IT security has never been as important as it is today. With more and more businesses giving employees the ability to work remotely and the widely used policy of contractors being on site and having access to online services, a robust security policy allied to a range of security tools is vital to most businesses. We should also not discount malicious outside threats; with hacking tools now widely available, businesses need to take every precaution to protect themselves from external as well as internal threats.
OACTEL are perfectly placed to help define and implement IT security policies and are very familiar with the security issues faced by SME’s.
Security can never be a ‘one size fits all’ service. Many clients have large mobile workforces who only use the home base occasionally, but who need data access all of the time. Some use 3rd party contractors who need to be able to access key data when on site. Some businesses have multiple sites, some have extremely sensitive personal or business data to protect, and some have networks that cross international boundaries.
Threat assessment.
The first stage of any security policy is a detailed threat assessment of your network, your processes and in some cases your people. We need to fully understand what equipment is being used both inside and outside the office to connect to the network. We will discuss the company’s policy on remote working and data transfer.
Typical issues covered in a threat assessment include:
- Removable storage device policy (Large capacity USB drives are now cheap and easy to carry, and therefore make copying large amounts of sensitive data easy)
- Outbound and inbound emails (What size and type of file is allowed to be attached to or received via email, what spam filters and virus scanning is in place)
- Password encryption and firewalls (How is the business protected from external digital attacks, and how is the hardware protected from internal and external physical attack)
All of our security solutions are based around the business and the users, and we put our experience to work in determining the right solution for a business. Our solutions are designed to cover how the business works now, how it intends to work in the future, and any budget considerations.
If you’d like to talk to us about your security needs, get in touch.