Christmas is almost upon us – and many will be looking forward to shutting up shop for the festive break. But for business owners, there are some important steps to take to ensure a smooth return to work in the New Year.
Here, our Managing Director Jonathan looks at a simple checklist for every business to consider this December.
Cybercriminals don’t take time off at Christmas – and they know it is a time your business is most vulnerable.
One of the easiest ways to give them access to your files is by not updating your security software. Double checking that you are up to date will provide you a far greater degree of protection – and it is a simple thing to remember thanks to automatic reminders.
This also applies for your operating system, so make sure everything is up to date before you bring down the shutters.
Should cybercriminals find a way in, it is imperative you have a backup of your data.
There are numerous ways to do this, ranging from simple external USB sticks and hard drives to cloud-based alternatives. This vital step shouldn’t take you long.
Keeping your files secure is always important, but this is of even greater significance should you be storing client data.
This is also helpful in the event of an “act of god” incident such as flooding, heavy snowfall or fires.
It’s all well and good focusing on protecting your digital assets – but don’t forget about your office.
With so long away, it is important to ensure all doors and windows are locked and alarms are set.
It is always important to ensure you have more than one person in the office for health and safety reasons – but if any of your staff do decide to come in over the Christmas break, for security reasons it is also good practice to ensure they are not alone.
External IT consulting service providers like SMY are a good option throughout the year – especially at Christmas time.
We don’t need access to your physical infrastructure for most of our work and can monitor your servers and systems automatically from afar. You can rest assured that we’ll be in touch should we detect anything wrong.
At SMY we are not just specialists in diagnostics, cybersecurity and support – we are experts in cloud-based storage. Our innovative systems help keep your data safe and secure, alleviating the stress at any time of year.
We will help you ensure everything is ready for the Christmas break and help make for a stress-free return in January.
Work with us to help keep your business and its most valuable assets safe.
Visit our services page to learn more about the support we offer or give our friendly team a call on 01473 557203.
They are always on hand to help, especially outside of normal working hours to help lessen the disruption to our users.
- Ian Walters -