Running a business comes with a lot of different challenges, and it’s usually the owners who have to sort it out. No matter how hard you work, the time you throw into learning about business, or how many people you have surrounding you, there will always be jobs which slip through the net. Internet and network security are some of the most common lapses found in modern companies. To help you out with this side of your company, this post will be exploring some of the different work which can be done to protect your network from threats on the outside.
Training & Rules
Humans are one of the easiest access points for a piece of malware, with computers rarely causing errors which can result in this. This means that the right training could be all it takes for you to start the process of securing your business. You team should be trained in areas like web browsing, email management, and downloads, giving them a good idea of where threats they have to avoid might come from. Alongside training, though, you should also make some ground rules. Passwords, for example, should be changed every month or so, as this will make it impossible for a brute force attack to gain access.
The Computers
Most business have a computer for each of their team members, nowadays. Some will have more, and some will have less, but they all need to make sure that these machines are secure. Companies like Microsoft have made it easier than ever before to keep large groups of computers up to date. By using smart deployment methods, you can have all of your machines updated every night, ensuring that none of them are at risk. Your antivirus software should be one of the first things you think about keeping up to date like this.
The Networking Hardware
This is where this area will start to get a little complicated for a lot of business owners, as it’s time to start thinking about the hardware you have in place to protect you. If you use the internet, you will at least have a basic router, and these machines often come with firewalls and other protection tools built in. Having dedicated components for these sorts of jobs is usually more secure, but isn’t something which every company can afford.
Alongside the typical networking hardware you find in a business, it can also make sense to look for tools which offer more dedicated protection. Secure browsing servers have gained a lot of popularity over the last few years, with countless companies taking on this sort of resource. By stopping threats before they reach your network, hardware like this can prove to save huge amounts of time and money, especially if the attack you’re facing is a particularly nasty virus.
Taking It Online
Over the last few years, cloud services have taken the world of business by storm. Offering the chance to store all of your work on the web, along with providing access to crucial software, these sorts of tools can be perfect for a small business. By using this sort of service, you will take the security work out of your hands, giving it to a business with far more expertise than you have. Examples like Office 365 have proven to make small businesses far more secure, making them worth looking at when you’re trying to improve security.
Rogue Employees
With the contract your employees have to sign and the rules you have in your office, it should be easy to avoid having data leaked on purpose by these people. In reality, though, it’s hard to know who you can trust, and it’s always worth keeping on your toes with this sort of issue. Your employees should never have the opportunity to take data out of the company, and it’s becoming increasingly common for companies to ban devices like phones from the office floor to avoid this sort of issue.
Cleaning Up
External threats aren’t always obvious when they first attack your company. Viruses will often lie in wait until the opportune moment to strike, and this can make them extremely hard to deal with. To get around this, performing monthly clean ups is always a good idea. This can be handled as an automated process, making it take up barely any of your time. Of course, though, you’ll still need to make sure that people are using the machines correctly afterwards.
With all of this in mind, you should stand a far better chance of keeping your company’s network secure. A lot of people struggle with this sort of work, finding it hard to know whether or not they should get help.
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