By JOHN DONOVAN
New Zealand's small-business community is increasingly relying on technology and the internet.
With this reliance comes a growing threat to small businesses as they become vulnerable to attack from complex viruses, network infiltration and malicious hacker activity aimed at stealing company and customer financial information.
Small businesses
do not have the resources to immediately rectify security breaches, resulting in extended down-time, limited access to company and customer information, and the cost of cleaning up damaged data and hardware.
A small business also usually relies on a single systems administrator to handle all IT demands such as system monitoring, maintenance and security enforcement.
A more significant problem is the potential for infecting partners and customers and risking invaluable business relationships. Many large organisations require their e-business partners to comply with their minimum security standards.
Small businesses are opting for always-on broadband internet connections rather than dial-up internet access.
Although broadband connections make surfing the internet simple and extremely fast, they also make hacking a small business system much easier.
These tips provide effective steps toward pinpointing possible risks and identifying potential solutions:
* Control access to the network and ensure employees know your policies on computer use.
* Educate employees about creating complicated passwords, including alpha-numeric codes, and not using simple memory triggers such as birthdays. They should not disclose passwords by having reminders on desks or loaning them to colleagues.
* Set up network access so it executes a lockout after four or five login attempts.
* Remind employees to heed security warnings, especially when downloading information from the web.
* To ensure continual protection, install desktop firewall software and set it to accept only downloads from known sites.
* Install antivirus software.
* John Donovan is managing director of Symantec Pacific, a provider of internet security technology.
