- All data that has been entered to your books and into your accounting program needs protection. It would be a shame to lose all that data, so, let’s tighten up and harden that box.
- You want an Internet security program that includes a personal firewall, antivirus software and anti-spyware. Budget about $150 and an hour or so to install, configure (according to directions) and update it.
- One copy per computer you have, whether at home, work, or a laptop you carry around. If you are in the habit of leaving your computers on, it is very feasible for someone to attack the computer and copy, remove or destroy the data. We are locking that down through this process.
- When you finally upgrade to a new computer, do not just give the old one away without wiping the hard drive. Deleting everything will not work. I’ve found everything from birthday greetings to budgets to business proposals on “deleted” drives. Back to your friendly computer person, and ask for a secure wiping program that will over-write the disk at least seven times. Launch it and let it work for a day or three. Then give the computer away. (I don’t give any disks away without wiping. With diskettes, I prefer to take them apart and physically destroy them. Thumb (USB/flash) drives are crushed.)
- When your administrative assistant moves on to a different job, change the passwords on your computers and firewall. Chances are he had the passwords and logon information. While people usually bear you no ill will, there is always one person somewhere who is willing to do something wrong. Sometimes even good people do the wrong thing when presented with an opportunity too good to pass up.
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Main Article 7 Week Plan to Safeguard Your Small Business Assets