Profit Power Series: IT & Physical Security

What is the one thing more valuable than your manufactured product? 

Information is the most valuable commodity you have. It can be destroyed by accident. Or it can be stolen, then sold or used to ruin or steal from your company.  In addition, some folks hack computers for the simple joy of doing it.

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

It happened to my company…
A number of years ago, we had a lighting strike right outside our building that burned out half of the communication ports on our PCs and dumb terminals. About $10,000 worth of damage and a real pain in the butt. After that, we isolated not only the power wires with surge protectors but also the communication wires that passed the low voltage back up through the system that caused the damage.

It happened to South Carolina…
A hacking of the South Carolina tax department lead to 3.8 Million records being stolen by a foreign entity that used some sort of phishing email to penetrate the system. A simple click on a dubious email and wham, you got a problem. Using a credit card at a department store like Target or a hardware store like Home Depot -- who both had recent hack attacks -- can lead to your identity

being stolen.

It could happen to your company…
Your employees can cause the problems by having weak passwords or by taking company records home on their own computers, tablets or phone. You are just a stolen car or lost equipment event away from a mad scurry to repair the damage. I just read that an eight-digit password made up of alphabet letters, symbols and numbers can be hacked in five hours or less by the computers out there today. The funny thing is that most of the hacking programs start with the obvious passwords like “password” or “12345678” or “myname1” and then they start with the brute force trial and error attacks.

And YOU could actually go to jail!
Almost all companies have:

1. Employee social security numbers
2. HIPAA (health information) data
3. Company proprietary information
4. Customer supplied information. 

All of this data must be secured either by law or by contract. Failure to secure this data can result in jail time and or large fines (for the SSN and HIPAA info) and possible loss of business in the case of the other two.

Two common mistakes…

1. Most companies believe that just because they have data that isn’t that attractive (to them) that they have little to worry about. WRONG!
2. To top it off, many companies make it all too easy to access their computers physically or do not isolate them from risk.

And three steps you can take now…

1. First, call me, David Senkfor, for a free one-hour on-site*(see below) visit and consultation and I’ll give you a report card that grades your company relative to the risk you are currently exposed to.  No obligation, no cost.  I’ll tell you what you need to do to protect your ‘corporate memory’, your company, your money and your reputation.  At no charge to you!
2. Check my website out for what you can do today to limit the risk and sleep better at night. Click on this link and get started now.  http://tinyurl.com/cbvvqxe
3. Check out our new "Exhaust Notes" video using the link under the picture of my 1967 Chevelle to the right. In this month's video, you'll come to understand why it is essential that you implement three simple solutions that can secure your information technology and physical plant.

Is Your #Manufacturing Company Safe From Cyber Attacks?

In light of the recent cyber attack at Goodwill stores and the attacks on Target and any growing number of retail locations, I wanted to take some time to point out the risks you and your employees are taking perhaps without full knowledge of the consequences.

First a few facts:

• 63% of companies let their employees use USB devices to transfer company information for use at home.
• 40% of employees use services such as DropBox or Box.com for cloud storage of personal and
  
  company information without their employer’s knowledge.
• “Phishing” for employee information on social media sites is now one of the most prevalent methods to gain information about a company before launching attacks.
• Most people do not use separate computers at home from their children or spouses when working on company information. They have no idea what programs, viruses, keystroke loggers etc. may have been downloaded by these family members.

Part 2: Lock It Up Or Lose It

In my December newsletter, I wrote about the need to secure your data and hardware. You can read the article here.

For manufacturers,securing data and hardware is only half the battle. You’ve still got quite a bit of valuable information in your shop that you are contractually bound to secure and protect.  In a recent conversation with a large aerospace manufacturer’s IT security professional, I was told that a new DFAR (Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation) will be issued and then “flowed down” to smaller suppliers that will require compliance in the cyber-security arena as well as the information you keep as part of the production process.

#Manufacturers: Get Your S@$%&*@# Together

I was at an IT conference recently and one of the topics discussed was Software Asset Management. Sitting there, I was thinking that most companies, especially smaller ones, probably have no idea where all of their software install discs are, let alone have a system in place to manage them. Hence the title of the blog “Get Your SOFTWARE Together.” I know it was a bit cheesy to get you reading by using some cheap trick but here we go.

What, Me Worry?

I love this question. I’m a MAD magazine reader from way back. I was and still am amazed at how often I

see companies ignore things that are so obvious that could put them out of business.

Really? Yes, sad but true. I was an IT seminar last week and systemic risk was the main topic. The three presentations were designed for larger companies with multiple locations that have to protect themselves while complying with multiple governmental regulations. Not fun!

However, every company can and should examine risks that can put them out of business. Think it can’t happen? What if a lightning strike occurs and hits the power lines outside your company?

Bring your own Device or Bring your own Danger: What Internet Security Risks Does Your Manufacturing Company Have?

I have to be honest, I grabbed the title above from a recent IT seminar I attended. The seminar posed this question; Should your employees be allowed to bring their own personal devices to your facility and/or use them remotely?

Most people are pretty enamored with their phones, iPads and computers. The problem is that unfortunately, and especially in the case of phones and iPads and other tablet devices, the users of these have no way of knowing if their equipment has been compromised.

Jeez. I'll bet you are thinking that you finally got your employees to install anti-virus software on their computers. You also drilled into them the need to not click on every neato-nifty link that gets sent to them via email or pops up when they are surfing the net.