Security...

Prevention is better than Cure!

Protection of your system should be paramount! 

As the use of Computer Systems and the Internet is increasing, Security Risks are also greater. There can be many threats to your system:
Viruses - should a virus get onto your system, there is the risk of losing all of your company data. Not only would there be the costs of repairing the machines but also the time/costs of creating the data again.
Theft of Data - as well as losing important company data, there is also the threat of others accessing your data. The damage that a criminal could do with all of the information may be huge, ie identity theft, and fraud.
These are just some of the threats that you system is at risk to and are becoming widely known as 'CyberCrime'.

 IT Security

In order to prevent these things happening, there are many things to consider, such as Anti-Virus, Internet Usage and Back-Up for example.

Anti-Virus
We have visited many businesses who have no anti virus whatsoever, and are using the Internet on a daily basis. The inevitable happens: they get a virus which shuts down their system and stops them working.
We are partners with a company called Sophos, who are world beaters in finding solutions to virus attacks. Sophos operate a 24/7 Technical Support line for Companies who have purchased Anti virus solutions from them.

Statistics from Sophos state that any system can be potentially hacked every 3.5 seconds! Scary Thought!

Although all Anti virus companies take every care, nobody can guarantee 100% that any system is not at risk from a virus attack. 

If you would like information on how to get a FREE TRIAL please Click Here!

Internet Usage
No Company can afford not  to take the security of their system seriously.
We see many businesses lose time due to being very lax about what Internet sites Staff go onto. It is a good idea to create an e-policy, which is a document detailing which internet sites employees can and cannot use. Many people want to check personal things such as, Online Bank Accounts, but we recommend that you set this up to be done at lunch time only. Freedom of unlimited use of the internet is potentially compromising the security of your data, not to mention the staff hours wasted.

We also strongly recommend that you do not allow any employees or associates to use personal devices on the system, for example USB Sticks, CD and DVDs, and iPods, as you do not know whether they are copying company data, or whether they have potentially harmful files on there already. This is also referred to as 'Podslurping'.

Password Protection
Please keep all password and log on details in a very safe place, preferably locked away with access only to authorised Personnel. Usually 3 people have this access, in case of Holidays or sickness. It is also a good idea to change passwords fairly regularly, and particularly if a member of staff has left your employment!

If you have a wireless network, you should ensure that this is secure. It is possible to create a WEP Key to protect the usuage of the internet with a password. Please DO NOT use your childrens or pats names as these are far too easy to guess! Maybe use a whole sentenance - it makes it much more difficult to crack!

Windows Updates
We recommend that all Windows updates are installed onto your system on a regular basis. These contain patches to further protect your system.

! DID YOU KNOW... Microsoft release major updates on the 1st Tuesday of each month. Diary this to ensure you install them.

We have now joined the Yorkshire and Humber Fraud Forum (YHFF) and British Crime Reduction Centre (BCRC) to ensure that we stay abreast of the latest threats.

Security is always going to be a potential risk no matter how many procedures you put into place, so you should always be prepared. Think about a disaster recovery plan - the most important part of this should be your Back-Up Procedure! 

Please see Back-Up. It can also benefit from purchasing a UPS, just incase!! Please see Hardware.

For more information, or to request your FREE IT Support Consulation,  Click Here!

 

The IT Men Limited:
cabling  - networking - servers - hardware - software - installation & IT support - security & antivirus solutions