Eleven IT Security Essentials For Any Business
There are few businesses now who could get by without using some kind of IT. New technology and software have made a lot of parts of a business easier and more productive, but with new technology comes more security needs. IT security services are very important for any business to keep your company safe.
- Application Whitelisting. When you’re running a business with staff coming and going, it can be difficult to keep track of cloud application usage in your business. Initiate application whitelist to ensure that only certain software applications can be run on your computers and all others are blocked by your malware prevention. Bolster this security by restricting administrative privileges to prevent software that you haven’t authorized to run.
- Multi-factor authentication. This security measure goes further than account passwords. Add stronger security elements, like a passphrase or PIN, a physical token, software certificates or biometric data like a fingerprint.
- Restrict administrative privileges. Only give admin access to staff who actually need it, and immediately improve your cybersecurity.
- OS and application patch management. Make sure you consistently and thoroughly patch any applications and operating systems as soon as patches become available. This eliminates vulnerabilities in your computers and keeps everything up to date.
- Disable untrusted Microsoft Office macros. Configure Office to block macros from the internet, and only allow vatted macros. This works against ingress attack methods.
- User application hardening. This includes things like blocking web browser access to Adobe Flash Player, advertisements and untrusted Java code. This helps to safeguard the network and makes firewalls more effective.
- Next-generation firewalls. A next-generation firewall is a security system for your network can detect and block more sophisticated types of attacks. They enforce security policies at the application, port and protocol level. An NGFW combines a number of security options, including URL blocking, packet filtering, SSL inspection, and application awareness.
- Implement a SIEM solution. Smaller businesses may not need to go this far, but once you reach a certain point of growth, you will definitely need a security information and event management (SIEM) solution, which will continuously detect and respond. This enabled real-time collection and historical analysis of security events, helping you to prevent similar breaches.
- Backup and recovery. Backup your important data daily, to guard against ransomware in a proactive way. This also protects against malware that could encrypt, corrupt or delete backups. Keep your backup disconnected from the network and also be periodically tested to be sure the data is accessible when you need it.
- Penetration testing. Create policies and practices for conducting regular penetration tests and assessing vulnerability. This means your business can identify and secure potential security risks or points of failure in your network.
- Employee training. Train your staff on IT security protocols to build in a human level of security and protection against threats. This training could include how to avoid phishing emails and password and data management. Cybersecurity should be part of the culture of your business, which will help you weed out most of the common IT intrusions.
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