Research conducted by Verizon Communications showed that one third of the cases of security threats, occurred in companies with fewer than 100 employees. The scale of these disturbances may not be compared with what is happening in the company's enterprise-class, but the malware, botnets and Trojans may have a major impact if it occurs in small companies.
With other forms of evolving threats, small business people can take the following basic steps to reduce the risk of cyber threats.
Step 1: Treat Your Business Security, like keeping your Business For small companies that do not have IT staff, the answer to the needs of technology is sometimes visit the IT shop to look for hardware that is easy to install and run. Usually the choice will fall to the hardware for the home. This option will eliminate the hassle of installation, but it also opens up opportunities entry of threats into the corporate network.
In terms of selection of hardware, the user must move forward if the company has information that must be protected. Overall, the security features designed for home users, can not match or even approach the security features that are owned by the hardware that is destined for even the smallest companies. Even the hardware for the business class that does not implement security as its main functions, such as a router, it can provide layered protection to secure your network.
Step 2: Protect the Perimeter Work Environment The function of a firewall is to keep the gateway between the corporate network with the outside world. Therefore, the firewall protection is clearly a necessity. Unfortunately today many small companies that do not pay much attention to the perimeter of the minimum in the work environment must be protected from cyber threats.
Actually, the firewall entry-level business classes can provide an important basic security features, such as checking of data packets to verify any data that passes through the perimeter gates as well as protection from potential interference.
Firewalls can also serve as guardians of the list of visitors, with only allow a clean data from the domain to enter the office network. This feature will be very useful to protect the network from malware attacks originating site and the entry of malicious emails that seemed to come from allowable sources.
Step 3: Stay Update Those who create malware are smart people. Each new security technologies emerge and can hinder their efforts, then they will change tactics to feel successful.
As a simple example, let's look at the development of spam. Several years ago, e-mails are junk including a major security problems of the network business, until the anti-spam vendors issued a solution. But whether the problem is over? Not really. Spammers are becoming more creative, and again collided with the speed of the anti-spam vendors.
In essence, if the security devices that use the company has released the latest version, then the company must evaluate it first and then apply it ideally. In this way, then the company is continuing to update its security system.
Step 4: Carefully Harmful threats such as botnets which controls the computer and then send spam without the knowledge of users, it is often difficult to track and many do not leave a trail. Botnets best work without user's knowledge, because the sign is just the speed of the processor running a little slower.
Responding to this threat, companies need to more frequently monitor the logs, which are usually small companies do not run it. Consider the network traffic that occurs. Keep an eye on network traffic passing to the IP address where under normal conditions does not occur, for example, the location of a country that never had a business. To deal with threats such as botnets, vendor provider of security systems to provide updates and patches to be applied in the company. But again, the company still must carefully examine the network traffic.
Step 5: Protect Yourself from Employee Self The threat does not only come from the outside, but could also originate from the company's own employees. The threat comes from employees themselves could have been because the employee has a minimum knowledge about security so inadvertently endanger the office network, or it could be the employee intentionally misusing his authority.
One way is advised is to provide unfettered access to each employee into the corporate network in accordance with the authority and scope of their employment. In this way, it can reduce the risk of employees will be doing other things outside the scope of its work through a computer where they work.
In addition, employees must be equipped with knowledge on how to secure work environment, as well as knowing what the risk is also the threat becomes real. By knowing the value should be protected, then the employees will better understand why the application of workplace safety must be adhered to.