 Technology
Best Practices
Safe@Home
Simple Network
Security Tips for the Office and Home
By Scott Plumley
Securing your data is one of the most important things a
firm can do to protect against competitive threats and
internal access of confidential information. In other
words, protect your house.
More often than not, many firms do not employ security
measures to limit exposure, access and use of
confidential and secure information. These few simple
tips and strategies will show you how to protect your
data, intellectual property,
accounting and financial
information, and any other confidential information from
unwanted or unauthorized access.
The first area to be aware of is system passwords. Every
individual in your organization should have a unique
password to the system. More importantly, you should be
able to easily reset their passwords if you need to
access files under any circumstance, including
termination. The key areas to password protect are the
computer itself; any financial applications, such as
QuickBooks, Peachtree, Quicken; and any other software
that has confidential or proprietary information.
The next critical area is file and folder security on
your central storage location. This will limit and
restrict access to certain files internally. You can
allow certain staff members access based on your
internal protocols. Management can limit access to
delicate and confidential information. It is important
to map out how you want your folder structure organized.
Then map the layout to your organizational chart and set
each employee’s level of access to the system
Another prevalent area is Internet access. It is vital
to limit your exposure to the Internet. For example,
hackers can access your company through Internet “holes”
and can use your systems to send out SPAM from your
system, or worse. Naturally, limiting access to your
Internet web browser may not be an option, but you
should address web hosting and email hosting. If you do
either of these within your corporate network, the
Internet address for your location is sent with every
email sent out of your office. Your website is tied to
that address as well. If you are going to host your own
email and web site, you need to ensure that you have a
high quality firewall in front of your email server. I
recommend isolating your web server onto an island by
itself. This way, even if the web server is compromised,
it is the only piece of the system that is exposed.
Wireless is also an area that receives little attention
in small businesses. You may notice statements such as
Unsecured Wireless Network when you login to the
Internet. All wireless devices work coming right out of
the box making it very easy to just plug and play. Your
wireless network is an unprotected system allowing those
with a wireless device to easily pick up that wireless
signal. Once they have tapped in, they have full access
to your local network, as well as your Internet
connection. I have yet to go to an office park and turn
my laptop on and not find an unsecured wireless network
that I could use to get onto the Internet. Setting a key
code to gain access to the network, or limiting only
your specific device with access to the wireless
connection, will maintain your data integrity. It should
also be noted, if your wireless is unsecured, then nine
times of out ten, the password on the router is still
the same default password set by the manufacturer. If
that password isn’t changed, getting a list of all
devices on your network by address and name is very
easy.
Protecting your information both internally and
externally is good IT management and will go a long way
to peace of mind.
T. Scott Plumley is the President of High Speed
Network Services. High Speed Network Services provides
full IT support to small and medium-sized businesses.
Scott has over 10 years experience working with small,
medium and Fortune 100 businesses. Contact Scott at
813-404-5498 or
scott@hsnsfl.com
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