4 Tips to Ensure Your Business Network is Secure

Keeping their systems and network secure is a concern for all business owners.

No one can be certain that they will not have security issues at some point, but there are things you can do to lower the risk of it happening to your business.

 

#1 Make Your Staff Aware

It is vital that your staff is aware of the security risks posed by opening emails from sources that are not trusted, by giving out details over the phone or by email or clicking on links that are new to them without being sure it is safe to do so.

It does not matter how much security you have in place if your employees ignore these simple protocols. In fact, they are so important that some employers now treat ignoring security issues as gross misconduct and fire the people concerned immediately.

This may seem harsh, but it only takes one slip to give hackers access to your network.

 

#2 Update Cyber Attack Protection

You should update all software every time an update is issued. Often, the updates are to stop security breaches that have been found by the developers, so these should not be ignored.

This is especially true of any cyber attack protection you have, as these are the best defense against viruses, malware, and other online threats.

You should also consider installing an identity services engine, such as Cisco ISE, as these will not give access to your systems without the user and device being checked out first.

If an ISE detects any problem at all, it can revoke access, update policy and notify your other security defense programmes so that you have coordinated network-wide protection.

 

#3 Do Not Have Blanket Access

Each employee should have their own access passwords and what they can see should be limited to what they need to complete their job. This will help to keep sensitive information away from those that should not have access to it and will stop just anyone turning on one of your computers and immediately having access to all your systems.

You have to remember that not all damage is done to systems online. If someone broke into your premises overnight and could get into your systems, they could cause untold damage before you arrive at work the next day.

 

#4 Password Security

Much of the time, hackers are successful it is because they have been able to crack the password used. You should encourage your staff to always use strong passwords and to change then at regular intervals. This can go a long way toward stopping security breaches in your network.

You should also consider implementing multi-factor-authentication. This requires more than a password to gain entry. It could be a security question or a special code, but unless the password and second option match, access is denied. This could be especially important where financial matters are concerned, and some payment methods will insist on it being in place.

When a multinational company is hacked it hits the headlines, but what you will not find out unless you look for the information, is that nearly 48% of small businesses in the US suffer a cyber attack of some sort in 2018. Hackers tend to target them because they are more vulnerable. Make sure you are not one of the statistics and keep your network secure.

What are you doing to ensure your network is secure?