Security Tip #1 - Audits Enhance Value
Network security assessments and audits help
determine if IT funds are effectively being
used, identify and quantify IT related strengths
and weaknesses, and help you focus on those
areas that create the most value for your firm.
Assessments are ideal for:
- Ensuring compliance (HIPAA, Sarbanes
Oxley, PCI, etc.)
- Emerging and fast growing firms
- IPO ready organizations
- Organizations concerned about security
- Businesses with geographically
distributed offices
- Organizations in the financial and
health care industries
- Firms working with the government or
large institutions
- Organizations that share and collect
personal and/or proprietary data
While some organizations want tactical advice
on the state of the IT department, others want
to maximize their investment in IT by developing
and implementing a formal strategy. Before an
organization can develop and execute strategy,
the business can use assessments to understand
its IT infrastructure and related strengths and
weaknesses.
Security Tip #2 - Protecting Your Data
Encryption can protect your data. Most
organizations have sensitive information that
needs to be stored on IT systems and distributed
to authorized business contacts in a safe and
secure manner. It is important to use secure
encryption technology when conducting business
and electronically exchanging information.
Encryption makes information unintelligible to
everyone except for your intended recipient.
Confidential information is created on a
daily basis. Restricting access to confidential
information on your network is only part of the
solution. Increase the integrity of the data by
encrypting sensitive information. Your business
contacts need to use encryption to help maintain
the confidentiality of your data since not all
of your confidential information is contained
within your office. Employees frequently work
out of the office and this information must be
transported in a safe and secure manner.
Your reputation is at risk when confidential
information is compromised and increased costs
are incurred when information is exposed to
unauthorized personnel. Don’t wait for someone
to gain access to your confidential information.
Encrypt information to protect you from threats
both inside and outside of your organization.
Network security audits help ensure your data is
properly secured on your servers and backup
media.
Security Tip #3 - Firewalls, What they
Can't Do For You
Firewalls can't do everything. Firewalls are a
good first step to protect you against hackers,
but they do have their limitations. Like a
deadbolt lock on a front door, a firewall can't
tell you if you have other vulnerabilities that
might allow a hacker access to your network.
Why you need formalized security protection:
- Firewalls can’t protect against attacks
that don’t go through the firewall –
wireless networks, dial-up modems, and
internal employees often by-pass firewall
protection
- Firewalls reflect the overall level of
security of your network – a failure may
expose your sensitive data
- Firewalls stop incoming threats but you
still require formalized management,
destruction, and archival procedures for
your electronic documents
- Firewalls are not a replacement for a
strong Security Policies and Procedures
Manual
Your reputation is compromised when a
firewall doesn’t encrypt confidential documents
and e-mail. Your costs increase when a firewall
doesn’t protect you against computer viruses.
Formalized procedures and tools are needed to
protect your confidential documents and
electronic communications. Organizations need
security vulnerability assessments to manage
their risks.
Your security structure is only as strong as
its weakest link. External network penetration
tests evaluate your firewall security to ensure
they are properly configured.
Security Tip #4 - Hackers, What You Need
to Know
Hackers know things that you don't. That's their
edge. It's the reason that they can break into
networks, leaving a path of destruction in their
wake. Concerned about security? Your concerns
may be directly related to the value of the
information you are trying to protect. For
example, is your data difficult to recreate?
What are the implications if someone outside the
company gets access to your confidential
documents? You can’t always prevent hackers from
breaking in, but you can make it more difficult
for them to succeed.
Why you need formal security protection:
- Hackers like the challenge of breaking
into systems
- Without proper protection, any part of
your network is at risk
- Hackers cause network downtime
- Hackers seek out weaknesses in your
systems
Don't assume that ad-hoc security can protect
you from Internet threats. Penetration tests
identify vulnerabilities that can allow hackers
access to your internal systems.
Security Tip #5 - Employees are your
hidden threat
Internal employee threats. You have probably
taken steps to secure your systems from external
“hacker” threats. But what steps have you taken
to protect your organization from your own
employees? The Computer Security Institute
estimates that between 60% and 80% of network
misuse comes from within the enterprise.
Managing your employees and their access to
data help you manage your risks. From the
inside, employees bypass many of your controls
designed to protect your data from unwanted
intruders. Even if you maintain passwords on
confidential documents, employees can run
scripts that detect and remove passwords on
files. How can you address this employee threat?
Identify your vulnerabilities and integrate
security solutions at the network level.
The top three reasons why you need employee
network level security protection:
- Your employees already have access to
your network.
- Employees don’t have to pass through
external security checkpoints.
- Your confidential data needs more than
password protection.
Network security audits help enhance and
enforce security at the network level while
managing your employees and their access to
data.
