In today's technology era we, as technology professionals, have access to sensitive and critical data but also very personal data. We have the ability to access emails, view what is on your screen, read your email, and the list goes on. Basically, if you can perform any task on a computer, there are at least five people (if not more) that can see your personal activity if they choose to. The hope is, that you trust your data and activity with reputable companies and reputable people. For example, would you go and deposit your paycheck into a random houses' mailbox just because someone told you that the people in this house knew about finances and money? No, you would take your check to a bank which has a good reputation and where you would feel it would be secure.
Had you put your check into a random mailbox, you have no idea what that person could be doing with your check. They could deposit it into their own bank account, they could forge it and potentially get more money from your employer, they could get your information off of the check and the list goes on. There are laws and regulations that ensure that your money is safe within a bank, if a bank doesn't meet certain metrics or doesn't upload certain aspects of their business then they will get shutdown. The banking industry is heavily regulated, technology is not. Anyone can say they are an IT professional or maybe you have a brothers, cousins, son twice removed that "knows computers" then you have companies that hire nothing but professionals that have years of experience. The question then becomes, how do you know you're dealing with a reputable company?
In a recent meeting, we had a potential client admit to us that they were scared of their current IT company. Come to find out, the current IT company was doing some VERY shady things on their computers. They also forced the client to use some software that was not an industry norm and sketchy because it gave the IT company a "reward" every time that the company searched something on their computers, unbeknownst to the potential client. A reputable IT company would NEVER think of doing something like that to a client. This truly comes down to professional ethics, if a company would install this kind of software in a commercial setting, who knows what they are doing with your company's data behind closed doors.
The point to this post, is when you have a company or even just an one man IT shop, be sure that you're dealing with a reputable company, but moreover be sure that they have professional insurance, be sure to check references, ask how long their oldest client has been with them, be sure that the company has a good ethical basis, and be sure that you can have a good working relationship with them. This is the company that will have access to ALL of your company's data. Never be scared of your IT company, if you are, reach out to MyGeek today.