NISTIR 7621

Small Business Information Security:

The Fundamentals

Richard Kissel
NISTIR 7621

Small Business Information Security: 

The Fundamentals

Richard Kissel 

Computer Security Division 

Information Technology Laboratory 

National Institute of Standards and Technology 

Gaithersburg, MD 20899 

October 2009

 U.S. Department of Commerce 

Gary Locke, Secretary 

National Institute of Standards and Technology 

Patrick D. Gallagher, Deputy Director 
Acknowledgements 

The author, Richard Kissel, wishes to thank his colleagues and reviewers who contributed greatly to the 

document’s development. Special thanks goes to Mark Wilson, Shirley Radack, and Carolyn Schmidt for their 

insightful comments and suggestions. Kudos to Kevin Stine for his awesome Word editing skills. 

Certain commercial entities, equipment, or materials may be identified in this document in order to describe and 

experimental procedure or concept adequately. Such identification is not intended to imply recommendation or 

endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor is it intended to imply that the entities, 

materials, or equipment are necessarily the best available for the purpose. 

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Table of Contents 

Overview...................................................................................................................................................... 1 

1. Introduction.......................................................................................................................................... 1 

2. The “absolutely necessary” actions that a small business should take to protect its information, 

systems, and networks.................................................................................................................................. 2 

2.1 Protect information/systems/networks from damage by viruses, spyware, and other malicious code. ..........................3

2.2 Provide security for your Internet connection.................................................................................................................3

2.3 Install and activate software firewalls on all your business systems...............................................................................3

2.4 Patch your operating systems and applications...............................................................................................................4

2.5 Make backup copies of important business data/information. ........................................................................................5

2.6 Control physical access to your computers and network components. ...........................................................................6

2.7 Secure your wireless access point and networks.............................................................................................................6

2.8 Train your employees in basic security principles. .........................................................................................................6

2.9 Require individual user accounts for each employee on business computers and for business applications. .................7

2.10 Limit employee access to data and information, and limit authority to install software. ................................................7

3. Highly Recommended Practices.......................................................................................................... 7 

3.1 Security concerns about email attachments and emails requesting sensitive information...............................................8

3.2 Security concerns about web links in email, instant messages, social media, or other means. .......................................8

3.3 Security concerns about popup windows and other hacker tricks...................................................................................8

3.4 Doing online business or banking more securely............................................................................................................9

3.5 Recommended personnel practices in hiring employees.................................................................................................9

3.6 Security considerations for web surfing........................................................................................................................10

3.7 Issues in downloading software from the Internet. .......................................................................................................10

3.8 How to get help with information security when you need it........................................................................................10

3.9 How to dispose of old computers and media. ...............................................................................................................11

3.10 How to protect against Social Engineering. .................................................................................................................11

4. Other planning considerations for information, computer, and network security. ............................ 11 

4.1 Contingency and Disaster Recover planning considerations ........................................................................................12

4.2 Cost-Avoidance considerations in information security. ..............................................................................................12

4.3 Business policies related to information security and other topics................................................................................13

Appendix A: Identifying and prioritizing your organization’s information types.................................. A-1 

Appendix B: Identifying the protection needed by your organization’s priority information types...... B-1 

Appendix C: Estimated costs from bad things happening to your important business information....... C-1 
Overview 

For some small businesses, the security of their information, systems, and networks might not be a high 

priority, but for their customers, employees, and trading partners it is very important. The term Small 

Enterprise (or Small Organization) is sometimes used for this same category of business or organization. 

 A small enterprise/organization may also be a nonprofit organization. The size of a small business 

varies by type of business, but typically is a business or organization with up to 500 employees.1 

In the United States, the number of small businesses totals to over 95% of all businesses. The small 

business community produces around 50% of our nation’s Gross National Product (GNP) and creates 

around 50% of all new jobs in our country. Small businesses, therefore, are a very important part of our 

nation’s economy. They are a significant part of our nation’s critical economic and cyber infrastructure. 

Larger businesses in the United States have been actively pursuing information security with significant 

resources including technology, people, and budgets for some years now. As a result, they have become 

a much more difficult target for hackers and cyber criminals. What we are seeing is that the hackers and 

cyber criminals are now focusing more of their unwanted attention on less secure small businesses. 

Therefore, it is important that each small business appropriately secure their information, systems, and 

networks. 

This Interagency Report (IR) will assist small business management to understand how to provide basic 

security for their information, systems, and networks. 

1. Introduction 

Why should a small business be interested in, or concerned with information security? 

The customers of small businesses have an expectation that their sensitive information will be respected 

and given adequate and appropriate protection. The employees of a small business also have an 

expectation that their sensitive personal information will be appropriately protected. 

