Securing your servers is the best thing you can do towards ensuring your business doesn’t end up being the Black Sheep of the ecommerce world. While larger businesses can probably laugh off a security breach, smaller businesses will find it hard to get back in the race once they have been hacked or infected with malware.

With this in mind, you have probably implemented a security system that includes your network, server and personal devices, and feel like you have a decent chance of withstanding an attack from the outside. You’re also probably feeling a little smug about your defense project.

But have you taken the time to consider who the worst enemy to your new security system could be? No? Well, it could be you. Not you? Then take a look around: it could be any one of your colleagues. Are you still not sure? How about those of your coworkers that were once there, but now work for someone else? You know, your ex-colleagues – especially those that weren’t happy when they walked out the door for the last time.

That’s right; the weakest link on any network are the people that are permitted (and trusted) to use it. A security software that has been put in place – and configured correctly – will continue to work just as expected. As long as it is updated correctly, and replaced with new versions when it is out of date, the network behind it will remain safe.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t work for the users that are on the network. For one, we will always make mistakes and they will cause us endless sufferings as a consequence. Another thing is that there is simply no way we can pre-determine when a clever user decides to go rogue, breach the security intentionally – be it while they are still permitted on the network or after they have left the business.

How Can You Be The Weakest Link?

Becoming the person responsible for a breach isn’t too difficult:

• Not being very careful: If you are the kind of person that is a little too eager when it comes to receiving emails and open them with reckless abandon – even when they are from people you don’t know or sent from a company or business you have no dealings with – you are a weak link.

Even when you think you know the sender, you should take extra care to make sure that the address hasn’t been spoofed to look like it was sent from them.

• Not knowing the value of data: A common reason people are careless about data is because they simply don’t know the value of the information that is at their disposal.

An employee might assume that a simple list of names could be of no value to anyone else, but data thieves can use it to malicious ends.

All employees should be made aware of the risks that are posed by sharing or losing the data in their care.

• Working against the system: Sometimes an employee might think the security software put in place isn’t performing as well as it should. For example, by default, antivirus solutions (especially corporate ones) have a list of email addresses that are automatically blocked. System administrators can of course add to that list.

Now, the software might work as it is supposed to and redirect a user’s email to the junk/spam folder. But, the user, then going through that same folder might think otherwise and try to open the file despite the fact.

Unless you are 100% sure an email was classified wrongly, don’t open such emails. Even when you are sure – seek help from your IT people before proceeding.

• Unauthorized access by personal devices: While a business can keep track of its own electronic devices and how they behave while on the network, it is a different story when it comes to the thumb drives and personal devices like smart phones and iPads. If these devices are infected, they will pass that infection on to the network and then on to other devices.

Most of the time, these devices are snuck in without the companies’ knowledge or are allowed to access the network (especially Wi-Fi) using authorization credentials that were meant to be used on business devices only.

Employees should be informed of the dangers of using unauthorized and unsecured devices. Knowing the damage they can cause to themselves personally and then to the business, should be enough to prevent this breach.

• Policy not being in place: Every business should have an IT policy in place. It should detail the way things are done and handled when it comes to the technology that is being used. Without it, employees cannot be blamed if something goes wrong simply because they don’t know how to proceed.

And it’s not just enough to put the policy down on paper and file it. Every employee should be briefed and made aware of it. It should be regularly updated and the employees need to be kept updated about subsequent changes.

Finally, there should be an enforcement of that policy.