PCPlus Networks

Texting is quick and convenient, which makes it easy for business conversations to move from approved systems to personal phones and messaging apps. The problem is that sensitive information can end up somewhere your company has little control over.

A few things to consider:
- Avoid sending passwords or other sensitive information through standard text messages
- Use company-approved communication tools for business conversations
- Be careful when sharing customer or company information through messaging apps
- Make sure employees know which communication methods are approved
- Have a process for managing business messages on company-owned mobile devices

Convenience matters, but so does knowing where your business information is being shared and stored.

Before you hit send, make sure the conversation is happening in the right place.

A full email mailbox might seem like a minor inconvenience, but once storage limits are reached, employees may have trouble sending or receiving important messages.

For a business, that could mean missed customer requests, delayed invoices, unanswered support messages, or communication problems between employees.

A few ways to stay ahead of mailbox storage issues:
- Monitor mailbox storage before it reaches capacity
- Remove or archive emails that no longer need to stay in the active mailbox
- Pay attention to storage warning notifications
- Review unusually large attachments and folders
- Make sure important shared mailboxes are monitored too

Email is still a major part of everyday business communication. Keeping mailboxes properly managed can help prevent a simple storage issue from becoming a bigger disruption.

Don’t wait until messages stop coming in to check your mailbox space.

Sometimes one employee becomes the go-to person for a business system, cloud account, or application. The problem comes when that person leaves and no one else knows how to access or manage it.

A few things businesses should have in place:

- More than one authorized administrator for critical systems
- Documented account ownership and recovery information
- A process for transferring access when employees leave
- Company-controlled recovery emails and phone numbers
- Regular reviews of who owns and manages important accounts

Critical business systems shouldn't depend on one person's login, email address, or knowledge.

Your business should own the access, not just the person who set it up.

Vendors, contractors, and outside support teams may need temporary access to your systems to complete a project or provide a service. But once that work is finished, that access shouldn't stay open indefinitely.

A few good practices for managing third-party access:

-Give vendors access only to the systems they actually need
-Set an expiration date for temporary accounts when possible
-Remove access when a project or contract ends
-Review active third-party accounts regularly
-Avoid sharing employee credentials with outside vendors

Keeping old vendor accounts active can create unnecessary access points into your business systems.

Temporary access should actually be temporary.

Your domain name is more than just your website address. It can also be connected to your business email, online services, and the way customers find and communicate with your company.

If a domain expires unexpectedly, it can quickly create problems.

A few ways to stay ahead of it:

-Keep domain registration contact information current
-Make sure renewal notices go to an actively monitored email address
-Enable automatic renewal when appropriate
-Keep payment information up to date
-Know who manages your domain and has access to the account

Domain renewals may seem like a small administrative task, but overlooking one can affect important parts of your business.

Don’t let an expiration date catch your business by surprise.

Administrator accounts can make major changes to computers, applications, and other business systems. That level of access is sometimes necessary, but it shouldn't be given to more people than actually need it.

A few good practices for managing admin access:

-Limit administrator privileges to employees who truly need them
-Use separate admin accounts for administrative tasks when appropriate
-Remove elevated access when responsibilities change
-Avoid sharing administrator usernames and passwords
-Review privileged accounts regularly

Limiting admin access can reduce the chance that a compromised account, accidental change, or unauthorized action affects critical business systems.

Not every user needs the keys to everything.

Would You Know If Your Business Email Was Being Forwarded?

Email forwarding rules can be useful, but they can also become a hidden security risk. If an account is compromised, an attacker may create a forwarding rule that quietly sends copies of incoming messages to an outside address.

A few things businesses should watch for:

-Forwarding rules employees don't recognize
-Messages being automatically moved or deleted
-Unexpected changes to mailbox settings
-Rules sending email to external addresses
-Unusual activity following a compromised account

Reviewing mailbox rules regularly can help uncover suspicious changes that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Sometimes the biggest warning sign is the one working quietly in the background.