4 Must-Have IT Tools for Small Business Risk Management

By: Karl Bickmore, CEO, Snap Tech IT

It seems all we hear about today is IT security; or rather, we hear all the horror stories of businesses, utilities, city governments, etc., being taken down by the latest version of exploit or ransomware.

We regularly meet with new companies that have reached out for IT assistance. Most of the time, we find that even the bare-minimum security tools aren’t in place. In fact, we find there’s a huge lack of awareness about their existence and importance.

Small businesses should know about these top four IT Tools for risk management:

1. Anti-Ransomware
   Many small businesses have antivirus tools. They may have anti-spam tools as well. We rarely see customers with a specific and proven anti-ransomware tool. This is amazing to us, as it’s quickly become the most common malicious attack on small businesses. We have had incredibly good results with the Sophos product lines for security solutions, and highly recommend them. We recommend:
   InterceptX

2. Dual Factor Authentication
   With all the compromises out there, the risk that a business password can become known to criminals and attackers is enormous. Due to these criminals’ incredible hacking success, the only effective way to stop these known password attacks is to implement dual-factor solutions. You’re probably using dual factor with your bank or other services that are secure. It can be as simple as a verification text message you receive before you can finish logging in, or a one-time code that is displayed in an app on your smartphone. You should have all-remote access to your network protected by dual-factor authentication. You should also protect your email with this. It’s a great way to keep email from being vulnerable to phishing attacks. We recommend:
   AuthAnvil
   Duo Security
3. Full Disk Encryption
   As data vulnerability is becoming more of a liability every day, you must increase your data protection. Computers and notebook systems are easily compromised if someone gets their hands on the physical device. A great way to protect the data on these systems is to encrypt them. That way, if a bad actor obtains the computer, or the hard disk from inside the computer, they can’t gain access to its data. Without this protection, access to files on the computer is a trivial task.We recommend:
   Sophos Safeguard

4. Email Encryption
   Email security should be a key concern for the safety of your business. It’s the most common way sensitive data is leaked to unknown sources.A great way to protect your data is to implement an email encryption tool. This allows users to encrypt an email. Whoever receives the email can’t look at its contents or attachments without proving they are the intended recipient.With the correct configuration of Office 365, you can have email encryption turned on for a $2.00/user monthly fee.A more comprehensive email encryption tool costs a bit more, but makes sense if you want more sophistication with your encryption capabilities. Take a look at the Zix email encryption tool for a more comprehensive tool that carries a higher investment.

   We recommend:
   Office 365 Security tools
   Zix