Your data is the lifeblood of your organisation, and keeping it safe mitigates the risk of productivity losses due to downtime.
According to the Director of R & G Technologies, Mimi Tan, “Data security is one of the biggest concerns for our clients, because the impacts of stolen data and lost data are felt across the entire organisation”.
In an economic climate so dependent on technology, a shocking 42 percent of IT decision makers react to an incident after the fact, rather than being proactive and continuously monitoring their IT environment for potential threats.
When you leave your data unsecured, you’re left open to the consequences of natural disasters and malicious software. Certain types of malware steal information such as login passwords or personal details, while disasters such as hurricanes or power outages can result in extensive data loss.
Read on to learn six ways to enhance your data security:
1. Get the Right Firewall
The purpose of a firewall is to protect your private network from the outside. When shopping for a firewall, consider your IT environment, security needs and vendor credibility.
Before purchasing, look at your IT environment, including how many users your network has, how much traffic you expect and your Internet’s bandwidth. Identify exactly why you want the firewall and establish technical objectives to ensure you get the best protection.
“You need to determine what degree of security you’re going to need. Different firewalls and different price points will give you different levels of visibility into the information running in and out of your network”, CEO of R & G Technologies, Gordon Tan.
For example, network layer firewalls provide less protection than application layer firewalls. However, they’re usually cheaper and can process a higher volume of traffic in less time. Conversely, because application layer firewalls examine the contents of each data packet, they provide a higher level of security, but can affect network performance when improperly configured.
Always check the credentials of potential vendors and ask for a demo before buying. Remember, the type of firewall you buy will have lasting effects on your organisation, so only shortlist companies with solid financials and a stable history. To avoid additional expenses further down the line, ensure you thoroughly understand what the vendor’s firewall does before you decide to buy.
2. Third-Party Anti-malware
While free anti-malware provides a basic level of protection, paid products give you greater control and have a more sophisticated way of locating new viruses.
“Compared to free products, business grade anti-virus products provide centralised monitoring and management, which increases security by improving visibility across the network as a whole and ensuring all computers are protected and up to date.” - Systems Engineer Ryan Tucker.
Since paid anti-malware regularly update malware definitions or signatures, they tend to be better than generic free tools at stopping brand new, unknown viruses.
“Free versions are good enough for residential and personal use, but because they’re ad supported, a significant amount of resources can’t be dedicated to finding the latest malware definitions” - Gordon Tan.
Once you’ve shortlisted appropriate options, trial the software to see if it affects network performance. Since anti-malware runs in the background, it can interfere with your network, impacting upon mission-critical systems or causing lengthy boot times. Some solutions simply won’t be compatible with your IT system, so it’s important to test the software before you buy.
3. BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)
Today’s corporate environment now faces the security challenges of BYOD, where employees bring their own devices such as laptops, tablets and smartphones to connect to the corporate network. According to a study by Cisco, 66 percent of employees expect to be able to use personal devices while in the workplace.
With the breakdown of borders between work and personal devices, it’s important to educate staff about security issues with mobile devices.
“Make sure employees understand what sort of information they have, what sort of information they're accessing, and what risks are involved with information loss or leakage of information” - Bentzen.
Ensure mobile devices are included in your IT policy, and that you give them the same security treatment you give corporate devices, installing appropriate anti-malware and encrypting where necessary.
“Configure the device so the user has a password, and register the device with the network so that it can be remotely wiped if it gets into the wrong hands” - Bentzen.
An increasing number of professionals work remotely from home or while travelling, so it’s important to ensure your employees are informed about security risks and follow BYOD policies to protect the corporate network.
4. Encryption
Use encryption to make your data unreadable to anyone who doesn’t have the right key. Encrypted wireless connections keep your data-in-transit safe, while encrypted storage mediums protect stored data.
Encrypting Connections
“Encrypting a connection prevents other people from eavesdropping on the data as it goes between two places. It prevents people grabbing or interfering with it while it’s in transit” - Ryan Tucker.
Wireless networks are not encrypted by default. WEP provides limited security and is very easy to break into. While WPA isn’t perfect, it does provide some level of protection. When setting up a wireless network for your business, use WPA2 to ensure you have the best protection possible.
Encrypting Devices
Use software like Microsoft’s BitLocker to encrypt storage devices like hard drives and USBs, so if your data falls into the wrong hands, it can’t be read.
“Encrypting your laptop or USB stick prevents unauthorised access. If they tried to plug the USB into their own computer, it wouldn't work” - Bentzen.
Weak passwords make easy targets for hackers, so choose a strong password consisting of at least 10 characters that contains letters, numbers and at least one capital letter, but ensure it’s easy enough to remember without writing down.
Keep stored data and data-in-transmission safe from would-be thieves by encrypting your storage devices and connections. However, remember to seek assistance if you are not confident you can configure it yourself. Always bear in mind, improper configuration can result in vulnerabilities across your network, so consult with your IT professional or an external source to ensure appropriate configuration.
5. Backups
It’s imperative to have some sort of backup in the event of disasters such as hurricanes, malware attacks and so forth. Backup is like an image of the system at the time of backup, which allows you to restore information without substantial data loss. When considering what type of backup solution to use, look at your business size, needs and how much control you want over your backup.
For simplicity’s sake, I’ll separate backup solutions into two categories; tape and disk. File-based tape backup systems read and write data on magnetic tape, much like the cassette tapes of the 90s. Tape is more robust when it comes to long-term archiving and is generally more portable and cheaper per gigabyte of storage than its counterpart. The downside is,
“Tape backups store sequentially, so you have to fast forward through the whole tape when you want to restore a single file” -Bentzen.
In contrast, image-based or disk backups are faster because they use a ‘random access’ method of data retrieval. Rather than having to wind through the whole tape, a disk drive can find any position in milliseconds. The disk takes a snapshot of the state of your server and all your data as one file, backing up throughout the day, which leads to a greater frequency of backup and better restoration times.
While disk and tape have individual advantages, it’s sometimes worth employing both in your backup solution. The focus when choosing a backup solution is your organisation’s requirements, long-term goals and budget. Instead of looking at the merits of each device, put the emphasis on a tailored backup solution for your business.
Related: How to manage a backup solution
6. Safe Disposal of Hardware
When you don’t securely dispose of old hardware such as servers, computers, USB and hard drives, you put your organisation at risk of data theft.
“The disposal of technology is an important thing people don’t really think about. You should erase your disks securely in case your server ends up in a garbage pit somewhere, so someone can’t steal the hard drives and get access to your data” - Bentzen.
Rather than just throwing your old hardware on the rubbish heap, make sure you render the data on your drives unrecoverable. Use online software to safely wipe all information and applications off the hardware before re-selling or recycling. Also, don’t store old equipment and leave it running, and ensure only authorised people are responsible for its disposal.
How to Make Your Data Secure
When making data security decisions, your organisation’s specific needs and requirements should be forefront. Solutions need to be tailored to your size, IT environment and security needs. Therefore, avoid fixating on the merits of a particular solution, and keep an open mind about the options available to ensure your data gets the best protection.