| If you have a small business with a few workstations | | | | Another step a businessman can take is to have |
| at the office, you'll still need to take active steps in | | | | network security experts conduct a seminar within the |
| protecting your network. After all, you'll never know | | | | office to be attended by all network users. People |
| what any of your employees could be up to while | | | | usually put their computers or networks at risk due to |
| surfing the net. Although they wouldn't will it to | | | | the absence of knowledge about these risks. By |
| compromise the security of the network nor your | | | | carefully taking the time to inform employees about |
| business, some of them unknowingly do so due to lack | | | | the dangers associated with certain Internet activities |
| of education. They may think there's nothing wrong | | | | such as file-sharing using peer-to-peer sites and |
| with clicking a link on a spam mail they got when that | | | | downloading software whose integrity is unknown. |
| link would have linked them directly to a hacker' s | | | | When people are aware of the presence of threats, |
| website. In other words, there has to be a way for | | | | they would usually take it upon themselves to be more |
| employee's browsing habits to be monitored and | | | | careful an d conscious of their Internet activities in the |
| observed in order for your network technician to know | | | | future, unless the intention is really to compromise the |
| what dangers he may be up against when it comes to | | | | network. |
| keeping the network in good shape. | | | | Of course, to make sure that important files are never |
| Moves to protect a network definitely need to be fully | | | | affected and always accessible for retrieval in case |
| functional, which means they must not leave out any | | | | problems with the computers or the network come up, |
| chance for the dangers to find their way into the | | | | it is recommended that all of such files be safeguarded |
| network. There has to be an administrator who will be | | | | with backups on a remote access server site. You'll |
| in charge solely of keeping it clean and working well. | | | | never know when a bug begins to strike and wipe out |
| Sometimes, small businessmen take this for granted, | | | | your entire hard drive. Just to not leave anything to |
| not realizing that one false move by an uneducated or | | | | chance, which could mean too great a loss, it is |
| reckless employee can get all computers on the | | | | important to have backups all the time. |
| network to crash. Definitely, the administrator should be | | | | In terms of prevention of online risks, a good move |
| consistently what people using the network are using it | | | | would be to install an IP changing software. With this |
| for. There must be clear guidelines on the use of the | | | | program, anyone on the network is able to surf the |
| Internet. In fact, Internet usage that is not directly | | | | web with their IP address hidden. And when the IP is |
| related to the job at hand must be banned altogether | | | | hidden, so is that link between the hacker and his |
| to reduce the risk of compromising the network's | | | | victim. |
| security. | | | | |