Essential Tech Security Measures For Your Business

The rapid development of cyber technology has opened up exciting new frontiers for business, but it has also produced new threats for any organization with an online presence. The scope and variety of cyber-attacks carried out every year is bewildering and that threat is growing all the time as hackers develop new ways to exploit weaknesses.

When you’re considering ways to improve your business, from the benefits of the kind of mentorship promoted by Keith Krach, to new marketing tools to grow your customer base, it is essential that you don’t overlook the importance of tech security. Here are the main areas to concentrate on when reviewing your security infrastructure.

Strong Passwords

If you want a quick and easy way to boost your business tech security, then implementing a good password policy is one of the best methods. Guidance on passwords is not to use personal data, common words or sequences of numbers or letters. Instead, you should focus on producing passwords that employ a combination of numbers, symbols, lower-case letters and capitals, and you should change all passwords regularly.

How often? The maximum length of time between password changes in most industries is 90 days, but if your data is particularly sensitive, then you can do it more often. And never write your password down!

Firewalls

No business network can be considered properly protected without a firewall. A good firewall will effectively control traffic flowing out of and into your business, protecting your network. Any of the major commercial brands will be sufficient, as long as you have one.

Comprehensive Antivirus Software

The purpose of tech security is to prevent cyber-attacks breaching your network, but sometimes, those attacks get through, and that’s when you need to fall back on effective antivirus and anti-malware software.

There is an astonishing range of viruses out there, and the threat grows every day. Get the best antivirus software that your business can afford and ensure that it is regularly updated to keep it effective against the latest viruses.

Secure Laptops and Mobiles

Modern businesses are increasingly empowering employees to work on the move with laptops and smartphones, but this can increase the security risks. The first step that you can take to minimize the threat is to encrypt all of your business laptops. This changes how information appears on the hard drive, which means that it is impossible to read. Another important step is to ensure that all laptops are locked away when not being used.

When it comes to smartphones, there are a number of essential steps that any business should take. All of your business phones should have encryption software installed, along with password protection, and remote wiping should be enabled, making it possible to delete all of the information on a phone from a remote location if it goes missing or is compromised.

Regular Backups

Another essential piece of the tech security jigsaw is to ensure that you regularly carry out backups, either onto hard drive or the cloud. This is an easy way to ensure that your data is properly stored.

The normal rule is that servers should be backed up completely every week, with smaller backups every night, while personal computers can also be backed up on a weekly basis. Backing up your data will be incredibly valuable if the worst happens and your network goes down, so it is worth taking the time to do it properly.

Diligence

Setting up all the latest tech security is a good start, but it will be for nothing if you don’t actively monitor your network. This can involve using technology known as “leak prevention software”, which is installed at certain points of your network to look out for information leaking from the system. Having a member of staff or a team devoted to monitoring network security is another useful way to protect your business.

Education

You may understand the threats to your network and know the importance of taking steps to minimize the risk, but do your employees? It is essential to ensure that everyone who works in your business knows the consequences of failures in data security, and is fully informed on the necessary policies and measures required to uphold the integrity of your network.

Conclusion

No business can afford to ignore the threat of data breaches or data loss, but by taking this issue seriously and putting the right business tech measures in place, you can help to ensure that your network is protected from the threat of cyber-attack.