Best Encryption Software for Business Data: The Ultimate Guide

Encrypting sensitive data and crucial business files is one of the most important steps a company or an organization can take to safeguard itself from expensive data breaches, data leaks caused by human errors, malware, and large-scale cyber attacks.

According to the Verizon’s Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) 2022, a staggering 82% of the data breaches involved some form of human element. This means that 8 out of 10 data breaches were caused by human errors, including susceptible phishing attacks, accidental emailing, and social engineering.

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and enterprises are particularly vulnerable to cyber threats. Small businesses account for over 42% of all data breaches, and an alarming 60% of small businesses shut down within 6 months of a cyber attack. It becomes beyond imperative for businesses to prioritize the security of their sensitive data with proven cybersecurity practices.

With the usage of powerful encryption techniques, such as using the AES-256 encryption algorithm, even if your business's data is breached and leaked, it will be unreadable to unauthorized individuals. This makes it significantly more difficult for cybercriminals to exploit your data and inflict harm on your business.

AxCrypt’s encryption software is the perfect solution for businesses seeking robust encryption for their sensitive business data. With features like cloud encryption, automatic encryption, key sharing, and master key functionality, AxCrypt offers comprehensive protection.

Encrypt your data stored in the cloud, open and work on encrypted files seamlessly, and securely share encrypted files for collaboration. With AxCrypt, your sensitive data remains protected throughout your business operations!

Encryption is a process that protects your sensitive business data and individual files by transforming the contents of the files into unreadable format, using complex algorithms. This ensures that even if unauthorized individuals gain access to your data, they won't be able to understand or exploit it.

The encryption process essentially involves three key components to encrypt data:

AxCrypt deploys the powerful AES-256 encryption algorithm to encrypt and secure business data. It can encrypt files on various devices, such as desktops, laptops, smartphones, and on cloud services like OneDrive and Google Drive.

With AxCrypt, businesses can set up automatic encryption for files within folders and subfolders, and collaborate on those files in real time. Businesses can also enable automatic encryption for files on cloud services, and ensure a comprehensive data protection mechanism across devices.

Here’s how to encrypt business data automatically within just a few steps, using AxCrypt’s encryption software:

STEP 1: Download and install AxCrypt on your Windows or Mac: https://axcrypt.net/download/

STEP 2: Open AxCrypt and sign in or sign up with your email and password.

STEP 3: Click the ‘Secure’ button with a padlock icon and select the file you’d like to encrypt.

STEP 4: This will encrypt the file and you can open it by either double-clicking the file on the ‘Recent Files’ tab or by clicking on ‘Open Secured’ and selecting the file.

STEP 5: To automatically encrypt, click on the File > Options and check the ‘Include Subfolders’ option.

STEP 6: Click on the ‘Secured Folders’ tab and right-click to add the desired folder that you would like to automatically encrypt files within.

STEP 7: Create, modify, add, or drag files to the secured folder and AxCrypt will automatically encrypt them after clicking the ‘Cleanup’ button on the top-right or signing out of the application

Your recently encrypted files will appear on the ‘Recent Files’ tab, and will have a file extension of .axx. Enlist new folders and subfolders and AxCrypt will automatically encrypt the files within them.

To completely decrypt a file, click the ‘Stop Securing’ button from the main menu strip on top and select the files that you’d like to decrypt.

With AxCrypt's Master Key feature, employers and managers can easily manage individual licenses and access encrypted accounts with a single click. The Master Key can decrypt any encrypted file within subordinate accounts and provides the ability to limit or revoke access to those accounts. This ensures that files can be decrypted in cases of key loss, employee departure, or credential loss.

For example, let's consider a scenario where the yearly revenue report, created by the previous financial team, was encrypted with credentials that are now unavailable to the new team. The new financial team could not access the report when they needed it for the annual analysis.

This is where the Master Key feature comes to the rescue. With the Master Key, authorized personnel or administrators can regain access to encrypted files, even if the original credentials are no longer available.

It provides a centralized management capability, allowing for the decryption of files within subordinate accounts and the ability to control access permissions. This ensures that essential documents can be decrypted and accessed when needed, despite changes in team members or credentials.

Businesses can leverage AxCrypt’s Master Key functionality to gain control over their encrypted files and prevent any potential data access roadblocks caused by personnel changes or lost credentials. This adds an extra layer of flexibility to the encryption process.

The Master Key feature is available to AxCrypt Business users, and can be enabled from the My AxCrypt ID backend by signing in to account.axcrypt.net/en and selecting Business Subscription > Manage, and scrolling down for the Master Key option.

Encrypting and safeguarding your business data and sensitive files with AES-256 can be a game changer for your business’s data security measures. It could save your business from hefty financial losses due to expensive data breaches, enhance your reputation and trust among stakeholders, ensure compliance with multiple regulations and rules, and simultaneously ensure a robust security protocol.

Investing in a reliable and comprehensive file encryption software like AxCrypt, will provide your business with the essential tools and features to protect your sensitive data effectively. With AxCrypt's seamless workflows, compliance capabilities, secure collaboration, and data breach prevention, you can rest assured that your valuable information is safeguarded against malicious threats.