We understand the serious business of security. Call me today to discuss your security risks and solutions.
      -  Jason Dixon

What If you walked into your office this morning and could not access any data on your company computers, or if all the data was scrambled beyond recognition? Would it be inconvenient or catastrophic? For many companies, the latter would be the best description.

Next question .  Do you have the appropriate security measures in place to prevent this from happening - and  to recover when it does happen. Because it will happen to you, in some degree, if you use computers.

Security is the challenge we face in the process of protecting the information assets of our business. Threats to this information come from a multitude of directions, but can be broken down into two categories: logical and physical.

Logical access controls involve the use of computer hardware and software to prevent or detect unauthorized access. For example, requiring users to input user identification number, passwords or other identifiers that are linked to predetermined access privileges. Logical controls should be designed to restrict legitimate users to the specific systems, programs and files that they need and prevent others, such as hackers, from entering the system at all. Consult our page on firewalls for more information.

Physical security controls restrict physical access to computer resources and protect them from intentional or unintentional loss or impairment.  An almost unlimited number of threats can theoretically be of concern to an organizations well being. The main focus of physical security has often been on human-made disasters, such as an attack over the network from a outside hacker or plain human error from own employees. Even if these in fact are the most common threats, it is crucial not to forget that the same kind of threats also can occur from natural disasters such as fire, water leakage, electricity disturbance or other environmental failures.

Viruses are a significant and a very real logical access issue.The best way to protect the business from viruses is to install antivirus software. Examine our page on antivirus products.

The most effective solution to prevent losing business information due to human error or natural disasters is to create backups on removable tapes or disks. Backup media should be stored in locked safes or locked rooms. The backup media should be stored far enough away from the origin to avoid the same kind of incident that destroyed the original. Regular backups (at least one per week) should be stored off site. In general backups of sensitive information should have the same level of protection as the active files of this information.