Network Security Issues You Didn't Know You Had

Network Security is often neglected by small businesses.  Nobody does it on purpose, but it can be very easy to forget about.  Unfortunately, a small hole in the security of a company’s network can be bad news for the entire company, and rarely even the end of the venture itself.  If you own or run a small business, it may not seem like your network is big enough to need very much protection, but nothing more than the knowledge that the company exists can encourage a hacker to do all sorts of bad things.  Here are a few network security issues that many small business have without even knowing.

 

Data Outside of the Office 

 

Many companies allow employees to take work with them.  This can greatly increase the efficiency of the company, but it can also be dangerous.  On one hand, many companies go overboard by preventing from any company data to ever leave the office ever.  On the other hand, if you do choose to allow your employees to work from home, or wherever else they happen to be, you should make absolutely sure their connection and all of your data is safe, and stays inside a closed system.

 

Security from the Inside

 

Hopefully you feel that you can fully trust your employees.  However, no company really expects its employees to steal from them.  Unfortunately, it happens.  It’s important for every company to take reasonable precautions against data theft by employees.  Every employee doesn’t need access to every piece of information.  Be careful though.  It’s not hard to go overboard when restricting access, and this can make employees less efficient, and worse, make them feel like they aren’t trusted.

 

Discarded Data

 

When data and data storage is thrown away, a new security risk is created.  It may seem like anything that goes in the trash can is gone forever, but it really just makes it easier for hackers to get a hold of.  Think it’s safe because you erased everything?  Wrong again.  Fancy expensive machinery exists that can pull your data off of that drive anyway.  When discarding data, it’s important that you do it in some fun, exciting way, like burning it, or smashing it.  (No really, that’s what you do.)

 

Did you know that some guy in a van on the side of the road can see anything you’re printing simply by hacking into your printer?  There are so many network security issues that small businesses don’t even know they have, that could end up causing them major problems.  Not sure if your network security is up to par, or thinking about making some changes?  Contact us.  We’re good at that stuff.  We’ll help you out.