And, in addition to these two groups, current and/or potential business partners also have their 

expectations of the status of information security in a small business. These business partners want 

assurance that their information, systems, and networks are not put “at risk” when they connect to and do 

business with this small business. They expect an appropriate level of security in this actual or potential 

business partner – similar to the level of security that they have implemented in their own systems and 

networks. 

Some of the information used in your business requires special protection for confidentiality (to ensure 

that only those who need access to that information to do their jobs actually have access to it). Some of 

the information used in your business needs protection for integrity (to ensure that the information has 

not been tampered with or deleted by those who should not have had access to it). Some of the 

 

1 US Small Business Administration, Table of Small Business Size Standards, 

http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/sba_homepage/serv_sstd_tablepdf.pdf

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information used in your business needs protection for availability (to ensure that the information is 

available when it is needed by those who conduct the organization’s business). And, of course, some 

information used in your business needs protection for more than one of these categories of information 

security. 

Such information might be sensitive employee or customer information, confidential business research or 

plans, financial information, or information falling under special information categories such as privacy 

information, health information, or certain types of financial information. Some of these information 

categories have special, much more restrictive regulatory requirements for specific types of information 

security protections. Failure to properly protect such information, based on the required protections, can 

easily result in significant fines and penalties from the regulatory agencies involved. 

Just as there is a cost involved in protecting information (for hardware, software, or management controls 

such as policies & procedures, etc), there is also a cost involved in not protecting information. Those 

engaged in risk management for a small business are also concerned with cost-avoidance – in this case, 

avoiding the costs of not protecting sensitive business information. 

When we consider cost-avoidance, we need to be aware of those costs that aren’t immediately obvious. 

Among such costs are the notification laws that many states have passed which require any business, 

including small businesses, to notify, in a specified manner, all persons whose data might have been 

exposed in a security breach (hacker incident, malicious code incident, an employee doing an 

unauthorized release of information, etc). The average estimated cost for these notifications and 

associated security breach costs is well over $130.00 per person. If you have 1000 customers whose data 

might have been compromised in an incident, then your minimum cost would be $130,000, per incident. 

Prevention of identity theft is a goal of these laws/regulations. This should provide motivation to 

implement adequate security to prevent such incidents. Of course, if there is such an incident then some

customers will lose their trust in the affected small business and take their business elsewhere. This is 

another cost that isn’t immediately obvious, but which is included in the above per-person cost. 

Considering viruses and other malicious code (programs); there were over 1.6 million new viruses and 

other malicious programs detected in 2008 (Symantec – Internet Security Threat Report, April 14, 2009). 

 It is unthinkable to operate a computer without protection from these harmful programs. Many, if not 

most, of these viruses or malicious code programs are used by organized crime to steal information from 

computers and make money by selling or illegally using that information for such purposes as identity 

theft. 

It is not possible for a small business to implement a perfect information security program, but it is 

possible (and reasonable) to implement sufficient security for information, systems, and networks that 

malicious individuals will go elsewhere to find an easier target. Additional information may be found on 

the NIST Computer Security web page at: http://csrc.nist.gov. 

2. The “absolutely necessary” actions that a small business 

should take to protect its information, systems, and networks. 

These practices must be done to provide basic information security for your information, computers, and 

networks. 

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2.1 Protect information/systems/networks from damage by viruses, spyware, 

and other malicious code. 

Install, use (in “real-time” mode, if available), and keep regularly updated anti-virus and anti-spyware 

software on every computer used in your business. 

Many commercial software vendors provide adequate protection at a reasonable price and some for free. 

 An internet search for anti-virus and anti-spyware products will show many of these organizations. 

Most vendors now offer subscriptions to “security service” applications, which provides multiple layers 

of protection (in addition to anti-virus and anti-spyware protection). 

You should be able to set the antivirus software to automatically check for updates at some scheduled 

time during the night (12 Midnight, for example) and then set it to do a scan soon afterwards (12:30am, 

for example). Schedule the anti-spyware software to check for updates at 2:30am and to do a full system 

scan at 3:00am. This assumes that you have an always-on, high-speed connection to the Internet. 

Regardless of the actual scheduled times for the above updates/scans, schedule them so that only one 

activity is taking place at any given time. 

It is a good idea to obtain copies of your business anti-virus software for your and your employees’ home 

computers. Most people do some business work at home, so it is important to protect their home 

systems, too. 

