Handling Hackers

Businesses of every size should make it a priority to protect their customers’ information.

If you hold information about your customers on your computer system – beware! A security breach could mean a huge loss of business and client trust, not to mention money, time and energy to rebuild your computer systems. The Small Business Administration advises monitoring the security policies of any service providers or business providers with access to your records or computer network. In addition, the following protections are critical to protect your data from hackers:

• Buy the latest anti-virus software and update it frequently.
• Buy firewall software. This blocks hackers from using your Internet connection to tap your computer while anti-virus software scans incoming files.
• Buy an intrusion detection system that will notify you when hackers have tried to break into your network.
• Backup your important documents to an external drive or other removable media.

Don’t Stop There.
Depending on the type of business, you could face security weaknesses in many areas of operations: data storage, training information, and information disposal, transmission and processing. The intricacies of your business model may call for unique and tailored security enhancements to protect your files.

The FBI and SANS Institute produced a living document of the ten most critical Internet security risks and continue to monitor security trends. They found in the last year major growth in risk for employers who allow employees to browse the Internet. While still important to secure servers and services, employees need to be educated so their desktop applications remain uninfected by seemingly inconspicuous web pages. While it may be your responsibility to protect the entire business, there are a few steps all employees can take to protect their departments. The Better Business Bureau has common-sense tips you should take today to minimize your security risk:

• Use passwords for your network, computer, and files and change them frequently.
• If your computer becomes infected, unplug, then scan your computer for viruses.
• Never connect to an unfamiliar Wi-Fi network during business travel. Commonly, hackers in airports are setting up ad-hoc networks in hopes you connect, leaving your computer open to theft of keystroke information like passwords and account numbers.

Educate your entire company about computer security and stay informed. There is no better time to safeguard your system. The ten most critical Internet security risks referenced here can be found at here. – Jill Copeland