Technology Information about Information Technology
Is your business safe from computer viruses, malware attacks and intrusion protection? Do you have policies in place for data recovery if computers on your network become infected by a virus or crash? If not, your business is not secure, and your company data has most likely already been compromised. If your company network users are able to download data to flash drives or writable CD's or DVDs, your business data is at risk.
Computers and computer networks help companies be more efficient, and, in many cases, a company can’t run without their computer network working properly. Many people now days can set up computers, and even network them together, but are they secure? Does your company have enforceable policies in place to protect the computer systems and the data? Is all data backed up, and is at least one copy of the backups kept offsite?
Here's a tip: if your users log into their computers with Administrator privileges (which means software be installed on the computer using their account) the computer is at risk, and your network may be at risk. One of the scariest viruses currently circulating through the Internet is one that encrypts every document, spreadsheet and image file that a user has permissions to change. If a user has administrator access, the virus can infect every file on the computer. If they have any level of network administrator access, the virus could infect the entire network in less than a second. Accounts with full administrator privileges should only be used when necessary for installs or configuration changes, not for daily operations.
When asked to evaluate a company’s security risks, one of the most dangerous network policy issues we regularly find is employees sharing passwords. Some companies even use the same password for every computer. If every user has their own account login and private password, then a business owner or manager can always know who is responsible for actions on a computer and/or network.
Many businesses have compliance standards and legal regulations to consider, especially when records are kept with customer information and financial data. Companies face fines and potential lawsuits when data is not properly secure.
The bottom line is, as with most aspects of business, get a professional who specializes in computer networks and network security to evaluate your systems and your processes. Waiting until your system is infected or crashes is waiting too late.
Written and Copyrighted by Computer Networks and Design, LLC. ©