2.2 Provide security for your Internet connection. 

Most businesses have broadband (high speed) access to the Internet. It is important to keep in mind that 

this type of Internet access is always “on.” Therefore, your computer - or any network your computer is 

attached to - is exposed to threats from the Internet on a 24 hour a day/7 day a week basis. 

For broadband Internet access, it is critical to install and keep operational a hardware firewall between 

your internal network and the Internet. This may be a function of a wireless access point/router or may 

be a function of a router provided by the Internet Service Provider (ISP) of the small business. There are 

many hardware vendors which provide firewall wireless access points/routers, firewall routers, and 

firewalls. 

Since employees will do some business work at home, ensure that all employees’ home systems are 

protected by a hardware firewall between their system(s) and the Internet. 

For these devices, change the administrative password upon installation and regularly thereafter. It is a 

good idea to change the administrator’s name as well. The default values are easily guessed, and, if not 

changed, may allow hackers to control your device and thus, to monitor or record your communications 

(and data) to/from the Internet. 

2.3 Install and activate software firewalls on all your business systems. 

Install, use, and keep updated a software firewall on each computer system used in your small business. 

If you use the Microsoft Windows operating system, it probably has a firewall included. You have to 

ensure that the firewall is operating, but it should be available. 

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To check the software firewall provided with Microsoft Windows XP, click on “Start” then “Settings”, 

then “Control Panel”, then “Windows Firewall”. Select the “General” tab on the top of the popup 

window. You can see if the firewall is on or off. If it is off, select “On-Recommended” in the hollow 

circle next to the green check-mark icon. 

To check the software firewall provided with Microsoft Windows Vista, click on “Start” then “Control 

Panel” then “Windows Firewall.” If your firewall is working, you should see a message that “Windows 

Firewall is helping to protect your computer.” If not, click on ‘Turn Windows Firewall on or off” (in the 

upper left corner of the window) and select “Turn on firewall.” 

When using other commercial operating systems, ensure that you fully review operations manuals to 

discover if your system has a firewall included and how it is enabled. 

There are commercial software firewalls that you can purchase at a reasonable price or free that you can 

use with your Windows systems or with other operating systems. Again, internet searches and using 

online/trade magazine reviews and references can assist in selecting a good solution. 

Again, since employees do some business work at home, ensure that employee’s home systems have 

firewalls installed and operational on them. 

It is necessary to have software firewalls on each computer even if you have a hardware firewall 

protecting your network. If your hardware firewall is compromised by a hacker or by malicious code of 

some kind, you don’t want the intruder or malicious program to have unlimited access to your computers 

and the information on those computers. 

2.4 Patch your operating systems and applications. 

All operating system vendors provide patches and updates to their products to correct security problems 

and to improve functionality. Microsoft provides monthly patches on the second Tuesday of each month. 

From time to time, Microsoft will issue an “off schedule” patch to respond to a particularly serious 

threat. To update any supported version of Windows, go to “Start” and select “Windows Update” or 

“Microsoft Update.” Follow the prompts to select and install the recommended patches. Other operating 

system vendors have similar functionality. Ensure that you know how to update and patch any operating 

system you select. Operating system vendors include: Microsoft (various versions of Windows), Apple 

(Mac OSX, Snow Leopard), Sun (SunOS, Solaris), and sources of other versions of Unix and Linux. 

Note: when you purchase new computers, update them immediately. Same for new software installation. 

For Microsoft Windows XP, select “Start”, then “Control Panel”, then “System”, then “Automatic 

Updates”. After that, set the day and time to download and install updates. Select “Apply” and click 

“OK”. 

For Microsoft Windows Vista, select “Start”, then “Control Panel”, then “Security”, then “Turn 

Automatic Updating on or off”. If the circle is marked which says “Install updates automatically 

(recommended)”, check to see that the day/time tabs are set to “every day” and “11:00pm” or some other 

convenient time. If the circle is not marked which says “Install updates automatically (recommended)”, 

then check the circle to activate automatic updates and select “every day” on the left tab, then select an 

appropriate time (11:00pm is fine) for the right tab. Then, towards the bottom of the window, check 

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“Recommended Updates” and for “Update Service” check “Use Microsoft Update”. Then click on “OK” 

at the bottom of the window and you are all set for automatic updates for your Windows Vista system. 

Office productivity products such as Microsoft Office also need to be patched & updated on a regular 

basis. For Microsoft products, the patch/update process is similar to that of the Microsoft Windows 

operating systems. Other business software products also need to be updated regularly. 

2.5 Make backup copies of important business data/information. 

Back up your data on each computer used in your business. Your data includes (but is not limited to) 

word processing documents, electronic spreadsheets, databases, financial files, human resources files, 

accounts receivable/payable files, and other information used in or generated by your business. 

