How to Minimize the Vulnerabilities in Your IT Systems

The hard but honest truth is that every network has some level of vulnerability. Having said that, there are ways that you can reduce these vulnerabilities so that your business and its network are relatively safe. Let’s go over some of these methods now.

Remember, if you’d like more information about any of these steps or even would like some assistance in implementing and maintaining these efforts, BNMC is here to help. Give us a call at (978) 482-2020.

Keep Your IT Protections Maintained

Is this one a little obvious? Sure…but that doesn’t make it any less critical to prioritize. Whether your security infrastructure is missing critical patches or updates, or is even missing the processes to determine that these elements are lacking, you have a problem on your hands. This problem is exacerbated if your end users aren’t involved in the overall cybersecurity strategy…but more on that later.

Fortunately, there are a few strategies that have a proven history of efficacy when it comes to protecting a business’ technologies. For instance:

Established Standards for All Devices

Let me ask you something…if you had to break into a house (let’s say it’s your house, but you locked your keys inside), would you rather learn how to pick a lock or climb to the roof and shimmy down the chimney, or would you rather just climb in through the back window that you know is unlocked?

Exactly—cybercriminals aren’t looking to create more work for themselves either. They’re going to look for the path of least resistance. By creating and committing to a security standard for all aspects of your business, you aren’t giving them one.

Patch Management

Let’s return to our house analogy for a moment. Let’s say that you find out that the windows you have all over your house have a flaw that makes them remarkably easy to open from the outside—whether they’re locked or not. Fortunately, the manufacturer is distributing a simple add-on that eliminates this vulnerability. You’d take advantage of it, wouldn’t you?

Patch management—ensuring that all of your software has any available security improvements implemented—is effectively the same thing, just for the software your business relies on. Testing and installing these patches is an important part of your continued cybersecurity.

Role-Based Permissions—and Time-Restricted Exceptions

Continuing our house analogy further, how often do you give out the keys to your front door? Chances are, it’s only to a select group of trusted neighbors and friends for very specific reasons—and that’s assuming you do at all.

You need to approach your access controls to both your data and different areas of your business’ location in the same way—limiting them to those whose responsibilities require that access, and only for as long as those responsibilities are a factor.

Granting different permissions to different people amongst your staff based on their role—and restricting any additional access that may need to be granted to a certain time frame—is a solid way to reduce the damage that any one person being breached can do.

This is Just the Start…Reach Out to Learn What Else You Can Do with Our Help!

The team here at BNMC is highly skilled, not only in maintaining your operations but also in ensuring they remain secure. Give us a call at (978) 482-2020 to get started today!