Pearl safeguards your data through secure access control, encryption and a regimented backup strategy, so all that is left to protect is your password – the snippet of information that verifies your identity online. To prevent impersonation by a malicious user your password must be kept private. There are many ways this secret data can be gleaned (including spyware, stray pieces of paper and lost laptops), so you need to be careful.

October was the US government’s National Cyber Security Awareness Month, and many companies took the opportunity to advise their users how best to protect themselves online. Computer security relies on threat awareness, as the oft cited Sun Tzu states:

“against those skilled in defense, the enemy does not know where to attack”

Conversely an uninformed,  loose security policy will offer nuggets of confidential information to any potential attacker that chooses to look for them.

Here is a round up of the most informative security related articles published during the last month:

• Choosing a smart password: Google addresses insecure password selection in this article, highlighting password re-use, how to avoid common words and patterns, the relationship between your personal information and your passwords and how to remember your password without a pen and paper. You may be surprised how insecure your password really is.
• Keep your small business safe: 10 tips: Microsoft covers virtual as well as physical security – one of the most overlooked aspects of computer protection. Many businesses consider anti-virus and firewalls sufficient defence from intrusion and data theft, however reliance on these technologies is unsafe in the face of hardware theft, for example.
• Stay Safe Online Blog: The National Cyber Security Alliance’s Stay Safe Online blog is host to a glut of informative articles  including posts concerning social media, identity protection and cyber attacks.
• Cyber Security Tips: The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team’s thorough Cyber Security Tips archive covers every conceivable aspect of online security, and is a great resource to learn about specific aspects of the threats presented to today’s web user.
• Gmail account security tips: For the companies turning to Google Apps to host their mail services, this post from Google concerning email safety provides  some less obvious warnings, including directions to force secure communication with Google’s servers.
• Cyber Security Awareness: YouTube hosts an informative Cyber Security Awareness channel, paying special attention to updating your computers’ defences.

Using Pearl means that you have the secure storage,  processing and retention of your data covered, the failure of which is commonly associated with business collapse (as many as 60% of businesses fold within 6 months of serious data loss); however the value of your data to a competitive third party should not be underestimated. As a chain’s strength lies in its weakest link, so your company’s security policy must safeguard against a broad range of threats  to fully  secure your presence online.

Stay safe!

This entry was posted on Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 1:40 pm and is filed under Security. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.