It is necessary to back up your data because computers die, hard disks fail, employees make mistakes, 

and malicious programs can destroy data on computers. Without data backups, you can easily get into a 

situation where you have to recreate your business data from paper copies and other manual files. 

Do this automatically if possible. Many security software suites offer automated backup functions that 

will do this on a regular schedule for you. Back up only your data, not the applications themselves (for 

which you should have distribution CDs from your vendor). This automatic backup should be done at 

least once a week, and stored on a separate hard disk on your computer if not off line using some form of 

removable media or online storage. The hard disk should have enough capacity to hold data for 52 

weekly backups. The size of the storage device should be about 52 times the amount of data that you 

have, plus 30% or so). Remember, this should be done on each of your business computers. It is 

important to periodically test your backed up data to ensure that you can read it reliably. There are “plug 

and play” products which, when connected to your computer, will automatically search for files and back 

them up to a removable media, such as an external USB hard disk. 

It is important to make a full backup once a month and store it away from your office location in a 

protected place. If something happens to your office (fire, flood, tornado, theft, etc) then your data is 

safe in another location and you can restore your business operations using your backup data and 

replacement computers and other necessary hardware and software. As you test your individual 

computer backups to ensure they can be read, it is equally important that you test your monthly backups 

to ensure that you can read them. If you don’t test your backups, you have no grounds for confidence 

that you will be able to use them in the event of a disaster or contingency. 

If you choose to do this monthly backup manually, an easy way is to purchase a form of removable 

media, such as an external USB hard drive (at least 1000 Gigabytes capacity). On the hard drive, create 

a separate folder for each of your computers, and create 2 folders in each computer folder – one for each 

odd numbered month and one for each even numbered month. Bring the external disk into your office on 

the day that you do your monthly backup. Then, complete the following steps: connect the external disk 

to your first computer and make your backup by copying your data into the appropriate designated 

folder; immediately do a test restore of a file or folder into a separate folder on your computer that has 

been set up for this test (to ensure that you can read the restored file or folder). Repeat this process for 

each of your business computers and, at the end of the process, disconnect the external drive. At the end 

of the day, take the backup hard drive to the location where you store your monthly backups. At the end 

of the year, label and store the hard disk in a safe place, and purchase another one for use in the next 

year. 

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It is very important to do this monthly backup for each computer used in your business. 

2.6 Control physical access to your computers and network components. 

Do not allow unauthorized persons to have physical access to or to use of any of your business 

computers. This includes locking up laptops when they are not in use. It is a good idea to position each 

computer’s display (or use a privacy screen) so that people walking by cannot see the information on the 

screen. 

Controlling access to your systems and networks also involves being fully aware of anyone who has 

access to the systems or networks. This includes cleaning crews who come into the office space at night 

to clean the trash and office space. Criminals often attempt to get jobs on cleaning crews for the purpose 

of breaking into computers for the sensitive information that they expect to find there. Controlling 

access also includes being careful about having computer or network repair personnel working 

unsupervised on systems or devices. It is easy for them to steal privacy/sensitive information and walk 

out the door with it without anyone noticing anything unusual. 

No one should be able to walk into your office space without being challenged by an employee. This can 

be done in a pleasant, cordial manner, but it must be done to identify those who do not have a legitimate 

reason for being in your offices. “How may I help you?” is a pleasant way to challenge an unknown 

individual. 

 

2.7 Secure your wireless access point and networks. 

If you use wireless networking, it is a good idea to set the wireless access point so that it does not 

broadcast its Service Set Identifier (SSID). Also, it is critical to change the administrative password that 

was on the device when you received it. It is important to use strong encryption so that your data being 

transmitted between your computers and the wireless access point cannot be easily intercepted and read 

by electronic eavesdroppers. The current recommended encryption is WiFi Protected Access 2 (WPA-2) 

– using the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) for secure encryption. See your owner’s manual for 

directions on how to make the above changes. Note that WEP (Wired-Equivalent Privacy) is not 

considered secure; do not use it for encrypting your wireless traffic. 

2.8 Train your employees in basic security principles. 

Employees who use any computer programs containing sensitive information should be told about that 

information and must be taught how to properly use and protect that information. On the first day that 

your new employees start work, they need to be taught what your information security policies are and 

what they are expected to do to protect your sensitive business information. They need to be taught what 

your policies require for their use of your computers, networks, and Internet connections. 

In addition, teach them your expectations concerning limited personal use of telephones, printers, and 

any other business owned or provided resources. After this training, they should be requested to sign a 

statement that they understand these business policies, that they will follow your policies, and that they 

understand the penalties for not following your policies. (You will need clearly spelled-out penalties for 

violation of business policies.) 

