When it comes to your business’ security, the reality is that more often than not businesses simply assume they’re safe. More than 67% of small to mid-sized businesses feel like they are not a target because they are too small. The reality is: cybercriminals are looking for vulnerable businesses—ones with a false sense of security and many vulnerabilities to exploit.
I get it— it’s hard to stay one step ahead of the bad guys. But there are some simple concrete measures your business should be taking to keep its data safe. Today I want to walk you through 4 very necessary security areas that your business NEEDS to pay attention to—the easy targets that hackers will take advantage of.
Here Are 4 Security Measures Your IT Support MUST Focus On:
Patching—patching your servers and workstations with security updates is a critical component to avoiding attacks. Hackers will look for systems that haven’t been well-maintained and one sure red flag is when patches have not been applied. Since Microsoft often patches security bugs, and once patches for those bugs are released, be assured hackers will try to exploit unpatched machines. The more doors you leave open through unpatched networks, the easier and more likely it will be for criminals to get in! Zog recommends regularly patching your network. Test patches to see that they are working rather than making any assumptions.
Backups— with a growing number of threats to your data (think of the latest ransomware!), regularly backing up your data has become more important than ever. Be sure that you backup your data off network in a secure offsite location. If your business gets its data encrypted from a virus, your only option may be to hope that paying the ransom will restore your files! Having regular backups of your network will minimize the effect of a ransom attack and can get your business running in any disaster—hardware failure, loss, natural disaster or cyberattack.
Out-Dated Operating Systems—if your businesses is keeping an outdated operating system on your server, you’re risking having vulnerabilities that will NEVER get patched. Since Windows is no longer providing updates for Windows XP or 2003, if you still use an outdated operating system, you’re setting yourself up for problems! Malware attacks are specifically looking for exploits in these older systems that have never been patched—because there are no patches for them! Even if you have a security audit done on your network, if you are using outdated operating systems, you will likely have the false comfort of passing the audit. We recommend you evaluate your operating system and determine whether you’re running a supported OS.
Firewalls—another critical asset, likely hidden away in a closet, firewalls are oftentimes forgotten. If your IT Support fails to maintain your firewall, you likely have built false comfort around a firewall that is failing. Most firewalls have 2 components—hardware and licensed software. If your firewall is more than 5 years old, is it still supported? Is the licensing current? If not, it’s likely not doing much at all! A lot has changed in the past 5 years when it comes to firewall protection. Ask us about what solution would be the most capable to protect your network from modern sophisticated cybercrime.
The Startling Truth Is That MOST IT Support Fail To Make Sure Basic Security Is In Place!
While many of the issues I mention above should be constantly on your IT support team’s radar, more often than not IT departments or outsourced IT managed services support is too focused with day to day user support to really focus on what should be your business’ primary security concerns. The majority of IT Support fail to implement change in their processes to enable evolving security needs. Failure to accommodate your changing cybersecurity and compliance needs makes you a sitting duck to data breaches, violations and fines.
Is your business at risk of getting hacked or being noncompliant? Are you not clear where your risks lie? Contact us today for a FREE network security assessment.