Data Security for SMBs: 10 Ways to Protect Your PC

You lock your house when you’re away, and you might even have a car alarm to protect your ride. But how secure is the business data residing on your computers and small business network? “Defense in depth” is the concept of layering different modes of protection to make your overall data security even stronger.

If you feel overwhelmed at the prospect, don’t panic. Michael Horowtiz’s 10 ways to protect your PC will help you to bolster your data security, and you don’t have to do it all at once. Remember the old joke: How do you eat an elephant? One “byte” at a time. Datamation has the full story.




Many agree that Windows computers need to be protected with a strategy called defense in depth. This is not just for fighting off viruses. Clearly, network security and Internet Explorer also need defense in depth. When Internet Explorer was recently hacked in a public contest, Microsoft responded that “…defense in depth techniques aren’t designed to prevent every attack forever, but to instead make it significantly harder to exploit a vulnerability.”

Deb Shinder, a Windows expert, and former law enforcement officer, put it in perspective recently:

“Think about your physical security. You might have a high fence, a big dog, deadbolts on the doors and a security alarm system, but if a burglar is absolutely determined – and has enough time – he can climb the fence, shoot the dog, disable the alarm and break a window to get in. Unless you live in a fortress (and even then), your security is not fool-proof. But all those mechanisms do slow him down … So unless he’s motivated to specifically target your house because he knows you have $1 million in cash hidden under the mattress, he’ll probably go elsewhere, where the pickings are easier.”


To me, the term “defense in depth” means my having to do a lot of work. But what work? What steps offer the biggest bang for the buck?



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