Securing your Business

The modern business world relies on technology more than ever but this is puts unprepared organisations at risk. A serious data security breach could have significant financial impact on your business. Don't leave it too late.

We've summarised the key risks and the steps you can take to prevent disaster. Remember that in IT security you are only as good as your weakest link.

Protect your staff from desktop/laptop viruses and malware

The users inside an organisation have a different set of interactions with viruses and malware than raw network traffic filtered by a firewall. They may unwittingly allow download dubious software during everyday activities. They may even circumvent your firewall altogether by importing malicious code via a memory stick or smart phone.

For these reasons all desktops and laptops need to be protected with local software. This software prevents the individual infiltration of machines by monitoring suspicious activity within a local computer.

Our suggested next step: Panda IT security

External intrusion attempts

Every business with an internet connection needs a robust firewall. The outside world has thousands of hackers and automated services probing for unprotected computers on the internet.

An intrusion prevention/detection system (IPS / IDS) offers an additional layer of defence where the risk justifies further safeguards. Mistakes happen so you may want to guard against the firewall being intentionally/unintentionally bypassed by some external network traffic. An IPS/IDS warns you if there is unusual behaviour that would normally be prevented by the firewall.

ITS can recommend a range of firewalls from an all-in-one unit for the small business to highly resilient/high throughput devices for the larger organisation.

Product info: Cisco network security

Server and data protection

Your servers (and your data) need to be protected from both external and internal attacks. Firewalls and local anti-virus should prevent most direct external attacks. However your servers may be vulnerable to security holes if they provide genuine services to internet users. Likewise security holes may be exploited by employees internally. (Security holes within Windows servers is well documented)

The best protection for servers is to operate IT audits and Intrusion Detection/Prevention. IT Audits can be partially automated and will ensure known loopholes are not left unpatched. Intrusion Detection/Prevention will continually monitor your systems and quickly pick up and unusual activity.

Product info: Cisco network security

Email and spam

A lot of everyday internet threats are spread (directly or indirectly) by email. These can be viruses in attachments, phishing attempts that ask for security details or links to websites with malware attached.

For this reason an effective spam/anti-virus-filter will prevent these everyday attacks.

Product info: Email filtering and archiving

ITS is a Select Certifed Cisco Partner with years of data networking experience and Cisco Certifed engineers. You can trust our advice and expertise to plan and implement the right infrastructure for your business.