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Set up and teach “rules of behavior” which describe how to handle and protect customer data and other 

business data. This may include not taking business data home or rules about doing business work on 

home computers. 

Having your employees trained in the fundamentals of information, system, and network security is one 

of the most effective investments you can make to better secure your business information, systems, and 

networks. You want to develop a “culture of security” in your employees and in your business. 

Typical providers of such security training could be your local Small Business Development Center 

(SBDC), community college, technical college, or commercial training vendors. 

2.9 Require individual user accounts for each employee on business computers 

and for business applications. 

Set up a separate account for each individual and require that good passwords be used for each account. 

Good passwords consist of a random sequence of letters, numbers, and special characters – and are at 

least 8 characters long. 

To better protect systems and information, ensure that all employees use computer accounts which do not 

have administrative privileges. This will stop any attempt – automated or not – to install unauthorized 

software. If an employee uses a computer with an administrative user account, then any malicious code 

that they activate (deliberately or by deception) will be able to install itself on their computer – since the 

malicious code will have the same administrative rights as the user account has. 

Without individual accounts for each user, you may find it difficult to hold anyone accountable for data 

loss or unauthorized data manipulation. 

Passwords which stay the same, will, over time, be shared and become common knowledge to an 

individual user’s coworkers. Therefore, passwords should be changed at least every 3 months. 

 

2.10 Limit employee access to data and information, and limit authority to install 

software. 

Use good business practices to protect your information. Do not provide access to all data to any 

employee. Do not provide access to all systems (financial, personnel, inventory, manufacturing, etc) to 

any employee. For all employees, provide access to only those systems and only to the specific 

information that they need to do their jobs. 

Do not allow a single individual to both initiate and approve a transaction (financial or otherwise). 

The unfortunate truth is that insiders – those who work in a business – are the source of most security 

incidents in the business. The reason is that they already are inside, they are already trusted, and they 

have already been given access to important business information and systems. So, when they perform 

harmful actions (deliberately or otherwise), business information, systems, and networks suffer harm. 

(and, the business itself suffers harm). 

3. Highly Recommended Practices 

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These practices are very important and should be completed immediately after those in Section 2. 

3.1 Security concerns about email attachments and emails requesting sensitive 

information. 

For business or personal email, do not open email attachments unless you are expecting the email with 

the attachment and you trust the sender. 

One of the most common means of distributing spyware or malicious code is via email attachments. 

Usually these threats are attached to emails that pretend to be from someone you know, but the “from” 

address has been altered and it only appears to be a legitimate message from a person you know. 

It is always a good idea to call the individual who “sent” the email and ask them if they sent it and ask 

them what the attachment is about. Sometimes, a person’s computer is compromised and malicious code 

becomes installed on it. Then, the malicious code uses the computer to send emails in the name of the 

owner of the computer to everyone in the computer owner’s email address book. The emails appear to 

be from the person, but instead are sent by the computer when activated by the malicious code. Those 

emails typically have copies of the malicious code (with a deceptive file name) as attachments to the 

email and will attempt to install the malicious code on the computer of anyone who receives the email 

and opens the attachment. 

Beware of emails which ask for sensitive personal or financial information – regardless of who the email 

appears to be from. No responsible business will ask for sensitive information in an email. 

3.2 Security concerns about web links in email, instant messages, social media, or 

other means. 

For business or personal email, do not click on links in email messages. Some scams are in the form of 

embedded links in emails. Once a recipient clicks on the link, malicious software (for example, viruses 

or key stroke logging software) is installed on the user’s computer. It is not a good idea to click on links 

in a Facebook or other social media page. 

Don’t do it unless you know what the web link connects to and you trust the person who sent the email to 

you. It is a good idea to call the individual prior to clicking on a link and ask if they sent the email and 

what the link is for. Always hold the mouse pointer over the link and look at the bottom of the browser 

window to ensure that the actual link (displayed there) matches the link description in the message. (the 

mouse pointer changes from an arrow to a tiny hand when placed over an active link) 

3.3 Security concerns about popup windows and other hacker tricks. 

When connected to and using the Internet, do not respond to popup windows requesting that you to click 

“ok” for anything. 

If a window pops up on your screen informing you that you have a virus or spyware and suggesting that 

you download an antivirus or antispyware program to take care of it, close the popup window by 

selecting the X in the upper right corner of the popup window. Do not respond to popup windows 

informing you that you have to have a new codec, driver, or special program for something in the web 

page you are visiting. Close the popup window by selecting the X in the upper right corner of the popup 

window. 

