IT Policies London

Your IT network is at the heart of your business yet too many smaller companies ignore the need to protect it. Prevention is always better than a cure so here’s what you should do to stop your business from grinding to a halt.
ITVET Ltd
0870 4232757
145 157 St. John Street
London
Micromends Ltd
020 76366667
3 Tottenham Street
London
E & M Office Equipment Ltd
020 74052157
38 Mount Pleasant
London
Mac1
020 72470459
86a Commercial St
London
Creative IT (UK) Ltd
020 72376805
Willow Walk, 80 Willow Walk
London
T-One Telecom Ltd
020 73297300
35 37 Ludgate Hill
London
Fix It Nerds
020 72780425
56 Tavistock Pl
London
Londonmac Ltd
0845 6199009
71 Clerkenwell Road
London
Mac Right Ltd
020 72874247
51 Oxford St
London
A H Friends Ltd
020 72525300
217 Walworth Rd
London
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IT Policies

Why You Need a Zero Tolerance IT Policy

Your IT network is at the heart of your business yet too many smaller companies ignore the need to protect it. Prevention is always better than a cure so here’s what you should do to stop your business from grinding to a halt.

The recent Blaster and Sobig-F outbreaks have once again highlighted that companies are not always protected against the latest viruses or patched against vulnerabilities in computer operating systems.

Leaving any hole in your IT network is an invitation for a security breach, and with the advent of the Data Protection Act, virus infections and hack attacks are no longer just costly inconveniences, they could leave company directors facing litigation for allowing private data to be accessed illegally.

Unfortunately, all companies relying on technology are vulnerable to security breaches. Viruses are not fussy about who they infect - once a virus is in the wild, there is little control over how it spreads. Hacking is much more targeted, but smaller companies shouldn't feel exempt from the attention of hackers. Smaller networks are often used as training grounds for would-be hackers or as shortcuts into the networks of larger organisations.

This is particularly a problem for growing businesses which are faced with the challenge of few dedicated IT resources but the same threat as larger organisations. A greater reliance on remote working makes a watertight security policy even more difficult to enforce. However, there are some simple steps that any business can implement to dramatically reduce the chance of falling victim to a breach.

Security audit

First, you can conduct a security audit. Many firms now offer penetration testing, where experts hack into a network to test its integrity and discover where there are weak spots. In an ideal world, such audits would take place on a regular basis as threats are always changing.

Next comes the implementation of security products, but companies should realise that the risks do not disappear with the purchase of anti-virus software or a firewall. In 2002, research from 3i found that 80% of firewalls were configured incorrectly - a firewall is worthless unless it is properly set up and regularly patched. Similarly, up to 800 new viruses are identified every month so it is essential that protection is always up-to-date. Microsoft and other software vendors often warn of vulnerabilities in their operating systems, so firms should subscribe to their alert services and patch any holes. Patching and updating may seem an onerous task, but anti-virus updates can be automated (even for remote workers) and firewall configuration can always be outsourced to a specialist.

To beef up security still further, consider blocking email attachments with multiple extensions and banning certain file types - blocking .PIF and .SCR files would have prevented infection from Sobig-F and few businesses need to send or receive such file types. These thre...

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