No organisation can survive without a robust I.T system. Whether it is that small business or that big corporation, each has its magnitude of needs. Again, you may have invested in a good system but the challenge comes when the system is not properly secured. No matter how efficient and up-to-date it is you’re at risk of suffering a big loss if something goes wrong.

Sometimes your whole system may end up in the wrong hands due to a breach, and we all know this can cost thousands to remedy. It’s not just large corporations who are at risk either. Studies show that in the year 2015 alone, over 71{ae514a3737d85ea64aeb2cb88bf523835c3e1315e3b3c65ffee7dd6cf13b9d2b} of attacks targeted businesses with less than a hundred employees.

Following are some of the threats you may experience:

1. The inability to keep track of who gets access to your company documents and data

Imagine a case where everyone in the organisation has access to all of the companies data (including sensitive information). This opens a floodgate of security threats. Therefore, to be secure, you must cultivate a data strategy exercise where you have the data classified and access to the information is given to only a few trusted individuals. Trust alone may still not work and therefore you need to make everyone handling such information sign a policy document.

• Employees accessing sensitive information with their mobile devices

You may have a work policy that ensures your employees can work from any place and any time. This is quite an ingenious arrangement owing to the economic times your company is living in, not to mention company morale, and workplace flexibility. However, there are risks to this as well. Mobile malware can easily compromise the system. Thus, you need to introduce a device policy. Again, you must make it a requirement for the staff to use a VPN when accessing the system remotely. In this age of apps, you also must have approved apps that are secure for employees to use. To be certain on this, you need to engage an I.T. security services company to put all this in place and ensure your company’s data is secure.

• When no one is monitoring your I.T system for potential breaches

Establishing a robust company system is one thing but monitoring is another. There is a risk when you have a system that is not monitored. Fraudsters can easily penetrate the system and slowly begin to alter documents, compromise passwords, and even steal identities. If no expert is monitoring your system, it could take months for anybody to notice the breach. Unfortunately by this time, your business is already at a loss. To protect your system from such, you need to get an I.T company that will manage your system and continually monitors for any threats and attacks from malware.

• Failing to think defensively

As you go about your daily business and establishing an I.T system, you must think of rivals and all parties that would be interested in invading your intellectual property, access your sensitive data and manipulate documents and policies. Think of how you could make your system air-tight and employ experts that are going to monitor it on a day-to-day basis. This will ensure that you are safe from such costly attacks.

When establishing an I.T system, ensure you’ve got a robust monitoring system so that no one can compromise. To achieve this, you must get a dedicated I.T security firm who will keep a check and ensure efficiency.