The internet is an essential tool in many segments of the world. In the case of companies, the role of the internet is even more strategic, as internal communication channels between employees and management, external communication such as marketing and advertising, in addition to a large part of the activities of numerous sectors that depend on connection, which, let's say incidentally, it was intensified with the pandemic.
So that companies know the importance and what measures must be taken to make the use of the internet safe and healthy, we brought some facts taken from research by the Regional Center for Studies for the Development of the Information Society ( Cetic.br ).
Fact 1: Activities using the internet in companies
The use of the internet is practically essential for the company’s growth. Technology in the country grows more every day and drives economic growth. See the percentage of companies that use the internet by type of activity:
- 💰 – Payments and bank inquiries – 92%
- 🛒 – Market monitoring – 73%
- 🛠 – Search for information about products or services – 93%
- 💼 – Interact with government organizations by making payments, collections, requests online – 72%
- ✉ – Send and receive email – 100%
- 👨💻 – Use of instant messaging – 76%
As we can see, activities of great importance for the correct or planned functioning of the company are carried out using the internet. In contrast to the benefit of the agility that the connection provides, there is a risk of data loss, kidnapping or theft in many of these tasks.
Imagine that all of the company's banking data is stored on a single computer, and it is infected by viruses and malware resulting from improper access during idle time by the employee. All data from the months following the incident will be lost if the company does not have a data protection and backup system.
Fact 2: Employee use of computers
A company employee's contact with a computer is practically inevitable. Exceptions only for sectors of companies that only require manual labor.
According to the research, the percentage of employees at the companies involved in the research who use computers are:
- Up to 10% of the company's employees – 7%
- From 11% to 25% of the company’s employees – 23%
- From 26% to 50% of the company’s employees – 29%
- From 51% to 80% of the company’s employees – 14%
- From 81% to 100% of the company’s employees – 23%
- Don't know / Didn't answer – 4%
We can see that in only 7% of the companies participating in the survey, less than 10% of employees use computers in their daily lives. This reflects the growth of technologies and innovations, in addition to identifying that a large part of the team uses computerized technology for some of its tasks.
However, this data also identifies that these employees are dependent on the computer to produce. If the equipment is outdated, has a slow problem, or is not regularly maintained and updated, it can become a major problem and delay or nullify employee productivity.
Fact 3: Use of mobile devices in companies
We can say that most people today use their cell phones . This scenario is not very different within companies. Many use mobile devices in general for business purposes, facilitating communications, data exchange and shortening distances.
According to the survey, the percentage of companies that use mobile devices for work purposes is:
- Use – 71%
- Do not use – 29%
However, it is necessary to warn about the dangers of mobile devices , especially when used on open or public networks and especially when these devices make a remote connection to the company's local network. These connections typically have low security and can put all data stored on the device and also all data on the company's local network at risk.
Fact 4: Risk Management in companies
“Prevention is better than cure.” A widely used saying that fits perfectly into this topic. Having a professional dedicated to IT support in companies is considered by a large part to be really important. But, unfortunately, a considerable portion of companies do not have this concern. Cetic.br , as a percentage, companies by the presence of a department or person in charge of IT management in the company:
- They have – 19%
- Do not have - 78%
More specifically, companies that have a department or person in charge of managing the company's digital security risk:
- They have – 62%
- Do not have - 38%
Just using technology and the internet to benefit the business, without thinking that such benefits bring side effects, is a mistake made by many managers and entrepreneurs.
Using the internet safely is extremely important and at least the minimum measures must be taken to guarantee the integrity of the company's data.
Below, we list some simple solutions for companies that are concerned about data security and the productivity of employees who use technological devices in their day-to-day work.
Solutions
Preventing problems that can cause loss of revenue, productivity or in some extreme cases, the closure of the company due to leakage and loss of sensitive and important data, can often be done with simple tools and actions.
We have listed some basic solutions for IT in small and medium-sized companies, some tips for guiding employees and determining access and security rules, and also, some solutions that include a set of tools for data security, access control and remote access for companies. In all topics, we include links to the pages where each solution is detailed.
Backup
It is never enough to remember the importance of having a reliable backup, from which important data can be recovered after any incident. In some types of attack, such as ransomware, which locks data until a ransom is paid, the main way to solve the problem is to restore company data from a backup copy. Backup is essential for the security of company information.
💡 See some backup solutions here .
Antivirus and Antimalware
Contrary to what the name suggests, antivirus software doesn't just protect against viruses, it's just an old-fashioned name to describe what it actually does.
Antimalware is also software made to protect against viruses. The difference is that antimalware uses a more modern name, which covers all types of malicious software, including viruses.
Both are essential for safe internet use in the company.
💡 See some Antivirus and Antimalware solutions here .
File Storage
Storing company files in tools developed for this purpose keeps data safer and speeds up access to it.
Today there are basically two ways of storing files in the company: in a physical structure and in the cloud.
💡 See the best file storage services in the physical structure and in the cloud here .
Business Email
Business email is increasingly important in the business world and more and more companies are creating at least one address.
It is recommended for small, medium and large companies, as well as self-employed professionals who want to make their business more personalized. Furthermore, the best business email solutions on the market today have effective and periodically updated security systems.
💡 See some business email services here .
Guidance and rules
For managers and their employees to use technology and always browse the Internet safely, the first step is to educate employees to follow a series of basic and simple procedures that will keep equipment free from any risk.
💡 See some tips for guiding cell phone use in the company and defining rules for employees
Internet Access Control
Controlling internet access is a common practice in companies and is increasingly important and necessary. Two main points must be observed when managing internet use in corporate environments: data security and team productivity!
Without any type of internet access control or policy, it is normal for employees to spend part of their time accessing their personal email, social media profiles, YouTube videos, WhatsApp messages or researching topics of interest to them.
Therefore, controlling internet access in companies is a fundamental policy in team management, as it reduces wasted time with increased focus, in addition to avoiding various security problems with access to harmful websites or famous internet scams.
Business VPN
Naturally, the function of a VPN is to help increase data security when accessing resources on a network that you are not physically connected to. However, visualizing the need for this and especially the importance is a little more difficult. Therefore, we have listed some examples of scenarios where the use of a business VPN is extremely relevant:
Home Office : the employee, director or owner who is working remotely can use the VPN to access resources and files on the company's physical network. Making data access and operations carried out (banking transactions and file transfers) much more secure.
Privacy in communication : there is a lot of information and strategies used in companies that can be considered confidential for logistical reasons, or business details that make a difference compared to competitors. To have secure and encrypted communication between employees, directors and owners, it is important to use a VPN connection.
External work : in many areas of the labor market there are external workers. They do their work, most of the time, away from the company's premises and on many occasions they need to access important data that is stored on the company's physical server. What most of them don't know is that for this access to be done securely, a VPN connection must be used.
Conclusion
Technology, and especially the internet, has helped us with countless tasks, improving the quality of work and optimizing time. I hope that in this article many doubts on the topic have been resolved and the tools mentioned serve in some way for your company to grow.
On our blog there are many other materials that may be of interest to you, in addition to our IT Guide for Small and Medium-sized Companies , where you will find many tools for IT solutions within your company.
To the next!
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