Online Business Security isn’t something that you can take lightly. Your business data is your business lifeline.

You can secure your business and keep security threats to a minimum if you follow a few simple tips. You can thwart the hackers.

While most of these tips are for online security, they will also enhance the overall security of your business.

Lock Down Your Computers

When employees have the ability to install software, you never know what is going to be installed on your computers. Your employee might think a free software application is great and can help them do their job better, but that same tool might have a payload of spyware waiting to wreak havoc on your Network, or worse, sit on your network quietly stealing documents. It can even become a hacker gateway to your network. Moreover, your employee might bring software from home or that torrent site on the internet and load up pirated software on your office computers. Lock down the computers so that only the IT administrator can install software. If an employee really needs the software, then the IT department can inspect it and approve it for use.

Secure Your Business Networks

If someone gains access to their network, they can conceivably gain access to everything on your system. This means everything your business has on the network, including business data, customer information, production plans, inventories, and even intellectual property. Your business information can easily fall into the wrong hands so securing your business network is one of the most crucial things you can do.

Securing your network starts with locking your Wi-Fi networks. Don’t allow non-essential devices onto your network. If you need to provide vendor internet access, create a special network that doesn’t access your own network. Require devices connected by Ethernet to also be authenticated when they log in. This keeps rogue devices from entering through Ethernet connections.

Train Your Employees

Training your employees in security awareness is a crucial security tip. Your employees have access to the most important information that your business has. There are many reasons for security awareness training, but the biggest reason is to protect your customers. Customers expect that their data is kept safe. Even well-meaning employees can make innocent mistakes that can cause huge security breaches. Employees need to be trained on phishing, network security, email security, and physical security. They need to be aware of threats so that they can take precautions to stop security threats before they can cause damage. Contact a company like Global Learning Systems if you want to learn more tactics for training employees.

Improve Your Passwords

Security to your system is only as secure as the least secure password in your system. While education can go a long way in helping your employees know their role in security, they still can make mistakes by going with simple passwords. No matter how much you drive home the fact they need to have secure passwords many won’t make their passwords secure unless they have to. To best deal with this, meet with your IT departments and have them reset all passwords and require new passwords that are strong. These new passwords will have mixed case, numbers, and special characters.

Bring in a Security Consultant

Not every business can afford or otherwise justify a full time IT security department, but often a security consultant can be an affordable option for the right kind of business. A security consultant can look at your IT infrastructure and identify security problem areas. A good security consultant will make suggestions and rank them by their security risk. You won’t need to make every change the consultant recommends, but you’ll probably want to implement the most essential changes. A quality security consultant will provide you with a list of vendors to contact to implement any changes.

The 5 tips are crucial for your online business security. If you implement them, you will have a more secure business that protects its most valuable assets.