How to Keep Your Network Safe

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Maintaining the security of your business’s IT network safe isn’t an easy feat. Securing your network is a process requiring time and dedication even for those entrenched in the IT world. Doing it well on top of your everyday tasks can be daunting at best and fatal for your business at worst. Moreover, the sophistication of today’s hackers leaves no one’s system—not even your home computer—safe from threats.

To avoid these ongoing threats, consider the following tips to keep your business network safe.

Use encryption – Data that is encrypted requires a key or password to decode information, making it the most effective way to secure your network. At the very least, ensure that your Internet network has Wi-Fi Protected Access II encryption, the most up-to-date protocol, to eliminate the likelihood of a breach.

Change access passwords – When considering how to keep your network safe, also consider how conspicuous your passwords are. Of course, certain team members—if not all of them—will need to know your accessibility password. However, administrative passwords, where applicable, should be restricted. Also, if you notice too many users on your network and your bandwidth begins to suffer, consider changing your password and reinforcing its confidentiality to employees with whom it is shared.

Scan your system regularly – The point of malware and spyware is for it to remain undetected on your network in order to do as much damage to your system as possible. So, unless you take the time to regularly look for these programs, you won’t be able to detect their presence. Scanning your system will unveil viruses and spyware on your network, while scanning the ports will inform you of any accessibility issues. It’s recommended to scan your network on a daily basis to ensure security. This is ideal for outsourcing, since a trusted IT partner—like Infomax—will ensure this gets done regularly, whereas in-house staff might push system checks to deal with pressing issues.

Choose a smart SSID – Simply put, the Service Set Identifier (SSID) is the name of your Wi-Fi connection. Remember that this name will appear on a list that is available to anyone attempting to find a Wi-Fi network to join within a certain physical distance of your company. Naming your network after your company in any way provides an easy way for hackers to identify your network. A simple name like Wireless1 or WIFI1 strips your SSID of any company-related identifiers, adding an easy layer of security to your network.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the weight of keeping your network safe or you’d like more information on protecting your IT systems, contact Infomax today!

Ensuring Mobile Devices Stay Secure

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It’s hard to imagine how to effectively do our jobs without the use of smartphones and tablets. The benefits of incorporating mobile devices in our day-to-day workflows are significant—allowing us to go anywhere in the world, while remaining proactive and productive employees. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is a way for employees to access work information via mobile devices, while companies are exempt from paying for the device itself, its maintenance, or any accumulating contractual monthly fees.

While the pros and cons of BYOD are debatable, keeping your company’s data secure is absolutely essential—every business should consider the security of its data a top priority. From internal emails, to client credit card information, and your employees’ social security numbers, there is plenty at risk when it comes to private company data. Setting a company-wide BYOD security strategy to ensure mobile devices stay safe is the first step in protecting your sensitive business data.

Consider implementing the following BYOD strategies to help keep mobile devices that access company files, email, or other data safe.

Remote Locate, Lock, and Wipe – No matter how diligent employees are with their devices, sometimes they are lost. With a remote locate, lock, and wipe system in place, you can find, password-protect, and delete all sensitive business data from an employee’s lost or stolen device from your office. This is a great feature when considering the devices of employees who are terminated or quit.

Device Backup and Updates – End users should be responsible for backing up their device to ensure their personal data is not lost. Doing so also entails processing any current updates or patches to devices, which increases that device’s level of security. So, encourage your employees to regularly backup and update each of their mobile devices used for BYOD

Beef Up Passwords – Ask your team to strengthen each device’s password and privacy settings on their apps to make hacking their devices more difficult. Passwords that are a minimum of ten characters long that use lower and upper case letters, numbers, and punctuation are recommended. Moreover, remember that recognizable words are easily hacked, so encourage employees to use meaningful acronyms as strong passwords.

Consider Outsourced Mobile Device Management – Companies like Infomax work every day to ensure the security of all of their clients’ technology, including across mobile devices. Infomax iGuard is a mobile device management service that provides an easy-to-use, cloud-based solution specifically designed to secure corporate mobile devices. Outsourcing mobile device management removes the onus from your IT staff and ensures that your data is always secure—even when accessed on a smartphone or tablet.

Setting a strategy and ensuring compliance are paramount when it comes to using mobile devices for work purposes. By developing a strategy and implementing it, you can protect your company’s sensitive information, while allowing your employees to be as productive as possible by using their own devices.

Contact Infomax today for more information on keeping your company data secure.

Cover All Your Bases When It Comes to Document Security

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You want your company’s data to be secure. Whether it’s protecting employee records and sensitive client information or guarding official papers that you don’t want competitors to see, document security is one of the many responsibilities that every business has to address. Companies are tasked to categorize both paper and electronic documents based on a predetermined sorting system that identifies each document’s level of security.

Whether you are developing your classification system from scratch or altering one that is already in place, it is important to be proactive rather than reactive when it comes to document security.

