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Whether it’s opening an attachment infected by a virus, or a phishing scam where you unknowingly give up your login to a critical web site, e-mail still remains the most popular and reliable way digital thieves can rob you blind, steal your identity and wreak havoc on your network. Worst of all? You’re inviting them in! While there are a number of things you need to do to protect yourself, here are five pieces of information you (and your team) should never put in an e-mail.     1. Your social security number. Think of this as your “bank account” number with the government. You should never e-mail this to anyone because it can be used to open credit cards and steal your identity. 2. Banking information. Your bank account numbers, routing number and online banking login credentials should never be e-mailed. Further, avoid sending a voided, blank check as an attachment to an e-mail. 3. Your credit and/or debit card information. Never update a credit card via an...

Your bank often can not reclaim money stolen from your bank account due to fraud or cyber-crime. That means if money gets drafted from your business bank account from a hacker, phishing attack, identity theft or by any other means, you have little to no chance of getting it back. This often comes as a surprise to businesses who think the FDIC will “save” them from getting their accounts wiped out, and can get the money back once taken. The reality is that the FDIC insurance is to protect you from bank failure, NOT fraud. So if your debit card or account information gets accessed by a hacker and you don’t notice it within the same day, you can pretty much kiss that money goodbye. Recent studies have shown that 83% of small businesses take no formal measures against cyber threats even though almost half of all attacks are aimed at them. Here are 5 essential steps you can take right now to protect your business: Enforce A Strict Company Password Policy. This is a simple step, but ...

If your server suddenly crashed and ALL your data was erased, how long would it take before your business was back up and running as usual? If you aren’t sure, or if you think it would only be a short period of time, read on. Below are a few common, costly misunderstandings most business owners have about their data backup that give them a false sense of security: Misunderstanding #1: Relying On An Inexpensive, Automated Online Backup Provider To Backup Your Company Data. Tread carefully here and make sure that you’ve really done your homework on your chosen solution. Here are a few questions to ask of any offsite backup provider before you trust your company data with them: Ask if you have the option to have your initial backup performed through a hard copy. With the amount of data on most company’s servers, an initial backup performed over the web can take months to complete. Make sure that database files can be stored and recovered easily. Many cheap online backup ser...

If your business hasn’t been the target of malicious intruders or cyber criminals, consider yourself lucky. Hackers are a relentless bunch and they want your information and the ability to access to exploit loopholes in your business’s Internet security. The last few years have been hard on companies all across the globe. These cyber-breaches aren’t going to stop simply because the “damage has been done.” In the US and Canada, reported incidents have affected over 215 million consumers and over 7 million small businesses. That’s only counting the attacks that authorities have uncovered.   For cyber criminals, there is no end game. All too often, small business owners assume they are outside the firing line and hackers aren’t interested in them. While the media focuses on the big cyber-attacks, there are countless other stories playing out at small businesses everywhere. Cyber criminals are constantly in search of loopholes and weak security. Unfortunately, small busine...

Are you thinking about moving all or parts of your computer network “to the cloud” but worried about who can access your data? You’re not alone, but many security experts, software companies and cloud-service providers alike agree that cloud computing offers a MORE secure way to store data. In fact, the US governments cyber security adviser, Howard Schmidt, has said that cloud computing will enable businesses to catch up on security issues. That’s because most small businesses do not have high-security measures in place for their data on-site and lack tight password protection policies, firewall management and backup procedures. The same business owners who verbalize their concern about putting their data in the cloud are backing up their entire network to a tape drive and leaving it in their car overnight – or are using weak passwords for important access points to their network, which are much bigger security risks than storing it in a highly secure, highly redundant cloud platfor...