The business environment technology

Technology plays a vital role in the business environment. Over the years businesses have become so dependent on technology that if we were to take away technology virtually all business operations around the globe would come to a halt. Almost all businesses and industries around the world are using computers ranging from the most basic to the most complex of operations depending on the level of virtual presence of the business. If a business depends entirely on I.T and information systems then it becomes the core activity to sustain in the business.

Information security not only concern larger organisations and their IT department but increasingly it affects all users of information in every business, since a significant number of information security breaches are reported every day.

The usefulness of information technology in businesses organisations is evident in the continued and radical technological improvements. Organisations benefit from linking the various organisational functions with the aid of I.T. e.g. for a manufacturing company linking procurement with the production department is a vital requirement as these functions need to be matched to reduce the risk of overstocking. Similarly, marketing and sales effort can be targeted according to the needs and demands of the target market. This can be achieved by using the database management techniques.

Management can also benefit from the effectiveness of I.T by being able to make informed decisions relating to the company and the market. Techniques such as data mining, data warehousing and decision support systems have added a new dimension to risk reduction and effectiveness in the planning process. So I.T is no longer a stand alone function of the organisation, instead it has become the backbone of the overall structure. It not only supports other functions but also aids efficiency and effectiveness in carrying them out with ease.

Since it is a vital function in any organisation structure, it is imperative to have the safeguards in place to deal with the security issues posed to the I.T and Information systems. Knowledge of existing threats can help in reducing level of harm to the computer systems.

How can organisations deal with the information security issues?

Organizations are faced with new and challenging threats to their I.T. systems everyday. The impact of these threats can be minimized by incorporating safeguards.

Appropriate safeguards help prevent loss and theft of data. Some harmful programs like Trojan horse, malware, etc. have the potential of corrupting and even destroying data, making remote modifications to the security settings and potentially takeover the entire control of the system by targeting system vulnerabilities.

Shorter the response time in case of a security breach, greater the chances of restoring security without a significant loss. Password enabled user access is one of the most widely used and useful security measure.

Assessing and identifying the source of security breach can help recover as quickly as possible and to restore the system to safe working order, reducing waste of idle staff time and loss of valuable information.

In order to achieve this it is necessary to formulate a structure for managing Information systems security. Safeguards must be efficient enough to track the culprits who intentionally damaged the system. If the breach is internal to the organisation then, it can be achieved by simple information retrieval of the logging details of the users, unsolicited change to their authority levels to view or amend protected content, recent activity report from the server, etc. If it is from an external hacker or a corrupted program then they can be reported to the security software providers who can take further action by reporting them to the appropriate authorities in the country of their origin.

Useful tools to combat I.T. Security

Network Firewalls can be used to run Internet and Intranet as separate applications simultaneously without affecting each other. Changes to these settings must only be done by the I.T. administrator by using their authorized passwords.

Webmarshal and Mailmarshall programs are increasingly used by organizations to protect computer systems from accessing content which has the potential to compromise the browser and system security.

Employees accessing the network from a remote setup could use a secure Virtual Private Network to access files, emails and applications from virtually anywhere with an Internet connection.

Updating and upgrading the security tools at regular intervals increases the preparedness of the systems to deal with the new and serious threats.

Staff concerned with safeguarding the I.T system must be provided with regular training to increase their knowledge of the recent developments.

Segmenting the I.T system in a way that the whole system is segregated in the form of layers with safeguards placed on each layer is another way of increasing security. A security breach would have to penetrate these layers and also the safeguards of each of these layers before compromising the system security.

I.T safeguards serves as the control objective to maintain the entire the network of computers. There is no generic security plan which is applicable to all the organizations. The level of security implemented would be determined by the importance and sensitivity of the information maintained by the organization, since some high level security measures are very expensive to implement and may not be required for a normal database and I.T function however, some of the basic security policies are required for every organization. There is no security system which is completely safe as the nature of threats change every minute.