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Six Security Tips to Increase Your Data Privacy

Security is not exciting and most ignore it but here are six security tips to increase your data privacy.  These are simple and can save you a lot of time and money.

As a managed IT services provider in Toronto, our goal has always been to improve data privacy and security awareness within our client sites by using industry best practices.  There is plenty you can do to increase your data security and privacy. You should address the following points with your IT department or IT consulting to ensure your company data is secure.

Secure Your Mobile Devices

Bring your own device (BYOD) is being used by almost everyone which means another security threat that needs to be addressed. Everyone should lock their phone and computer with a password or a pin.  This is an easy security measure however it is overlooked by many organizations. If you are using Microsoft 365 for your business email, you should look into Exchange ActiveSync policies for managing devices in Microsoft 365 as your can force mobile device that are accessing your company email to have security enabled.

Careful What You Share

You should be very careful on what information you share. Sharing your personal information on the internet or via email opens you up to cyber attack.  As a company, you should create a policy of what is shared and how it is shared.  Only share with trusted sources and we sure to use sharing options that can limit the time something is available.  Many cloud sharing programs such as OneDrive for Business, DropBox Business or CloudSync File Share offer these security sharing options.

Two-step Authentication Goes a Long Way

Two-step authentication should be used and becoming more popular as it is an effective method to protecting your passwords. Two-step authentication offers two layers of security as it requires your username, password as well as a one-time code such as a code sent to your phone or your fingerprint.  When possible, you should always use two-factor authentication for your IT services such as your email account.  Here are two articles to consider for two-step authentication, Set up multi-factor authentication for Microsoft 365 users or How Azure Multi-Factor Authentication works.

Always Install Software Updates

You should always maintain an up-to-date system. It is important that your operating systems, anti-virus and apps installed are updated regularly. Updates are constantly being issued by software companies to protect them from vulnerabilities, fixes for bugs and performance improvements. You should install those updates as soon as possible to reduce your risk. If you are working with a managed IT services provider, you should verify that they are using business class remote monitoring and management (RMM) software to proactively manage and update your workstations, laptops and servers.

Protect Yourself from Cloud Services

Cloud services are the future and have made life easy however since it is all in the cloud, you do have to protect yourself for security concerns. Many companies are now using cloud services to store files however there is now a greater risk for theft, cybercriminals and breaches.  To protect yourself, you should start by securing your data with a strong password and password protect your folder if using a cloud services file sharing program.  Once again, you should enable two-step verification for an extra layer of security at login and encrypt your data. You also must ensure which third-party apps have permission to access your cloud services file sharing program like OneDrive for Business, DropBox Business or CloudSync File Share. Review your account settings to check which apps you have granted permission for access.

Be Careful When Using Public Wireless (WiFi) Access

There is plenty of free WiFi around including Starbucks, McDonalds, Tim Hortons or the airport however you must use some caution.  When using open public wireless (WiFi), do not access anything sensitive such as you bank account or highly confidential data. If you do have to access a file, you should change your password as soon as you get on a trusted connection.  You should also disable automatically connecting to available Wireless (WiFi). If you do use public wireless (WiFi), you should use VPN (Virtual Private Network) or Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) to connect to your IT infrastructure.

Does your network meet these six security tips to increase your data privacy? Let our complimentary network and security assessment put you to the test.

365 iT SOLUTIONS is 100% Toronto-based IT consulting firm that works with Canada’s leading companies to outsource or support their IT infrastructure needs including strategic IT consulting, guaranteed response time, and reliable internal IT staff. This is all tied to our industry leading Managed IT ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesTech Support Services and Cloud Services.