3 Essential Employee Tech Security Steps

Due to the populartiy of our last article on some of the misconceptions of computer viruses and steps to avoid them, below are 3 more essential tech security steps you can teach your employees.

 Think about your office and the people you have sitting behind the computers.  Or think about your remote workforce in their home offices or on the road with their laptops and mobile devices gripped firmly in their hands.  Whether you realize it or not, all of these workers play a vital role in protecting your company from a security breach.

You may feel pretty safe and secure with all of the latest and greatest security innovations installed, but if your employees don’t adhere to safe computing practices and use the technologies properly, you may be at risk, even more than you think.  Many small businesses don’t have an IT staff so it takes time and training to get employees to maintain data security.
Here are some tips to ensure that your work force is ready to defend your business and its valuable data.

1.  Email Responsibility:  The level of sophistication in targeting individual email accounts has become even more threatening by hackers and scammers.  How many times have you received an email trying to get you to click on this or that?  One simple click can expose business and personal information without your employees even knowing they have done anything wrong.
E.D.S.C.B. to protect your valuable business information: 

• Exercise judgment before opening email attachments. Suspicious emails or email attachments should not be opened.
• Disable the option to automatically download attachments. As a convenience, some email programs will offer automatic download, but if a harmful attachment comes through, it can lead to big trouble.
• Scan attachments with antivirus software before opening or downloading to your computer.
• Complex email passwords. Include upper and lower case letters, numbers and punctuation marks or other symbols to make passwords more complex.
• Beware of any attachment with an “.exe” filename extension, which may begin executing a program as soon as the attachment is opened.

2. Wireless internet connections merit caution:  
Wireless internet connections are a remote worker’s best friend.  But public wireless hotspots can be a cybercriminals playground when open networks don’t encrypt data, emails passwords or other information.  Remind your employees when they have the choice between a secure wireless connection, which will require a password, and a public hotspot, they should always choose the secure connection.
However, there will be times when employees may have to use a public hotspot Therefore, they should know how to make sure their firewall is on.  They should also know how to disable file and printer sharing and how to make their folders private.
Manage these tasks through the computer’s System Preferences or Control Panel, where the internet, user settings and security can be reviewed and adjusted.  If you need advice on managing these tasks, go to your computer’s help and support index.
Another option you can utilize to safeguard data is by protecting it on a corporate network or in the cloud.  There are numerous cloud storage options for small businesses.

3. Use smartphones conscientiously:
Employees commonly do work related tasks from their personal mobile devices, which opens new opportunities for security breaches.
Consider developing a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy that includes parameters on how and when employees can use their personal mobile devices for work purposes.  Make sure your policy includes specific guidelines for smartphone security, like a password policy, list of supported devices and others that are not allowed to be connected to the network and a protocol for installing applications.  These can become easy entryways for malware if not attended to properly.
A lost or stolen smartphone can also open up an opportunity for a data breach.  You can require your employees to use tracking services offered by carriers like AT&T or Verizon to find the location of lost devices, remotely lock them or erase data.  For more assistance in developing a BYOD policy that’s right for your business, consider getting guidance from a local IT provider or expert.

Read the full article here: http://blog.computerservicenow.com/posts/2013/03/06/teach-your-employees-3-essential-things-about-tech-security/

For more information on anything you have read in this article or about any IT related issues, contact the IT Support Experts at Click Networks today. Call us on 0141 530 9116 or visit our website: http://www.clicknetworks.co.uk

Web 're-defining' human identity says chief scientist

Social networks such as Facebook and on-line gaming are changing people's view of who they are and their place in the world, according to a report for the government's chief scientist.

The report, published by Prof Sir John Beddington, says that traditional ideas of identity will be less meaningful.

One consequence could be communities becoming less cohesive.
This change could be harnessed to bring positive changes or if ignored could fuel social exclusion, says the study.

"This can be a positive force, exemplified by the solidarity seen in the London 2012 Olympics or a destructive force, for example the 2011 riots," says the report.

"Due to the development of smart phones, social networks and the trend towards (greater) connectivity disparate groups can be more easily mobilised where their interests temporarily coincide."

"For example," it says, "a 'flash mob' can be mobilised between people who have not previously met".

The report, entitled "Future Identities," says that near continuous access to the internet, termed "hyper-connectivity", will drive profound changes to society over the next 10 years.
'Hyper-connectivity' Prof Beddington commissioned the study as part of the Government Office for Science's Foresight programme - the influential Foresight reports look ahead to highlight emerging trends in science and technology with a view to informing policies across government departments.

 

"The most dynamic trend (in determining identity) is hyper-connectivity," Prof Beddington told BBC News.

"The collection and use of data by government and the private sector, the balancing of individual rights and liberties against privacy and security and the issue of how to tackle social exclusion, will be affected by these trends," he said. "I hope the evidence in today's report will contribute to the policy making process."

This latest report on identity undertook 20 separate reviews in which leading UK and international experts assessed research in computer science, criminology and social sciences.

It states that the changing nature of identities will have substantial implications for what is meant by communities and by social integration. The study shows that traditional elements that shape a person's identity, such as their religion, ethnicity, job and age are less important than they once were.
Instead, particularly among younger people, their view of themselves is shaped increasingly by on-line interactions of social networks and on online role playing games.

The study found that far from creating superficial or fantasy identities that some critics suggest, in many cases it allowed people to escape the preconceptions of those immediately around them and find their "true" identity. This is especially true of disabled people who told researchers that online gaming enabled them to socialise on an equal footing with others.

  Social networks also helped people organise during riots in 2011

 

"The internet can allow many people to realise their identities more fully, " the authors write. "Some people who have been shy or lonely or feel less attractive discover they can socialise more successfully and express themselves more freely online".

The report points out that in 2011, 60% of internet users were members of a social network site, a huge surge in usage, up 43% from 2007. Consequently, it says that there may greater political activism using these networks as was seen in the revolution in Tunisia and the mobilisation of dissent in Egypt and Libya.

There will also be a blurring of work and social identities as photos and details of people's personal lives become increasingly public on social networking sites. The report cites a hypothetical example of how a young person was denied promotion because her employer found drunken photos of her from her university days.

The report says that as the distinction between online and real world identities diminishes criminals are likely to try and exploit the many new forms of interlinked data relating people's identities and from social media and professional and financial websites in order to steal identities.

Read the full story here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21084945 or contact the IT Support Specialist at Click Networks with any questions about anything you have read here. Please visit our website: http://www.clicknetworks.co.uk

4G Mobile Technology Explained

There has been a lot of talk in the news recently about 4G mobile phones and the technology behind them. Here we take a quick look at the basics and what we will realistically see in the way of improvements to our mobile internet experience.

Telecoms regulator Ofcom has allowed the company behind Orange and T-Mobile in the UK, to use its existing bandwidth to launch fourth-generation (4G) mobile services.

The move means 4G, which allows much faster downloads, could launch in the UK earlier than previously planned.

But what will 4G services mean for you and your business?

One of the principal differences between 4G and 3G models is the speed at which they can download files from the internet. A typical 3G phone can connect to the internet at a maximum speed of up to 7.2Mbps, a whereas a 4G phone will be able to do so at up to 300Mbps.

Faster mobile internet connectivity will also bring an incredibly smooth browsing experience to 4G phones, thus calling time once and all on the days of web pages failing to load at peak usage times. 

Mobile phones will never completely replace a powerful work/home computer, but they will certainly replace home phones, physical phone lines and may be home broadband connections. If mobile phones can provide speeds of up to 300Mbpps, then a fixed line connection of 24Mbps at home will seem slightly anemic.

Sources: BBC News, USwitch.com