One of the publications I follow regularly is IT World Canada. Regular readers of this blog will know that I refer to some of their articles frequently, partially because they take a broad view of what constitutes I.T. and that helps me to see a wide variety of issues which can affect office environments.
One area which never seems to go away is the field of computer and other electronic device security. In the past few weeks IT World Canada has devoted a lot of article space to IT security and these concerns and it says to me that vigilance is a necessity for network administrators, business owners and computer users of all levels. At times the threats appear to be largely consumer focused but unfortunately they don't remain in that realm and business users need to be aware of the potential for problems as well. 
Administrators and business managers need to make sure their employees understand that accessing questionable sites or opening unknown emails on a corporate device, workstation, laptop, tablet or phone can lead to serious complications for the business. A single incident can bring a network to its knees if the protections which are deployed fail to catch the intrusion. While admins work hard to put the right tools in place for protection the best protection is in the hands of the user who avoids accessing questionable online material. Questionable can mean unknown addresses, unusual websites, or emails with strange or no subjects. Not sending around 'viral' type emails designed to get people to share files is another good caution.
Recent headlines
Hackers are finding Canada: Report
Security and privacy concerns raised around Internet of Things
Factory reset not enough to sanitize Android phones: Researchers
The reference articles are examples of some of the concerns that are being highlighted for consideration by Canadian businesses and other organizations. Of course there are other steps which need to be taken so that you are protected in the event of a failure of your systems. A comprehensive approach to network security and backup is a required practice for every business in our connected world.
Lee K
