Do you think your IT system is secure? For google super-admins, it is important to secure access to your company’s Google Workspace Apps and associated data. Identity theft, data breaches, and associated cybercrime cause millions worth of damage every year. However, by taking proper precautions you can keep your users and your company safe.

In most cases, user error is the greatest reason for a data breach. However, Google gives you many tools as a Google Admin/Google Workspace Admin to track user information, secure access and increase data security.

Some of these tools are:

Use Two-Step Verification

This is a very important step to take in making user accounts more secure as end users are often not the best at security. Examples of poor security include leaving post-it notes with passwords written on them by their workstations, or using the same passwords repeatedly without much modification. A two-step verification system keeps accounts secure even if a password becomes known.

Enable Password Alerts

In order to avoid information leak, users should be aware of the methods used by cyber criminals. Phishing has become sophisticated and emails and sites used can look authentic at first glance, especially to an inexperienced user who is not familiar with such things.

Review Activity Reports

Many information breaches are not noticed when they first occur. It is not necessarily the data breach itself that is damaging, but rather the length of time an unauthorised party has access to valuable information. By catching unusual activity early, its damage can be greatly mitigated. Activity reports track logins, account status, usage of two-step verification, and other data sets that can point to unusual or undesired activity.

Review Administrative Email Alerts

As a Google Admin/Google Workspace Admin you have a great deal of control over alerts that are generated. Having a security awareness policy helps reduce the time system vulnerabilities remain uncorrected. When monitoring for changes to systems, such as setting changes or suspicious login activity, it can help limit the negative impact of such occurrences.

Secure Compromised Accounts

Once an account has been compromised, it should be suspended immediately. The account should be reviewed for any possible breaches. It should then be repaired and reassigned to the user. During the reactivation process, the password should be reset and old tokens revoked, sign in cookies deleted, and app passwords reset on devices such as mobile phones and tablets. When the account is unsuspended and a user signs in with new identifying information, tokens and cookies will update accordingly.

Different user levels

A user should not have more access than the user requires. An account privilege level should only be as high as the user needs to complete their daily tasks and duties.

Have Account Recovery Measures On Your Own Account:

It is important to note that as a Google Admin / Google Workspace Admin, you should always set up a back-up email and phone number in case you need to re-enable access to your own account.

In conclusion

Google Workspace can be the right tool to drive your business efficiently and manage your team, and these are just some of the tools that Google gives to improve your company’s digital security.

Breaches are an ever-growing issue, and protecting your company data (both for your own company and for your clients) is essential. A large data breach can do irreparable damage to a company’s reputation and more importantly harm many people. By keeping the above considerations in mind, you can help prevent data breaches and should they occur, it could reduce the scope of the damage.

However, like any tool, there is a learning curve. It takes time to learn how to use it properly and you need to invest some time in learning exactly how it works. It’s also not just about the fun stuff like content management and user experience, but also about the less exciting items like security and licence management. You need to keep reviewing these settings to identify any potential issue.

Not a Google Workspace expert?

Then it’s a good to use a Google Workspace partner and offload all of these tasks, so they can manage them correctly for you and provide ongoing support to your staff.

Contact us for more information on how we can help to secure your Google Workspace.