Commonly Overlooked Network Security Vulnerabilities

The security of your network should be one of your business's biggest concerns. Your data is very important, and there are always individuals out there who will be able to benefit from stealing it. We have plenty of experience in supporting businesses, and the most common types of security breaches that we have heard or witnessed could have been easily prevented.

Firewall isn't properly configured, or there is no firewall at all!

Firewalls are an essential part of a business's network. This is basically the command center for the steel fortress that houses all your critical data. The firewall acts as a guard monitoring whoever leaves or enters your fortress (network). When the firewall is set up correctly it will monitor what the users in your network will be able to access and who will have access to your network. It is important that individual users have access only to what they need to perform their daily tasks. Firewalls have the ability to prevent users from accessing social media sites, as well as downloading games that have the ability to infect your network with viruses and malware. The firewall is your networks first line of defense.

Unsecure Wireless

Wireless networks are becoming a lot more popular these days. This technology has the ability to save the company money and be very convenient. With convenience and budget benefits come significant risk! One of the most important things you should implement on your network is a very in depth and secure password for your wireless routers. If these routers are not secure with strong passwords, anyone in the wireless coverage area would potentially be able to break into your network. There are cyber criminals lurking the internet who will go around searching for vulnerable wireless networks. Hackers could potentially monitor the data that goes in and out of your network as well as tap into internal hardware. Make sure your wireless network is as secure as possible and password protected.

Still Using Less Secure Email Services

This is irrelevant for any business who has recently upgraded their email services. Newer email services tend to be more secure than the ones of the past. Microsoft exchange and other cloud email services are a considered to be the most secure. Pop email services are known to be the least secure, this is because messages being sent back and for are not encrypted and are capable of being intercepted. This will give individuals the ability to steal important data being sent and received by your business.

Anti-Virus Software Is Not Managed Properly

It is critical for security reasons that your business has anti-virus set up on every single computer that is on the network. These programs need to be properly configured in order to work to their fullest potential. This software will run frequent scans on all the network systems for viruses and malware. One suggestion is to configure these scans after hours of operation in order to make sure that there are no unexpected interruptions from employees. Like all other software, anti-virus must be properly maintained and updated. Updates are very important, because it implements any recently discovered fixes into the program. These programs only work if there installed and maintained properly - by an NJ IT maintenance services company, for example..

Non Secure Mobile Devices on Your Network

Technology has made a lot of great advances recently. One being the booming growth and capabilities of mobile devices. This recent technology makes it very convenient for employees in the field and working from home to able to access your businesses network. With this convenience comes significant risk. The employees who are accessing your network from these mobile devices must make sure they have proper security set up on these devices, if not, every time they are accessing your network remotely there will be more of a security risk. These devices must have the built in, internal security features enabled such as remote data wipe capability. There is always the risk of employees either losing this devices or having them stolen. Either way there is potential risk of these devices falling into the hands of the wrong people.