sjsmith.com.au - blog

Protecting yourself Online

Protecting your business online is not always one of the first things you think about but you definitely should.  If like me, you spend at least some of each day online then, you need to make sure that you are safe while you're there.  

At the very least everybody needs good anti-virus protection no matter what your system.  Some people think that if you use Apple you don’t need this protection.  Not true.  Everybody needs anti-virus and you need to make sure that it is being updated automatically so that your systems all remain safe.  Speaking of automation you should have automatic updates for your software and your systems as a matter of course.  

Having regular backups is also essential to protect your systems.  Backups should be done daily at a minimum unless you can afford to lose more information than that.  Make sure that wherever your backup is going to ( an external hard drive or the cloud) that it is secure and retrievable.  Don’t keep your back up drive next to your computer.  

Other things to consider are not to open any attached documents or links if you don’t know the sender.  If you’re making online purchases make sure that there’s a little padlock in the status bar of the site you’re buying from.  This means that it’s an encrypted connection.  You can also check this by checking the full web address.  If it starts with https then it shows the encryption.  Always ensure you have good pass word protection.  Don’t use simple passwords or birthdays which could be easily traced from your Facebook page.  Don’t use the same password for all sites.  Lots of people use USB sticks to share and transfer data.  Before using a USB from anyone else ensure that you scan it first before opening any documents.  It’s too late after you’ve opened any documents.

To those of us who are not very techie (like me), some of these things may seem like double Dutch.  In that case you need to get a professional in to set up your antivirus and backups for you but don’t just leave it and hope for the best. That’s like going to bed and leaving your front door unlocked.  You might be okay but why take the risk.  Your business is your livelihood and needs to be safeguarded.

Till next time,

Sarah-Jane X

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