How Secure Is Your Business?

With the onslaught of new malware that’s being created and distributed every day, new and inventive phishing schemes, and other ways cyber criminals have to get in to your endpoint data and accounts, how secure do you think your business is?

Small and Mid-size businesses that may not have a dedicated IT department can have a hard time keeping up with the latest happenings in online security, especially with the new trends of cloud computing and virtual environments.

We wanted to do our share to help and decided to write up a quick checklist to help you evaluate the security status of your business. The checklist should help you keep your documents and your personal account information secure.

Checklist:

1. Do you have policies in place for the following:

1. restricted critical data access to only the people who need it?
2. proper and safe disposal of any documents with critical or personal identifying information?
3. what types of network activities are allowed and which ones are prohibited?
4. secure email and other electronic communication?
5. network access by outside devices such as laptops or phones?
6. remote access for employees accessing the network from remote locations?

2. Have you educated your employees of the importance of password security and how to stay secure when conducting transactions online?

3. Do you have the following technologies in place:

1. Firewalls?
2. Secure wireless network?
3. Up to date anti-virus and malware protection?
4. Intrusion prevention?
5. Identity Management?
6. SafeCentral’s WebProtection™?

4. Do you have a contingency plan in the case of a data breach for who is responsible for handling it and how to contact your customers or anyone else affected by the breach?

5. Finally, we recommend that if you don’t have the skill set in place to properly secure your business information, hire a security specialist. It is a lot cheaper to secure your business properly than the cost of cleaning up a data breach when you consider both monetary repercussions and your reputation.

Another great way to check the status of your antivirus software, firewall protection, and the web security status of your computers is to download the WebAdvisor™. WebAdvisor™ is a free diagnostic tool that runs a complement to any existing security software and does not negatively impact the performance of your computer.

SafeCentral’s WebProtection™ is a one-time install application that actually assumes that your machine is already infected with malware and ensures that the information on your computer stays secure. WebProtection™ interprets and intercepts over 5,000 discrete Windows commands and effectively blocks all potentially dangerous activities except those processes needed for the transaction. Learn more about how it actually works and how it keeps your information safe at www.SafeCentral.com.