IT Security - How To Prevent Data Hacking

Data hacking is a concern for every business in the world. When you conduct business, you have customers. Your customers trust you to keep their purchasing information safe. This information could contain financial information or other sensitive data. There are a lot of ways that you can keep your IT security up to par, but here are a few suggestions to get you up and running.

 

Hire A Hacker

Certified ethical hackers are employed by a lot of companies to test their firewalls and other IT security implementations. Hackers have inside knowledge on how to crack through the security and get to your sensitive data. If one hacker can do it, another one is surely capable. Be sure that the hacker you employ is certified and has a long-standing record of amicable business. Check their references and make sure that they are legitimate before you give them access to your system. 

Computer security old school (Photo credit: sridgway)

Quality Assessments

Run a quality assessment on your systems. This assessment should review the timelines of data swap between servers or databases. Use an IT security specialist to monitor any security protocols with weaknesses. Also have them check any passwords that are common along the system.

 

Data Touch Points

Create a map of the contributors for the relevant data coming across your system. One of the most common reasons that IT security is breaches is because somebody had access to data when they shouldn’t have. Determine exactly what applications are used in conducting each aspect of your business and give employees access the applications when needed. If the employees do not need access to the applications, implement a group policy to restrict them from accessing the applications. 

Regular System Reviews

When you are upgrading your systems or putting in new hardware, software or operating systems, thing can get very complicated. It’s not unheard of to have a system that is left unsecured during upgrades or downgrades. Conduct regular system reviews to make sure that your systems are not left without the proper IT security.

 

 

Security Policies

Security policy is a very wide spread genre in IT security. Simply implementing a group policy so your employees do not have access to certain programs may not be enough. Think about hiring a professional security vendor who can upgrade your firewalls or install new security policies across your systems. Make these security policies as specific as possible so you know what each employee needs in order to fulfill their job. Having a security vendor that specializes in your business’ niche is a good way to get tailored advice on IT security.

Image via Wikipedia

IT security is a major concern because of online business. Having the ability to keep your customer’s information safe is essential for gaining their trust. Implementing these solutions to your business will not only keep your customers happy, it can bring in new business. Clients want a company that will not leak their information. With top tier IT security, you will never have to worry about this.

Rashed Khan hold an MSc in Software Engineering and enjoys guest posting on business/technology related topics.

How to Get a Secure Voicemail

Voicemail security is one of the things that is making headlines nowadays. This is because there are now more and more cases of hackers suddenly attacking both popular and regular individuals and trying to extract information from their voicemail accounts.

To help protect yourself, here are a few tips for being able to get a secure voicemail.

Image by spDuchamp via FlickrStrong Pin codes:

One of the responses that the telecommunications providers made to the threat of voicemail security and other phone line breeches was providing people with a way to utilize pin codes for account security. Previously, simply dialing the voicemail number would already connect you to your voice mailbox. However, the latest trend is to now ask users to input a pin code before they could start accessing their accounts.

Remember that pin codes would be useless for voice mail security if you would not provide a strong one. Try to utilize a combination of numbers and characters (if allowed) and not just rely on the basic series like 123456.

Do not give your number to just anyone:

A very basic method of getting a secure phone would be to not give away your personal number to anyone. If hackers would not have any direct access to your phone line, then they would have a very difficult time of having to guess around for your mobile number. This means that they would just rather try to target other people who they know are already active mobile phone users.

On the other hand, simply listing your numbers anywhere and everywhere would make it very easy for hackers and other unscrupulous people to target you and your voicemail account. If you would really need to publicize your number, we recommend getting both a public one and a private line.

Get a separate provider that offers voice-mail security:

The most secure your way that you can ensure that you have a secure voicemail would be by actually going with a company that offers you one. There are some companies who are able to provide you with a voice-mail account which use military grade encryption technology to make it difficult for hackers and other types of fraudsters to tap into your account.

This advanced capability of having a complex method for protecting your voicemail would be a major deterrent for people who are trying to get into your voicemail account and browse the messages that you have saved in there.

Julia started out as an intern for a Secure Voice Mail Company in Northwest. She parlayed this position and moved up the ranks to become a lead administrator for network security issues. She believes that her innate interest in computer security and networking technology enabled her to rise up in this position immediately.