Sep 27, 2012 | SMB Technology
Beyond Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Many businesses have adopted an IT policy of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) to save money and provide employees with the flexibility of staying connected when they travel, work from home and spend time in the field. The BYOD policy allows employees to use personal smart phones and tablets for business purposes. According to research firm Computer Economics, companies can save between $1350 and $3500 annually by adopting a BYOD policy. In addition, employees can be more productive and have higher job satisfaction with a IT mobility plan. According to research by the Computer Technology Industry Association, CompTIA, security is the primary issue for IT Managers when it comes to mobility. The number one risk cited is loss or theft of a mobile device. Seventy percent of those surveyed implement mobile device password locking as part of their data protection plan for mobile devices. However, a four digit password in itself is not enough security, so there are a number of additional precautions companies should take to protect valuable corporate data. Here are a few recommendations you may consider to help mitigate risk from your BYOD policy: Have employees agree to a policy of notifying the company in a timely manner when a device is lost or stolen. If the company uses technology to “wipe” corporate data from the mobile device ensure employees keep personal data separate or prevent company data from residing on the mobile device all together. Local laws may prevent an employer from wiping or “rooting” a mobile device upon loss, theft or employee termination. If you do business in foreign countries be aware...
Sep 12, 2012 | SMB Technology
Internet Browser Security Tips Left unprotected, Internet browsers including: Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari are increasingly vulnerable to software attacks and may be a place where malicious software, aka Malware can infiltrate your PC and ultimately breach your network security. There are many things you can do to proactively protect your PC and ultimately protect your data. Here are some tips for avoiding malware and other vulnerabilities from your internet browser. Keep Your Internet Browser Current Software publishers routinely release new versions of their internet browsers. Many times these new versions include security patches and updates designed to protect you from attack. While these publishers put their best foot forward into the newest version of their internet browser, they may retire older versions. When they retire these old browsers, they may no longer provide security updates and support. By consulting your IT support professional you can protect your company assets and also receive better performance with enhanced Internet experience. Keep Your Internet Browser Updated Software companies publish security patches to keep current and prior versions of their Internet browsers safe from known security vulnerabilities and attacks. By applying these updates as they become available, you minimize your risk of attack. As a policy, you should keep your operating systems and other applications current with security patches to ensure network compliance and avoid unnecessary and unintended interruptions or data loss. Review and Configure Your Internet Security Options Most Internet browsers provide options to configure Internet security and Internet privacy settings. The highest levels of security may limit the number of sites you can visit. Lower...
Aug 10, 2012 | SMB Technology
Considering the Cloud for Backup? Many small to medium business (SMB) owners are turning to online backup or remote backup, generally referred to as cloud backup, as a top way to take advantage of cloud computing. According to a recent survey by the Computer Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), most companies turn to the cloud to cut costs and reduce capital expense. Because of the advancements in internet bandwidth, combined with the economies of scale from the cloud, remote backup can be a reliable, affordable and practical solution for most SMBs. When you evaluate cloud backup, here are a some things to consider: Security and Compliance There are public cloud and private cloud options available to meet your security and compliance requirements. If you need to comply with PCI, HIPPA or other regulatory requirements you may need to rely on a private cloud solution. This means your data is physically separated from other companies storing their data in public cloud alternatives. If you require a private cloud solution expect to pay more. Cost This leads to us to the topic of cost of cloud backup. There are a wide range of affordable options for cloud backup. Most cloud backup solutions charge by the amount of data stored. This makes them easy to compare. Office documents and spreadsheets are easy to compress and take up less space, as compared to, images, photos and data bases. Depending on the amount of data you are backing up in the cloud, you may incur additional charges for bandwidth. You may also need to consider the costs of a network upgrade and additional internet connectivity,...
Jun 26, 2012 | SMB Technology
What Has Your Backup Done For You Lately? Businesses of all sizes rely on their data more than ever before. What’s more, businesses have more data to protect and backups to store than ever. Critical files, customer data, email archives and other application data run our world. It’s not a bad idea to backup that data to a local drive or tape. In the case of a true disaster, such as an earthquake or fire your local backup may not be enough. By using online or remote backup, you can store your data securely in an offsite location and have it available in a disaster recovery scenario. Also, with cloud computing, companies large and small, can now affordably backup data offsite. When you evaluate a remote backup solution here are a few things to consider: Is My Data Secure? When you think about moving your data backup offsite most business owners think about security first. While backup vendors take data security seriously, their approach may vary for how your data is protected. Data storage in a private cloud may add an additional physical layer of security by dedicating hardware to your individual needs. A private cloud solution may drive the cost up and may be more than you need. Public cloud storage may use a virtual environment to store your data, making it more affordable. However, a public cloud solution may not comply with your industry regulations for data security. It is important you understand your security needs and priorities to find the best remote backup solution for your business. How Long Does It Take To Recover? When you...
Jun 9, 2012 | SMB Technology
Data Protection and Password Security Update: LinkedIn On June 7, LinkedIn disclosed that “some LinkedIn member passwords were compromised.” Per LinkedIn disclosures on their blog https://blog.linkedin.com/2012/06/07/taking-steps-to-protect-our-members/ ”LinkedIn learned that approximately 6.5 million hashed LinkedIn passwords were posted on a hacker site. Most of the passwords on the list appear to remain hashed and hard to decode, but unfortunately a small subset of the hashed passwords was decoded and published.” They continued, “no email logins associated with the passwords have been published, nor have we received any verified reports of unauthorized access to any member’s account as a result of this event.” There are a few important lessons to pass along given the recent data protection disclosure by LinkedIn: Separate Company from Personal You or your employees may have a variety of social media accounts. It is a good data protection policy to use separate email and password combinations for personal use versus business use. Where possible, use a personal email and password combination to set up and access your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. Discourage employees from using their business credentials on social networks. In the event that an email and password combination is compromised, there is a lower probability that your vital systems will be hacked if your company is not associated with the data leak on a social network. Data Protection Can Lower Exposure When it comes to data protection and backup, the first thoughts are rapid recovery from lost data. These same techniques also apply to hacked data. By having daily backups of your data companies can better pinpoint what data may have been compromised during...
