Cyber Security Tips – Is Your IT Support Company Looking out for You?

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An effective IT support company possesses the knowledge and expertise required to design a comprehensive security strategy for their clients.  If you want to protect your organization from the increasing threat of all the various cyber attacks, it is essential to select an IT support organization that always stays vigilant.  In turn, their vigilance allows your organization to conduct its daily operations safely and securely.  In this post, we will outline 7 cyber security tips to review, in order to ensure your support team is supporting you.

1. Evaluating Hiring Procedures

Most companies are surprised to learn that insiders are responsible for 60% of cyber attacks.  Professional IT support companies will recommend background checks and other tips to their clients as part of their hiring procedures.

2. Educating Staff

A good IT support team will ensure your staff is properly trained on overall cyber security measures, including how to spot data breaches and how to handle them when they first occur.

3. Secure Hardware

Hardware devices such as laptops and other mobile devices like smartphones and tablets are always at risk for theft, loss, or damage.  A comprehensive security plan will include how to protect all these types of devices.

4. Password Protection

A good security plan will educate employees on the importance of password protection and a good support team will put measures into place to ensure employees adhere to a company’s password policy.

5. Data Protection Plan

Your support company should provide clear steps on how they plan to protect your company’s data.  Regular software updates, backup, and recovery procedures are just some of the points a comprehensive plan will cover.

6. Cloud Service Evaluation

A solid security plan will encompass any cloud services your company uses as well as on-site technology.  Measures for securing cloud data, backing it up and recovery are just as important for cloud data as it is for on-site data.

7. Encouraging Two-Factor Authentication

More and more companies are moving toward authentication that requires access to a separate device and authentication code before a user can gain log-in privileges to cloud data.

Contact us today for more cyber security tips on how to secure your organization.

3 Reasons to Automate Computer Security

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Protecting your network and business data is usually a constant struggle between convenience and security, especially when it comes to manual behaviors. The best tool you have against that is automation, and a managed IT support services can provide precisely that. Here are three ways automation can keep your systems more secure:

  • You can automate requirements for employees to change their passwords every 90 days. Even the best passwords occasionally need to be changed. Even though we all know this, it’s far too easy to just keep using the same passwords, even across multiple portals. Request your IT representative automates password changes every so often and see if they can add a feature that prevents the recycling of old passwords.
  • Get malware prevention software that protects all aspects of your system. Free and inexpensive security software is missing key areas of protection in order to persuade customers to use a premium version. But a managed IT service can use programs that automatically screen everything from websites to network connections. Even internal and external email attachments.
  • Automatically track your licenses. Most programs are becoming subscription-based, which means each of your employees gets an individual door into the protected sites. Ask your IT company about the best ways to automate tracking for licenses (or ask if they handle user accounts). So don’t leave former employees with access and don’t pay for inactive licenses you may have forgotten about.

Automation is the key to progressing faster and faster. The less time you have to devote to tracking the details of administration and IT, the more time you can spend on your business goals. 

Contact Bluwater Technologies to get started.

Protect Your Hardware and Devices from Theft

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Computer security revolves around software and encryption. Leaving an open network connection or choosing weak passwords can lead to a data breach that costs your business clients. But physical protection for your computers and mobile devices is just as crucial, maybe even more so. Take steps now to protect your hardware and prepare a plan in the event of theft or loss.

What can you do to prevent the loss of the actual devices?

If you have an office space for your small business, make sure the devices are locked or secured. You can either have employees take their laptops home or keep them in a secure drawer at night, and you can install security cameras around the exits. Installing tracking software or adding RFID stickers can also make stolen or lost devices easier to recover.

What software should you add in case of theft?

Losing a device is a little like losing a credit card: you’re unlikely to get it back, and even if you do someone can do a lot of damage in the brief window they have it. So install software that can remotely wipe a computer. This software should remove files, Internet history, and any caches, as well as any specific business information. You could also install programs that lock down a computer without erasing the data, but that’s potentially riskier.

Sometimes devices get lost, even with a small team of vigilant employees. Phones are small and constantly put on tabletops, and as business travel becomes more and more important there are just more opportunities for physical theft and loss. Prepare for the worst so you can keep your data secure, and go to Bluwater Technologies for managed IT support that can enable your security practices.

3 Reasons Why your Small Business Needs a VPN

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Chances are your employees won’t always be in the office when they’re working. Even if they are, laptops and mobile devices free people up to work in small groups or in the break room if they need to meet up with someone they don’t sit next to. Your small business needs a VPN. Make sure your internet connection is secure and your business’s information is kept private by using a VPN to create secure encryption.

What are the benefits of using a VPN?

VPNs let employees access information remotely and securely. 

VPNs, or Virtual Private Networks, are like firewalls and data encryption software for traditional networks. But if your employees are working from home or accessing data from a hotel room across the country, you can’t vouch for the security of the Internet connection and who might be reading the data. But a VPN works through a proxy server and encrypts both ingoing and outgoing information, no matter where someone is or what network connection they’re using.

VPNs are good for business growth. 

Not only do third parties and clients expect you to have a VPN, they can help you organize business growth itself. VPNs are more standardized than your in-house connection might be, so working through a VPN  better allows interconnection between different offices and business sites.

VPNs can act as a step-in, two-step sign-in to improve security. 

Data security is one of the most important tenets of business, and secure log-ins are one of the key facets to enforcing good security. By making information inaccessible for remote users unless they go through your VPN client, you’re making good security a habitual step.

VPNs are one of the best ways to increase computer security. No small business can flourish with a hardline internet connection, so make your employees mobile with a secured, encrypted connection. For more security tips and IT support, go to Bluwater Technologies here.

Best Security Practices for Good Password Protection

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Best security practices: Computer security is crucial. Depending on your business, you may have security measures that are required by law for the protection of personally identifiable information, but you need to ensure your information’s protection regardless of the surrounding statutes. Get antivirus programs, secure your building physically, and have good password management. Here’s how to securely take care of the latter:

Train your employees on good password strategies. 

Most people know not to use Password123, but after that, there’s not a lot of education about best practices. Require a full range of alphanumerical and special characters, and make sure the characters are randomized instead of individual words. A general strategy is to pick three random words from a book or article that have no significant meaning: the words are linked together in the user’s mind to make them easier to remember but make no sense to potential hackers. Even then, it can be difficult to remember these passwords, so have your employees combine them with two-step logins or a secure keylogger.

Set a mandated schedule for updated passwords. 

Even employees with the best of intentions won’t stay up-to-date on a self-regulated schedule for replacing passwords. Instead, link the profiles together and require password changes every 30-90 days. This works even better if you add a setting to prevent recycled passwords.

If your network has mobile access or a two-step sign-on involves using a phone, use software that makes employees password-protect their phones. 

Most people already have passwords on their phones, especially since they have credit card information. But make it a requirement so no one can steal an employee’s phone and get access to your system.

Passwords are the most universal form of security in business but they can also be the weakest. Make sure your employees use strong passwords and choose new ones regularly. For more computer tips and IT support, go to Bluwater Technologies here.