Shhhh … can your business keep a secret? David Thomas and Michael Pastore of Greenberg Traurig outline how to protect critical company information in this recent blog post. “As your business grows, the need to protect critical trade secrets is sometimes overlooked,” they say.

The first step is conducting a trade secret audit to identify assets and existing security protections. The authors suggest the audit team reviews:

• employee and third-party confidentiality agreements;
• employee noncompetition/nonsolicitation agreements;
• technology use agreements;
• invention assignment agreements;
• acceptable use policies;
• physical and data security policies;
• data governance and retention policies;
• training programs; and
• litigation readiness and response protocols.

“Properly identifying and classifying trade secrets and other confidential information, as well as establishing effective protection for those assets, will help maintain and enhance your company's competitiveness,” say Thomas and Pastore. The next step is figuring out how to correct any flaws identified by the audit team in the company's trade secret policies and procedures.