IT is the foundation of any modern company. Security in IT is especially important. It’s one thing for the problem solvers in the tech department to do their job, but what happens when a data breach derails everything? It’s crucial to do everything possible to minimize the risk of IT security incidents. Here’s a quick list of five big IT mistakes you should avoid.
1. No security policy. Among the many things that can go wrong, not having a plan or regulations in place for security is a big problem. There should be a procedure and set of rules to follow when accessing anything deemed sensitive. Without this, it’s easy for people to make errors and/or put your network and data at risk.
2. Thinking “It can’t happen to us.” Some companies, especially smaller ones, hold the notion that they will avoid dealing with malware or hackers altogether. However, leaving your IT under-prepared for potential threats is a huge mistake, especially under the guise the company is too small to be at risk. IT should always be prepared for potential incoming threats.
3. Overly simple passwords and security questions. Often when information is compromised, it’s not done in a shady area by a master hacker skillfully ticking away at a keyboard. Rather, hackers are simply looking for easy to guess security questions or passwords. Therefore, any department or worker that employs overly basic security keys is asking for trouble.
4. Lack of endpoint security. If your business follows a BYOD (bring your own device) policy, chances are the aim was to increase productivity and increase worker happiness. While positive results are certainly achieved, each of these devices brings added risk to the network.
Without comprehensive endpoint security, anyone logging into the network creates a potential point of intrusion for malware or other malicious third parties. If there are lax policies regarding endpoint security, it’s time to step it up.
5. Allowing third parties to dictate security. Peace of mind is important in the workplace. Your business may be tempted to outsource total security control and monitoring to a third party that can devote more time and resources to those tasks.
While using security services can be a good decision, you should never delegate 100 percent of both policy and control to a third party, no matter how reassuring they try to be. You must to utilize your own system and make use of the various security policies and technologies found through software and other companies.
If the list surprised you, it might be a good idea to take a quick look at your current security measures. These common security mistakes can potentially ruin entire companies.
