John Jonas walks through how to protect your data when hiring an Online Filipino Specialist. Use password managers like LastPass, require them to work from their own computer, get an NDA in writing, and consider a VPN so sensitive data never leaves your network. Start with limited access and build trust from there.
Chapters
How do I protect my data with my ofs? It seems like there's a new data breach in the news, like, twice a week right now. Like, massive companies having major amounts of data stolen. Experian was, like, a recent one. It seems like, how could I, as a small business owner, possibly protect my data? Especially when, like, I have people working here and that's, you know, like, you have people coming in from outside. And most data breaches aren't intentional. It's like an accidental thing. So it's an oversight rather than an intentional theft internally. So I used to worry about this with my team. Could someone steal something? Yes, they could. Is it unlikely? Probably, yes. But what is the consequence high for me? And I just had to weigh all these things. Then I realized, like, over time, I was making less money because I was worrying about something that I had very little control over, and it was making me less effective at doing things that build my business. And so I stopped worrying about it. And not completely, but we still take precautions. At some point, you have to give people access to your stuff in order for them to do their jobs. So today I've had my team working with me for years and years. Most of my team has been with me for a lot of years. We have new people that come on regularly, and I trust them. I trust my team. I've never had a problem. And I hope that you feel the same way with yours. However, here are some things that are kind of common sense that you can do that might make a difference for you. So, number one, hire an OFS who has their own computer. Or if your OFS does not have their own computer, get them their own computer. Going to an Internet cafe to work leaves you open to vulnerabilities. When they go in and use a shared computer and they log out of that computer, who knows what that computer is actually doing when they log out? Maybe someone could get back onto it and log back into their account. They could access your stuff. Just make sure your OFS has their own computer and Internet access. They're not using an Internet cafe. Next, let them know that data security is important. Let them know that this is if it's. If it's really important in your business, that it's the lifeblood of your business. Like, if there's a data breach, then the business is in trouble, and then they lose their job. And to the Philippines, any amount of data theft is. It's almost never worth losing their job because there's not really much value in stealing data. Next, you can use a Password manager like lastpass to share passwords. So you share the password with your. With your OFS from LastPass. They never actually see the password. They just get to use LastPass to log them into the site. So that when, if you let that person go, if you have a problem, you can revoke the password from LastPass. They don't know the password. It's a pretty simple process. My last thing is have them sign a contract. Like, if you're really concerned about this, have them sign a contract. Have them sign an NDA. Have them sign a data security contract. Contracts carry a lot of weight in the Philippines. And so this is a good way to enforce, like, hey, data security is really important to us, and I need you to take this seriously. Another thing that you can do is set up a VPN where, like, they're not actually logging into your sites on their computer, they're logging into your computer and then accessing it on your computer. That way the data never leaves your network, it never goes to them. This would be basically identical to having someone in your office working there in your office. They could steal something just as easily as the person in the Philippines could. Not really much of a difference there. Last thing, don't give access to everything right away. You know, have someone do some, do work that doesn't require access to everything immediately. It'll let you build some trust in them. Let them build some trust in you. Let them have some confidence that this is gonna work out. And from there you can work on to giving deeper access to things in your business.