Security Tip #6 - Viruses are a constant
threat
Anti-virus threats are increasing. Experts
believe that as many as one out of every ten
e-mail messages contain a virus. Don't put your
organization at risk, obtain and implement
reliable anti-virus software. Consider the
following:
- Viruses destroy the integrity of your
computer systems.
- Manual anti-virus updates at
inconsistent intervals doesn’t provide
protection from viruses that spread quickly
with no advance warning.
- Viruses cause significant damage.
- Your critical files are distributed
across your network. Server and workstation
files at corporate and remote locations need
to be protected.
Viruses cost you money and increase IT
support time. In addition, employee frustration
results in employee turnover and increased
management recruiting time and expenses. Your
loss of data integrity results in customer
dissatisfaction. Viruses compromise your image
and reputation.
Don’t count on inconsistent anti-virus
solutions to protect your valuable information
assets. Automated anti-virus systems with server
and desktop protection help you manage your
risks. Learn more about viruses and the
difference between a worm and a virus.
Security Tip #7 - Passwords, what you need
to know
Passwords, are you ever really secure? If you
have a newer computer, you already know the
experience of increased productivity you get
from having state-of-the-art equipment. What you
don’t know is that faster systems, when combined
with high-speed Internet lines, let unwanted
visitors “crack” your passwords at an alarming
rate.
Many organizations forget that not all of
their threats are external, internal threats
must be considered as well. In addition,
confidential data may be accessed from remote
locations and a good password policy may be the
only protection.
Without a formalized password protection
policy, you risk loss of revenue due to system
and network downtime. Many organizations have
determined their cost of downtime, however
recent surveys show that the cost to recreate
data is generally greater than originally
estimated. In addition to internal costs,
organizations must consider the cost of customer
dissatisfaction due to loss of data integrity.
Passwords are a critical component of your
security readiness. Formalize your password
policies and verify that they are enforced.
Inconsistent password policies and procedures
leave you at risk and cannot protect your
valuable information assets. Managing your
passwords will help you manage your risks and
protect your image and reputation.
A
network security audit can perform real life
attack to evaluate the strength of your users'
passwords.
Security Tip #8 - Security Audits
It is often difficult to decide where to
properly allocate your security budget. Rather
than simply throwing money at the problem,
leading organizations use periodic security
assessments to help pinpoint network security
issues.
As new vulnerabilities are discovered on a
daily basis, a system that is secure one day may
be completely wide open the next. Much like
regular anti-virus updates, subscribing to
recurring security audits helps an organization
identify network security weaknesses before they
can be exploited.
In addition to protecting your IT systems,
periodic security assessments help protect your
organization's reputation by helping identify
vulnerabilities before they are exploited by
unwanted intruders. Find out more about security
assessments and how they can help protect your
"information assets".
Security Tip #9 - Backups Are Your Initial
Defense
Don’t risk losing your valuable data. What are
your annual costs of lost data when you consider
lost employee productivity, lower levels of
customer service, and reduced competitiveness?
Protect your IT systems with reliable backups so
you don’t lose money.
Why you need reliable IT system backups:
- Information can be lost at a moment’s
notice
It is time consuming to recreate data
- The cost of downtime is greater than
your initial estimates
- Hackers and viruses aren’t your only
threats, employees can accidentally delete
critical files
- Data is often distributed - server and
workstation files at corporate and remote
locations needs to be protected
Your risks :
- Lost productivity results in higher
employee costs
- Increased IT support costs you money
- Lower levels of customer service results
in lost clients
Don't count on untested backup systems to
protect your valuable information assets.
Formalized backup systems with off-site rotation
help you manage your risks and are your key to
protecting your information assets. Network
security audit services help identify risks in
your network backups to ensure protection of
your information.
Security Tip #10 - Don't Risk Client Trust
Don’t risk losing your clients’ trust in you.
Protect your IT systems with security policies
and procedures. You'll protect your information
assets and your valuable image and reputation.
By not having sound policies and procedures,
many organizations face the following risks:
- Loss of data integrity and client trust
in you
- Your clients incur lower levels of
service due to untimely IT operations
- You experience increased management
accountability due to loss of adequate
controls
- You incur increased costs due to systems
that are not always available
Security policies and procedures can help you
maintain client confidentiality. By implementing
effective policies and procedures, client trust
is maintained even while security threats are
increasing at an alarming rate.
Many critical business processes and client
interactions are now automated to the point
where the importance of security readiness has
risen exponentially. Don’t count on firewalls
and passwords to protect your valuable
information assets. Security policies help you
manage your risks and are your key to
maintaining client trust.
Network security audits help organizations
identify, manage, and reduce their risks from
hackers and internal threats. Formal
and documented
policies ensure a top down approach to
managing network security risks.
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