewall can help protect your company data, while antivirus software can help detect breaches early on. There are several well-regarded cyber security vendors. Also, Consider backing up your files on a daily or weekly basis, and storing them offline. If something happens to your system, you’ll be able to restore the files you need without much waiting time.

CurrencyTransfer provides a robust and secure service for your money transfer needs

Online payment security is a priority at CurrencyTransfer. It’s essential that our platform is secure and convenient for individuals and businesses to use. We work alongside FCA authorised payment institutions to ensure data is kept secure and confidential at all times. Additionally, we take the necessary security steps to provide a robust and secure platform for your money transfer payments.

Once you sign up with us, keeping your money and data secure is of the utmost importance to us. Once your account is activated, we would strongly recommend setting up a Two-Factor Authentication to protect your information. This provides extra security to your account by ensuring it’s only possible for you to access it and reduces the risks of being hacked.