End of Year Tech Checklist

By Joey Pepka of Peptronics

Many people are trying to wrap up their end-of-year business matters and are thinking about 2023. The end of the year is a great time to do an annual tech tune-up. These are tasks that are often put on the back burner.  Here are a few tips before you get started again for next year.

Cleanup

Go through old documents and make sure they are properly filed on your computer or cloud storage. Clearing out the old pictures, videos and music from your mobile devices is part of the process. They’re certainly very tedious tasks, but very rewarding once accomplished.  Make time to manage your email folders, bulk file some of these emails, delete most, and try using rules to help you prioritize your incoming email for next year.

Backup and disaster recovery

The end of the year is a good time to test your current backup strategies. For example, it may be necessary to adjust or come up with a process that meets new compliances. Backups are the cornerstone to all your disaster recovery plans.  Updated backup plans will help your company to recover from a cyber compromise, major equipment failure, water damage or catastrophic mistake made by one of your staff members. Consider cloud solutions that automatically safeguard your data in offsite secure locations.

Updates for software and devices

Your office and network have more devices than you may realize. Create an inventory of those devices and run all necessary updates. There are plenty of devices you don’t regularly update that should be part of this process. Routers, wireless access points, security cameras, printers, and copiers are often overlooked, but they should get updates along with all your regular computing devices. You should update your applications, operating systems, anti-virus software, iPhones and tablets on a regular basis, not only for new features, but more importantly, for timely security updates.

Password changes 

Following good password management practices is critical part of mitigating online compromises. If it has been a while, now is the best time to change and update your passwords. The need to use passwords with long complex characters and that are unique to each site can’t be overstated. A good New Year’s resolution would be to start using a password manager to help you keep up with the task, such as LastPass or 1Password.

Review how you are safeguarding client and employee data

An annual review of all company and client data is important for obvious reasons but may have compliance implications as well. Putting safeguards in place can help to prevent fraud and identity theft, as well as enhance customer confidence and trust.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/end-of-year-tech-tips-dave-kile#:~:text=The%20end%20of%20the%20year%20is%20a%20good,the%20cornerstone%20to%20all%20your%20disaster%20recovery%20plans.

0

About the Author:

I am a cybersecurity and IT instructor, cybersecurity analyst, pen-tester, trainer, and speaker. I am an owner of the WyzCo Group Inc. In addition to consulting on security products and services, I also conduct security audits, compliance audits, vulnerability assessments and penetration tests. I also teach Cybersecurity Awareness Training classes. I work as an information technology and cybersecurity instructor for several training and certification organizations. I have worked in corporate, military, government, and workforce development training environments I am a frequent speaker at professional conferences such as the Minnesota Bloggers Conference, Secure360 Security Conference in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, the (ISC)2 World Congress 2016, and the ISSA International Conference 2017, and many local community organizations, including Chambers of Commerce, SCORE, and several school districts. I have been blogging on cybersecurity since 2006 at http://wyzguyscybersecurity.com

Add a Comment


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.