2008 April 30 |

Archive for April 30th, 2008

Internet Dependency (Part 2/2)

My mother always used to (and still does) tell me to “Never depend on other people for things.” The advice is so simple and true and yet, people still ignore it anyway. I mean, how many times have you asked someone to do something as simple as remember to bring back the cd they borrowed from you last week and then they forgot it? The same is true for businesses- not the cd borrowing part- but the fact that many companies rely solely on the Internet to run their businesses.

Now, I’m not saying that the Internet is a bad thing. On the contrary, I think that the Internet has done wonders for all of us. However, there has been a growing tendency for many businesses to rely on the Internet, which opens them up to all sorts of vulnerabilities if they’re not careful.

Business Functions that Rely on the Internet

The following are some examples of things that a lot of businesses rely on where the Internet is involved.

Employee benefits administration
Corporate transfer of funds
Document backup and storage
Contact info for customers
Communications (i.e. voice, data)
Accounting purposes
Business management
Payroll

Potential Internet Threats

Some potential threats to the Internet include things like:

Corrupt code written by individuals
Internet disruptions
Natural disasters
Terrorist attacks
Hackers
People looking to harm the United States

There is much talk today about global terrorism. Terrorists aren’t just blowing things up anymore, they’re doing things more quietly too. For example, there is much speculation that a future terrorist attacks will come in the form of a cyber war. These attacks will be aimed not at the military, but at the United States economic infrastructure.

So, What Can We Do?

BR suggests that CEOs ask some of the following questions:

If Internet services were no longer available, how would our business be affected? What would the economic costs be?

To what extent do our business continuity/disaster recovery plans account for Internet availability, and have we tested them?

Do we have a strategy in place for collaboration with the government in the event of a major Internet disruption?

Do we have the right businesspeople with appropriate security clearances to enable effective partnership with government?

Have we set in motion a strategy for attaining early warning information to better protect our customers and corporate assets as well as our suppliers and partners?

And you thought running a business was easy! There are many things to consider when operating your own business, especially if it is Internet- dependent!

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