Look at what has happened to Sony.  Yesterday, they reported another security breach.  According to the report, 8,500 user accounts were compromised.  This is the second time Sony has had a security breach in the last two months.  Remember back in April – the PlayStation Network was hacked and the data including personal details and credit card numbers of their 77 million users were stolen.  This time, third-party fan sites for artists were attacked.  These sites are for newsletter sign-up so this data only included email addresses, phone numbers, user names and passwords. No credit card data was available for exposure in this instance.

What does this mean for your business?  Every company has valuable, proprietary data.  Your customers trust you – why violate that trust by not protecting their information?  All organizations are different and each has its own security needs.  A customized protection program within your IT infrastructure can help protect your most valuable commodity – your information.

While nobody can guarantee protection, a few simple steps can increase your security level tremendously.  A dedicated IT professional can give you the best guidance however a few simple steps can go a long way.

• Use encrypting software to encrypt data that is coming in and out of your company.  Protect important details of your company’s communications.
• Install detection software on your servers and mainframe computers to trigger instant alerts if someone tries to access your system
• Run regular (daily is preferred) back-ups of your data.  Best practices suggest that you perform daily back-ups for any files that have changed and weekly back-ups of the full system.
• Include an off-site back-up service in your back-up plan.  If something happens to your building or internal back-up, your data is safe and secure in a second location.
• Include in your company manual specific and clear instructions for your employees.  Set specific restrictions on Internet usage, email security and file sharing.  The best security only works if everyone is following the same protocol.
• Make sure every computer in your office has an anti-virus program on it and running.  Scans should be scheduled daily and any incoming files checked upon arrival.  Verify that the software is updated frequently for the latest protections. Microsoft has included this feature as an option within the newest version of Windows.  By installing this update you insure you are protected at little to no extra cost.
• Install anti-adware and spyware software.  Protect against illegal programs tracking internet use or monitoring keystrokes for the purposes of collecting data such as passwords.
• Create a complete password list and store it in a protected place or encrypted file with limited access.  Change passwords frequently to make sure nothing within your network is able to be accessed by former employees.
• Create a firewall to guard your internal computers against outside interference.

If you cannot manage these processes yourself, hire an IT professional.  Our clients are thankful they have these measures in place.  Most companies do not even realize how close they are to a security breach.  We can all learn lessons from what happened to Sony.  If it can happen to them, it can happen to your company.  Network security and data protection should not be taken lightly.