Four Basics to follow for Everyday Data Security One of the biggest questions we get from clients and prospects is "What can we do to protect ourselves from cyber attacks?” It is a sensible concern. A cyber attack that freezes operations or seizes data can ultimately shut a company down for good. There are some basic, simple things you can do to protect your company and there are more sophisticated tools available. In this blog, we look over a spectrum of 4 things you can do to improve your data security, from the simple to the high tech. Employee training - It may seem so simple, but training your employees on an ongoing basis about their role in cyber security may be the best thing you can do. Why? Because well-meaning people do things when they get near a computer that can be very risky. Simple things like forbidding the use of external storage devices being brought to the workplace. One of the more notorious data breaches occurred because a subcontractor employee–who ...

5 ways to make passwords more effective You should be using an array of security tools to protect your business data. Some can be highly sophisticated, but there is one tool that we all still rely on heavily to secure access to our business systems and data. The password. But they can be hacked and shared. As long as we still rely on them, are there things we can do to make them more effective? Yes. There are two main areas where you can improve the security of passwords. One is improving the security of the password itself, the second is multi-factor authentication. First, there is the password itself. This is often known as password hygiene. Good password hygiene includes Passwords that are too simple Simple passwords are easy to remember but easy to crack. Words, in any language, are not ideal either. That is why many sites require a mix of letters, characters, and numbers. easy to And yes, some people are still using password123. One universal password Sometimes people fin...

Infection protection: Nine steps to start protecting your company today Malware is a generic term that covers all manner of software that is designed to attack your devices, applications, programs, and networks. It is software that has bad intentions. Yes, stealing. Either by directly pulling money out of accounts, or improperly acquiring data that ultimately provides access to funds. Example: Stealing your SSN and setting up a credit card to use that info, or convincing you to provide the password to your checking account. Others will snatch your organization's data and hold it for ransom. As usual, it is all about money. What can you do? Nine steps to avoid malware 1) Don’t go it alone - As a small- to medium-sized business, you have limited resources, all of which need to be focussed on running the business and planning for the future. That makes it difficult to direct an IT operation that has the depth to address all of the security issues you face. For example, a busines...