Own a street-side business and doing business on the web as well?  Which is more secure in terms of general access?  There are many parallels in security measures implemented on the web that you may very well want to carry over to your street-side business.

And, if you treat the security of one business differently than the other you may very well be leaving the locks... Unlocked.

Here's the scenario:  What would you do IF?...  A potential customer visited your street-side business and in their pocket was a permanent ink marker or a can of spray paint.  In the process of their visit to your store they proceeded to deface your floors, walls and displays.  Perhaps even some of the merchandise or the front door itself along with the outside display window.  On your web site they've completely re-done your home page or added SPAM entries to your guest book or message board for the world to see.  Or worse!  Gained access to all your administration pages.

The Police Report would call the street-side problems vandalism.  On the web:  Your site just got hacked and there's not a soul to report it to other than your webmaster and I'd almost bet you're wearing that hat.  No matter if it happened at the corner of First and Maple St. or on the far reaches of the web:  It's still the same and may very well cost just as much to clean up one mess as the other.

Here's the kicker!  The street-side vandal may have taken several minutes to accomplish his dastardly deed and chances are you don't have a clue who he, she or they were or even the exact time the act occurred.  The police are powerless to do much more than offer their sympathy unless the perpetrators left some incriminating evidence.

Conversely, the vandals that stuck your web site (in a matter of seconds as opposed to minutes) left evidence showing everything but their home phone, name and mug-shot!  You've just got to know where to look for the evidence and know how to use it once you find it!  And if the breech was severe enough to involve the police, one may even get the missing pieces.  Nevertheless, without the authorities there's enough direct evidence to track the culprit down and if the ISP will cooperate, you'll see some immediate action.  No lawyers. No Courts. Only the satisfaction in knowing you found the bad guys and the ISP cancelled their service.

The pitfall here is the "bad guy" can be back up and running as soon as he subscribes to another ISP's service unless you've involved law enforcement agencies and they have taken the person "offline" in more than a digital sense.  Unfortunately this is a VERY rare occurrence.

Many business owners have a somewhat cavalier attitude toward their web sites in that they do not realize it is a direct reflection on their street-side business.  So, they think; "Oh well, I'll fix the site in a few days or remove the forum SPAM messages when they get around to it or clean up their guest book entries when the mood strikes.  Then, they'll make absolutely no effort to prevent the same vandalism from happening again.

Case in point:  One of our local TV stations (KWES-TV) utilizes a forum board for "viewer comments".  Not too long ago a SPAMMER literally filled one or two topics with porn images and they were left "undiscovered" for several days.  In fact they were not removed until I notified the folks at the station.  I also asked that my account on the forum board be stricken, along with all my posts.  It's no wonder the forum there is horribly under used.

Here again, in the "cavalier attitude" department, the laws of the land and the law enforcement agencies just don't seem to "Get It" in terms of one's web site.  Only when government secrets or a gazillion names and social security numbers are stolen does legal actions begin to happen.  Nevertheless, there are "things" that can be done by You!

In Part II of Your Business' Security I'll spell out a few preventative and or counter measures that can be taken.  Although primarily geared toward a web site, there are certainly some parallel actions for your street-side business.