Is your data secure?

You just hired me to work in your company. I started today. I have my computer, my username and password, and a few day-one things I need to take care of for HR. I logged in to my computer and, since I don’t have anything really pressing to do, decided to see what I have on it. I opened up the “G” drive and I can see tons of stuff. Hey, there’s a folder named HR – I double-click. Well, look at that, I can see stuff. In fact, I can see a spreadsheet called Employees and sweet, I can open it. Oh my! It has everyone’s SSN and salaries in it. Will you look at how much that guy is getting paid? I just clicked on the Network and there’s a computer named BOSS-LAPTOP. Will you look at that, that’s the boss and his family on vacation this year. Wonder what that cost them? Let me look at that spreadsheet again and see what he get’s paid…

Think that’s an unrealistic scenario? Think again. Businesses need to use file sharing in one form or another just about every day. In order to work efficiently and collaborate with staff data must be readily available and accessible. The problem, however, is that most businesses focus more on sharing than they do securing. An everyone-sees-everything model is the most commonly used and convenient way to share company data. It is also the easiest way to compromise your business and your clients.

Consider this. You’ve read the information above and are thinking that it’s just you and one other person in your company, your partner. We share all the information between us and need to. We don’t really need to invest in or go through the trouble of putting security in place. Do you have wireless in your office? Probably, most do these days. Secured or not, a wireless access point does provide a certain amount of visibility in to your network and computers. One needs only to join your wireless network, which can be done from afar, and with some effort (depending on security) may have access to all the data you and your partner share.

Securing data should be important to everyone. Data security can also be a significant effort and in some cases costly. There are, however, simple steps that can be taken to begin the effort and get you on the road to data security. Because there are so many components to security and differing levels of complexity each business has an opportunity to adopt a policy, procedure, system, or tool to get them started at little or no cost. Consider the cost if you do nothing and your confidential data is compromised.

We at Lescault & Walderman consistently work with our clients to implement data security tools and techniques. From simple policy adoption to security system implementations, we can assist your business in securing data. Don’t wait until your data has been compromised to take some action. Contact us now for a free consultation to discuss your data security requirements.

Tony Niemetz
Author