Business IT Checklist: Can you tick off these IT essentials?
With the start of the new financial year comes the opportunity to reassess where your business stands in all domains. To help you out, we’ve compiled an IT checklist you can stack your business against to ensure your IT is helping to protect and grow your business!
1. Cyber Guard
With malicious cyber-attacks becoming stronger, simply having anti-virus software doesn’t cut it anymore in 2024. This is where Cyber Guard comes in. Cyber Guard is an all-in-one solution and arguably the most important item on this checklist. It encompasses the following:
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Business Continuity
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Disaster Recovery
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Malware Prevention
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Security Controls
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Remote Assistance Monitoring
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Reporting
Proactive, active and reactive approaches are all taken with Cyber Guard. However, proactive tools like security controls are crucial because it is easier to prevent issues then fix them.
2. Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery
Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery (BCDR) is about as close to magic as you can get. BCDR is a series of processes designed to protect your local system from disasters and keep your business running after a malicious attack or an event. This is primarily done by adding exact copies of your machines into the cloud.
This includes practices such as local backups, complete replications of your system and software from one server to another, frequent testing of the restore process as well as 1 – 12 hour computer snapshots.
Most business insurance providers also require the company to have an active business continuity plan and ready template in place.
3. Backup
Backups are a staple of every IT cyber protection strategy. If there was one thing you need, it’s this. Backups are copies of your data, files, and software stored in a second location in the event your primary system fails or is hacked.
The big benefit of this is it benefits your customers just as much as it does you, by minimising the downtime between an event and you running at full capacity again. The other primary benefit is protection from data loss and cyber threats.
The risk of not having frequent backups can be costly. Irreversible data loss, financial losses, as well as potential data privacy compliance problems can just be the tip of the iceberg.
4. Australian Essential Eight
The Essential Eight were designed as a comprehensive cyber security mitigation strategy by the Australian Government’s Australian Signals Directorate. If each of the below eight processes are covered by an organisation, its risk of a compromised system is minimised.
If your business works with the government or submits tenders for government contracts, you might need to prove how your business is Essential Eight compliant.
The Essential Eight comprises:
1. Application control
- Approves certain apps to prevent unauthorised software running
2. Patching applications
- Regular updates prevent bugs and vulnerabilities being exploited
3. Microsoft Office macro settings configured
- Prevents macro exploitation from criminals
4. User application hardening
- Disable unnecessary features that are potentially risky
5. Restrict administrative privileges
- Limits individuals who can authorise software
6. Patch operating systems
- Frequent updates minimise lifespan of potential vulnerabilities
7. Multi-factor authentication
- Requires users to provide multiple forms of verification
8. Regular backups
- Stores duplicated data in a secondary location
5. Being proactive
Proactiveness is the common thread throughout this checklist, and for good reason. It is the #1 approach to minimising malware, corrupt files, maximising business continuity and everything in between.
Preventing issues before they arise is a thousand times easier than scrambling to resolve issues after they’ve appeared. While assessing risks and setting up robust measures may cost more in the short term, it pays for itself in the long run.
NQIT’s wealth of knowledge and experience can help set you up to stop problems before you even know they’re there.
The final word
There we have it, the 5 points you should consider as we forge ahead into the new financial year. How did your business stack up? If you’re uncertain if your business is as secure as it could be, reach out to us here. We are more than happy to help, and can even organise a complimentary IT & Cyber Security audit so you know whether you can tick off each of the above points!
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