AVG SMB Security Boot Camp: Part Four- Helping Your Hardware
It is easy to forget the importance of maintaining a solid base of hardware for any SMB in today’s frenetic business world.
Crucially, firms will need to make sure that their hardware is new enough and powerful enough to run an Internet protection layer with software versions dated in the current year and the year ahead.
AVG’s 2011 SMB market landscape report reveals that SMBs are more likely to use second hand machines (or at least repurposed machines belonging to ex-staff), older equipment and older operating systems. These should be kept up-to-date if possible.
To keep track of your hardware and its age an IT audit should be conducted to account for the installed base of hardware and software.
Knowing what machines are in operation and what they are capable of means risks cane be judged and equipment can be assigned to handle appropriate data.
This may sound complicated, but it’s simply about information collection which can be collected with some simple system checks.
Personal mobile devices need to also form a part of this data gathering process. Creating a list of “approved devices” is a good benchmark for a smaller SMB operation.
Hardware failure should not be the cause of data loss for any SMB and so watching for faulty cabling, end of life laptop batteries, worn connector sockets and over-heating processors should all form part of a data protection policy.
Hardware resources are more easily quantifiable than any other aspect of a company’s IT installation; as such they should be classified, named, numbered and then locked down.
Next steps
- Conduct a security audit for hardware and software
- Check on age of hardware and for other signs of wear and tear
- Create a list of approved devices
- Assign machines to handle appropriate data
