5 New Privacy Tools to Consider for Your Business in 2020

The recent years have seen some of the most horrifying data breaches in history. From Facebook to Google, virtually all tech companies in the world continue to collect as much of your data as possible. This reality makes researching solutions for your enterprise, nonprofit, healthcare, small to medium business (SMB) or any other business very critical—although it can be overwhelming.

Thankfully, you can outsource a managed service provider, such as managed IT services in San Jose, to offer support for your company’s IT solutions needs. With governments continuously pressuring tech companies to weaken their privacy features, using the right privacy tools for your business is now more important than ever.

Check out these top 5 privacy tools to help your company better protect its data in 2020.

1. VPNs

A virtual private network (VPN) is a tool used to route internet traffic through a secure server, hiding your browsing and location history. A VPN helps ensure your internet service provider does not see the websites you visit. However, it depends on the VPN you are using.

While there are many free VPNs out there, you will perhaps want to use a paid one as there is a lot of evidence of free VPNs collecting user data and selling it to advertisers. Paid VPNs are known to be more reliable since most of them publish and adhere to user-focused privacy policies. These policies often cover aspects like the data they collect (if any) and store about you.

You may also consider a VPN that includes a “no logs” policy, which means the VPN provider does not save your internet browsing activities.

2. Advertisement, Malware and Tracking Blocker

Blocking ads is essential for security and privacy reasons. Ads can track and record your online antics, create an intimate user profile, and allow advertisers to target you with more ads. From the security perspective, ads are risky because they can be embedded with malicious software that can potentially infect your computer when loading pages.

Want to run your business and let experts handle any issues with your smartphones and computers? It would be best if you considered outsourcing managed IT services in San Jose to connect your business with vetted and independent IT professionals.

Some of the ways to block ads include the use of ad blocker extensions, ad blocker apps and pi-hole. Although widely used, browser-based ad blocker extensions have some faults. This reality is because some adblockers will show you “approved ads” or collect your data for profit.

Dedicated ad blocker ads are often very good options for blocking ads.

3. Tor

The Onion Router (Tor) is a modified version of Mozilla Firefox. This web browser allows users to hide their location and personal data. Plus you don’t need specialized knowledge to use Tor to protect your data. Better yet, with Tor, you can still access blocked websites.

Tor routes your internet traffic through numerous channels hiding your identifying information and the IP address from regular websites. But keep in mind that accessing the internet via Tor can slow your browsing speed. This reality is thanks to traffic redirection.

The web browser is a favorite choice for law enforcement agencies and militaries all over the world. It is a good option if your only reason on the internet is browsing as anonymity usually takes a hit for streaming and torrenting sites.

Tor, however, does not encrypt the traffic between its network and the target resource. Therefore, if you want to share sensitive information via the web, it might not be your best bet.

4. Network Monitoring Devices

Businesses need tools that can detect and alert on potential exfiltration activity. Network monitoring devices, such as intrusion detection systems (IDS) or firewalls, can potentially be tweaked to help combat an exfiltration scenario.

Http forward proxies or firewalls can be used to detect suspicious outbound connections, which is a useful step for any organization. While there are lots of software-only firewall solutions, you may benefit more from a hardware firewall.

As mentioned, the internet is not protected and not all websites you and your team visit are secure. Websites that are not encrypted, which are those that do not use an “https://” extension, can easily be intercepted by others. To alleviate this threat, you should consider using a web browser extension that mitigates this threat.

There are numerous firewalls for business on the market and some are free. HTTPS Everywhere, for example, is a free tool that rewrites site requests of the websites you visit, which makes it a decent choice to protect the data and information you and your team submit online.

5. Password Manager

Many cybersecurity experts agree that using strong and unique passwords is an important security measure. Unfortunately, a lot of people only use the same weak password across every site they have subscribed to.

Having just one password means that anyone who gets their hand on it can use it to log in every site you belong to. Create strong and unique passwords to use on the websites you visit. Also, avoid sharing your passwords with anyone—not even with your family members.

Most folks store passwords in their web browser, which is risky because people could hack them. Most web browsers store passwords in clear text, which makes using a dedicated password manager a worthy consideration. Passwords can also be compromised when sharing public WiFi connections.

Password managers are machines that can help you automatically create and save unique and hard-to-crack passwords. If you are not ready, you should consider setting up 2-factor authentication for every service and website you use.

Check Out Managed IT Services San Jose for Privacy Protection Help

Protecting customer information is a top priority for most business owners but this is easier said than done. Businesses across all industries are susceptible to data breaches and cyberattacks. Government officials know this so they actively target companies to access users’ data.

Hackers, on the other hand, can target customers’ payment information or launch ransomware attacks. The good news is that there are several tools on the market, and tech companies like managed IT services San Jose that can help protect your business’ data.

If you are looking for cyber protection and security for your company, contact us today.

Sagacent Technologies offers technology management and support, including proactive/preventative maintenance, onsite and offsite data back-ups, network and security audits, mobility solutions, disaster planning, and emergency business resumption services. The company serves clients of 10 to 150 employees within the Silicon Valley region.