Take These Steps to Make IT Security Top of Mind

Here’s the thing about IT security: it requires a little more than a decent firewall and a reasonably-strong password. We talk a lot about how to ensure that your business’ network stays a top priority, and the best way to do that is to implement what we call a Unified Threat Management (UTM) solution. An enterprise security system like a UTM can provide a considerable improvement for the way you protect your organization, but even something as simple as a little bit of user error could bypass these protocols.

Hackers and cyber criminals have a lot of tricks up their sleeves, and it’s easy to forget that they can be extremely crafty with how they use threats like malware and phishing scams. The past few years have shown that hackers are doing much more than just infecting computers with threats. Instead, they are turning to social engineering and phishing tactics that are designed to weasel their way past even the most experienced workers. They know how to look legitimate and genuinely fool someone into handing over everything they need to succeed. Therefore, there’s only one way to make sure that your company stays safe from these hackers: stay alert and watch out for threats.

But How Do You Stay Cautious?
The best way to stay safe is to make sure everyone is looped in on what’s needed to keep your business secure. To get to this level, it’s best to start with management and administration to ensure that even those at the top of the ladder are taking security seriously. Be sure to keep your C-suite employees looped in on any major security advancements, as well as your HR office to give security the sense of importance that it deserves.

Security Shouldn’t Be a Hassle
Policies such as two-factor authentication or password protection can often be seen as an unnecessary way of making things more difficult for employees to do their jobs as efficiently as possible. You’ll likely get a lot of pushback, even if it’s meant to be a good thing for the company. Instead of lashing out and telling them to do what they’re told, try to get them to understand why the measures are necessary in the first place. The best employees are always the ones that care the most, so do your best to make them care not just on a corporate level, but on an individual level.

Implement Regular IT Check-Ups
Once you’ve figured out the best way to maintain IT security, you should do your part in keeping everyone up to date by holding regular meetings regarding security. It’s important that you make sure to stick to this schedule, as the higher priority your company places on security meetings, the more urgency will be associated with it by default.

Carefully Reinforce Security Measures
It’s imperative that your employees not only understand the importance of security, but that they understand why these processes and procedures are important in the first place. Be sure to document your business’ security best practices in a way which is easy to access, like in the company handbook. Follow this up with training videos, security handouts, or posters around the office. They should also be ready and willing to adapt to change, as the same threats that are a danger to your business now may not be so in the future.

Once most of your team understands that security is crucial, you should establish repercussions for failing to adhere to company security policies. It’s important to remember that most issues can easily be solved, so a first-time offender shouldn’t have their head bit off for forgetting something related to security. Of course, recurring offenses or blatant disregard to company policies should be treated with requisite severity, as all it takes is one unaware employee to completely cripple your organization's security.

Encourage Reporting and Support Requests
One of the greatest benefits of working with technology is that you can easily put in a support request or report suspicious behavior. However, if an employee isn’t comfortable with doing this, they might not report something important that could have prevented a considerable amount of pain. Furthermore, if they make a mistake, they might be reticent to report it for fear of being punished. Therefore, you should make it clear that you not only encourage reporting issues, but that you expect it.

Horne & Benik wants to be the organization that your business turns to for reinforcement of your company security policies. We can help enforce, audit, and support your business in a way which your internal IT department simply doesn’t have time for. If you don’t have an in-house IT department, we would be happy to act as one for you. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 499-4400.