Technology has without a doubt changed the world of business forever. It has allowed us to be much more efficient, effective and affordable. Things we can now do easily, would have one day been nearly impossible to do.
However, this increase in the use of technology also comes with some drawbacks. One of the biggest drawbacks is the increased security risk. With all data and business information held on servers, computers, phones and tablets, these devices could potentially be hacked. Not only can a large hack lose you the trust of your customers and partners, but it can also cost you millions of dollars.
In addition to hacks, if the power goes out or the technology crashes, you could be in a world of trouble. With that in mind, this article is going to look at a few different ways to better the security of your company and keep your IT systems secure and private.
Monitor and Manage Your Logs
No matter what sorts of software or systems you have in place, there is a good chance they will produce logs. A log is a time-stamped documentation of events that are relative to the system. These logs are plentiful and can be analyzed, stored, archived and eventually deleted. They have a large role in security as logs can tell you everything you need to know about a system and any issues it has.
Monitoring and managing your logs via a log monitoring tool can ensure you are always knowledgeable about any error or event that takes place within your system. Without a tool like this in place, it would be very tough to manually search through the logs to find the desired event.
Use Strong Passwords
This might seem like it’s obvious, but you would be surprised at how many companies use fairly weak passwords. With how important the information and data you keep is, you should be sure to use strong usernames and passwords alike.
Strong passwords feature a wide range of letters, numbers and symbols, and shouldn’t be things like birthdays or words having to do with you or your company. If your passwords are simple to guess, it won’t be that difficult for someone to break in if they so choose.
Utilize Backups
Technology is an outstanding and efficient improvement for our companies, but it is not perfect. Without electricity or an internet connection, a large part of our technology simply will not work. So if a power outage or a computer was to crash, your data and information could be lost or compromised.
Because of this high chance of failure, it is absolutely important that you use backups to protect data. You can use services that will automatically backup your information, or can manually transfer information from your computers to an external hard drive.
Provide Great Training and Be Selective with Access
While hacks and cyber hacks are plentiful, it is actually believed by experts that one of the largest causes of breaches is actually human error. Someone who doesn’t quite know what they’re doing or forgets a crucial step can spell disaster for a company.
As a result, it is incredibly important to provide suitable training to employees to ensure they know how to handle your systems and are aware of what they need to do. Not only that, but you should be selective with who in your company can access the sensitive and private information you have and use.
Hopefully this article has been helpful in improving the security at your company. Security and privacy aren’t something to take lightly, so be sure to take every precaution you can.