IT Security and Your Business

As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, the need for effective IT security for your business becomes even more important.

According to a report by the UK government, a staggering 46 per cent of businesses reported a cyber breach or attack during the previous 12 months and its estimated the downtimes costs £2bn a year in lost revenue.

The effects of ineffective cybersecurity may be marginal – but they can also be devastating. Imagine if your entire team was locked out of your network infrastructure: no access to work files, customer records, even the telephone system. How long could you survive in that scenario?

Because according to the DTI/PriceWaterhouseCoopers, 7 out of 10 small firms who experience a major data loss go out of business within a year.

Cloud systems are one solution to the issue – if all your files live in the ether, then not only can you access them anywhere but issues of security become the responsibility of the experts. Allowing you to concentrate on running your business.

Here are a few other suggestions to improve your system integrity:

• A rigid password system – don’t allow users to use simple passwords
• Enforced use of a password manager – removes the temptation to ignore password protocols
• Backup, backup, backup – remember the 3-2-1 rule. Create 3 copies of your data, store 2 on different storage media and keep 1 offsite
• Employ a specialist to perform system penetrations tests on your network – not only will it test your security but, should any holes be found, they can advise how to fix them

Of course, if you want impartial help and advice, give us a call.