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Most of these popup windows are actually trying to trick you into clicking on “OK” to download and 

install spyware or other malicious code onto your computer. 

Hackers are known to scatter infected USB drives with provocative labels in public places where their 

target business’s employees hang out, knowing that curious individuals will pick them up and take them 

back to their office system to “see what’s on them.” What is on them is generally malicious code which 

installs a spy program or remote control program on the computer. Teach your employees to not bring 

USB drives into the office and plug them into your business computers (or to take them home and plug 

into their home systems). It is a good idea to disable the “AutoRun” feature for the USB ports on your 

business computers to help prevent such malicious programs from installing on your systems. 

3.4 Doing online business or banking more securely. 

Online business/commerce/banking should only be done using a secure browser connection. This will 

normally be indicated by a small lock visible in the lower right corner of your web browser window. 

After any online commerce or banking session, erase your web browser cache, temporary internet files, 

cookies, and history so that if your system is compromised, that information will not be on your system 

to be stolen by the individual hacker or malware program. 

If you use Microsoft Internet Explorer as your web browser, erase the web browser cache, temporary 

internet files, cookies, and browsing history by selecting “Tools,” then “Options,” then under the General 

tab, click on “Delete” (under Browsing History). This will erase your temporary files, history, cookies, 

saved passwords, and web form information. (These instructions are for Internet Explorer version 7.0 – 

instructions for other versions of Internet Explorer may be slightly different) 

If you use Mozilla Firefox as your web browser, erase the erase the web browser cache, temporary 

internet files, cookies, and browsing history by selecting “Tools,” then clicking on “Clear Private Data” 

towards the bottom of the popup window. To continue clearing information, click on “Tools”, then 

“Options,” then under the Privacy tab, select Show Cookies, then select “Remove All Cookies.” This 

will erase your session information. (These instructions are for Firefox version 3.0 – instructions for 

other versions of Firefox may be slightly different) 

3.5 Recommended personnel practices in hiring employees. 

When hiring new employees, conduct a comprehensive background check before making a job offer. 

You should consider doing criminal background checks on all prospective new employees. Online 

background checks are quick and relatively inexpensive. Do a full, nationwide, background check. You 

can’t afford to hire someone who has a history of past criminal behavior. In some areas, the local police 

department provides a computer on which to request a background check. In some areas, this service is 

free to you. If possible, it is a good idea to do a credit check on prospective employees. This is 

especially true if they will be handling your business funds. And, do the rest of your homework – call 

their references and former employers. 

If there are specific educational requirements for the job that they have applied for, call the schools they 

attended and verify their actual degree(s), date(s) of graduation, and GPA(s). 

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In considering doing background checks of potential employees, it is also an excellent idea for you to do 

a background check of yourself. Many people become aware that they are victims of identity theft only 

after they do a background check on themselves and find arrest records and unusual previous addresses 

where they never lived. (Some people become aware only after they are pulled over for a routine traffic 

stop and then arrested because the officer is notified of an outstanding arrest warrant for them) 

3.6 Security considerations for web surfing. 

No one should surf the web using a user account which has administrative privileges. 

If you do surf the web using an administrative user account, then any malicious code that you happen 

across on the Internet may be able to install itself on your computer – since the malicious code will have 

the same administrative rights as your user account has. It is best to set up a special account with “guest” 

(limited) privileges to avoid this vulnerability. 

3.7 Issues in downloading software from the Internet. 

Do not download software from any unknown web page. 

Only those web pages belonging to businesses with which you have a trusted business relationship 

should be considered reasonably safe for downloading software. Such trusted sites would include the 

Microsoft Update web page where you would get patches and updates for various versions of the 

Windows operating system and Microsoft Office or other similar software. Most other web pages should 

be viewed with suspicion. 

Be very careful if you decide to use freeware or shareware from a source on the web. Most of these do 

not come with technical support and some are deliberately crippled so that you do not have the full 

functionality you might be led to believe will be provided. 

3.8 How to get help with information security when you need it. 

No one is an expert in every business and technical area. Therefore, when you need specialized expertise 

in information/computer/network security, get help. Ask your SBDC or Service Corps of Retired 

Executives (SCORE – usually co-located with your local SBDC office) Office for advice and 

recommendations. You might consider your local Chamber of Commerce, Better Business Bureau, 

community college, and/or technical college as a source of referrals for potential providers. For 

information on identity theft, go to: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/ - this is the Federal 

Trade Commission’s web page. 

