e-Security Small Business Checkpoints

| June 11, 2009
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Smart e-Security isn’t about locking your clients out.

Once upon a time there was a king who wanted to be totally secure. He built a castle which was indeed very secure – so secure there were no doors to the castle!

e-Security Week logoElectronic security, particularly in small and medium enterprise sector is a similar challenge; it is really a balancing act between how secure you want to be and how easily you want to interact with the external world.

In business, e-Security needs to be considered at the five important checkpoints; networks, databases, applications, processes and interfaces.

NETWORKS: Ensure your physical network is secured. This requires network administration including setting up of encryptions.

e-Security AlertsDATABASES: How much of your business data is in-house and what bits are outside of your organisational boundary? Typically, you will have data sitting in Access or Excel files which need to be secured with passwords within the organisation. External data can include electronically backed up data residing on the machine of a service provider.

Self-Assessment ToolAPPLICATIONS: Who has access to your business applications within and outside the organisation? Typical examples of such applications are MYOB or a cut down version of an ERP package. These applications access, process and exchange data across other applications and services; where they are exposed to potential security threats.

ScamWatchPROCESSES: Your business processes are a combination of electronic applications or databases as well as physical processes. Conduct a walk through of your typical procurement, inventory and sales processes, and work out the "physical" elements of the process (such as a printed timesheet or invoice) that may expose your organisation to security threats.

Change your passwordINTERFACES: Graphic user interfaces, printer interfaces and interfaces to external applications provide opportunities for hackers to get into your system. Conduct a security inspection of these interfaces including their password protection, access control and timeout features (common example is an unattended machine whose interface should switch-off or ask for passwordon resumption).  

Keep the 5 checkpoints to your castle secure so your customers will be safe to come in and start doing business.

Bhuvan Unhelkar (BE, MDBA, MSc, PhD; FACS) is an adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Western Sydney and has authored/edited fourteen books. He is the founding principal of MethodScience.com and has notable consulting and training expertise in software engineering, enterprise architecture, project management, collaborative web services and mobile business. Dr. Unhelkar is a Fellow of the Australian Computer Society and a life member of Computer Society of India

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Bhuvan Unhelkar is a guest blogger of our "e-Secuity & Small Business" forum which is part of the National e-Security Awareness Week, an annual initiative aiming to raise awareness about the importance of e-security among Australians.

To learn more, visit http://www.staysmartonline.gov.au/ today.

To find out about how to protect your business and your customers and stay safe when working from home, go to http://www.staysmartonline.gov.au/small-business-security, or sign up for the following free services:

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