Malware has become one of the largest threats to businesses with the number of attacks on both Windows and Mac machines increasing every single day. Linux is not even immune these days as many are hackers creating and exploiting flaws in that operating system as well. In business, these malware threats can pose a large security risk to your data as well as simply interrupt the smooth flow of your work, causing your employees to miss deadlines as you and your staff work to clean up infected systems.
By taking the following precautions, you can help your business reduce malware threats.
Use Security Software Across All Your Technology
Malware will seek out the weakest point of your security network and attempt to exploit it. It can come when surfing the Internet and receiving email, and it can even infect a user’s smartphone. When seeking to reduce malware threats at your office, you must create a security policy that encompasses all of your various devices and technology, including your software, in order to effectively reduce the potential for your systems to be infected.
Use Layered Protection
Create an environment shielded by multiple layers of protection. Make use of a variety of tools such as firewalls, antivirus software and anti-malware software to scan everything coming into your business. These multiple layers will allow data to be scanned a number of times, increasing your chances of catching malware that could slip past one of the layers.
Block P2P Usage
Many viruses and malware are distributed using many of the free peer-to-peer (P2P) networks that are commonly used to share files. Create and enforce a P2P policy and block these types of transfers on your network at both the desktop and firewall levels to cut off one of the largest holes in your security umbrella.
Turn Off AutoRun
While the AutoRun feature is a nice tool offered by Windows, malware and viruses can take advantage of this feature and use it to quickly execute malicious code before your users even know something has happened. By disabling this feature in Windows, you can stop many threats from being able to execute once they have been downloaded unknowingly by your users.
Keep All Systems Up To Date
New security fixes are being released all the time for virtually every platform and the software that runs on these platforms. Be sure all your systems including Windows, Mac, and Linux machines regularly receive these updates to ensure your systems are as secure as possible. On top of these system updates, it is also wise to regularly run software updates for browser add-ons and other applications that connect to the Internet in order to maintain the highest level of safety possible.
Utilizing just a few of these practices every day can help reduce the risk that one or more of the systems in your office will become infected with malware or viruses. Lowering this risk will help you ensure the data security of both your company and your customers.
