Last week I received a call from a colleague who runs a computer forensics company. It was a real fire drill. A client of theirs, hundreds of miles away, which shall remain un-named, had to fire their IT Director on the spot due to some disturbing allegations.
On that very day, we needed to lock down their network and secure their data. We changed passwords, blocked access, discovered and patched holes that could allow this person or others back into the systems if they decided to delete data or do anything else to compromise the company’s assets.
When we began to look at email, nobody at the sizeable organization knew anything about how email was delivered, or where it came from. We quickly found out that they had commercial Gmail as their mail system. Since the IT Director was the only administrator of the account, we didn’t have the passwords.
In this particular case, the password was provided by the accused party without argument, and the email was able to be secured, but it raised major red flags thinking about security in the cloud for small businesses.
In this instance with Gmail, if the password had not been given up, it could have taken days to get Google to change the administrator password on the company’s email. Google obviously is not going to do that for anyone, and you will need to prove you are who you say you are before any changes are made.
Since there was no email archiving taking place, and there was no email continuity solution either, this time gap would have provided the IT Director unlimited access to the mail. He could have deleted incriminating data and down from there.
There are some simple steps that your business should take to avoid being in such a vulnerable position. If your corporate data is presided over by any individual – whether IT staff of not – with complete administration rights, play close attention.
- Have a password policy in place that keeps passwords documented and encrypted. Use a product like Ironkey or similar
- Use a third party email archiving service to archive email and comply with eDiscovery rules. You never know when this may become critical in an internal HR issue, as in this example. Just archiving email to another server in the office would not have helped this situation at all.
- Use a third party email continuity service. Usually implemented to avoid business interruption during technical difficulties and Internet outages, the right continuity product can actually be an invaluable security tool by giving you the ability to re-route your hijacked email and keep your business running during a security incident.
- Keep detailed documentation on your network resources, hardware, IP addresses, DNS service, etc. Having this information will save time and money if a third party has to understand your network in a hurry.
- Develop a simple “expert system” – a written process with a succession plan, contingencies and simple SOPs (standard operating procedures) so everyone knows what to do during a security breach.
Almost every security incident and the resulting damage to small businesses that we ever see are avoidable. Security on the cloud is no different. The combination of common sense, basic organization, and a trusted advisor to set things up and monitor them for you will always allow you to sleep easier.
Copyright
© 2010 Skyrope, LLC. All right reserved
Amazing wordpress blog, keep me through searching it, I am really interested to learn much more about it.
Advantageously, the article is actually the greatest topic on curing acne naturally. I concur with your conclusions and will eagerly look forward to your coming updates. Saying thanks will not just be enough, for the phenomenal lucidity in your writing. I will immediately grab your rss feed to stay informed of any updates.
Took me time to read all the comments, but I really enjoyed the article. It proved to be Very helpful to me and I am sure to all the commenters here! It’s always nice when you can not only be informed, but also entertained!
Great Article, i Play Poker in higher Limits and make a Lot of Money Only with RakeBack.
I like the layout of your blog and Im going to do the same for mine. Do you have any tips? Please PM ME.
Advantageously, the article is actually the greatest topic on curing acne naturally. I concur with your conclusions and will eagerly look forward to your coming updates. Saying thanks will not just be enough, for the phenomenal lucidity in your writing. I will immediately grab your rss feed to stay informed of any updates.
Its very informative and interesting article.all the points are very useful. Simple but very effective writing. Thanks for sharing such a nice post.
Advantageously, the post is in reality the freshest topic on curing acne naturally. I concur with your conclusions and will thirstily look forward to your upcoming updates. Just saying thanks will not just be enough, for the phenomenal clarity in your writing. I will right away grab your rss feed to stay abreast of any updates.
I’ve read some good stuff here. Definitely worth bookmarking for revisiting.
After reading this posting, I pondered the same point that I invariably wonder about when scanning new blogs and forums. Just what do I think about this? Precisely how ought to it effect me? This and extra posts on your weblog right here certainly give some stuff to take into account. I basically ended up here through Yahoo when I was first performing some internet study for some course perform that I’ve. Always excellent times browsing by way of and I’m hopeful that you’ll maintain on writing new posts. Cheers!
Useful site, keep myself through checking it, I am truly serious to find out much more about it.
Advantageously, the post is in reality the freshest topic on curing acne naturally. I concur with your conclusions and will thirstily look forward to your upcoming updates. Just saying thanks will not just be enough, for the phenomenal clarity in your writing. I will right away grab your rss feed to stay abreast of any updates.
Excellent read, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing a little research on that. And he actually bought me lunch because I found it for him smile So let me rephrase that: Thanks for lunch!
