5 Ways to Improve IT Security on a Limited Budget

IT budgets are becoming tighter with time. Thus, it is difficult for most companies to improve their security. According to a report by IBM security, more than 69% of IT professionals think that their funding is insufficient.

But, security threats are evolving with time. Hackers are using complex attacks for stealing organization data Thus, it is also important to improve your IT security. It will help you in protecting your data from hackers. There are some minor changes that you can do for increasing your security. In this article, we are going to tell you how you can improve your IT security.

1. Educate your employees

Most of the security incidents occur due to employees. They can install the malware in your network by mistake. Your employees can open a phishing link in their browser. This can lead to their system getting hacked. Thus, hackers will get access to your whole network.

You can avoid this by giving proper training to your employees. It is important to make sure that your employees know about basic security experts. Most security experts think that companies should regularly conduct training programs.

Your IT department can teach some basic security terms to your employees. You should also make sure that your employees are using an anti-malware program for protecting themselves. It is also important to hold regular meetings with your employees. Most employees use weak passwords. Hence, hackers can use a simple brute force attack for getting into your network. Make sure that your employees are using strong passwords. There are various third-party tools that can generate strong passwords. The best thing about these tools is that you don’t even need to remember these tough passwords.

2. Conduct Vulnerability Assessment

It is important to regularly check your network for vulnerabilities. Your security expert should scan your network for vulnerabilities and threats. This will ensure that hackers can’t use known vulnerabilities. They should also fix all the vulnerabilities. It is important to download all the security updates. There are also various vulnerability scanners that your team can use. It will help them in finding the vulnerabilities in your network. Thus, your IT department only needs to check these vulnerabilities. After that, they should fix all these vulnerabilities.

3. Disaster Recovery and Cloud Backup

Ransomware attacks are becoming very common these days. Hackers are using ransomware for locking the critical data. You can protect yourself by having a disaster recovery plan. Also, you should have a strong cloud backup plan. This is one of the best ways to recover from a ransomware attack. You should upload all the critical data on your cloud server.

Backup plays a crucial part in IT security. Most of the enterprises are using the cloud for backing up their data. Cloud offers various features to its users like an incremental backup. This will allow you to automatically backup your data. Also, cloud backup is a more cost-effective option when compared to tape backup.

4. Layered Security Technologies

You should follow a layered security approach for protecting your business. It is important to make sure that you are using updated applications and operating systems. Thus, patch management is very important for any business. You should also install spam detecting and antivirus on every computer. Also, you should use a firewall for protecting your network.

You should also use data encrypting software for protecting your data. Encryption tools play important data in protecting your information from hackers. This will ensure that only and your clients can access your data. Encryption will also help you in increasing the security of your email documents.

Almost every employee uses a mobile device for doing important work. They will connect their mobile devices with your network. This can create various loopholes in your network. Thus, it is important to have proper mobile device management or MDM strategy. You can implement it by using sign-on passwords and data encryption.

Firewalls also play an important role in protecting your network. VPN and firewall can protect your network from hackers. They will automatically protect all your employees that are connected with your network. There are many benefits of using VPNs like:

• You can define rules for different users
• It will allow you to manage all your security policies
• You can implement access controls

This will ensure that only authorized users can access your network. Thus, it will protect your network from hackers.

5. Update all your applications

There are many security attacks that use zero-day vulnerabilities. You can’t do anything to protect yourself against these attacks. But, many hackers are using attacks that are already patched by the vendors. Sometimes they succeed because companies are using outdated applications. Most of the outdated applications contain security loopholes. The worst thing about these vulnerabilities is that everyone knows about them. Thus, hackers can use a simple vulnerability scanner for hacking into your network.

For example, many businesses are still running old versions of Java. They don’t want to update to a new version of Java. These outdated applications have a lot of security loopholes. Attackers can use these loopholes for hacking into your network. Thus, make sure that all your applications are updated. This will ensure that hackers can’t use old vulnerabilities for stealing your data.

Conclusion

It is important to make sure that your network is secured from hackers. You can use some simple tips for improving your security. First, you should give proper training to your employees. Make sure that they know about basic security practices. Your IT team should also regularly check your network for vulnerabilities. There are various vulnerability scanners that they can use. If you don’t have a security team, then you can also hire an MSSP. They will help you in protecting your network. This will ensure that you have a solid foundation. If you want more tips regarding IT security, then you can contact Bleuwire.

Contact us today to learn about Bleuwire™  services and solutions in how we can help your business.