Security in Your Home Office

Security is a legitimate concern in today’s world, and being digitally and physically secure in your home office space should be the priority of anybody paying attention. Borrowing some ideas from the security gurus who implement security measures in cloud computing, you can bolster your home network’s strength. You can rest a bit easier knowing that you are matching some of the latest measures deployed to keep the ultra-sensitive and private information they host safe.

Physical Security

Your first step is to ensure that you and your loved ones are safe while being home for most of the day. Do this by securing doors, windows, skylights, and any external entrances to your house with simple locks. Save some time and hassle by hiring a home security provider to lend their expertise, or even do the installation of a home security system for you. 

Secure Your Router – Encryption and Firewalls

Paying a little extra for a router with a decent firewall and beefed-up encryption and security features is a good step. Updating it to the latest firmware available and changing the default access settings is normally a simple matter of following the prompts of a wizard. VPN’s will play a role in securing any sensitive data that you may transmit or receive online by adding layers of encryption to all your traveling data. 

Antivirus

Opting for a competent antivirus is always advisable, as cybersecurity threats are rife these days. Leaking information, or more devastatingly, having your identity stolen, can have far-reaching consequences for you, your business, and your family.  Secure yourself and your data before you have to learn what ransomware is.

Password Protect Yourself

Correct password protocols can go a long way in mitigating a hacker’s ability to breach your security, should they penetrate that far. Ensuring you password protect your accounts, logins, and networking equipment, as well as use complex and frequently changing passwords, will be one of the most cost-effective ways to add essential layers of security.

Backups

Losing any data can be catastrophic, but should you happen to be working from home for an employer and you suffer a hard drive crash, then the consequences would be far-reaching. Protect yourself from this by doing simple backups, either to external physical media, the cloud, or preferably, both. Bear in mind that it is always recommended to have some form of offsite backup, should a large event like a fire or natural disaster occur.

Due Diligence 

Crooks today are clever, and constantly evolving their methods to trick you out of money, information, or both. Some of the effective defenses against this are to employ constant vigilance and skepticism. Educate yourself on popular methods that these con-artists deploy so that you know when someone is trying one of the tricks in their book. Employing functional email filtering tools is an easy step to weed out many of these attempts.

Your security begins with you, and with some careful thought, adequate precautions, and a fair bit of common sense, you can avoid disaster and catastrophe.

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The importance of digital backups in modern business

The importance of digital backups is demonstrated by sudden disasters such as fire
Photo by CC user 60026579@N00 on Flickr

Big data is the new competitive advantage so it is crucial that you manage your critical assets effectively by archiving and backing up data to the cloud. Data and technology are now woven into every aspect of modern business and the global economy. It enables enterprises to drive value and revenue via analytics and business intelligence and informs key decisions across every industry, day in, day out.

However, as the importance of data to business grows, so does the impact of errors, fires, floods, failures and other disasters that result in data loss. As a result, the importance of digital backups cannot be overstated.

Digital backups

Digital backups are an essential component of any effective IT strategy, especially in today’s data-driven business world. It is vital for business continuity as you will be able to access important files and sensitive information if the original copy is lost. Digital backups are hugely popular with small and medium enterprises and large organisations as they enable CIOs to transfer data in an encrypted format to a data centre.

Simple and intuitive

Digital backups are always fully automated, which means there won’t be any user intervention and you can decide whether to make a full backup or restore single files via a few simple clicks on a connected device such as a desktop computer or mobile. Recent research by McGladrey & Pullen shows that more than half of the enterprises that suffer a major data loss do not recover and have to shut down within two years so it makes sense to prioritise a digital backup plan.

Class-leading tech

Building an onsite data centre and server room will give you full control over your data and provide the best possible security for it. It will also enable the enterprise to leverage data more effectively and support your critical daily IT activities. Other benefits include additional data visibility and accessibility plus reduced latency and failures. A server room fit out could transform your data analytics and digital backup capabilities.

Digital backups benefits

Cost: Digital backups eliminate the need for time-consuming methods such as tape, which are not feasible for the fast-paced digital age.

Compliance: Digital backups can help you to meet increasingly stringent regulatory and compliance regulations related to data.

Mobile: Digital backups can be completed anywhere, at any time at work or on the move.

Protection: Fully encrypted backup, storage and recovery provide the highest levels of protection for data for enterprises.

Recovery: Data can be recovered via any device with an internet connection and you will get access to it immediately, which reduces the impact of downtime.

Scalable: Digital enables you to scale your backup requirements depending on your particular needs and requirements.

Support: Management and monitoring of digital backups can be completed via an intuitive interface in a quick and simple manner.

Data governance

Data governance and digital backups are intertwined as the latter enable enterprises to ensure that their data assets are managed effectively throughout the enterprise. Data governance is essentially a quality control discipline for all the data you have access to and how you manage, monitor, maintain and protect it. Establishing a digital backup strategy is a critical means of supporting these endeavours and ensuring data won’t be lost or stolen.

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