As a business' success depends more and more on the use of computers and businesses put more sensitive information on their systems, it becomes a requirement for businesses to establish a system of protection equal to the services that computer provides.

Protection becomes more significant as businesses increase their presence on the Internet and give access to an increasing circle of users (ex. employees, customers and vendors). Internal theft is increasingly becoming more of a significant risk as long as there is mission-critical information on your computer systems.

Businesses should define a program that considers security for their:

• Network
• Operating system
• Applications

The security scheme strikes a balance between blocking unauthorized access and providing the computing capabilities required to run your business. Unfortunately, intrusion methods are becoming more sophisticated over time, thus a security scheme must be kept up-to-date. There are techniques that can be employed to minimize your exposure without being cost prohibitive.