For modern small businesses, cyber security is just as critical as traditional brick and mortar security – even if your business doesn’t have a strong online presence. Viruses, keyloggers, phishing scams, and countless bad actors who make a living stealing data and blackmailing business owners lurk around every corner of the web, including your inbox.
“A lot of these small businesses and companies say, ‘They’re not coming after me, they’re going after the big guys,’” said Tim Bucher, president and founder of Bucher Technologies (BucherTech), a Valparaiso-based IT and managed services provider. “What they’re missing is that hackers just throw things at the wall and see what sticks; they don’t see that you’re a small business and decide not to bother. They just blast out mass emails and hurt whoever bites.”
Handling these threats requires an experienced, professional hand – and Valparaiso’s BucherTech is there to be just that for Northwest Indiana’s businesses. Here are the top 10 tools are strategies they incorporate to keep Region businesses secure.
Firewall
Firewalls are the first line of defense when it comes to networking, a security system that monitors incoming and outgoing traffic for irregularities that might present a risk. A properly implemented firewall can block threats before they even enter your business’ network.
Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) – Secured Sites
If firewalls are the first line of defense, DPI is the second. Bad actors use technology to “encrypt” their efforts to compromise your network – which can sneak packets of communication through standard firewalls. BucherTech’s DPI sees through that encryption, preventing those more advanced attacks from penetrating your network.
Email Protection
The majority of ransomware attacks originate through email – affecting around 10,000 businesses a week according to some studies. BucherTech offers more secure email protection to cut down on these threats.
Email end-user training
Most of those ransomware attacks are let in through mistakes by employees. BucherTech offers training to help your team navigate those threats, and avoid the dangers they pose to your IT security. BucherTech doesn't just train they also test customers to see if they are ready for a phishing attack.
Antivirus
BucherTech offers top-of-the-line antivirus software, allowing your computers to identify, quarantine, and remove viruses.
Patch Management
The software your computers and servers rely on is constantly updating to patch the holes that bad actors use to enter your network. BucherTech offers proactive and reactive patch management, to keep your systems up-to-date.
Encryption
Encryption is when you lock down your data so that even if a bad actor gets a hold of it, they cannot read it and disseminate it to others. BucherTech can use this to secure your emails and the computer itself.
Monitoring
BucherTech offers a dynamic monitoring system that notifies you if your antivirus needs updating, if your equipment is at risk of failing, your storage is almost full, and more – helping preserve your businesses productivity by catching potential issues before they become a true problem.
Password Management
BucherTech’s password management tools memorize and organize multiple passwords, allowing you to use different ones for different tools without needing to keep them all in your head. This makes life both easier and more secure.
Multi-Factor Authorization
Multi-factor authorization adds an extra layer of security on top of your username and password. Usually, these tools generate a one-time use code that is sent to you by phone or email that you must enter in addition to your password to log-in. It adds a small amount of time to the log-in process, in exchange for additional comfort that only authorized people are using your network.
To learn more about BucherTech, visit buchertech.com.
