Tip of the Week: How to Prevent IT Equipment Theft

How familiar are you with the IT equipment owned by your business? If you don't keep detailed records of your equipment and enact security measures and policies, then you're making it easy for theft to occur. We've written a lot about protecting your business from data theft, but it's equally important that you take precautions to safeguard your stuff.

In fact, for someone with sticky fingers, it may be easier for them to make off with a device containing valuable company information than it would be to hack a firewall or breach a database. If you've got multiple people accessing your company's IT equipment, then a lock on your door might not be enough. There are many security measures that you can take to protect your gear, ranging from something simple like list making, to implementing complex security solutions.

Isolate Your Technology
One proactive security measure that you can take is to keep all of your company's technology in one designated area, and then restrict access to that area to trusted personnel only. This will prevent a customer, a friend of an employee, or even an employee whose job doesn't require certain technologies, from being in a place where they can easily pocket a device. This is a basic procedure that will minimize risk and help you narrow down a culprit if you discover that a piece of technology has gone missing.

Take Inventory
Taking inventory of your company's technology is a must. It would be really bad if a device was stolen and you didn't find out about it until weeks or even months later, simply because it wasn't accounted for. Taking a detailed inventory of your equipment and keeping track of it with check ins and check outs will go a long way in deterring someone from brazenly walking off with your stuff, especially if they know that you will be alerted to the theft shortly after the taking of the device.

When taking inventory, you don't want to focus on just the major pieces of technology like your network devices. Be sure to also cover the smaller pieces of equipment too, like USB cables, headphones, keyboards, and more. Items like these are prone to workers grabbing them from the IT closet without notifying anyone about it because they may be in a pinch. Multiply instances like this to the size of your business, and you're looking at a lot of little disappearances adding up to a big loss.

Secure Your Perimeter
Now we are getting into the territory of implementing security solutions to protect your assets. Processor magazine provides us with a variety of options to keep your IT equipment safe:

Possibilities for physical security include adding perimeter fencing, limiting entry and exit points, installing security cameras across the grounds and in server rooms, using card readers at doors, or adding floor-to-ceiling turnstiles or man traps for sensitive areas. Additionally, never let non-employees walk through the site unescorted, and store unused equipment and cables in locked rooms. Performing regular audits of IT equipment is key.

You should take protecting your IT assets seriously, and, as is the case with anything related to security, it's better to be safe than sorry. Preferred can offer your business security solutions that can protect not only your company's data, but your physical equipment too. One way that we can protect your gear is with our digital surveillance solutions. You can lock down your belongings and monitor your perimeter from afar with your own network of security cameras equipped with useful features.

Because every business has different security needs, the first step that we take with a business is a security audit. This is where our IT professionals go in and assess your office environment, looking for practical security measures that you can take. To ensure that your company's technology is protected to the max, give Preferred a call at 708-781-7110.