As business come to be more reliant on technology, so too must they change the way they think about security. In times gone by, the most likely security threat to a business would be a physical break-in. Now, rather than the threat to a business’ property, it is the threat to the business’ information, that is the main concern. A thief no longer has to step foot in, or around, a business to cause untold amounts of damage. Instead he could do it from the comfort of his own home.
Due to the ever increasing focus on IT at the heart of most businesses, finding a company that still operated on an entirely analogue system would be very rare indeed. There are many obvious reasons for this too: Storage is much easier, databases are much more efficient and accessible, and performance is much more profitable. Regardless, of the numerous positive reasons for using IT, it should always be met with an element of caution. There are a few easy precautions that can be taken in order to adequately protect and effectively utilise IT for your business.
When a company decides on the central component which is an IT system, it means that a lot of sensitive data such as an employee’s bank account or client’s personal data is stored on the system. While this makes it easily accessible to the business, it can also potentially make it easily accessible to anyone that would be willing to hack into the system. If a business is not sensible in protecting their databases, it could cost thousands in damages and even more if those affected decide to take legal action.
The main avenue for protecting your IT system is firewalls and anti-virus software. These don’t completely protect your system though, and should be mainly considered as the first step your business takes in protection. Firewalls, although vitally important, can be penetrated by those with know-how. Similarly anti-virus software will only protect against viruses that have made their way onto the system, and are not entirely effective on their own.
Adequate research should be undertaken to discover what threats are the most likely towards your business’ system. For example, you may think your biggest threat is that your system is quite old, and out-of-date. Then you could look to upgrade your IT Equipment and start building from there.
As much as you would hate to admit it, it might actually be a business’ employees who are the weakness. Don’t be hasty and get rid of them or anything, instead, try setting up different levels of access within a company to ensure complete control over access to information. For example part-time staff would typically be given the lowest level of access, while management would typically have the most access. In a system like this it is easier to manage access to employees that no longer work for the company, thus further reducing risk. You could also include Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) to ensure that no sensitive data is shared.
It is also recommended that all staff receive at least basic security training, which would include such things as password decisions. Some people opt for easy to remember options like birthdays, surnames, or family members. Some even choose the dreaded password ‘password’. Ideally passwords should be random letters and numbers, in both upper and lower cases. Basic training would also include identifying suspicious looking emails, as these can also be a great risk to business security.