Hackers are getting better all the time.  More and more people seem to get a kick out of creating and distributing viruses that can paralyze your system.  Ex-employees and competitors might have something to gain from gathering or destroying critical data on your system.  That's the bad news.

The good news is that there are ways of protecting yourself from this kind of attack.

Virus protection software.  Many authors have excellent products available.  Systems can be configured so that the latest data on potential threats is automatically downloaded from the Internet and then distributed to each and every desktop in your organization.

Firewalls.  Keeping unwanted intrusions to zero is a worthwhile goal.  There are firewalls designed to do just that.  Some setups allow for limited access to web servers or email servers while keeping your inner network exposure fully protected.  You can use VPN's (Virtual Private Networks) for your off site communication links to vendors, employees and remote offices.

Password Implementation.  As strange as this might sound, few companies take advantage of the password protection built right into their system or application software.  This is a feature you owe yourself to get fully implemented.

Proper Backups. The single, best protection for your all important business data is to have a solid backup on a frequent basis.  Part of this process is to verify the backed up data is readable.  You would be well served to put in a formal procedure that is unerringly followed to both back up and verify your data. 

Business Continuation Plan.  When all else fails, or you loose your data to an unavoidable catastrophe, you need a plan to keep your business going.  See the section on Business Continuation by clicking here.  [Next Topic]