When you get a list of service providers, prepare a request for quotes and send it out as a set of actions or 

outcomes that you want to receive. Carefully examine and review the quote from each firm responding 

to your request. Research each firm’s past performance and check its references carefully. Request a list 

of past customers and contact each one to see if the customer was satisfied with the firms’ performance 

and would hire the firm again for future work. Find out who – on the firm’s professional staff – will be 

doing your work. Ask for their professional qualifications for doing your work. Find out how long the 

firm has been in business (Because you probably don’t want a firm which set up shop last week). 

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3.9 How to dispose of old computers and media. 

When disposing of old business computers, remove the hard disks and destroy them. The destruction can 

be done by taking apart the disk and beating the hard disk platters with a hammer. You could also use a 

drill with a long drill bit and drill several holes through the hard disk and through the recording platters. 

Remember to destroy the electronics and connectors as part of this project. You can also take your hard 

disks to companies who specialize in destroying storage devices such as hard disks. 

 

When disposing of old media (CDs, floppy disks, USB drives, etc), destroy any containing sensitive 

business or personal data. Media also includes paper. When disposing of paper containing sensitive 

information, destroy it by using a crosscut shredder. Incinerate paper containing very sensitive 

information. 

It is very common for small businesses to discard old computers and media without destroying the 

computers’ hard disks or the media. Sensitive business and personal information is regularly found on 

computers purchased on Ebay, thrift shops, Goodwill, etc, much to the embarrassment of the small 

businesses involved (and much to the annoyance of customers or employees whose sensitive data is 

compromised). This is a practice which can result in identity theft for the individuals whose information 

is retrieved from those systems. Destroy hard disks & media and recycle everything else. 

3.10 How to protect against Social Engineering. 

Social engineering is a personal or electronic attempt to obtain unauthorized information or access to 

systems/facilities or sensitive areas by manipulating people. 

The social engineer researches the organization to learn names, titles, responsibilities, and publically 

available personal identification information. Then the social engineer usually calls the organization’s 

receptionist or help desk with a believable, but made-up story designed to convince the person that the 

social engineer is someone in, or associated with, the organization and needs information or system 

access which the organization’s employee can provide and will feel obligated to provide. 

To protect against social engineering techniques, employees must be taught to be helpful, but vigilant 

when someone calls in for help and asks for information or special system access. The employee must 

first authenticate the caller by asking for identification information that only the person who is in or 

associated with the organization would know. If the individual is not able to provide such information, 

then the employee should politely, but firmly refuse to provide what has been requested by the social 

engineer. 

The employee should then notify management of the attempt to obtain information or system access. 

4. Other planning considerations for information, computer, 

and network security. 

In addition to the operational guidelines provided above, there are other considerations that a small 

business needs to understand and address. 

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4.1 Contingency and Disaster Recover planning considerations 

What happens if there is a disaster (flood, fire, tornado, etc) or a contingency (power outage, sewer 

backup, accidental sprinkler activation, etc)? Do you have a plan for restoring business operations 

during or after a disaster or a contingency? Since we all experience power outages or brownouts from 

time to time, do you have Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) on each of your computers and critical 

network components? They allow you to work through short power outages and to save your data when 

the electricity goes off. 

Have you done an inventory of all information used in running your business? Do you know where each 

type of information is located (on which computer or server)? Have you prioritized your business 

information so that you know which type of information is most critical to the operation of your business 

– and, therefore, which type of information must be restored first in order to run your most critical 

operations? If you have never (or not recently) done a full inventory of your important business 

information, now is the time. For a very small business, this shouldn’t take longer than a few hours. For 

a larger small business, this might take from a day to a week or so. (See Appendix A for a worksheet 

template for such an inventory.) 

After you complete this inventory, ensure that the information is prioritized relative to importance for the 

entire business, not necessarily for a single part of the business. When you have your prioritized 

information inventory (on an electronic spreadsheet), add three columns to address the kind of protection 

that each type of information needs. Some information will need protection for confidentiality, some for 

integrity, and some for availability. Some might need all three types of protection. (See Appendix B for 

a worksheet template for this information.) 

This list will be very handy when you start to decide how to implement security for your important 

information and where to spend your scarce resources to protect your important information. No one has 

enough resources to protect every type of information in the best possible way, so you start with the 

highest priority information, protecting each successive priority level until you run out of resources. 

Using this method, you will get the most “bang for your buck” for protecting your important information. 

In the event of a security incident which results in “lost” data because of malicious code, hackers, or 

employee misconduct, establish procedures to report incidents to employees and/or customers. Most 

states have notification laws requiring specific notifications to affected customers. 

4.2 Cost-Avoidance considerations in information security. 

In Section 1 (Introduction), we discussed cost avoidance factors. It is important to have an idea of how 

much loss exposure that your business has if something bad happens to your information. 

