Oct
04
2009


5 Rules For IT Security In The Small Business
Posted by JamesB in Technology, tags: IT, securitySMBs often do not see the big picture, and many tend to ignore the five immutable laws of SMB security, which are:
- Small is not invisible
Many SMB owners believe they are safe because they’re too small to be interesting to cybercriminal organizations. Nothing could be further from the truth. Cybercriminals target SMBs because they are easier to penetrate than large businesses. Some intruders successfully penetrate SMBs for years at a time before being detected, quietly siphoning off valuable information.
- It’s not about threats. It’s about security
Too often, SMBs focus on specific threats and not the "big picture" about protecting their businesses. There’s more to security than firewalls and intrusion protection devices. Too often SMBs can fall into a classic trap by responding to individual threats with knee-jerk reactions rather than examining their entire security stance. - Know what you need to protect
Every SMB has a unique environment, and with that will have unique security vulnerabilities. SMBs must understand the risks in their environment before they can effectively protect against them. The best way to do this is to work with a professional risk assessment team. This assessment will tell SMBs exactly what their risks are, and how they can take steps mitigate. - To collaborate, you must mitigate
Today, as the price of doing business, many SMBs open their networks to partners and customers to achieve efficiencies and value-add through electronic collaboration. But, these external partnerships introduce new security and compliance risks. SMBs must understand and mitigate these risks as part of their collaboration strategy.
- You don’t have to go it alone
Most SMBs cannot afford to pay a team of round-the-clock security experts. Partnering with an expert security outsourcing company can deliver big company protection for small company price. However, every business market has unique security and compliance challenges, so it is critical to partner with a security outsourcing company that also understands the SMB’s business model.