Brooke Chaplan, Content Writer
Software security is emerging as one of the next great areas of concern for small business. Software security means resisting hostile cyber-attacks and keeping records and information safe and undisturbed. While remote attackers increasingly target small businesses, the IT security community is working overtime to create better, more secure, and defect-free software products. Today’s small business owners can take steps to defend their organizations from security breaches by becoming more educated in the ways that attackers exploit vulnerabilities in application software products. What follows is a common sense guide to finding and using better and more secure software in your small business.
Choose Software Products that Handshake Well with Your Firewall
A firewall is a set of security protocols and solutions that defend your private network of computing devices from outside attempts to access your data. Make sure you use one. It is also wise to insist your IT specialists verify your network’s operating system is configured to ensure employees who work remotely are only able to do so if their computing devices are also protected by a firewall.
Develop a Mobile Device Action Plan
Today, more and more workers are using their mobile devices to get work done outside of the office. This can create significant security challenges for small organizations. Workers connecting to your private network need to have enhanced security apps installed on their personal devices if you want to be sure cyber criminals can’t get at your data when employees use their phones. Your action plan should include a set of reporting procedures for lost and missing devices.
Central Management Tools
Those software products you rely on most to run your business will be more valuable when they feature some form of central management console. Central management permits you to control the security status of your data and all the devices connected to your private network. Smart software developers have written software systems with management dashboards that permit you to easily review security events, schedule disk scans, and manage regular software updates. Central management systems empower you by providing control over all users that have access to your network, and letting you block those applications and devices you deem too risky to let in.
Data Encryption Algorithms
Cyber-attacks are a constantly evolving threat that keep security specialists busy working on better ways of neutralizing the risks they pose. Data encryption can do much to keep hackers at bay because it forces them to make intensive investments in computer power before they can even try to gain access to your data. This slows data thieves down, and provides a strong incentive for them to look elsewhere for soft targets. There is an emerging philosophy within the software development community that suggests future applications must be able to defend email communications and stored data with some kind of encryption technology. Without built-in encryption algorithms, you’re giving hackers a convenient means of accessing your data.
A common complaint from users of security software is that it tends to slow them down, which can be annoying. Sometimes employees actually disable or otherwise bypass important security features in software to avoid this inconvenience. Make sure everyone in your company is using and taking advantage of new security programs. Because small business owners are not IT security specialists, they need to rely on software developers like Cogitech web developers in Utah to create the solutions and products that defend their businesses from the many outside security threats they face every day. When you decide to invest, use these ideas to make sure everything your company is well protected.