Something “bad” might involve a loss of confidentiality. Perhaps a virus or other malicious program 

compromises one of your computers and steals a copy of your business’ sensitive information (perhaps 

employee health information, employee personally identifiable information, or customer financial 

information). Such a loss could easily result in identity theft for employees or customers. It’s not 

unusual for business owners or managers to be unaware of the financial risk to the business in such 

situations. 

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Appendix C contains a worksheet which is a template to generate financial exposure amounts for 

different scenarios of data/information incidents. This worksheet should be filled out for each data type 

used in your business, from the highest priority to the lowest priority. 

It is important to understand that there is a real cost associated with not providing adequate protection to 

sensitive business information and that this cost is usually invisible until something bad happens. Then it 

becomes all too real (and all too expensive) and visible. 

4.3 Business policies related to information security and other topics. 

Every business needs written policies to identify acceptable practices and expectations for business 

operations. 

Some policies will be related to human resources, others will relate to expected employee practices for 

using business resources, such as telephones, computers, printers, fax machines, and Internet access. 

This is not an exhaustive list and the range of potential policies is largely determined by the type of 

business and the degree of control and accountability desired by management. Legal and regulatory 

requirements may also require certain policies to be put in place and enforced. 

Policies for information, computer, network, and Internet security, should communicate clearly to 

employees the expectations that the business management has for appropriate use. These policies should 

identify those information and other resources which are important to management and should clearly 

describe how management expects those resources to be used and protected by all employees. 

For example, for sensitive employee information a typical policy statement might say, “All employee 

personnel data shall be protected from viewing or changing by unauthorized persons.” This policy 

statement identifies a particular type of information and then describes the protection expected to be 

provided for that information. 

 Policies should be communicated clearly to each employee and all employees should sign a statement 

agreeing that they have read the policies, that they will follow the policies, and that they understand the 

possible penalties for violating those policies. This will help management to hold employees 

accountable for violation of the businesses policies. As noted, there should be penalties for disregarding 

business policies. And, those penalties should be enforced fairly and consistently for everyone in the 

business that violates the policies of the business. 

To sum it all up: Implementing the best practices described in this publication will help your 

business cost-avoidance efforts and will be useful as a tool to market your business as one in which 

the safety and security of your customer’s information is of highest importance. 
Appendix A: Identifying and prioritizing your organization’s 

information types 

1. Think about the information used in/by your organization. Make a list of all the information 

 types used in your organization. (define “information type” in any useful way that makes sense 

 to your business) 

2. Then list and prioritize the 5 most important types of information used in your organization. 

 Enter them into the table below. 

3. Identify the system on which each information type is located. 

4. Finally, create a complete table for all your business information types – in priority order. 

Table 1 The 5 Highest Priority Information Types In My Organization 

Priority Type of Information Stored On Which System? 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

Use this area as your “scratch pad” 

(Once you finish this exercise, fill out a full table for all your important business information) 

 A-1
Appendix B: Identifying the protection needed by your 

organization’s priority information types 

1. Think about the information used in/by your organization. 

2. Enter the 5 highest priority information types in your organization into the table below. 

3. Enter the protection required for each information type in the columns to the right. 

 (C – Confidentiality; I – Integrity; A - Availability) <”Y”-needed; “N”-not needed> 

4. Finally, finish a complete table for all your business information types. 

(Note: this would usually be done by adding three columns to Table 1) 

Table 2 The Protection Needed By The 5 Highest Priority Information Types In My 

Organization 

Priority Type of Information C I A 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

 B-1
Appendix C: Estimated costs from bad things happening to your 

important business information 

1. Think about the information used in/by your organization. 

2. Enter into the table below your highest priority information type. 

3. Enter estimated costs for each of the categories on the left. 

 If it isn’t applicable, please enter NA. Total the costs in each column in the bottom cell. 

4. After doing the above three steps, finish a complete table for all your information types. 

Table 3 The Highest Priority Information Type In My Organization and an estimated cost 

associated with specified bad things happening to it. 

 <data type name> 

 Issue: Data Released

 <data type name> 

 Issue: Data Modified

 <data type name> 

 Issue: Data Missing

Cost of 

Revelation 

Cost to Verify 

Information 

Cost 

Of Lost 

Availability

Cost of 

Lost 

Work

Legal 

Costs 

Loss of 

Confidence 

Costs

Cost to 

Repair 

Problem

Fines & 

Penalties 

Other costsNotification, 

etc

Total Cost 

Exposure for 

this data type 

& issue 

$ $ $ 

 C-1