The Who is a band that has been around seemingly forever. They’ve turned out countless hits over their time together, from “Pinball Wizard” to “Behind Blue Eyes” to “Won’t Get Fooled Again”. The band has legions of fans throughout the world. Unfortunately for them, I’m not one of them. Fortunately for them, thanks to the ubiquitous radio genre of classic rock, I know the majority of their songs. In 1971, The Who released “Going Mobile”, a song that is probably even more relevant in 2015 than it was back then. People in all walks of life are able to take their work with them when they leave the office, and this has made the business world move even faster. Along with this increased freedom, there are security needs that businesses need to address before letting employees and their devices loose in the wild. Is your business doing all that it can?
2015 is a hacker’s paradise. Think back to ten years ago. Depending on your age, that was either a short time, or a lifetime ago. There weren’t a lot of cell phones back then. Very few people had a phone with Internet capability, what is known today as a smartphone. Wi-Fi wasn’t available everywhere you turned, and most computers were hardwired to a network. The sheer number of mobile devices in 2015 is staggering. There are mobile hotspots in the unlikeliest of places, and your car is now your “office”. Because of all this, your business is now more vulnerable to infiltration than ever before. You wouldn’t allow a computer on your business network to operate without anti-virus security would you? Then why would you take a chance on a device remotely connected to e-mail servers or company files? It’s critical to insure that any device used by an employee of your business has active anti-virus and anti-malware software installed on it, and scans should be run routinely on the device. This is easy, and cheap insurance.
If your business employs three people, keeping track of their devices and usage is a straightforward process. Multiply your employee count by ten and it becomes far less simple. Staying on top of who has what and what they have access to is crucial to the safety and success of your business. It seems like common sense to keep records of such things, but in my experience, it isn’t. I’m asked daily to grant remote access to a computer at an office, or to connect a phone to a company’s e-mail server. It’s imperative to know basically who’s doing what in an office environment, and to put a lid on any security vulnerabilities that this behavior might introduce into the business. A client of mine is a business that includes thirty five computers and two servers. The majority of the employees access e-mail on their phones and/or personal computers. Many access the company’s file system via VPN from their personal computer, and more still log on to their work computer from home. While I can keep their work computers up-to-date with all available Windows Updates and monthly scans and cleanups, imagine how many other devices are accessing highly-confidential files and documents away from the office. If you’re not on top of who has access and with which devices, plan on a lot of sleepless nights.
Does your firm offer wireless access to clients? If so, step one should be to secure your router with a password. Under no circumstance should a wireless network be unsecured, either for home or business. Always create a “strong” password of at least eight characters, using letters, numbers, and special characters. Ensure that the password you’ve created isn’t easily guessed – if your password is “password” you deserve whatever happens to you. It’s way too easy for someone to do damage via a wireless network so make sure that your network is secured and won’t give access to other devices such as printers or servers. If a client has a document that needs to be printed, simply have him e-mail the document to an employee at your business to do the printing. It’s an extra step, but the right step to take in regards to securitizing your livelihood.
We’ve all heard that Apple devices are immune to viruses. Macbook, iPad, and iPhone users can take a deep breath for now, but there’s always something lurking around the corner. Unfortunately, some people exist simply to make our lives miserable (I know a few myself). “Goin’ Mobile” has made our lives and businesses so much more efficient I personally could never go back to the way things were before. Just live with a small amount of paranoia about what can happen, and your business will navigate the information superhighway with nary a pothole.