Protecting digital assets

Machine shops need lots of tangible assets to make parts: machine tools, cutting tools and real estate, among other items.

When loaning money, financial institutions favor this type of collateral because it provides a level of comfort some nonmanufacturing clients can’t offer. While a shop’s tangible assets increase the value of the company, another asset may be as or even more valuable—digital records.

Whether it is used to run the entire operation via enterprise resource planning or just run spreadsheets, a shop’s IT infrastructure is invaluable and must be protected. Nearly every company activity—such as emails, drawings, documents, POs, forms and contracts—are generated, transmitted and recorded on various digital devices, servers or, perhaps, cloud storage services. Those records must be secure.

A well-managed IT infrastructure is vital for all companies, but even more so for machine shops, which typically must maintain extensive records about their operations.

While data security is an obvious concern, it’s shocking how many shops fail to protect records and monitor employee computer activity. For example, some employees with computer privileges can quickly learn what information is accessible and find holes in your system. Some of these users may become careless and inadvertently expose a shop’s network to damage, such as viruses that compromise or remove data.

The following is a case in point. After the departure of two experienced employees, our shop replaced them and reconfigured their computers for the new team members. It wasn’t long before our new lead programmer noticed performance issues on his computer and asked our IT contractor to troubleshoot. It was discovered that the computer was infected with several viruses and other problems, slowing one of our most important functions: programming CNC equipment.

After a thorough cleanup, everything was corrected and, thankfully, there was no permanent damage. However, we discovered that the previous employees, who had been entrusted with these expensive tools, were surfing the internet during breaks to watch truck videos, visit auction sites and otherwise do nonbusiness-related stuff. This, in turn, generated lots of spam, some containing infected links and attachments. We ended up having to put stringent usage policies in place for “adults” who should know better.

It’s frustrating to have to impose these kinds of strict measures, but because some employees don’t have the vested interest of a senior manager or owner, they don’t see IT security as their problem and will push the envelope as far as they can.

Machine shops should have policies and budgets to optimize and protect their IT systems. They should hire IT professionals, back up digital information, monitor who’s looking at what and assign employees secure, individual passwords. The shop owns these digital assets and employees shouldn’t jeopardize their integrity.

The quality and security of your IT infrastructure is critical. Your digital assets are vital to your shop’s existence, so just like you do with your machining centers, protect them carefully. CTE