Four IT Security Measures to Implement Right Now

Digital threats are becoming more dangerous every day, and it takes a village to protect an entire office network with all of its devices from outside intrusions and threats. How secure are your office infrastructure and remote employees from cyberattacks? The level of IT security might not be as adequate as you think.

How to Improve Your IT Security

Four digital security methods can help your business prepare for attacks ranging from common to advanced and give it a chance to maintain a high uptime rate.

Password Management

Not all cyberattacks are a result of malware infections and brute force attacks. Some hackers breach personal and company accounts by simply guessing the passwords.

And it’s much easier than you think.

Too many people use passwords that are easy to guess, like birthdays, nicknames, common phrases, or even the word “password.”

To make matters worse, people have the habit of using the same password for all their email accounts, social media platforms, and virtual workspaces. This makes it easy for hackers to get into work emails, virtual office platforms, and network computers and access confidential information.

User negligence remains one of the biggest issues in office IT security. Whether it’s a lack of awareness about the dangers of cyberattacks and their frequency, or a matter of not caring, user habits and password management often gift hackers a path to access sensitive data.

That can disrupt business operations, ruin company reputations, steal client financial information, and do all sorts of damage.

Educating employees on the dangers of poor password management and implementing secure password management solutions can be done with the help of IT security specialists like those provided by a managed IT service provider.

Data Backups

Many companies rely on digital technology to conduct daily business operations, administrative tasks, client communications, and more. But digital technology is vulnerable on many fronts.

First, internet-enabled devices are prime targets for hackers. A compromised device could lead to data theft, corruption, and deletion.

Secondly, just because you store documents digitally doesn’t mean they’re not stored on hardware storage devices. Even a cloud storage solution still needs physical hardware to store information. It just so happens that it’s outside the office.

Businesses and individuals, especially less tech-savvy ones, can get a false sense of security.

Any hardware storage device, be it an SSD, HDD, or even a thumb drive, is susceptible to failure and data loss. Storage devices can get damaged beyond the point of realistic data recovery. Devices can be lost or hacked or have their circuits fried.

This means that IT security should extend to how someone approaches information storage. Unfortunately, no storage gadget is 100% safe from data loss.

On the bright side, you have the option to store multiple copies of vital files on multiple devices in different locations.

Data backups make businesses less vulnerable to ransomware attacks. It makes them more trustworthy to clients regarding personal and financial information. It also enables companies to maintain a better uptime rate, since they have multiple ways to access the information they need to operate.

Disaster Recovery Plan

One area where many businesses are severely lacking is disaster recovery. Every company must imagine a scenario in which their servers get breached, files get hijacked, or a power surge fries their equipment.

Catastrophes can happen, and they’re rarely announced. Sudden, massive disruption to a business’s digital technology or real-world operations can have a devastating effect.

That’s why everyone needs a solid disaster recovery plan for various doomsday scenarios. This is another crucial component of IT security.

How does it work?

The plan dictates the actions a company must take to react to the disaster event, restore business operations, path vulnerabilities, and recover data. Someone without cybersecurity experience is unlikely to have the knowledge to create such a plan, let alone make it efficient.

Hence, there’s an increased need for IT security service providers specialized in securing, optimizing, and restoring business operations.

Update Digital Security Solutions

IT security software like antivirus software, firewalls, anti-malware software, and other apps are well-known among the general public. Individual and corporate users often use at least the bare minimum of each digital security solution to protect their devices and office equipment.

However, digital security solutions are only as good as the people maintaining them. Hackers uncover vulnerabilities every week. What was a rock-solid firewall last month might be inefficient against an attack today.

Security software must be constantly monitored for spikes in malicious activities and updated to prevent, or at least react to, the latest cybersecurity threats.

Individual users might be able to do this themselves on a personal computer. But an office has multiple workstations, smart gadgets connected to the Internet of Things, and internet-enabled office equipment like printers, scanners, copiers, etc.

Offices have many more network vulnerabilities and devices that can be hacked, each with its own digital security software and protocols that need close monitoring and maintenance.

It’s not an easy task to accomplish without specialized support.

IT Security Should Be a Top Priority

The industry you operate in is of little importance when discussing IT security and cyberattacks. Every company from every sector is a potential target because threat actors will go after any information they can use for financial gain or that serves their cause.

Investing in your IT security should be a top priority, even if you can’t afford your own IT department. Otherwise, you’ll always be at risk of data theft and loss. Worse, you might be a victim and not realize it until it’s too late.

Partnering with a managed IT service provider can strengthen your security and response in the face of digital threats and prevent your company from going through hard times, financially and reputation-wise.

Contact Duplicator Sales & Service today to learn more about your options in Louisville, Lexington, Elizabethtown, London, and Paducah.