As sure as death, children and taxes, you are going to experience an IT disaster at least once in the course of your life.
The main problem is finding the right way to protect your computers and computer protection is kind of like clothing. One size doesn’t fit all and different occasions require a different outfit.
I am going somewhere with this, I promise.
Say you’re getting ready to leave the house for the day, but you’re wearing a shirt and shorts and it’s raining heavily. You’re going to get wet and probably quite sick as a result. You should have been wearing proper boots, trousers and a coat to keep yourself warm and dry.
Your IT system is pretty much the same, in principle. If you don’t shield it against the elements, or give it the right protection, it’s going to get sick. No IT system is 100% bullet proof. We shouldn’t expect it to be. That doesn’t mean we should stop making an effort.
You don’t need to spend a fortune or be a technical expert to help keep your business IT safe. Here are 6 things you can do to help avoid a disaster:
1) Empower your people to recognise the risks with security awareness training
Every day businesses are the target of sophisticated attacks and the weakest link in your defences may well be you and your people. Gone are the days where a dodgy email was comically easy to spot; these days they can be frighteningly sophisticated and compelling. To help counter these threats, put in place security awareness training (SAT) to raise the level of recognition in your business.
Security training programmes used to be aimed at enterprise organisations but our SAT solution is easy to roll out, simple to manage and offers a year-long, multimedia-rich learning path to keep your users engaged and alert to cyber-threats.
2) Back up your data
It seems pretty simple – backup your data. However, just saving your files to an external hard-drive or USB isn’t a professional solution. Businesses require robust backup systems that can store both your data and environment.
Some businesses prefer to keep their backup unit in-house, but others prefer to store them externally in case of fire, flooding or theft.
Either way, having a working backup system in place will give you more peace of mind.
3) Use a cloud system
Many businesses are now utilising the cloud to store and send large files to clients and colleagues alike. Finding the right cloud can be difficult, as many services are not secure (therefore not ideal when dealing with sensitive data) and cannot guarantee the location of your stored data.
As a result, businesses are now turning to in-house cloud solutions, that allow all the flexibility of a free service, but with the security of your internal network.
With a cloud system in place, you can store your work to the cloud, ensuring that you can continue working from any device. Simply log in to your account and start working.
4) Ensure constant connectivity
This one is a little more tricky, but if there’s a power cut then you will want to make sure data isn’t lost. Simply saving your work regularly will ensure that you don’t lose anything, but if you save a copy of your work to the cloud, or by saving a copy to a USB, you can still access your files at an alternative power source.
5) Invest in a UTM
By investing in a Unified Threat Management system, you can help protect your entire network from a variety of malicious threats, including viruses and malware. It will help prevent a number of potential disasters and keep you updated on the latest threats, so you know what to avoid.
Employers get the added benefit of a user friendly admin panel, which allows them to see what websites are being visited and when, thus helping to prevent users from straying into dangerous online territory.
6) Get a good support team
It is said that if an IT engineer isn’t busy, they are doing their job right.
The best thing you can do for your business is to invest in finding an IT support team and I’m not just biased, I’ve seen what can happen if you don’t. A good support team will help you take your business to the next level by ensuring that all of your IT systems are working to their potential and more.
Not all disasters are avoidable, but by following these 5 steps you can avert most of them. And for those you can’t avoid, you can at least recover from them quickly and efficiently. If you want to know more about disaster avoidance and recovery, give us a call!
– Blog post by Jess Brown, Head of Marketing at Invicta Linux.
I work for Invicta Linux, Business specialists in Data, Security & Communications.
Tel: 0330 2020 139 / 01304 450070
Email: info@invictalinux.co.uk
Website: www.invictalinux.co.uk
