Given the personal blood, sweat and tears that entrepreneurs of all kinds will pour into their work and given that much of their business's intellectual property is held in electronic form, the prospect of data loss or corruption is catastrophic. Any company can lay down a basic IT security policy and every company from a sole trader or a two-person partnership upwards should do so.

So what items should form part of a basic formal IT security policy?

• Do all users have guidelines for distribution of inappropriate content?
• Do all users know what level and type of web usage is acceptable for personal activity?
• Do all users know what the company policy is regarding the use of personal devices from PDAs to USB sticks on company premises with company equipment?
• Do all users know when their Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware and Firewall settings on their laptops need to be updated?
• If some staff are tasked with using Twitter, Facebook or even Second Life as social networking tools for business, then set policies and instructions in place to manage this.

IT security policies sound complicated, however they needn't be and are well worth the small up-front investment in time and communication to protect your business.

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