5 Things SMBs Can Do Right Now To Preserve Their Network and Systems

1 Backup Files Every Day – The number of businesses that never backup their network is astonishing. According to the Symantec SMB data, only 23% of SMBs are backing up their data daily. Fewer than 50% are backing up data weekly. A number of events can result in data loss. The importance of frequently backing up your network cannot be overstated.

2 Ensure Backup Procedures Are Checked Regularly – Many times business owners think they have a backup system in place only to find out when its too late that it hasn’t been working properly. It may seem like files are being backed up daily, however, the backup has become corrupt or huge chunks of critical data aren’t backed up. Check backup procedures regularly to make sure they are working properly. Be sure that ALL data can be recovered. In this age of BYOD (Bring-Your-Own-Devices) it is also important to frequently backup data on the personal laptops, iPads or Blackberrys of employees.

3 Make Sure Updated Virus Protection and Firewalls Are Always Enabled – Far too many companies either have no virus protection software installed, expired virus software licenses, or disabled virus programs that aren’t running at all. This makes their business technology vulnerable to virus attacks from emails, spam, data downloads, and other web sites. Files corrupted by a virus won’t only bring down your network but if the virus is somehow spread to customers and e-mail contacts it’s a surefire way damage your reputation as well. Roughly 40% of small-to-medium sized businesses will have their network compromised by a hacker. Chances are, they will have no clue whatsoever that they were attacked. Hackers look online for unprotected and open ports and then infiltrate whatever space they can with malicious code and files. If this malicious code cannot be removed, the hard drive will have to be reformatted and all files could potentially be lost. This is another reason why file backup is so critical in today’s business world. Updating critical security patches and changing passwords on the departure of employees are also necessary to deter hacking attempts.

4 Monitor Server Drives – Dangerously full server drives can bring on a slew of problems, ranging from program and server crashes to sluggish email delivery. Some proactive monitoring and maintenance of the server can spare businesses a lot of problems down the road. 5 Regularly Check Critical Built-In Logs – Very few tech problems emerge suddenly overnight. They typically progress and worsen over time into a more serious problem. Frequently reviewing the critical built-in log files can often indicate something is amiss before it becomes a major problem that wrecks havoc on your business infrastructure.