Greg Watson
Managing your business IT systems can be a headache, but there are often simple things you can do to lighten the load and keep your data and systems secure and fully operational. With many years’ experience in providing IT support to small businesses across Surrey and the surrounding areas, here are just a few of the steps you can take to improve your business IT security.
Even though you think you are taking the right precautions, hidden files containing Trojan horses, ransomware or viruses can find their way onto your system. If they get as far as your infrastructure, they can cause permanent damage to files, data and equipment. The best way to protect your business systems against these threats is to install reliable anti-virus software to keep your files out of harm’s way.
When you consider how easily a file can be deleted, damaged or moved by someone who is unfamiliar with a system, and how much disruption that can cause to day to day operations, it is easy to understand why many businesses exercise user privileges. This ensures that only those who are trained in and familiar with certain equipment, systems and data have access to move and modify it. This helps to prevent data from corruption, theft or deletion.
This is something you can either do in house or hire an IT support company to provide remotely for you. Either way, if you have a record of who did what and when and where files have been moved to it is possible to block users who may be a potential threat or recover files before they are lost for good.
Business interruptions cost money. Whether they are due to hardware failure, data loss, fire or cyber theft, you need to have a plan to recover from such a disaster in order to keep your business going. The best way to do this is by ensuring you always have a backup of all vital data. Whether it is onsite, offsite, in the cloud or just on another device in another location, having more than one version of your important files will ensure that you can just pick up from where you left off, no matter what happens.
As technology progresses so too do the threats that accompany such equipment and systems. It pays to be aware of the latest vulnerabilities both in terms of hardware and software so that you can hopefully avoid them. If you use an external IT support company, they can provide you with this expertise and make recommendations to keep your business at the forefront of IT security.
