The Growing Need for IT Security for Businesses

IT security is now a significant issue for all organisations. Every business may vulnerable to cyber-crime with the potential for devastating reputational and financial damage. As the dependence on technology continues to grow, the threats have increased. Criminals adapt to become more sophisticate and organised.

Ensuring the right IT security measures are in place is critical. Robust security practices and methodologies can enhance customer experience and productivity, while security breaches can bring an organisation to it’s knees. Here are a few IT security essentials you should follow:

Practice Good Device Management

The first step to prevent criminals from accessing your data on various devices is to stop them from stealing the devices in the first place:

Updates

Software needs to be updated regularly as criminals continuously look to expose your applications and access your data. While vendors work at keeping safe, all their efforts are pointless if you do not keep your applications and devices up to date.

Anti-Virus Software

It is imperative that anti-virus is installed on all your devices and kept turned on at all times.

Backup

You can back up data to hard disc, save it to the cloud, and have various malware protecting it, but none of it matters the instant you try to restore your data to a new device and discover that you can’t access it. It is important to ensure that your business really is device-agnostic, and your restore processes are up to par before you need them.

Data in Transit

For truly sensitive documents, you should consider how far you are willing to have them travelled, and through which routes. Using a poorly secured public or untrusted WiFi is a big mistake, as people can easily eavesdrop on your conversations and the data you send through that network. If a cyber-criminal is active, use mobile tethering or a VPN connection instead to create a secure hotspot. Also, consider where your data is landing. When sharing information with a third party contractor or freelancer, be sure of the security of their IT setup before sharing.

Locking It Down

Most businesses do not have a central office. When you use cloud services to operate your business, it means that your work is not reliant on a particular device, but anyone can log in to them from anywhere. However, if devices are lost or stolen, the data can fall in to the wrong hands. Your devices and gadgets need to be checked for security, before they leave your data compromised:

Device Encryption

Most devices have pre built and installed device encryption programs that make sure your hard drives are secure. In addition, set up passwords of individual documents, especially the most sensitive ones. For added measure, instead of saving data directly to the devices; save on the cloud instead.

Mobile Device Management

Certain mobile device management programs allow you to remotely wipe out information or revoke access to sensitive systems.