Top 3 IT Compliance Issues that affect your Business
Businesses face many challenges with keeping customers happy and staying within IT compliance. Compliance adds more overhead and requires more expertise than your team may have, and issues in this space can take many forms. Let’s look at three of the more common areas of compliance businesses struggle in.
Bring your own device (BYOD)
Companies can provide company cell phones or allow their employees to use their own devices for business use. Both options have their own risks. Company phones need security in case they are lost or stolen, but BYOD devices can be difficult to manage since they are all personal property.
Indeed, mobile phones carry risks, and they must follow IT compliance rules to keep your business data safe. For example, without a policy to comply with, team members can unknowingly bring malware into your systems.
A managed IT service provider (MSP) can help you make the right choice between a company-owned device or BYOD. MSPs can also secure either option to keep your data safe.
Vendor management
Working with vendors creates a unique security risk because you are not in charge of their networks. This brings to mind the phrase, “I can’t control what you do. I can only control what I do.” Vendors have their own networks to manage, and if they are infected, they can bring that into your company.
Third-party security incidents are becoming more of a problem these days. An example of a recent breach involves General Electric (GE). GE experienced a security event through one of its business partners. An unauthorized party accessed an email account of the vendor, which led to personal and financial data becoming compromised.
Another example involves P&N bank. P&N lost the personal and financial information of customers when a system on a third-party hosting provider was upgraded. These two stories point out the need to make sure vendor relationships are secure.
MSPs like SecureTech can determine exactly how your vendors should access your systems. Taking the right steps can help make sure your systems are safe when working with vendors.
Software management (patching and updates)
Keeping patches and software updates current is critical to your security, but it can be difficult to do. On the one hand, if you don’t update your systems, it is likely that you are leaving yourself open to an attack. Patches help to close holes that a hacker might try to take advantage of.
On the other hand, patching may leave you with a slow or vulnerable system. For example, if you have lots of legacy apps in your system, they might become unusable because of an update.
It is important to keep a balance between keeping your business safe and keeping it up and running. We can decide which patches and updates are critical and how and when they should be installed.
How SecureTech can help with IT compliance
An MSP like SecureTech in San Antonio, TX can serve you by bringing in expertise and years of knowledge on how to deal with these issues. Indeed, we have a lot of experience helping clients achieve IT compliance and maintain security. Focusing on your business should be your main priority – leave the rest to us!
If you are ready to learn more about how we can help secure your company, contact us today.