The first step in document security is to determine an agreed-upon labeling system for both paper and electronic documents. There are two distinct aspects of how you classify data: the document’s sensitivity level and the document’s designated audience. Tiered levels of classification are meant to determine strictness of security, whereby a level one document is less secure than a level two or three document. Furthermore, these tiers determine who can access the data, whereby any company employee may be able to view a level one classified document, but only high-level managers and officials can view and edit level three files.

The next step is enforcing these new protocols and ensuring employee compliance. One way to do so is to consider automating the classification process. Document automation software automatically classifies and stores all of your electronic documents—from emails and memos to invoices and scans. Moreover, automating the process also provides instant restrictions on file access based on your company’s fixed parameters. Finessing your business’s document security system by incorporating Document Automation software through a Managed Services Provider (MSP) like Infomax removes human error and ensures compliance with your new system.

Most established companies have some document security protocols in place, but are they effective? Revisiting your predetermined document security rules to clarify, simplify, and modernize policies is recommended to ensure that each piece of data is secured appropriately every time. When it comes to employee compliance, simplicity is key. Ensure that your rules are precise, unambiguous, and easy to follow so that your team can comply with your internal document security protocols. One way to modernize your system is by bringing in an MSP to evaluate your current filing system and improve it with software designed to optimize workflows.

Contact Infomax today to learn how Document Automation can systematically streamline your business’s document security protocols.

How Safe Is Your Email System?

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Everyone thinks they understand email security—don’t open emails from unknown senders, don’t click on suspicious links, don’t open untrustworthy attachments. But email security goes beyond common sense. To protect your business, and your employee and client data, you need to ensure proper email safeguards are in place before your email system s compromised. It’s important to ask the question: “Is your email system really secure?”

Here are several ways you can protect and defend your email system.

  • Consistent email policies. There is strength in unity. Therefore, it is essential that your employees are all on the same page when it comes to email. With just one chink in the armor, your defenses are lowered. Be sure that every employee is on the same page when it comes to email protocol, and then backup your policies with automatic safeguards to ensure compliance.
  • Reliable email filtering. Email filtering is absolutely vital in protecting your company’s sensitive materials. At Infomax, our iGuard core email filtering will recognize and eliminate nearly all viruses, worms, and other intrusions before they present lasting problems.
  • Efficient archiving. If not properly regulated, email archiving can become haphazard and headache inducing. Be sure that your emails are properly archived, so that they are easily retrieved in case of an audit. This will streamline a business process that will benefit your clients, as well as your personnel.
  • Thorough message encryption. Email encryption can help protect your business from prying eyes, both inside and outside your business’ walls. Using specific policy criteria, encrypted messages are sent automatically. This way, your valuable information is kept out of the wrong hands.
  • Dependable disaster recovery. Protecting your inbox from unexpected events is essential. When disaster strikes, be sure there is a reliable recovery system in place. For example, a system that provides auto-spooling of messages will ensure that your email is not thrown to the wolves if something goes wrong.
  • Guaranteed Continuity. When it comes to email, continuity matters. Email management and monitoring ensures that if your system goes down, your email system continues without interruption through a remote, redundant server. This way, your workflows do not come to a grinding stop in the event of an unforeseen problem.

To learn more about how to properly secure your email system, contact Infomax today!

How to Keep IT Costs Down and Security High

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Everyone wants a safe and secure IT network. However, everyone also wants to make sure they are not spending an arm and a leg on unnecessary steps or convoluted security measures. Keeping your IT network secure should not break the bank. In fact, keeping your IT costs down and your security high does not have to be difficult at all. With a few tips and a little diligence, you can keep your IT network safe and your costs down.

Here are some tips on how to save cash and secure your IT systems:

  • The basic three. It is paramount, when securing your IT network, that you keep a close eye on the three basic types of IT security. First of all, there must be a proper system for backups. Backups are an essential part of any IT security setup. Secondly, there is maintenance. Ongoing security includes things like firewalls and spam filters, and will catch problems before they manifest, ultimately helping your bottom line and saving your from massive headaches. Finally, be sure you have a proper recovery system in place. Disaster can’t always be prevented, and in those instances, a good recovery system is essential. Focus on these three areas of IT first, and then add on as your budget allows and as your business grows.
  • Getting everyone involved. It’s important to remember that you alone cannot handle your company’s IT network. The security put in place is only as efficient as those maintaining it. Educate your employees on just how to handle the security of the business. Turning off computers at night, avoiding potentially harmful emails, and other basic steps will ensure everyone in your company is doing their best to keep information safe.
  • Get a partner. Finding a reliable partner for IT security is one of the most beneficial steps you can take for your business. Rather than going at it blindly, hire a group of experts who understand the intricacies of IT management. This way, you and your partner can work together to customize plans for your business.

To learn more about IT security and how it can be affordable for your business, contact Infomax today.