network security

These days, virtually every business is afraid of having a data breach, and for good reason. There are so many breaches happening with so many businesses from large to small that it's a necessary worry. To be more secure, it's important to know what a data breach is and how they can happen to a company's computer network.

Stolen Data

In most data breaches, the intent is to steal some of the data held by the company and to use it by either selling it or using it to take out credit cards or to buy products. It can be difficult to know whether the data has actually been stolen during an attack on a network, though. In general, if there has been a cyber attack that has made private data able to be viewed by the hacker, it's assumed that the hacker did something to take some of that data. It could be taking screenshots, copying and pasting it elsewhere, downloading it to a thumb drive or even posting the information somewhere public so that others can steal it.

Every business has an IT network that is a target of hackers. These days, any business of any size may be attacked by criminals using malware. However, there are many ways that you can make your network more secure and keep criminals out of it.

It Starts With Passwords

No matter which network security measures you use on your network, if you have weak passwords that are easily guessed and never changed, it will be easy to get into your network. The passwords that you and your employees choose should be complex and not simple words that can be found in a dictionary. Make sure that everyone knows to choose mixed characters, such as letters and numbers, and to keep the password secure so that no one can get it from them. Being careless with passwords makes it far easier for criminals to get into your computer network.

The use of managed IT to create and maintain better network security is getting more and more common among businesses of every size. Before you decide on a managed IT agreement, ask these questions about your business and what it needs.

What Do You Want the Professionals to Handle?

Your computer network in the office is complex, and there are a lot of aspects to it that need attention from IT workers. Before choosing a managed IT agreement, consider which tasks you can easily handle in the office and which ones need to be outsourced. Exactly what will you count on your managed IT team to do? Once you've identified which aspects your business needs help with, you can ensure that those services are included in the agreement that you sign.

The many items today that contain internet connectivity seems to be growing as more and more items join the internet of things. Keeping that connectivity organized and safe often requires using managed network services.

Networks Get More Complicated

A decade ago, most of the internet-connected items in an office would be the connected business computers. Today, mobile devices, including phones, tablets, laptops, and even watches, are all tapping into that computer network. This can make it harder to keep every device safe and to ensure that none of them invites in a virus that could infect the entire network. Using managed network services is one way to monitor just what is going on with your network and to have better control over it as a whole.

With cybercriminal activity aggressively land like never before, it will behoove any business and consumer to have even more security. This is where multi-factor authentication comes into play. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a security system requiring several login criteria before access is granted to a system.

Your network is the base of your business - everything is rooted in the data, information, and storage you have in your network. That means that you have access from anywhere, you can be efficient in identifying historical data, and your cloud storage is organized, accessible, and makes sense.

However, does your network have a sufficient backup solution? Sometimes we think there is a solution (we have our archives backed up on a drive somewhere), but it's not comprehensive enough to cover an actual loss event. Time to revisit your plan.

Network security is not something that your business has to conquer alone. It's an overwhelming endeavor - secure the entire network against everything, even currently unknown threats - and most businesses are focused on their daily operations.

Your network security partner is a team of experienced professionals who focus entirely on just that - network security - and looking out for additional threats and risks that may not even be on your radar. It's an essential part of a business but realistically, it's one that many managers overlook because of the time commitment and the lack of expertise in the office.

That's where finding a partner you trust comes in. Network security is functional when you share your needs, business operations, and potential threats, and the experts take it from there. Go easy on your team by outsourcing the hard stuff so you can focus on innovation and building your business.

As you consider all the ways to secure your company network, you don't want to take any shortcuts. It's essential to invest in IT solutions that take a proactive approach to data security, to use anti-virus software (and keep it updated!), and ensure employees are trained on how to spot a threat and make safe practices a habit.

In addition to these steps, you'll also want to make sure that ALL devices on your network are protected which includes your printer.

Printers are key player in network security, but the impact of the device often is overlooked. Don't leave holes in your security strategy!

Read on to learn more about how to protect your business from the threats you didn't consider.

How Printer Security Helps You

Remember that if your printer has access to the internet, it is just as vulnerable as any other office device.

Your IT team is critical to your business, but sometimes it's important to reevaluate exactly how they do things and look at other options.

That's where managed IT comes in. If you're focusing on improving network security and your IT team is constantly responding to help desk calls, you'll never achieve the security goals you need to address.

Bring the Focus Back to Business

Managed IT is a service offered by Classic Business Products that provides a team of specialists, network and security experts, and oversight for proactive IT solutions.

If you think downtime is an essential part of every technology-heavy business, you’re not thinking like today’s businesses.

Many owners still think downtime is necessary for updates and improving systems, but the reality is that there are better options for your network security.

Invest in network security, without losing sight of your business goals. Downtime can be expensive, intrusive, and frustrating.

Downtime Means Less Business

You know this - every time your business goes into downtime, it means no transactions.

This can seem alright, if it’s at night, but not when you’re a growing company. You may have to make a correction, or adapt a product, and you need constant availability.