IT security – steps to take to keep your workplace safe
Cybersecurity in the workplace is something that some businesses fail to take as seriously as they should. Realising that having a secure IT network in place is equally as important as having security guards, alarms, swipe passes and identity cards in place to protect your building is the first step. We are now in a time where cybersecurity is something that businesses and corporations need to start taking seriously. There are a number of ways as an employer that you can encourage your workforce to adopt new practices around IT security and steps you can take as a business to allow your operations to continue to flow freely and efficiently. A cyber attack can mean that your business isn’t able to continue its operations until the threat and any issues that arise from it are addressed. This can be incredibly damaging to a company and greatly affect profits, so knowing ways to prevent this is essential.
Data protection
Keeping data protected is the first rule of cybersecurity, but many people aren’t entirely sure how to do this. In a workplace, this means keeping any form of data that can be used by an outside source to gain entry to any part of your business or organisation safe – after all, you wouldn’t share the door code to the building with anybody that wasn’t supposed to know it. You need to be sure that your employees are aware that something as seemingly innocent as posting a photo on a social media platform with a computer monitor or whiteboard in the background can be enough for a hacker to gain information that they shouldn’t. You should, as an employer, consider incorporating this into your IT protection policy.
Avoiding external content
Encouraging your employees to stay away from content that isn’t created by your company can prevent them from leaking any data to anybody that shouldn’t have access to it. One good way to enable this is to install pop-up blocking software on the company computers and also set out in your IT protection policy that employees should not click any links that have not been provided to them internally. Additionally, employees should not open any emails that are not from a trusted source. Phishing emails lead to your company being targeted by ransomware, so ensure that all employees are briefed accordingly when it comes to opening emails or clicking any links. Most email providers do now offer a fair amount of protection against emails of this kind and keep them in separate folders or automatically delete these as they are received. However, you need to ensure that your employees know what not to do in the event of one slipping through the net.
Making sure passwords are not generic
When providing login details to a large number of employees, it can be easy to assign generic passwords and usernames to them. This is not recommended and can put your company at risk, meaning that hackers may be able to access a range of accounts by just obtaining one employee’s login details. This is a fairly scary prospect but one that many large companies fail to take into consideration when they give their employees stock login details. If the only option is to give generic login details to all of your employees, then you’ll need to ensure that each individual changes these as soon as they have entered them for the first time. Ideally, passwords should be at least ten characters in length and contain lower and uppercase letters, special symbols and numbers to be the most secure.
Keep software up-to-date
Although many of us find ourselves delaying updates on our computers or smartphones, it’s a very bad habit to get into. This is particularly true in a workplace where you have a number of individuals that are in control of their own computers. Updates are important to ensure that software runs to the best of its ability, this also includes in areas such as keeping itself secure. Keeping your software updated will give systems the best chance of fighting against hackers or cyber threats naturally with any security precautions that are in-built.
Train your employees
IT training is something that can be easily neglected in a busy working environment, it is, however, essential. Training your employees properly in all aspects relating to the systems that they use will result in both a competent and secure workforce. You should arrange regular training sessions to keep all employees up-to-date with any new software or updates that you make use of and keep a training record to monitor this.
Why it’s important to inform your employees about cybersecurity
Cyber attacks are becoming increasingly common, especially against larger businesses or corporations. This means that we now need to be extra vigilant while at work, especially as most cyberattacks occur as a result of employee negligence. Following the above steps can help keep your data safe, but this often isn’t enough. Working with a company that specialises in a managed security software solution can help to give you the extra protection that you need.
CARA Technology understands the risks posed by employees and use systems to target this. Managing IT security for a large number of systems in a corporation or business can be a job that is just too much for an in-house IT team. We understand how much your information is worth and work with you to protect it and eliminate cyber threats.
