Lower your company's IT security risk

Don’t want your company to end up like Sony Pictures, federal Department of Personnel Management, or Anthem? Then consider these five things to prevent security breaches and keep your organization from becoming a victim.

Conduct a formal IT security audit or risk assessment
If you do not keep detailed asset management records of all your hardware, software and data sets, then you are either overspending or underspending on information technology security.

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Moving to the cloud has risks

Providers sell the cloud as an appealing alternative to running business applications out of your own data center. The cloud avoids large capital investments in facilities, hardware infrastructure and software licensing. It provides predicable budget outlays year after year. It also reduces workload so your staff can focus on activities like documenting business requirements and designing solutions.

But while providers do an excellent job of selling those benefits, they do little to explain the risks. Below are five critical areas to consider when looking to deploy a new application, or move an existing application, to the cloud. 

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Caution in adopting Internet-of-Things (IoT)

The Internet of Things puts computing technology in nontraditional devices — that is, things other than desktops, tablets and smartphones. A network interface allows these devices to communicate over private networks and the Internet. Think: My refrigerator knows we’re out of milk so it contacts the store to order another gallon.

You may think this futuristic vision is a long way from practical application in your business. But the technology industry is betting differently — and pushing hard to make it appealing to your business. The industry analyst Gartner expects the Internet of Things — shorthanded as IoT — to grow from just under a billion devices reported in 2009 to 26 billion by 2020. The giant network technology company Cisco is even more bullish, estimating 50 billion by 2020.

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Danger in your Data Center

Last April I wrote about the risks of using the Windows XP desktop operating system after Microsoft support for that system expired. On July 15, another important Microsoft operating system is reaching the end of its supported life: Windows Server 2003. This presents a far more severe risk for your business.

One reason is simply the potential scope of impact. Unlike a desktop computer, a server hosts an application or database across an entire department, line of business or even the whole company. The scope is compounded for small businesses because many extend their hardware investment by running multiple applications and databases across one server.

The second factor, a potentially larger risk, is increased exposure to a data breach. After July 15, security updates will no longer be available for Server 2003. This means any new exploits could provide a doorway into your company’s most sensitive data.

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Reduce the Risk of Buying the Wrong Technology

We've all experienced the pain of buying a new technology to solve a problem and then discovering it didn't meet our expectations, was incompatible with other devices or software, or a better alternative existed, maybe at a better price. The pain might be a sting if it's a consumer item that costs a few hundred dollars. The pain is very different if it's a business technology that costs the organization tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.

A request for proposal, or RFP, is the tool I recommend to minimize risks of buying the wrong technology or hiring the wrong provider.

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Is Today's Internet Ready for Tomorrow's Innovation?

The Internet is an amazing network, but in its current state is it capable of sustaining the innovation pipeline of tomorrow's technologies and services? Let's look at three evolutions that will drastically increase the future demands of the Internet.

Evolution #1 - The Internet of Things (IoT)

The Internet of Things is essentially how non-traditional computing devices (devices excluding PCs, tablets and smartphones) can be managed, monitored and/or measured using computing and networking technologies.

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Disaster Recovery requires all 3 ingredients - People, Process & Technology

It’s Monday morning. You sit down at your desk, log into your computer and start your most important application. It fails. You reboot, but the application fails again. Now what?

My hope is you have all three key ingredients — technology, process and people — required to recover.

Unfortunately companies of all sizes make costly mistakes in all three areas. The biggest mistakes I routinely see:

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Windows XP is on its last legs

On April 8, Windows XP will reach its end of life after a nearly 13-year run, and Microsoft will discontinue support for the PC operating system. The software giant even has a dedicated page on its website with a countdown ticker and information on effects of the upcoming expiration.

Many might ask: So what? Who would still be running a 12-year-old operating system? More than you probably think. Windows XP has the second largest desktop operating system install base in the world, behind only Windows 7. It is a fairly significant share, too — nearly 30 percent of the desktop market, according to web analytics and market research firm Net Applications.


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