SMB Security: How To Defend Your Weaknesses

Paul Mah's prescription for simple SMB security includes covering the basics, keeping software patched, educating employees, deploying whitelisting or blacklisting (to block Web sites) and encrypting data.

"In today's continuation of my Eight IT Projects for SMBs series, I would like to explore how SMBs can better position their defenses on the security front. While the challenges of securing a corporate environment might appear to be intimidating at first glance, the steps that businesses need to take to realize it are really not that complex.

Cover the Basics While it might be tempting for small- and mid-sized businesses to buy into the latest security appliances and tools, I would caution against placing too much emphasis on going with the latest fad. An analogy that comes to my mind would be that of a house owner splurging on the absolute latest burglar alarm system before leaving for a long holiday ... but forgetting to lock the door."