There is a lot of talk about IT security. However, we have found that a lot of business managers do not have an honest assessment of where their network security stands.
In reality, your network is never 100% secure. Even the CIA has been hacked. However, you should always be working to improve it. With more business activities and data online, IT security is a business issue, not just an IT issue.
What can you do to improve security? The first step is to understand where you currently are on IT security, then understand your risks and how they can impact your business. Answer the following questions (or have your IT team answer them) to get a basic understanding of where you stand with IT security:
1) Where do we stand with basic security measures?
- Do we have a firewall and when was it last updated? Many older hardware-only firewalls are outdated and provide very little protection against newer threats.
- Is our wireless network secured? An unsecure network can give hackers an easy entry point.
- Are patches and updates being applied regularly (e.g. at least monthly) to our servers and computers? These patches help protect you from known vulnerabilities.
- Are antivirus updates being applied daily (and no users have disabled antivirus for convenience)? While antivirus programs cannot protect you from every type of malicious code, they are an important layer of defense.
2) Are all laptops encrypted?
Because laptops are frequently taken out of the office, they provide security risks that desktops do not. A stolen laptop can give thieves a way to access company data. Simple password protection is not enough to stop sophisticated thieves because they have ways of bypassing the password to get to your data. Encryptions provides additional security so the only way to access laptop data is with the appropriate password.
3) Are users receiving security training?
Users pose the greatest security risk in most companies, because there is no technical solution to prevent all non-secure behaviors. Cybercriminals have created many ways to trick users: preying on curiosity, a desire to help, and greed. Regularly training about security best practices, and why they matter, can dramatically improve security.
Taking action on these three basic areas of security can dramatically improve your company’s IT security.
Improving Your IT Infrastructure
Most businesses can benefit from having someone assess how their IT infrastructure can better support business goals, including reducing security risks. Skyriver IT helps businesses leverage technology to improve existing processes and ensure you have the right technology plan in place to mitigate risk and grow the business.
If you would like to learn more, then contact us to schedule a time to talk.
