You do as much as you can to keep your business network secure. Every day your network is at risk from malicious hackers, malware, and viruses. Even with all of the security measures you may have in place, your employees remain one of your company’s biggest security threats. Although your employees do not intentionally endanger your network, their poor web-surfing habits do. They place your sensitive data at risk by visiting unauthorized websites and clicking on suspicious links. In order to improve your network security, place the following rules into effect immediately.
Set Criteria for Password Creation
It is all too common for employees to use the same easy to guess passwords for all of their accounts in the workplace. This places your network at risk. It is important to educate your employees on how to create difficult to guess passwords. All passwords should meet the following criteria:
They must contain:
- Upper and lowercase letters
- Numbers
- Symbols
- Over eight characters
When employees follow this criteria, it creates millions of different character combinations making it extremely difficult for hackers to guess. Besides creating these types of challenging passwords, require all employees to change their passwords at least once a month.
Prevent Employees From Installing Software
Your employees should not have authorization to download and install any type of software. Let them know not to download any program or files without authorization from an IT administrator. You can ensure they follow this policy by installing administrative passwords on all computers. This prevents employees from downloading anything or changing a computer’s network settings without permission.
Don’t Allow Employees To Use The Internet for Personal Use
Employees should not spend time surfing the web for personal use. When they are on the clock, they should work on projects and tasks that pertain to their job. By visiting different websites, it places your network at risk should employees click on dangerous links. Enforcing this policy will decrease security risks.
Don’t Allow Use of Mobile Devices On The Company Network
Your employees may want to connect their mobile devices to the network, however, mobile devices do not have the same security features as the computers on the network. It is best to have employees use their own data plan or to connect to a guest network that is separate from your main network.
Contact us today to schedule a free network evaluation. We can provide virtual surveillance of your entire operating network.