Recently we’ve been helping customers through some sticky situations where their business systems were infected by malware that took out their back-office PC's and then infected their POS terminals. These situations result in hours of expensive downtime while we clean up the system.
In this day and age, this is an ongoing problem requiring vigilance and process to keep your systems operating. In this article, we’ve identified five basic tips to follow to keep your systems and your data safe.
1. Take regular backups
Take regular backups of your computer and installed software. Backup to two separate drives and keep one offsite at all times. You don’t want to get caught out with both of your backup drives in the one, non-accessible location. Here at Triniteq, we have five back-up drives, one for each day of the week with only one left onsite each day.
2. Install quality anti-virus software
This goes without saying that all PC’s should run anti-virus software at all times. As with our previously mentioned customers, the threat usually attacks the PC first and then flows through into your POS software. Whilst this doesn’t guarantee that your PC will never get a virus, this type of software is designed to greatly reduce your chances. Free versions are ok but as the old saying goes, you get what you pay for, so paid for software such as Norton and McAfee are generally better as they allow for more customised security, resulting in fewer issues with your POS software.
3. Use your business tech just for business
This might be a little harder to implement, but it’s still true that office PC’s (especially) and POS terminals should only be used for business purposes. Where possible, people should avoid doing anything other than using POS software on the POS terminal and back-office PC’s shouldn’t be used for personal purposes. It only takes one infected link to bring down your whole business system.
4. Keep your software up-to-date
New online threats are continuously being released and your software providers (including us!) are working hard to protect your software against them. Updates and security patches are developed in response to new threats, so it’s best to keep all software up-to-date. This will further reduce the chances of your PC and POS being brought down by some nasty malware.
5. Delete anything dodgy
Lastly, we advise you to always be vigilant and think about security before opening any emails or downloading from websites that don’t look quite right. This might be in the form of an email address that does not match the 'from' name or an email that is not expected, such as an invoice or bill. If an email or website does not look quite right, do not click any links or download anything, as this is the easiest way a threat can infect your PC and spread from there. Although, in the bigger scheme of things, sometimes encountering online threats is unavoidable and this is where your multi-layered system security should kick in.
Conclusion
Your business systems are the engine of your business and you need to protect them to keep your business running smoothly. It only takes one click on a compromised link to infect your system and your business will come grinding to a halt. By following these five tips you have a much greater chance of keeping your data secure, your business operating and avoiding a late-night call to our support team.
If you need further information or help with backups or anything else mentioned in the article, please contact us.
Need more info? Call us on 1300 784 666 or drop us an email.