When talking to small businesses about IT security breaches the common responses are, we are such a small company why would anyone want to steal from us?, Or completely eliminating security breaches is impossible so why even try? Well, It is very important to realize every business is connected to a network in some form, which means anyone can test the security of your business on any given day and time. Implementing security measures can make it more difficult for a security breach to occur instead of doing nothing. Computers that require more effort to breach are assumed to be more secure.

 With this in mind Gemmis Technologies has put together a list of 8 highly effective ways to prevent and help protect your computer and network.

1.      Change default passwords immediately

 By changing the root password will prevent the possibility of unethical people from using the default password to remotely login into your device or computer. Default passwords for popular models are well known and often posted to the internet.

 2.      Perform regular network scans

Network scans allow administrators to know when and if harmful equipment has been installed on the network.

 3.      Constantly examine security logs

 It is very important to review security logs because when the administrator sees multiple events of login failure, unknown users and passwords that are bad, this will raise a red flag.

 4.      Monitor outbound network traffic

 Monitoring outbound traffic is an effective method to detect malware and determining if sensitive data is being stolen.

 5.      Patch and update regular

 Effective method to ensure computers and computer software are up to date and not vulnerable to breach attempts originating from the internet.

 6.      Implement a security plan

 Implementing and enforcement of security policies such as balancing trust and control is very effective in reducing breaches. Ensure diaster backup and recovery plans are strategically in place and tested on a regular basis

 7.      When employees leaves disable users account

 Regardless if the employee left on good or bad terms. It is imperative to disable user account because security breaches are more likely to occur when attacker has inside information.

 8.      Do not reuse passwords

 Password retrieval systems are often easy back door in secure accounts. It does not matter how strong your passwords are if you use the same password on different accounts. There are some great password vaults that only require you remember one password for multiple accounts.

 Conclusions

 Implementing security practices eliminates many risks that can cause your business to lose a lot of money.  Common security failure often stems from a company’s inability to keep up with all the patches needed on network various devices and keeping an eye on all the activity logs coming out of various devices on the network. Companies must know what’s going on in the network in order to secure it.