Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) have long been used by businesses to give employees secure remote access to applications and data. And no doubt, the on-going COVID pandemic has dramatically escalated the need for businesses of all sizes. But in the rush to enable remote access, some businesses have fallen short in implementing strong security postures.
It’s incredible to think that a business tool like video conferencing, which was used in limited ways not all that long ago, is now so prevalent. Just about everyone has had some kind of experience using video conferencing to hold meetings with family, friends, and business associates; it does not seem like that genie will be back in the bottle any time soon.
What is VoIP? The acronym stands for Voice over Internet protocol. Why is VoIP important? Since the 19th century, the nation’s local telcos (like AT&T and Verizon) have relied on the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to connect calls. Today, while telcos provide both plain old telephone service (POTS) and VoIP, they will soon quit offering POTS to subscribers. Like it or not, change is coming.
Regardless of the size of your business, today’s digital climate involves risks. In fact, smaller and mid-sized companies are open to more threats due to lack of protection and know how. Cyber security is a critical part of managing those risks and taking the necessary steps to protect your assets. It pertains to all the IT measures needed as preventative measure against cyber risks. Cyber risk is any risk of disruption, monetary loss, or reputational damage of an organization due to an IT system failure. Before stepping into the cyber security context, one needs to come to terms with the dynamics of the digital era and the highly vulnerable virtual environment of today.
Just think what would happen if a ransomware attack hit your business and locked all your end-users out of their computer systems. What would the impact be on your business if your customers found out? How much revenue would you lose?
Investing in tools and systems that improve productivity has long been considered a necessary cost of doing business – a better set of tools creates a more productive workforce. In the 20th century, those kinds of technologies were essentially production-enhancing tools (think faster writing tools like the typewriter and word processors). Not all these improvements were required. Some companies did not feel the need to keep up with the latest trends. If you could afford them, great, but if you didn’t you still managed to get by.
Everything fails. This is true for everything in life, including networks, databases and systems. No one can avoid failures and their lasting impacts. It is not so much the fact that they fail, but it is more about the costs and damage they leave behind, especially when considering IT downtime.
If your company develops applications for internal use or to interact with customers, how well your DevOps processes function is critical for ensuring smooth business operations. Developers need to deliver new applications quickly, and IT operations must keep those applications running at peak performance. When it’s time for updates, the two teams should be able to work together seamlessly to roll out application revisions as quickly as possible.
Whether you’re already in the cloud or thinking about moving an application or your entire IT infrastructure, security probably comes to mind first. Will your data in the cloud be safe from cybercriminals? And if you store customer data, you’re probably even more concerned.
Online security is something you know is important, but your IT team is not the only one responsible for cybersecurity. Everyone from front-line personnel to the CEO should assume accountability. They all need to do their part to keep the digital assets of your business protected because anything that happens to one user could quickly spread across your entire company.
