Eliminating Small Business Security Threats
In the previous post, we identified five major information security threats to small businesses. Today, we want to address how business owners can prevent and eliminate these threats from materializing. If you’re a small business owner, implementing the following practices will dramatically increase your information security.
Here’s how to eliminate risks associated with:
1. Compromised passwords. Password protection is the most basic and widely accepted means of security, which means it is also a huge vulnerability. To prevent passwords from being stolen, never show or tell anyone your password, do not store passwords in obvious places (especially near or on your computer), and change passwords often.
2. Trojan horses. The best defense against these malicious viruses is education. Since trojan horses are user-initiated, it’s important that employees are taught how to identify potential threats. For instance, simple practices like not opening unfamiliar attachments or visiting foreign links will significantly reduce this risk.
3. Wireless attacks. The simplest solution is to ditch the wireless networking. Unfortunately, that may not be the easiest. Still, security increases nearly ten-fold when companies utilize physical wires to operate their network. There have been a number of instances, however, when employees will set up their own wireless network with a personal router. Be wary of this practice as it could reverse everything you’re trying to accomplish.
4. An inside job. This particular threat is a tough one. On one hand, your hiring and screening processes must be intensely thorough, and on the other, much time and effort must be put in to making sure your employees remain happy and satisfied. Additionally, use a hierarchy for granting access privileges to sensitive information, which is any information, really. Only those people who are absolutely trustworthy and require the information should be allowed to access it.
5. Default settings. Hackers prey on these default settings since they make it easier for them to compromise your security. If you or your employees don’t understand how to customize and adjust settings on your systems and machines, let a knowledgeable computer technician walk you through the process.
Implementing the suggestions mentioned above will help eliminate some of the major security threats many organizations face today. If you find that your business is ill-suited to keep up with the demands of IT security, consider trusting a local IT consulting firm to support your organization.
[photo: CarbonNYC]
Additional Resources:
Recognizing Five Small Business Security Threats
Protecting Your Business Against Scareware
Tags: Computer network security, computer security, computer technician, information security, IT consulting, Password, Wireless network