We lock our businesses, our homes and our cars to restrict wrongful entry and burglary. We invest heavily in security systems to deter and prevent loss. But how can we similarly protect intellectual property?

A recent Trends in Proprietary Information Loss, Survey Report sponsored by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, revealed that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the ASIS Foundation found that both Fortune 1,000 and small to mid-sized businesses, were likely to experienced proprietary information and intellectual property losses ranging from $53 and $59 billion. These losses involved:

• R&D (49%)
• Customer lists and related data (36%)
• Financial data (27%)

How would your organization react, and what would it lose, given this type of exposure?

No company is 100 percent safe, whether storing information electronically or in paper file cabinets.

Data loss occurs every day through various channels including current and former employees, competitors and on-site contractors. But just as devastating, if not worse, are the uncontrollable effects of civil unrest and natural disaster like earthquake, flood and fire. While there's no way to stop the sharing of information in business, just as it's not feasible or realistic to lock physical doors and windows of your business establishment 24/7, there are measures you can take to minimize your risk.

Here are my top 5 ways to protect your data:

1.Assess Your Inventory and Risk

Conduct a comprehensive inventory of your business information. Catalog electronic data and identify type and purpose. Once cataloged, rate the risk of each based on its importance to the organization's ongoing operations. For example:

• Is the information essential to mission-critical business functions (such as payroll, banking or legal documentation),
• Is the information required for business continuity but not detrimental should systems falter for a brief period of time (such as email), or deferrable should systems falter for an extended period of time (such as past employee or past customer archives)?
• Is the data sensitive or unrestricted?

Once a comprehensive inventory is in place along with risk-ratings for each category, management can quickly record and assess risk at file creation.

2.Implement New Policies

Implement new policies defining procedures for security breach, system failure or threat. This should include remediation and reporting strategies. All businesses should also have a confidentiality policy signed by all employees. This policy should outline employee responsibility, information use and disclosure practices.

3.Access Controls and Authorization

When dealing with sensitive information, have processes in place restricting physical and/or electronic access. This might include keyed or coded entry for paper or password restriction for electronic files or folders, firewalls and program encryption. Organizations should also require employees to use shredders when destroying confidential documents.

4.Ongoing Communication

Sharing information is a natural instinct among social groups and communities. This means, you should continually communicate with your employees, sub-contractors and consultants. You want to ensure all parties understand what information is confidential and what their responsibilities are in safeguarding its integrity.

5.Maintain a Clear Accountability Trail

With employees aware of their responsibilities, businesses should hold them accountable for confidentiality leaks and breaches caused by their actions. This means consistent disciplinary action for all individuals violating company policy.

Just as physical security is critical to protecting assets and inventory, businesses must make information security a high priority. Information security should include inventory, valuation, access controls, consistent communication and clear accountability trails. When organizations implement a comprehensive program using each of these five strategies, they're well on their way toward maximum data protection.

Every 45 seconds, somebody loses his mobile phone. That’s 700,000 people a year—and considering the cost of today’s mobile phones, over a million worth of property.

But we all know that when we lose our phone, the cost of the unit is the least of our concerns. Many of us store priceless information on our mobile phones. It’s got the contact numbers of clients, associates, family and friends. It’s got photos and videos from family vacations. It’s got schedules and to do lists, which are a headache to reconstruct. And there’s the hassle of having to replace the unit, recover all that information, and then—when the bill arrives—contest the cost of all the calls the thief may have made before you reported it.

That’s where mobile phone insurance comes in handy. This type of policy was developed to address the needs of the digital society, where people use mobile phones and PDA’s for practically everything. Plus, they bring it everywhere, making them more vulnerable to theft or even damage. Who hasn’t experienced dropping the phone? Or what about the time you were caught in a really strong sudden downpour, and your bag (and the phone you were covering inside it) was drenched so badly that you had to get a towel to dry everything off.

Mobile phone insurance provides necessary protection against the loss of, or damage to, mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs). It can repair or replace a damaged or lost phone with a similar unit (if that unit is out of stock or has since been discontinued, you will be given a phone equal in value, after inflation). Mobile phone insurance can also help owners complain about unauthorized calls.

If you lost your phone, you have to call your communication company and the police within minutes—just to stop the thief from using your plan to make his calls. You should also look at the insurance’s fine print to see their policy on how they replae a unit. Mobile phones can deteriorate very quickly in market value and you can’t expect to get the top-of-the-line phone in exchange for an old model you bought two years ago.

You should also take steps to protect your phone. Don’t leave it lying around. If you have a habit of forgetting to take it with you, then buy a unit that is small enough to fit in your pocket or even hang around your neck. If you don’t like sporting your phone like a clunky necklace, you can also buy special belts that let you hang your phone around your waist. This is more unobtrusive and won’t cramp your fashion statement.

Also program your phone for password protection, so that no thief can use your phone book or steal personal information (such as bank account numbers).

It’s also very important that you avoid dropping or wetting the phone. You can buy protective sleeves or cases that will help protect the phone from scratches or dampness. Also backup your phone data periodically (once every month is good) so you have a hardcopy of the contact numbers.