Five Keys For Small Business Preventive Security Measures

Thomas Fox is president of Tech Experts, southeast Michigan’s leading small business computer support company.

We continually mention the importance of network and password security for small businesses for good reason. The increasing security threats and cases of security breaches in both large and small enterprises show that we are more at risk than ever before of suffering a security violation.

Regulated entities such as medical offices (HIPAA) and financial institutions (FINRA) are especially susceptible to breachs and security incidents.

Prevention is always better than cure. To this end, here are five security measures you should start putting in place today.

Limit lateral data transfers
One of the biggest contributors to internal data breaches is a lack of employee knowledge of security issues. It’s important to protect strategically important information and data by limiting who has access to it.

Furthermore, you can employ network segmentation to reduce any unnecessary communication between internal and external networks.

Ensure machines and devices are updated
Internal breaches can result from the use of unprotected machines. Without being aware, employees may download malware or ransomware.

However, this may not be a problem if the software and operating systems on the machines are up to date.

Keeping all devices and the accompanying software and security structures up to date will make a significant contribution to protecting your systems.

Monitor activity to identify suspicious activity
Sometimes, a security breach may not involve any employees. Network administrators should ensure the latest monitoring software is in use to monitor behaviors and immediately detect anything that looks amiss.

Cyber criminals are aware of these types of activities and often conceal themselves deep in the network to exploit the system over a prolonged period of time.

Even if you miss the threat the first time, the monitoring system will provide meaningful insights that will help you recognize foul play.

Ensure robust passwords are in place
When it comes to system passwords and login procedures, you can always improve. In addition to the more traditional text-based password access, you should also ensure you have more up-to-date security mechanisms in place such as fingerprint access and smartcards. These are much more challenging for cyber criminals to replicate.

Embrace cyber insurance policies
No system can be completely safe from a cyber attack. Criminals are getting smarter and smarter, and what appears to be an impenetrable system one day can be infiltrated the next.

For this reason, you may wish to take out cyber insurance to cover any costs you incur if things do go seriously wrong.

Improve Your Staff’s Productivity Using These Five Tips

Thomas Fox is president of Tech Experts, southeast Michigan’s leading small business computer support company.

Increasing employee productivity is a positive approach for companies, regardless of the industry; however, the concept can be rather vague.

Productivity means more than just working to meet a given quality standard, therefore, it isn’t always immediately clear how to achieve optimum outcomes while maintaining standards and keeping your employees happy.

Here are a few concrete methods that can help your staff be more productive:

Block certain Internet sites
With the rise of social media, online gaming, video sites, gaming and contest portals, and entertainment websites, there are many potential distractions on the web. Even if an employee is well-intentioned, there are plenty of well-designed trappings to keep them there, wasting your company’s time and, ultimately, money. [Read more…]

Most Employees Use Work Computers For Outside Activities

Thomas Fox is president of Tech Experts, southeast Michigan’s leading small business computer support company.

GFI Software, a leading software tool provider for companies like Tech Experts, recently released a report that found the personal use of company computers and other devices is leading to major downtime and loss of confidential data in many businesses.

The study of about 1,000 small business employees who used a company-provided desktop or laptop computer found that 39 percent of them said their businesses have suffered a major IT disruption caused by staff members visiting non-work related websites with work-issued hardware, resulting in malware infections and other related issues.

Even more alarming, the study showed nearly 36 percent of staff members said they would not hesitate to take company property, including email archives, confidential documents and other valuable intellectual materials, from their work-owned computer before they returned the device if they were to leave their company.

[Read more…]