Top 10 Tips For A Safer 2010

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...By leaving the default account name and password on test systems hackers can very easily infiltrate the network and take over. Names and passwords should be changed upon immediate connection to the network to avoid hacking.

7. Always authenticate callers

Authenticating callers might seem like a redundant process for administrators when they can recognize the voice of the caller; however, giving out password changes or other confidential information over the phone without following a proper authentication process could lead to security problems that often cannot be traced back to their point of origin and thus all the...

...harder to detect and deal with.

8. Maintain and test backups

Failing to maintain backups of the system is practically unheard of by IT administrators but actually testing the backups and confirming that your disaster recovery plan actually works is another issue. Firstly proper backups must be created on a regular basis and kept in a safe place off site. If this step is being done then the next thing is to actually ensure that the backups work in case of an emergency. Backups that don't work are of no use and the work that went into creating them has effectively been a waste of time. Having proper backups is a lot easier and cheaper than creating the data from scratch.

9. Test your disaster recovery plan

Your disaster recovery plan is probably a work of art in theory and looks great all planned out on paper filed away in your disaster recovery folder, but how does it work in practice? Have you actually simulated a disaster situation where your back ups need to be used in order to get your systems back up and running so that work can continue and loss of revenue is kept to a minimum? Planning... continued on page four >

 

 

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