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Cyber-Security advice
Advice: How to keep your business data secure
 Have strong, complicated passwords that are changed routinely. — FBI special agent Nelson Barbosa |
• Coordinate with the IT department when letting someone go so access is cut off. Have a plan if you have to let your IT person go.
• Internet defense is expensive. Meet with similarly situated owners and executives in a forum such as one of the regional chapters of InfraGard, an FBI-sponsored organization, to share threat and security information and best practices, Barbosa says.
• Educate employees on how to spot threats. Have strong, complicated passwords that are changed routinely, Barbosa says. Don’t click on unrecognized links and attachments.
• Become knowledgeable about the security measures of your IT department or outside vendor that handles your IT needs. Consider hiring an independent evaluator to examine or audit the system
• Update security software, browsers and programs. “A lot of malware is designed to exploit vulnerabilities in popular software applications, so keep them patched,” says Harnish.
• Figure out a mobile device policy. Aside from the danger of having a smart phone or laptop with passwords stolen, phones also can carry viruses, as can flash drives.
Costly Errors
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Internet security companies say the Achilles’ heel always is the employee. Some walk out with data for personal advancement. Some load it on laptops or mobile devices that are stolen. And some, whether through simple passwords, visiting a compromised website or clicking on a link in a spam e-mail, open a business to intrusion. Clearwater-based KnowBe4, keeping the client’s name confidential, last year published the cost of a single employee at a client company clicking on a phishing e-mail. It led to 20 computers and three servers being infected and the company inadvertently hosting an illegal music download service. Between lost employee productivity, lost revenue while the site was down and outside technical services to clean the infection — at $90 per hour — the breach cost the company $18,900.
