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<b><i>Practice Tip</b></i>Security on the Desktop

By William Robertson
November 01, 2003

Information security has come to play an extremely vital role in today's business environment. Whether you are a solo practitioner or an IT Director of an AmLaw 100 or 200 firm, how can you best protect your company's data from being compromised? Anyone who experienced the “Slammer Worm” attack last January or the “So Big Worm” this past August knows the astonishing speed these viruses spread across the Internet. Hundreds of thousands of networks were affected within hours of each of those outbreaks. What is even more disconcerting is that in the case of the Slammer Worm, the attack exploited a well-known vulnerability in SQL Server; one which Microsoft had already fixed in a patch six months earlier.

For mid- to large-size firms, a security policy is of paramount importance in order to ensure that the most appropriate security measures have been implemented with an acceptable level of competency and consistency throughout the organization. Physical desktop security, password best practices, virus protection, software installation and e-mail best practices are a few of the subjects that would form the core of the security policy document.

Ninety-nine percent of computer break-ins can be prevented by following the below three best practices:

  • Use up-to-date and properly configured anti-virus software
  • Refuse to install or load any unknown program (via e-mail or via the Internet)
  • Run the Microsoft Windows Update and Office Update Services regularly

For the purposes of this article, I will focus on the last item listed.

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