One missed user. One open port. One wrong security setting. There are a thousand details driving your complex computer network, and it only takes one small setting to create one big security or maintenance problem.
Anyone who has been responsible for maintaining a computer network knows what I’m talking about. But if you’re not a computer or network expert, and have been fortunate enough not to have personally experienced a computer disaster, be very glad...and maybe more than a little wary.
And, your worst computer moment is...?
Often when I meet someone new, just for conversation, I’ll ask them to tell me about their worst computer moment. And, as you might imagine, EVERYBODY has one! Somebody’s hard drive crashed, someone’s laptop fell out of their bag, someone’s PC got infected by a worm that wiped out their hard drive, someone’s email was deleted.
Then there are more serious situations: someone’s former employee stole important customer and prospect data, someone’s bookkeeper embezzled company funds, a hacker penetrated the company’s ecommerce site and grabbed a ton of credit card numbers, somebody’s web site was taken down by a denial of service attack.
An ounce of prevention
The truth is that no system is fool-proof or accident-proof. Even if you take every precaution and do everything you can to maintain and safeguard your system, something could still go wrong. But the likelihood of things like this happening drop dramatically when you take proactive steps to prevent them.
That’s why we always recommend a quick and relatively painless network assessment, at least on a quarterly basis. At The Fulcrum Group, our experts can scan your network in less than half an hour (for the average network), and produce a consolidated report that identifies risk factors which need your attention.