Making sure your business is secure
By Henry Richards, 24th May 2012 | Follow this author
| RSS Feed | Short URL http://nut.bz/1-dxd7jc/
Posted in WikinutBusinessIT & Ecommerce
The internet has provided business across the world with more opportunities than ever before, but it's important to keep your business secure from an online standpoint as well.
- Introduction
- Changing passwords
- Your connection
- Security software and upgrades
- Staying alert against the latest threats
- Finally...
Introduction
Despite the fact that the internet has provided modern businesses with more opportunities than ever before, the fact remains that it isn't perfect.
Indeed, doing business over the web (or even ensuring that your business is properly connected to it) still has its potential pitfalls - mainly tied back to internet security and making sure that your business data and financial information is safe from hackers.
Fortunately, there are things that you can do to ensure that you're taking advantage of online business as safely as possible.
(Image by Shane Global Language Centres on Flickr)
Changing passwords
Even though it might sound ridiculously simple, the number of businesses who don't change the passwords on their security software after they get it might surprise you. The bottom line is that criminals know these passwords, and if they target your business, you've had it unless you've changed it to something that they don't know. Pretty simple, but it'll save you a lot of hassle!
Your connection
Many businesses manage to achieve both faster speeds and increased safety through the implementation of a leased line. In short, a leased line is a connection between two locations (your business and your provider) that's always on. It's a private line that only carries traffic and communications from your company (accounting for the increased safety levels) and since it's always on it brings obvious business benefits with it as well.
Security software and upgrades
First off, make sure that you've got reliable security software installed. Done that? Good.
Don't rest on your laurels though. These systems are constantly updating to deal with the latest threats, so it's important that you take advantage of the upgrade options that come with them. Once the software is installed in the first place you'll be prompted as and when upgrades become available (most of the time these upgrades are free, so it shouldn't even be that much of a problem).
Staying alert against the latest threats
Despite the fact that people aren't as savvy towards them as they could be yet, the rise in prevalence of software that targets mobile devices is ever increasing. While the capabilities of modern mobiles undoubtedly bring with them all sorts of advantages, the truth remains that there are security issues with doing so. As such, make sure that mobile devices that business takes places on are as well protected as your computers within their office, and make sure that you limit the amount of people who actually use them. It might sound a little mean spirited, but surely not everyone within your company needs to do business on their mobile.
Finally...
It's also important to instil a common sense approach to internet security amongst your employees. By now most web users are fairly savvy to this sort of thing, and know not to click on suspicious looking links on email or anything along those lines, but it's important not to assume too much! A quick reminder now and again isn't a bad idea, maybe even a poster hanging in the office would help to jog their memory?
Comments