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We are based in Dublin and operate as a private IT Brokerage. We provide a full online services, including online marketing, website design, hosting / server / VOIP supplier and advertising brokering. We also have partners in traditional advertising and increasingly importantly, we are one of the first companies in Ireland to have a legal team on standby in two of Ireland's largest law firms.
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Is Your IT and Online Security Foolproof
Thursday, 11 February 2010 09:53
When you turn off the lights at night in your workplace, do you worry about your husiness being robbed? - If so, imagine it happening right before your eyes in broad daylight.
When you don't put proper steps in place to prevent data fraud, that is exactly what happens. What's worse is that it can happen in the middle of the day, without you knowing. Suddenly all your clients financial details, your secure files and even your employees confidential data, stored on your servers and computers could be in the public domain - and if you haven't tried your best to keep everything as secure as possible and things go wrong, you could be facing prosecution.
Cover yourself legally
The amount of companies which operate without a half decent privacy policy and terms and conditions of service on their website in Ireland is truly disgraceful. Most of the time hosting companies will (rightly) disclaim responsibility for data protection issues occurring on your hosting / server. Furthermore, website design or development companies are never legally respoocnsible for the security of your website against malicious attacks (only normal working defects). To prevent potential issues, of data loss / leaks of confidentiality through emails / websites; often a standard privacy policy / terms of service will suffice, available from Smith and Wise, customised to your needs from as little as €200 (non legally bound, but fairly reliable against most legal cases) or from €750 for when disclaimers really are needed to be watertight (using our partnering solicitor firms). Contact us on 086 1780 743 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information.
Prevent common mistakes
It is never too late to start solving data protection issues, even if a previous issue later becomes apparent, atleast if you have solved the original problems at a later date, you will most likely have a good case to present if worst comes to worst. Here are a few common mistakes we have noticed a lot of our clients making, very simple things which can be done to increase security from both online threats and those closer to home.
Set Passwords On Computers
It seems really obvious, but if you have any computer, it should always be passworded, with a difficult to crack password, e.g. not password or a repeat of your username, etc. This will deter the "casual" data thief.
Use Your Intuition
The phrase, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is, always reigns online. Never click links promising things, even from friends without checking where they go to (see status bars in most broswers / email clients). Hackers and viruses have become smarter, they can masqurade as your actual contacts emailing you to capture potential financial data. Never enter financial information online on a website you don't trust / doesn't have a SSL cert (the typical padlock symbol and URL prefix https://). Most importantly, never presume people are who they say they are online, and never pass on important / financial / secure information by email.
Install Good Anti Virus, Firewalls and Spyware Protection
Make sure all your computers (and servers) have up to date and effective anti virus, firewalls and spyware protection. A single computer on a network, even a laptop or mobile device with server access can bring down and cross infect an entire system. Most security programs are very effective at keeping out hackers, viruses and phishing ware, but like a medical virus, once inside a system, they can cause havoc and cripple a network from the inside out. Our absolute basic recommendations for SME's are as follows:
- AVG Anti Virus - http://free.avg.com/ww-en/homepage *
- Spybot S&D - http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
- Zone Alarm - http://www.zonealarm.com/security/en-us/home.htm?lid=en-us *
(*free for private use)
Sensitive Data Must Be Encrypted
Any computers which deal with accounting software or financial details should (and must in certain industries) be encrypted. This can be done by a professional or internally by someone who is a bit tech savvy. See this tutorial: Here (attempt at your own risk).
Only Backup Data To Secure, Encrypted Media
An easier process to encrypting a hard drive, but often more important, encrypting easily portable devices, such as USB keys, hard drives and even old fashioned ZIP discs and DVD-R's, CD-R's etc. Think about the damage your company could suffer by a data thief getting your clients financial information, or even worse passwords and keyfiles. Then think about encrypting your portable media. Smith and Wise can provide ready encrypted hard drives and USB sticks if you require them, just contact us.
Useful Link: http://www.truecrypt.org/ - encryption software.
Plan, Audit and Act Upon
As I said previously, if you have put steps in place, any issues which occur prior to the date your institute security protection methods, in my experience, will ussually hold little weight, therefore it is useful to show a professional front.
When you have your systems protected, using the correct security software, encrypted your hard drives and portable media, and even simply added passwords to your computers, it is normally a good idea to write up a policy for dealing with data protection issues in the future, a schedule to audit software and systems to ensure their protection is working and where relevant recent enough to be effective, and of course, consult with a professional firm (like Smith and Wise) to establish whether any security problems have arrisen since your last audit. If you do that regularly enough, in line with your businesses needs, we at Smith and Wise would be very confident to say that you have reduced your risk of data security issues occurring by at least 70% based on our client research figures.
We can help you with the entire planning, implementation and review process of making your business more secure, as well as providing legal advice and setting employee guidelines for use of the internet and related services, for when you can't be looking over their shoulders!
Contact us on 086 1780 743 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information.
By Byron Smith, MD, Smith and Wise
