As the Coronavirus pandemic spreads, many companies are closing their doors or having employees work from home. Yours is probably one of them.
While you’re protecting your personnel, your business assets may be at risk from thieves who see this crisis as an opportunity. Here are three pieces of business advice to reduce the risk of cargo theft during the Coronavirus pandemic, so you won’t have to worry about theft in addition to everything else you’re dealing with.
1. Assess your risks.
Take a good look around your property – inside your offices, as well as outside – to see if there are items thieves can steal throughout the Coronavirus pandemic. Batteries, copper wire, spare parts and office equipment are just a few of the things that are hard to trace and can be quickly sold on the street, various websites and pop up apps.
2. Revisit your insurance coverage
What are your deductibles? Will your policy cover all of your potential losses during the COVID-19 pandemic? Read your policy’s fine print and call your insurer to make sure you have enough coverage if something were to happen.
3. Don’t overlook digital security
Our next piece of business advice to consider throughout the Coronavirus pandemic analyze your policies to ensure your software and equipment are configured to keep your systems and your customers’ information safe from malware, hacking and ransomware attacks. Here’s a great article about protecting yourself from cyber attacks when working from home.
Protecting your employees during the COVID-19 pandemic
Most companies have proactive plans for situations like an active shooter on their premises, but not for a widespread, long-lasting event like the COVID-19 pandemic. What else should you consider doing, in addition to social distancing and working from home? Like other companies, you may be scrambling to put a plan together. To help you get started, here’s an OSHA publication on this topic. It’s 32 pages long, so grab your favorite beverage and prepare to dive in. Or do what I do and skim it for key points you can use for your business.
Go easy on yourself
You’re going to make mistakes because these are unprecedented circumstances. Learn from those mistakes and use the experience to revise and update, not just your Coronavirus pandemic response, but other emergency and contingency plans, as well.
Finally, no one knows how long we will be living in this “new normal” business environment, but everyone is in it together. Now, more than ever, we need to lean on each other. Don’t hesitate to reach out to your financial partners, suppliers, security advisors, customers and employees. Be transparent; let them know what your business is facing and get their feedback. We’re stronger together. Together, we can—and will—get through this.
About Liz Coffey: Liz Coffey joined AMAROK as an Inside Account Executive in 2017. She doesn’t call herself a security “expert,” but says she has “been around the security block a few times.” Liz has worked with small business owners and corporate security managers for hundreds of companies to develop security protocols and enhances their protection. Be sure to connect with Liz on LinkedIn.
