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From corrupted software to cyberattacks, there are all kinds of IT disasters that can affect businesses. These disasters can lead to loss of important information, downtime, reputation damage and expensive recovery costs. To prevent these issues, here are just some of the protective measures that your business can take.
Back it up
Backing up data - either on the cloud or another hard drive - can protect you against many IT disasters. You should never store important data on a single computer’s hard drive. If this computer is damaged or stolen, you’ll lose this data. Having backup files means that you can keep your business running from another machine. It can also help in the event of a cyberattack - if you get ransomware on your system and your files are taken hostage, you can simply switch to your backup files to avoid having to pay a ransom.
Set strong passwords
Many cyberattacks are still the result of passwords being cracked or leaked. To avoid passwords being hacked, get into a habit of setting strong passwords that are longer than 12 characters. Don’t use the same password for everything and try to change passwords every few months. Many passwords have already been leaked onto the dark web without people realising - using different passwords for different accounts can prevent someone gaining access to a password from accessing multiple accounts, while regularly changing passwords can ensure that any old leaked passwords are defunct. A password manager can help you to keep track of your passwords.
Outsource IT support
It’s useful to have experts available who can quickly fix IT problems and provide added monitoring and protection. While you can hire in-house IT staff, this can be expensive and they won’t be able to protect your company around the clock (unless you have a team of in-house IT experts). Outsourcing IT support is a better option as it is cheaper, plus many offer a 24/7 service. You can compare managed technology services online. Many of these companies are able to fix problems remotely, however choosing a local company could be useful in cases where issues need to be dealt with in person.
Don’t delay repairs
If you notice that hardware is playing up or software is getting buggy, make sure that you get repairs done in good time. Small IT issues can quickly evolve into bigger issues - a computer that is slow and lagging may eventually crash and never turn on. Early repairs could reduce any downtime (especially if you can schedule them to be done out of working hours) and could also be cheaper than repairs later down the line.
Know when to upgrade
All tech eventually becomes outdated. It’s important to upgrade to new tech solutions once old ones start slowing your business down. Old hardware that is starting to develop issues should be replaced before it completely fails in order to avoid periods of downtime. Old software should meanwhile be upgraded before it loses support - such software will stop receiving new patches once its support expires, which could leave it open to unfixable bugs and new cyberattack methods.
