Corporate IT cybersecurity tips and tricks from Ben Climer 2024

Corporate IT cybersecurity services from Ben Climer and Safe Network Solutions today: Understanding the vulnerabilities of a system and planning for weaknesses is a critical piece of securing your environment. Our team will examine physical safeguards to data, threats to your systems, personnel weaknesses, and data backups. Knowing multiple layers are in place and functioning is vital to your network security. When software, people, hardware, or vendors change, an opportunity exists for security gaps to appear. During our assessment, we will verify comprehensive protocols are in place to remove employee and vendor access from your network once their job is complete. Is cybersecurity insurance in place? Are the policies adequate for your risk? Additionally, validating protocols are followed with logs and documentation is necessary to ensure protocols properly followed. Find additional details at Ben Climer.

Ben Climer has been in the Service Team Lead and Solution Architect role for 5 years. His favorite aspect of SNS is the great team we have, which allows us to deliver excellent service to our clients. When there’s a challenging problem at hand, Ben is the one we can count on for complete answers and elegant solutions. Ben built his first computer at the age of 8, started building web applications at 12 and before joining SNS, went on to compete in National Computer Repair competitions. He worked for HP as well as music row clients prior to joining SNS. Outside of work, Ben enjoys working on cars and traveling.

With over 10 years of work experience in the IT industry, Ben Climer is a passionate and skilled CTO at Safe Network Solutions, a leading provider of network security and cloud solutions. Ben Climer has a strong background in technical sales, network administration, and solution architecture. His mission is to deliver innovative, reliable, and cost-effective solutions that meet the needs and expectations of our clients. Collaboration, learning, and excellence, and striving to create a culture of trust, empowerment, accountability within the team are Ben Climer’s goals.

As the CTO, Ben Climer is responsible for overseeing the technical direction, strategy, and vision of the company, as well as mentoring a team of talented engineers and consultants. He has successfully implemented and troubleshooted various projects involving Hyper-V, Azure, Office 365, AWS, and wireless point-to-point technologies, ensuring high performance, security, and scalability. He also participated in various CTF competitions, demonstrating proficiency in cloud and cybersecurity. Ben Climer enjoys staying updated on the latest trends and developments in the IT field, and sharing his knowledge and insights with the community.

And then there’s the not-insignificant concern of lost smartphones. A lost business phone in the wrong hands could be a complete disaster. At the very least, all phones used to conduct business should have password protection, whole-disk encryption software and a remote lock-and-data-wipe app. That way, you can erase all the information on a lost phone and prevent anyone else from using it. The rise of flexible work-from-home policies has been a major trend in recent years, which is generally great for employee morale but not so great in terms of security. It’s tricky but obviously crucial to keep up security measures when employees are doing their jobs remotely. The guidelines about smartphones apply here, but you also need to ensure that strong safeguards are in place on all company computers and devices, no matter where the employee is working.

Use Multiple Authentication Methods. Authentication is the act of confirming an identity (whether a user, machine, or device) by comparing provided credentials against an existing database of authorized identities before allowing access to a given system or application. For example, think of entering your username and password before gaining access to your email account. However, rather than relying on passwords alone, which have grown increasingly unreliable, we recommend using multiple factors for the authentication process. Authentication factors include something you know (e.g. username/password, answer to security question), something you have (e.g. Digital Certificate, smart card), and something you are (e.g. fingerprint, facial recognition).

Be Cautious of Public Wi-Fi. The laws and regulations that govern cyber security in other countries are typically not going to be the same as those found in the US. Free Wi-Fi access can be very appealing for business or leisure travelers but is also particularly vulnerable to security issues. Avoid unencrypted Wi-Fi networks; ask your hotel about its security protocol before connecting to the Web. Be extra cautious using Internet cafes and free Wi-Fi hotspots; if you must use them, avoid accessing personal accounts or sensitive data while connected to that network.

Use Strong Passwords & Use a Password Management Tool. You’ve probably heard that strong passwords are critical to online security. The truth is passwords are important in keeping hackers out of your data! According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) 2022 new password policy framework, you should consider: Dropping the crazy, complex mixture of upper case letters, symbols, and numbers. Instead, opt for something more user-friendly but with at least eight characters and a maximum length of 64 characters. If you want to make it easier to manage your passwords, try using a password management tool or password account vault. LastPass FREE is a great tool for an individual. LastPass offers a FREE account and has a $2/month membership with some great advanced password features.

Ben Climer and Safe Network Solutions about data breaches: You might want more comprehensive monitoring to know in real-time if your data has leaked. Products like Kaspersky Security Cloud offer data leak detection and help you navigate the situation. Of course, the best way to protect yourself is to avoid being a victim in the first place. No security plan is perfect, but there are ways you can defend yourself — whether you’re an individual or an enterprise. How to Prevent Being a Data Breach Victim: Data breach prevention needs to include everyone at all levels — from end-users to IT personnel, and all people in between. When you’re trying to plan how to prevent data breach attacks or leaks, security is only as strong as the weakest link. Every person that interacts with a system can be a potential vulnerability. Even small children with a tablet on your home network can be a risk.