Great to see you back. And again having an interesting posting.
I am happy to find so many useful information here in the post, we need develop more strategies in this regard, thanks for sharing. . . . . .
Thanks for good article. Hope to see more soon. . . . .
That is some inspirational stuff. Never knew that opinions could be this varied. Thanks for all the enthusiasm to offer such helpful information here.
This is a Excellent,common sense article.Pretty Aidful to A single who is just finding the resouces about this Component.It will Unquestionably Aid educate me.
I accept you and it certainly gonna help lot of people.
Hey – nice blog, just looking around some blogs, seems a pretty nice platform you are using. I’m currently using Wordpress for a few of my sites but looking to change one of them over to a platform similar to yours as a trial run. Anything in particular you would recommend about it?
Very nice and helpful information has been given in this article. I like the way you explain the things. Keep posting. Thanks. . .
Wow, very interesting article. It’s funny how history can be twisted in so many different ways. These photos certainly give us clues, but I guess we’ll never know the true story. . . .
Nice site, I just dugg this keep up the good work!. . . . . .
Hello, my group is just establishing our first website, searching and working out what is needed. This blog stuck out right away. I’m fired up about this, and adore the design of your site. Are you able to let me know what “theme” it is?
I’ve read some good stuff here. Definitely worth bookmarking for revisiting.
wow, great, I was wondering how to cure acne naturally. and found your site by google, learned a lot, now i’m a bit clear. I’ve bookmark your site and also add rss. keep us updated.
I tried to subscribe to your rss feed, but had a problem adding it to google reader. Could you please check this out.
i utilized to have exact same issue and still do each once and awhile… right after hearing so much damaging crap from individuals i started to consider points they were sayin and what i could do to alter that… like ur in no way gonna do something w. ur existence…. ok so i started going to college and i know its really difficult to listen to that stuff but some individuals are always gonna do it…. if you are happy with yourself and your existence tell em to suck a duck (lol) and forget about it hope
Thanks for the sharing really usefull. I would like to bookmark this site.
Nice post. As the CEO of WV Writing Services I cruise the Internet searching for more helpful information to put to use to better serve our clients. I love your post and will be back for more.
Thanks for good article. Hope to see more soon. . . . .
I was extremely pleased to find this website.I desired to thank you for this good read I certainly enjoying each and every small bit of it and We’ve you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post.
It was a very cool idea! Simply want to say thank you for that content you have shared. Just carry on publishing this sort of content. I most certainly will stay your loyal reader. Thank you.
This is a good blog. Keep up all the work. I too love blogging and expressing my opinions. Thanks
My Mom sent me to this blog and she is absolutely right. Keep up all your great work.
That’s Too nice, when it comes in india hope it can make a Rocking place for youngster.. hope that come true.
That’s just epic. Thanks for that practical post.
really liking this weblog, and hope this, as well as the excellent article some other people have written, will help people
Awesome post. I hope other people had straightforward and focused posts similar to yours. Many thanks
No, you can’t wear it as everyday casual wear, because of the spikes. Its like trying to wear cleats out. If you tried wearing them to just go out in, they wouldn’t be comfortable at all.
educate me.
Great site and nice text.
A thoughtful opinion and ideas I will use on my blog. You’ve obviously spent a lot of time on this. Congratulations!
Considerably, the article is in reality the best on this valuable subject matter. I concur with your conclusions and will thirstily appear forward for your upcoming updates. Just stating thanks is not going to just be adequate, for that excellent lucidity in your writing. I will immediately grab your rss feeds to remain abreast of any updates. Solid perform and very much achievement inside your organization enterprise!
What I dont comprehend is how you are not even a lot more popular than you might be now. You’re just so wise. You know so very much about this subject, made me look at it from so many diverse sides. Its like people arent interested unless it has something to do with Rhianna! Your stuff is fantastic. Keep it up!
Another new inclusion, I truly couldn’t have explained that much better myself.
Spotted a link to this post over at Stumbleupon. Thanks for posting it. I’m sure I’ll be back one day.
This is a remarkable post, but sometimes I think I have to disagree with your takes and ideas on some posts. On the other hand, I just can’t stop reading the things you blog about because it’s written so perfectly and straight to the point. It’s great to know that some people continue to take the time to think about what they are posting about. I have a piano related blog and if you are into playing piano it would be great if you could have a look. I am just beginning and I could really use a few tips or pointers. Hopefully some day my blog can be as great as yours and I will have visitors that actually stick around. Anyway sorry for the long response and I hope you continue to blog unlike some people who just all of a sudden quit. Thank you and I’ll be checking back often!
Will be back soon, lovely post, thanks again have bookmarked you!