Posts Tagged ‘computer security’

Is IT security pushed to the back burner?

Due to a number of problems in organizations, IT security too often gets pushed to the back burner. After a breach happens, IT often blames management, and management often blames IT. A wise friend told me many times, “It is not about fixing the blame; it is about fixing the problem.”

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Posted by Mike Foster in Best Practices, IT Security on February 10th, 2010.

Tags: computer security, IT Security, professionals, Working With IT People

Do we need more government regulation?

I was giving a presentation in 2009, and a CEO of a successful corporation talked about how he received one of those letters saying, “Your data may have been obtained by hackers due to a data breach.” He asked, “What can we do to get the other businesses in the world to keep our data safe?”

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Posted by Mike Foster in IT Security on February 3rd, 2010.

Tags: computer security, IT Security, Keep Your Network Safe, network security

Online safety not a priority for families?

I’m having a revelation in my career—home users care more about other issues than they care about IT security. Can this be true?

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Posted by Mike Foster in Best Practices, IT Security on January 27th, 2010.

Tags: computer security, protect, recommendations, secure

Banks suggest you dedicate one PC for online banking

USA Today reports that the American Bankers Association (ABA) recommends small and mid-sized businesses dedicate a computer to use only for online banking, and avoid using any other computers for online banking. While this may sound good, it can create headaches in practice.

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Posted by Mike Foster in Best Practices, IT Security, Save time, Technology on January 20th, 2010.

Tags: computer security, network security, professionals, recommendations

Pros and cons of “In the cloud” computing

A client wrote me recently asking about a plain English explanation of what the term “in the cloud” is all about and the pros and cons. They are probably using some services “in the cloud” already and don’t realize it.

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Posted by Mike Foster in Best Practices, IT Security, Technology on December 30th, 2009.

Tags: computer security, Internet, professionals

Executives say it is hard to enforce IT policies

I see this all the time. Executives say “we do not restrict our users from going to inappropriate web sites” or “we do not force our employees to change passwords—some have had the same password for 10 years.”

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Posted by Mike Foster in Best Practices, IT Security on December 9th, 2009.

Tags: computer security, IT network safety, IT security procedures, network security, protect

When it comes to passwords, length is what matters

Ever heard the rumor that you need upper case letters, lower case letters, symbols, and numbers in your passwords? This is called “password complexity.” If you have to keep password complexity for compliance reasons, you have no choice, but otherwise—make your life easier—just switch to passwords that are 15 characters or longer—commonly referred to as passphrases.

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Posted by Mike Foster in Best Practices, IT Security on November 18th, 2009.

Tags: computer security, IT, IT network safety, protect, recommendations, secure

A simple way to learn to increase your personal internet safety

When I speak, the audience is always very interested in “How can I make my home computer safer?” Find free short videos in plain English about being safe online at www.LearnToBeSafeOnline.com. Please go check out the site and give me feedback about making it better. I need your help – the goal is for us to make the internet a safe place by 10/10/10! Please tell your friends and work associates!

Posted by Mike Foster in Best Practices, IT Security on October 21st, 2009.

Tags: computer security, Internet, Keep Your Network Safe, protect, recommendations

Prepare for users working from home during Swine Flu

There is concern about the Swine Flu causing problems this fall. Will your workers be able to work from home? The government web site about the Swine Flu is http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/

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Posted by Mike Foster in Best Practices, IT Security on September 16th, 2009.

Tags: computer security, IT Security, Keep Your Network Safe, network security, news

For real–beware attachments in e-mail

Everyone should know better, but executives seem to think they are special. Organized cyber-gangs are sending an e-mail message directly to small and midsized company’s CFO with an attachment that installs a tool to steal banking passwords. Then the criminals transfer money out of the company’s accounts.

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Posted by Mike Foster in Best Practices, IT Security on September 9th, 2009.

Tags: computer security, IT network safety, Keep viruses out of your network, protect