Small Business Security Quiz

Take this quiz to determine your Security Quotient. Preparation is the key to protecting your company’s information assets. Take this security quiz to determine your Security Quotient.
1) We have recent off-site computer backups. Yes/No
2) We have updated anti-virus software on all computers/servers. Yes/No
3) We restrict employee access to confidential information. Yes/No
4) All of our policies are documented and in written form. Yes/No
5) We have a firewall to protect us. Yes/No
6) We encrypt confidential documents/E-mail. Yes/No
7) We have a formal electronic document archiving procedure. Yes/No
8) We monitor and restrict Internet access. Yes/No
9) We performed a security assessment of our IT systems. Yes/No
10) We can distinguish an intruder from normal Internet traffic. Yes/No

Score one point for each Yes answer.
8 or more points - You are well on your way to securing your IT systems.
6 to 7 points - keep working, you may need assistance to reduce risks.
5 or fewer points - you need to make security a priority and get assistance as soon as possible.

Network and security assessments help protect your sensitive information and provide peace of mind.

Security Assessments – A Subscription Service

A matter of priority. Not every security risk is created equal. Some risks have a greater impact than others. In addition, some threats are more likely to occur than others. Security assessments help organizations allocate their budget to the areas that reduce risks.

Security is an on-going process and leading organizations are taking a subscription approach to security assessments. With new vulnerabilities discovered on a daily basis, a system that is secure one day may be completely wide open the next. Much like regular anti-virus updates, subscribing to recurring security assessments helps your organization identify weaknesses before they can be exploited. Security assessments provide specific knowledge about your system, allowing you to more effectively allocate your security budget.

Don’t wait for an unwanted intruder to discover your network vulnerabilities. A comprehensive network security assessment helps:

• Protect your image and reputation
• Reduce your costs by cost effectively allocating your security budget to the most important areas

New and Emerging Threats

One way organizations manage new and emerging threats is by performing network and security assessments and audits on a periodic basis. By reviewing your systems, people, and processes, assessments helps determine the areas that create the greatest risk.

Once the assessment has identified risk areas, the organization can quantify the likelihood of the event and implement corrective action to mitigate and reduce IT related risks. This prioritized Action Plan is a risk response mechanism that addresses the risks according to the importance to the organization.

By allocating IT funds to areas that are most critical, assessments and audits add value to the organization by:

• Helping align IT with the business
• Prioritize security spending
• Allocating resources to areas with the greatest impact

Need to Manage your Risks?

Mid-size firms have growth challenges. Many are growing quickly and don't have the resources of large firms. One mid-size organization provided employment screening and background checks. The firm was growing rapidly, attracting large clients, and expected to double in size within two years. Management was concerned that the IT staff and infrastructure cannot support the organization’s rapid growth.

They contracted with a firm to provide a network assessment amd an analysis of data backups, anti-virus, e-mail, software licensing, software patching, laptops, and many other areas. In addition to the IT infrastructure, the Work Plan included interviews with IT, management, and key users to determine if there was an alignment or satisfaction issue with IT.

The analysis included a comparison of the IT department with industry benchmarks so the organization could evaluate if they were making effective use of IT spending. The assessment also reviewed written policies, business continuity plans, and related procedures and guidelines.

The assessment identified several “hidden” issues that would have caused a disruption in business operations. The prioritized Action Plan gave the firm guidance to make immediate changes to their network infrastructure and IT staff. The organization’s management had peace of mind knowing that the plan allowed the firm double in size over the next two years.

Network assessments provide management with peace of mind and help organizations achieve growth targets.

Network Assessments

Network assessments help organizations identify, manage, and reduce their risks. While there are many forms of assessments, a typical assessment reviews the network infrastructure with the main purpose of ensuring reliability.

Typical areas reviewed include:

• Network – servers, workstations, laptops
• Scalability - performance, connectivity
• Backups – including off-site rotation
• Electronic communications - e‑mail and IM
• Software - licensing, patch management, custom
• Policies – procedures, change management

Find out more about network assessments and how they can help you enhance the reliability of your network infrastructure.

Security Tip #1 - Assessments Enhance Value

Network and security assessments and audits help determine if IT funds are effectively being used, identify and quantify IT related strengths and weaknesses, and help you focus on those areas that create the most value for your firm. Assessments are ideal for:

• Ensuring compliance (HIPAA, Sarbanes Oxley, etc.)



• Emerging and fast growing firms



• IPO ready organizations



• Organizations concerned about security



• Businesses with geographically distributed offices



• Organizations in the financial and health care industries



• Firms working with the government or large institutions



• Organizations that share and collect personal and/or proprietary data

Assessments and Business Value

While some organizations want tactical advice on the state of the IT department, others want to maximize their investment in IT by developing and implementing a formal strategy. Before an organization can develop and execute strategy, the business can use assessments to understand its IT infrastructure and related strengths and weaknesses.

Find out more about IT network and security assessments and how they can help your organization.

Security Tip #4 - Hackers, What You Need to Know

Hackers know things that you don't. That's their edge. It's the reason that they can break into networks, leaving a path of destruction in their wake. Concerned about security? Your concerns may be directly related to the value of the information you are trying to protect. For example, is your data difficult to recreate? What are the implications if someone outside the company gets access to your confidential documents? You can’t always prevent hackers from breaking in, but you can make it more difficult for them to succeed.

Why you need formal security protection:

• Hackers like the challenge of breaking into systems


• Without proper protection, any part of your network is at risk


• Hackers cause network downtime (downtime cost calculator)


• Hackers seek out weaknesses in your systems

Don't assume that ad-hoc security can protect you from Internet threats. A managed approach to security provides the protection you need.

Security Tip #8 - Security Assessments

Subscription security assessments. It is often difficult to decide where to properly allocate your security budget. Rather than simply throwing money at the problem, leading organizations use periodic security assessments to help pinpoint network security issues.

As new vulnerabilities are discovered on a daily basis, a system that is secure one day may be completely wide open the next. Much like regular anti-virus updates, subscribing to recurring security assessments helps an organization identify network security weaknesses before they can be exploited.

In addition to protecting your IT systems, periodic security assessments help protect your organization's reputation by helping identify vulnerabilities before they are exploited by unwanted intruders. Find out more about security assessments and how they can help protect your "information assets".

Fix on Fail Network Management

Managing risks. To reduce their total cost of ownership, industry leading organizations know that IT systems need to be properly managed and maintained. The “Fix on Fail” approach to systems management results in employee frustration, missed deadlines, increased costs, and lower levels of customer service.

Manage IT provides you with the peace of mind knowing that your systems are properly managed and maintained. Our network management service provides you with immediate access to our network experts who quickly respond to your questions and problems.

Freedom and Peace of Mind

Time…there is never enough of it. Have you ever thought how nice it would be to have unlimited time where you can spend as much time as needed to secure your systems? The reality is that you wear many hats and you don't have sufficient time to spend on security.

Life made easier one task at a time. The solution is IT support on demand. It helps you be every where you need to be. Outsourced IT can be your virtual IT assistant. Unique suites of services allow you to accomplish multiple tasks simultaneously without the normal time constraints.

Hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly support packages are provided based upon your specific needs and requirements.

• Manage IT Suite provides you with the peace of mind knowing that Altius IT provides you with technical expertise so your network is well managed and maintained.


• Enterprise-wide security audit services provides a multilayered approach to advance your level of security.


• Risk Management services provide full service solutions to reduce your risks.

Freedom for your business and built for business. Security makes your life easier one task at a time.