Something all business owners face from time to time is an employee who doesn’t work out. And every so often, one of these employees turns vindictive. As a computer consultant, I’ve heard stories that just weren't believable - things I never thought people would do.

We had a client who's internal IT guy was routinely reading the owner's e-mail. When the company caught on to him, he deleted the entire company's e-mail file. When he was let go, he tried to hack into the company's network. Fortunately, we had changed all of the access codes as he was being walked out of the building.

While we like to think we work with good, trustworthy people, what if we don’t? Financial motivations in this economy are leading to a steep increase in employee data theft. What if one of our employees is angry and wants to get back at the boss? A dissatisfied employee can very quickly cause serious damage by deleting data files, corrupting your financial records, or downloading viruses to your network. A good security policy is a necessity.

Secure confidential data files by setting up password-protected directories. Take advantage of built-in software capabilities to designate specific users for any software with sensitive data (financials, social security numbers, credit cards, etc.), and limit access so they have just what’s needed to do their job. Change your firewall settings to limit Internet downloads. And most important – promptly remove security access for any employees who leave your company.

You’ll have to balance safety versus productivity.  Too much security can cause administrative headaches, creating employee frustration that eventually may lead you to remove important security settings. However, it’s far better to spend a little time being proactive than to find out the hard way you should have been more careful.