Before the COVID-19 pandemic, at least 20% of Americans were members of a health or fitness club. And while gym facilities are forced to cease operations, at least in a physical sense, they still offer fitness training virtual classes so their members can continue to exercise at home.
And since much of the interaction between the clients and gyms are done online, at least for the time being, the threat of stolen information and data compromise is also getting serious. Sure, the internet may allow fitness centers to conduct fast transactions through a gym management system, but the risk of exposing their clients’ personal information can be a problem if they don’t implement an effective cybersecurity strategy.
So how to secure your fitness and billing management software from data breaches and unauthorized access? We’ll provide you with some steps to safeguard your client’s info and keep your business prosperous despite the present health crisis.
Protecting Your Business And Client’s Interest Through “Cybersecurity Fitness”
A breach in your gym management software can result in legal disputes, massive penalties, and a 40% loss of members. To sum it up, it could lead to the ultimate demise of your business. That’s the reason why even small and medium-sized health facilities have to fortify their system from cyber threats.
Here are some things you can do to prevent your fitness and billing software from ‘health club hacking’:
1. Limit Access To Sensitive Information
Create a policy for your employees limiting who among them have access to sensitive information and when should data be shared or disclosed. For example, limiting access to payment information of gym clients to employees who are in charge of billing and instructing them not to disclose these sensitive data to other staff members of your gym can prevent any compromise of information from happening. Likewise, it will serve as a reference tool to protect your business during litigation.
2. Require Staff And Clients To Use Strong Passwords
Discourage all from repeating passwords and require everyone to change them as frequently as possible. Likewise, consider using 2-factor authentication to require staff and clients to authenticate any access from a laptop or computer and with their mobile phone or another secured device.
3. Establish Stern Policies With BYODs
Should your employees use their personal devices at work, include security protocols regarding the use of BYODs to connect with your network.
4. Limit Website Access And Software Installation
Ask both staff and clients to refrain from accessing suspicious websites and installing apps from untrusted sources or create a system protocol that will “block” anyone from visiting, downloading, and uploading programs unless it is beneficial to the security needs of your business.
5. Implement Data Encryption
Finally, implement multiple levels of encryption from encrypting a single file to full device encryption. There are many encryption techniques and services to avail, but you should the one that fits the needs of your business.
In addition, make sure to perform software updates regularly and to conduct audits at periodic intervals to make sure your internal operation is always secured from cyberattacks, unauthorized access, and malicious threats.