Graham Fern
Technical Director
Ask the Expert: IT and data security
Graham Fern, technical director at axon IT, explains how to keep a business' data safe.
All answers are for general guidance only. each case must be handled on the individual facts.
Q: What can businesses do to keep their data secure?
Most businesses are data-dependent, so keeping that data safe should be high on your list of priorities.
The first step you need to take, is to backup. Regular and secure data backup is critical to the survival of any IT dependent business and your solution needs to be multi-layered – don’t risk depending on one system alone to keep your business running. So, backup to your server, back your server up to a NAS (Network Attached Storage Device) or other external hard drive, and back everything up again, offsite.
There’s no point backing up to your business premises if your kit is then all stolen or lost in a fire or flood. Consider remote online backup, which is essentially using a cloud computing solution. By placing critical data and systems in the “Cloud” (or data centre) – a highly available, secure, fire protected environment – you almost completely eliminate the traditional low percentage chance but high risk losses of fire, flood and theft, and your data can be immediately retrieved in the event of a disaster, enabling you to continue with business as usual. Remember though, a backup is only as good as the last restore!
You will also need to protect your data from the constant and ever increasing threats from the world wide web. Protect system administration by ensuring that integrity is maintained and no risk is presented through viruses, spyware, hacking or incorrect access to data. Deploy a good anti-spam solution that will block spam and phishing attacks and remove viruses at the same time, ensuring that what is received in your inbox is relevant and clean.
By stopping potential attacks at the gate, your business gets the best chance of keeping safe from viruses, worms, Trojans and other forms of malicious code that originate from the internet and threaten the security of a business. And remember, anti spam systems are not 100 per cent perfect and a solution should have the ability to learn. It needs to be adaptive to the threats – particularly as the threats are constantly changing and becoming increasingly complex to defend against.
Recent Experts
About Graham
In 1986 Graham Fern joined the RAF handling technical military hardware, software and highly advanced computer-driven simulators. He left the military in 2000 and joined a national IT company as IT Manager for Manchester. In 2001 Graham co-founded axon IT which now has turnover of more than £800,000.
Contact Details
Graham Fern
Regional Director,
Technical Director
gfern@axon-it.com
0845 313 0025
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