5 Technology Security Tips

Since 2014, data breaches have been a staple for news coverage, with giant corporations such as Target and Home Depot being victims of cybercrime. These companies have invested considerable sums of money into security, which goes to show the tenacity and determination of cybercriminals. But small to medium sized businesses are also in the crosshairs, and while you can’t become fully impervious to data breaches, you can make sure that cybercriminals have a harder time hacking into your system. In this article you can learn about five security tips that will help keep your business safe.

1. Brief your employees

The most basic security policy, and one of the most effective, starts at the level of the employee. Many breaches occur because of basic mistakes on the part of the workforce. By training your employees and teaching them to use security measures, you greatly reduce the risk of a data breach. The basics include: never opening any attachments from suspicious or unknown emails, using strong and different passwords for each account, and typing URLs instead of clicking on links.

2. Have up to date firewalls and antiviruses installed

This is a very important security measure: have an antivirus and firewall installed on each computer in the office. You then want to set the antivirus to update automatically, and do routine security scans at predetermined intervals. This will ensure that you are protected from breaches, and that if a breach does happen, it can be detected before any lasting damage occurs.

3. Backup all important data

Certain types of malware, such as the ransomware, will block access to all important data, until you buy a piece of software to unlock it. You can also lose data during or after an attack. Backing up data ensures that the damage done by ransomware or a random attack is minimized. This can be accomplished reliably either through policy, employee training, backup software, or a combination of the three.

4. Secure both corporate and employee-owned devices

In today’s business world, you have to deal with mobile devices, both company and employee-owned. These devices can be a liability if not properly addressed with company policy, software security measures and employee training. This can mean anything from encouraging employees to keep business and personal data separate, to measures such as encryption and remote wire capabilities, that will enable you to block a device in case it is lost or stolen.

5. Create a security privilege-based system

Creating a security protocol where fewer employees have access to sensitive data and administrator privileges, can be a great way to limit the number of breaking points within your overall system. It’s also important to log all activity and monitor the system regularly in order to detect any unauthorized access attempt.

For more information on how to keep your business safe or to sign up for a merchant account, please call (888) 924-2743 or go to Charge.com.