Tip of the Week: Simple IT Practices for Business Success

Most businesses nowadays rely quite heavily on information technology to operate, as I’ve no doubt that you’re aware of. That’s why we thought it would be valuable to share some very simple IT best practices to help assist your operations by keeping your resources productive and secured.

Keep Systems and Solutions Maintained and Updated

Let me ask you a question: would you drive to the office in a 1908 Ford Model T? Would you send a quick telegraph to someone to ask them a question?

Of course not. As technology has improved, businesses have needed to embrace these improved options to ensure that their productivity and security remain competitive. Furthermore, with improvements to IT happening faster and faster (not to mention how quickly threats are now developed) your successful operations could very well rely on you having the right tools in proper working order.

Therefore, you need to make sure that your hardware and the software it hosts are all kept in fine working order, updating them, and upgrading them when appropriate. By prioritizing this, you ensure that your team can efficiently do the jobs they are meant to do without undermining your security.

Keep Data Backed Up

Data is critical to your business’ success, as it influences your capability to operate with optimal productivity. As this is the case, it is important that you ensure that your data is protected against circumstances of all kinds, as there are many ways that data can be lost.

Whether a fire, equipment failure, theft, accidental spill, or whatever happens to your on-site data storage, a backup will help you minimize the adverse impacts it has on your data continuity. Our recommendation is that your data backup incorporate multiple copies of your data, with at least three in total: the original copy, a data backup that you keep onsite, and one hosted in the cloud. That way, you have a convenient and easily accessible version of your data at the ready to fix small issues, while also keeping (and least) one additional copy safe in the cloud in case your on-site backup is lost along with the original data.

Keep Your Data Secured

Finally, we must discuss data security. With cybercrime officially being more profitable for criminals than the global trade of illicit drugs, it should come as little wonder that 75 records are stolen each second, on average. For a few dollars, it’s possible to buy access to some poor soul’s bank account.

Businesses aren’t exempt from these threats, either. With many user accounts holding more access than necessary and much of their network storage not having much internal security at all, phishing attacks have become a favorite tactic of cybercriminals. By fooling a business’ team members into allowing them to access the network, a cybercriminal is given quite a bit of power.

In addition to the phishing awareness and other best practices that should be taught to team members at all levels, there should be some authentication requirements and data handling parameters built into your network infrastructure and company policies. Requiring authentication to access certain materials and keeping your data on a strictly need-to-know basis otherwise, will reduce the potential number of leaks your business could be subject to.

SMART Services is here to help your business ensure these measures are carried out, and more.

For assistance in seeing to your organization’s cybersecurity preparedness and adherence to best practices, reach out to our team. Give us a call at 586 258-0650 to get started, or at least to ask any questions you may have.