Protect Yourself: Best Practices for IT Security

Become a Digital Warrier: Safeguard Your Data

Take ample precautions to safeguard personal and business data on your computer. Strong passwords in tandem with adequate system backups offer the best protection.  

Staying safe online requires vigilance and knowledge. Enhanced security, supplemented by regular and routine data backup go a long way, but there are some protective measures that are better than others.

We have compiled some suggestions gleaned from experts in the realm of digital protection. Take advantage of their collective expertise to keep your records private to ensure that personal and business records stay safe.

Here are the best ways to become a digital Ninja.

Trust, but Verify

Security precautions must be practiced consistently to be effective. They should be planned, uniform and practical, easily implemented and enforced. Any lapse in security protocols puts all stored data at risk.

• Control the Sources of information: limited access to computers and mobile devices by using passwords to prevent unauthorized use and possible data corruption.
• Use strong Passwords: Creative use of characters, letters and random numbers are best, whether for business or personal use. Change or update passwords regularly, and assign a unique password to every account for the best protection. Use a password manager to maintain control.
• Know Your Vulnerability: Digital data can be traded like cash, and should not be made widely available to coworkers, family or friends with no vested interest.
• Install Security Updates: Ensure that security measures are updated regularly, and confirm that you have the latest available editions of security updates for both hardware and software.

Treat your passwords like secret handshakes. Share them sparingly, and only as necessary. Change them regularly, and never take shortcuts.

Backup Constantly

As important as passwords are to control access to digital data, the necessity for both routine complete data backup and specialty transfers as needed cannot be underestimated. Having redundant systems in place, ideally both onsite, as with an external hard drive, or offsite as cloud storage, is vital.

Institute routine backup procedures on a sensible basis — daily, weekly, or at specific benchmarks — to ensure compliance. Maintain the same security measures with backups as with original data.

Store Safely

Organize your record-keeping sensibly. Just as you would regularly purge a closet or a file cabinet of unnecessary clutter, set up a computer filing system that prioritizes your records so that it’s easy to find necessary information.

• Set a Preservation Schedule: Some data should be preserved almost forever, while other information only has value for a limited time. Know the difference, and destroy data that has no intrinsic value. Don’t hold on to clutter, but remove or destroy old files systematically and safely when it’s time to clean out files.
• Automate Backups: Don’t leave data transfers to chance or risk duplication of effort. Schedule backups in advance, and stick to the schedule.
• Duplicate Your backups: Double the strength of your safety net by backing up data both locally and remotely.

Finally, treat digital security as a priority, and never take shortcuts for the sake of convenience. Beware of potential scams: Never open a suspicious email, and be wary of unsolicited phone offers concerning digital security, data storage or file recovery.

The health of your computers and digital devices, as well as the personal and professional records they contain, is in your hands.