company’s overall business operations. Understand that threats can be both internal (employees leaving behind laptops on airline security belts, for example) and external (from outside hackers attempting to harvest valuable information). “By making security a company-wide initiative, Hurst says firms can lessen their security risks and save both time and money required to deal with such threats.
Put Someone in Charge
Smaller firms tend to spread responsibility for IT security around the entire organization, but Hurst says a better approach is to put someone in charge of the initiative. To create an even stronger fortress, he advises firms to assign a backup person to handle the initiative, just in case. By assigning responsibility to these reliable individuals, companies will have just a couple of go-to people to maintain a proactive stance against possible threats — and to deal with any that do affect the company. “The idea is to create layers between the users of the information and the information itself,†Hurst says.
Be Vigilant About Security
It’s not enough to just install a firewall and hope for the best anymore. Today’s sophisticated criminals can sniff out vulnerabilities like bloodhounds. “What’s safe today could turn into a target tomorrow,†says Drolet, who cautions firms against resting on their security laurels — even those that haven’t felt the impact of a security threat. “It’s all about vigilance in today’s IT environment, since you never really know where the next threat is going to come from.â€
Web Resources:
Microsoft’s Small Business Security Guidance Center