What is Internet Filtering ?
Internet filtering screens the material that your children
or employees have access to. In many cases the filters can
be defined to limit access to certain keywords, domains or
specific material.
What is Keystroke Monitoring
Keystroke monitoring is a process whereby computer system
administrators view or record both the keystrokes entered
by a computer user and the computer's response during a user-to-
computer session. Examples of keystroke monitoring would include
viewing characters as they are typed by users, reading users'
electronic mail, and viewing other recorded information typed
by users. Some forms of routine system maintenance record
user keystrokes; this could constitute keystroke monitoring
if the keystrokes are preserved along with the user identification
such that an administrator can determine the keystrokes entered
by specific users.
7 Critical Steps To Protect Your Data
by Paul Hrabal
To minimize the significant risks arising from data loss,
every company should take specific preventative measures to
protect their critical business data. These measures fall
into two broad categories: physical security and digital security.
We will identify seven critical steps to ensure your data
is secure, then look at the additional protection required
to keep your data available. Here, we look at physical security
and the three key steps a company should take to ensure their
data is protected against environmental changes and physical
theft.
Step #1: Secure Access
Protect critical computer equipment against physical theft
by placing it in a separate physical space which has controlled,
recorded access. Limit entrance to only authorized personnel.
Step #2: Environmental Controls
The space which houses critical computer equipment should
be climate controlled through proper heating and air conditioning,
including fail-over systems in the event of main system failure.
Fire suppression and temperature monitoring with an automatic
notification system should be implemented.
Step #3: Uninterrupted Power
Ensure that backup power supplies, including surge suppression,
are in place to provide power to key computer equipment in
the event of a primary power failure or instability in the
primary power supply. Now, we examine digital security and
the four key steps a company should take to ensure their data
is protected against unauthorized access.
Step #4: Firewalls
A firewall should be placed between the company’s internal
computer network and each external network access point to
stop unauthorized users from gaining access to the internal
network and company data.
Step #5: Anti-Virus Software
Each workstation and server in the company should have anti-virus
software installed and periodically updated with current virus
definition files. Email servers should scan for viruses embedded
in external messages and attachments prior to relaying them
to internal email boxes.
Step #6: Restrict User Access
Access to network resources, applications and data files should
be restricted exclusively to those employees with a “need
to access.” Be sure to review user access rights regularly
to reflect changes in employee responsibilities and when an
employee leaves the company, his or her login ID and access
rights should be immediately removed. In some cases, current
employees known to be leaving the company may also need to
have their access rights restricted to ensure the safety and
confidentiality of company data.
Step #7: Passwords
Ensure all passwords granting access to the company’s computer
network, databases and critical files are properly enforced.
Passwords should be at least 8 characters in length and combine
letters and numbers. Users should change their passwords at
least every 90 days. Network administrator passwords should
be changed every 30 days.
Protection Beyond Security
The 7 steps outlined above are critical as the first line
of defense in protecting your data. However, it is important
to be aware that data loss can still occur. Beyond data loss
caused by disasters and criminal activity, data can be lost
for a variety of more mundane reasons. These include application
corruption, hardware failure, accidental deletion and user
error. In any of these circumstances, you will need to roll
back to a clean, available copy of your data.
Continuous, online backup to a secure remote site provides
archived and up-to-the-loss copies of data that can be quickly
and conveniently recovered. With this added protection, your
data is not just secure, but available and supporting your
business.
About the Author
Paul Hrabal is founder and President of U.S. Data Trust. U.S.
Data Trust provides online backup and recovery services to
growing companies that need to protect and maintain access
to their data without the risk and IT overhead of maintaining
an internal tape backup system and staff. Paul may be reached
at 1-888-DATA-SAFE or pr@usdatatrust.com. Information resources
and a confidential data risk survey are available online at
http://www.usdatatrust.com
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