Is your private network as secure as you think it is?

As a result of an increasing amount of information being exchanged online, network security has become imperative to the majority of businesses. The best way to prevent a security breach, along with associated liabilities, which would result in further headwinds facing your business, is to create an IT Security policy, a Data Recovery (DR) plan, a Privacy Policy, all of which can be managed by Info-Tech Montreal. This will protect your business continuity, regardless of the size of your company or the nature of your industry. In other words, you will now be able to operate without the fear or threat that your business could face stressful and costly downtime, data loss, permissions issues, breach of information, or undesirable liabilities.

Studies conducted relating to current and future ways of conducting business, reveal that approximately half of small businesses admit that they still need to improve their response plans regarding data breaches, and IT security incidents. This remains a clear indication that Info-Tech Montreal’s solutions are not only extremely relevant, but are necessary in order to achieve secure business operations.

It is also important to note that a significant number of businesses that experienced a data breach, have admitted that they didn’t have appropriate IT solutions in place. This has also revealed that the business lacks internal IT knowledge and experience. It also demonstrates a lack of knowledge and policies designed to regulate or restrict access to internal information by a third party, which must be implemented to establish and maintain all data security needs.

Info-Tech Montreal helps small and mid-sized businesses, in Canada, manage their computer networks and cater to their general and more bespoke I.T. needs. By choosing Info-Tech, it is important to us that we provide you with the results you need from your technology investment – even if you don’t know exactly what those needs are. We work diligently with our clients to assess your current situation, and then suggest products and services that will best meet your immediate needs. Our experts digress from complex ‘tech-talk’ & explain all your choices in clear, non-technical terms, so there is a clear and concise understanding of how your business & employees will benefit from each selected option. More often than ever, businesses and employees are being targeted by sophisticated phishing attacks due to the valuable information that criminals who engage in such phishing attempts can be potentially acquire. Workplace phishing emails are now made to look like they are from a legitimate organization, a client or even a co-worker. Whether your employees are working from home, in the office or elsewhere, it’s important that they are able to perform their job at a high level without the potential of putting the company’s information at risk. Info-Tech manages all backend systems that are hardware, software, and security-related. A heavy focus is on prevention of such cyber security threats, including the more recent threat of ransomware, whereby a person or company’s information is essentially held hostage, potentially until a payment is made as per the demands of this type of cyber-criminal.

It is important to note, however, that cyber-attacks aren’t unique to large corporations. Every single individual with an online presence should protect their IT systems, too. Below are a few practical steps you can take immediately, to tighten up your data security, via services offered by Info-Tech Montreal.

IT Network Security

Network Security is vital in protecting client data and information, keeping shared data secure and ensuring reliable access and network performance, as well as protection from cyber threats. A well-designed network security solution reduces overhead expenses and safeguards organizations from costly losses that occur from a data breach or other security incident. Ensuring legitimate access to systems, applications and data enables business operations and delivery of services and products to customers.

Network security involves access control, virus and anti-virus software, application security, network analytics, network related security, firewalls, VPN encryption and more according to the clients’ specific needs.

IT Risk Management

IT risk management, also called “information security risk management,” consists of the policies, procedures, and technologies that a company uses to mitigate risks from malicious actors and reduce information technology vulnerabilities that negatively impact data confidentiality, integrity, and availability. An effective IT risk management program should use a combination of different policies and strategies, as attacks can come in many forms and what works for one data asset might not be successful for another. However, there are overarching actions that all organizations can take to begin strengthening their cybersecurity posture. Most importantly, it is imperative that enterprise security teams have continuous monitoring in place to ensure that cybersecurity efforts are keeping up with the evolving threat landscape. Starting out by putting together all your SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) will facilitate the identification of potential security risks or vulnerabilities.

Cyber Security Services

Cyber security is the practice of shielding computers, servers, mobile devices, electronic systems, networks, and data from malicious attacks. It’s also known as information technology security or electronic information security. The term applies in a variety of contexts, from business to mobile computing, and can be divided into a few common categories.

The threats countered by cyber-security consist of:

a) Cybercrime includes single actors or groups targeting systems for financial gain or to cause disruption.
b) Cyber-attack often involves politically motivated information gathering.
c) Cyberterrorism is intended to undermine electronic systems to cause panic or fear.

Even as companies invest in data security modules, there remain simple measures that can be applied to continually up the ante on how businesses and allow employees an opportunity to grow their knowledge and ability to implement the basics of cybersecurity. Info-Tech Montreal makes sure clients are briefed when creating, managing, accessing and storing files, and how to identify emails or information designed to harm the entire company. There will also be a process for managing the company’s sensitive information including passwords, customer lists, and client or company information.

Some useful pointers include:

• Ensure passwords are strong; staff shouldn’t use their name, birthday, street address or other personal information. In addition, passwords should be at least 16 characters long, contain both upper and lowercase characters, numbers and special characters.
• Teach staff how to deal with sensitive data, for example, only store it using trusted cloud services that need to be authenticated for access and do not share it with untrusted or third parties.
• Install, configure and enforce the use of legitimate software, via Info-Tech Montreal.
• Create backups of essential data and regularly update IT equipment and applications to avoid unpatched vulnerabilities that could cause a breach.
• There are a host of solutions available to Info-Tech Montreal that are easy to set up, enable businesses to protect sensitive data and secure financial transactions, as well as safeguard user credentials.

There are, of course, numerous reasons why companies decide to invest in their privacy program. It is also imperative to note that, it is not just about levelling the playing field, it is also about protecting the personal data of individuals, and allowing them to protect and exercise their rights and gain control over how their data is processed, by whom, and under what circumstances. Protecting your company’s valuable information is essentially about equipping oneself on how to navigate this abundant online World.

This means you will need to consider what kind of company you want to be and what kind of values you want to support. Focusing on privacy as one of your company’s key values can help you create trust between you and your customers throughout the course of time. In addition, you will be eligible for larger contracts from higher profile organizations, since most publicly traded companies have a vendor management process, and your company’s IT Security Policy, DR Policy and Privacy Policy need to be up-to-date in order for you to qualify as a supplier.