Beyond Locks and Lights: Keeping Your Business Secure
Posted April 30th, 2008 by ybo
Chances are you store sensitive personal data on your business computer system, whether it’s customers’ credit card numbers, Social Security numbers or bank account numbers. But how secure is that information?
According to a March 2007 National Federation of Small Business/Visa USA survey, while 52 percent of small businesses keep at least one form of customers’ personal data, 57 percent don’t think they need a formal plan to secure data and 61 percent have never sought info on properly protecting files. And that could make your business a target for IT thieves.
Evaluate your computer security and take preventive measures to keep IT thieves at bay with these methods:
Full disk encryption. One of the most important steps you can take, disk encryption protects your entire hard drive or portable storage device. When your computer boots up, you must provide a password before you can load the operating system. So if your laptop or desktop computer is ever stolen or lost, no one can access the information.
Password protection. If you choose disk encryption—or any other security method—remember that the more complex the password, the better. Avoid passwords that can easily be guessed. Instead, combine numbers, symbols and upper and lowercase letters. Encourage employees to change their passwords regularly and to use different passwords for different applications. For added protection, instate a lockout policy that disables potential users who fail to type the correct password after a specified number of attempts.
Protective software. Regularly download security patches for your operating system and application software as they become available to cover up security flaws that may develop over time. And because spyware and adware programs can intrude on your computer while you’re using the Internet, be sure to install spyware and adware removal software. While you’re at it, visit www.sans.org to arm yourself with info about new viruses to look out for.
SSL encryption. When providing sensitive information via the Internet, make sure the Web site you’re using has a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). SSL encrypts data before it’s transmitted to another source. How do you know if a Web site is secure? The URL will read “https” rather than “http.” Also look for a padlock icon in the window of the browser. Earn customer trust by making sure your business Web site has SSL too.
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