Viruses Proof Your Business

We all know what it's like getting a virus, we either panic and worry about the bank balance, blame the kids and rant and rave about how they should not be downloading music, and we go down the path of denial and never blame ourselves, then spend hours trying to fix it ourselves only to give up at midnight after your wife hits you over the head with a broom and tells you to  call a tech in to clean it up, only to find you actually killed it and they have to reinstall everything again. Watch out for the broom.......

But how do we as business owners protect our business from being infected?

I've seen many ways to do this, from having staff sign a computer usage policy, to one business owner who was so paranoid he turned off the modem and only allowed staff to use the internet for 10 minutes each hour to send emails, to employing high end security devices and software.

Well, you don't need to go to these lengths, unless your paranoid, which in that case I can't help you anyway, but I can recommend a good shrink...

The following is a simple list of things you can do to protect your business from Viruses:

a: Use good quality Internet Security Software on each PC

b: If you use contractors or staff who use their own PC's, make it mandatory they use top quality Internet Security Software.

c: Don't rely on FREE Viruses protection. While they stop  viruses in most cases they don't offer other features like firewalls and spyware protection. You get what you pay for. Buy Internet Security Software

d: Use an external e-mail filter designed to stop visues and spam before it gets to your inbox

e: Employ Computing Operating Policies. If someone plugs a PC into your business network, make sure they sign a document that explains what they can and cannot do. Makes it all legal, similar to a Confidentiality Agreement but specifies computing practices

f: Keep your Computers up to date. Make sure all your PC's are running Automatic Windows Updates. Also make sure your Internet Security Software Updates as well

g: Have your Tech ensure your ADSL Modem/Router is up to date. Manufactures often releaase software upgrades for these, helps to stop some Worm Viruses

h: Use an Internal Firewall. The Windows firewall and Internet Security software Firewalls are ok for protecting the PC, but you need more than one level of protection on a network. An Internet Security Firewall Device sits between your network and the internet to protect your network from hackers, viruses, spam and other nasties before they hit your network.

i: Keep your programs up to date. If the programs you use offer Internet Updates, use them. This way they are patched and will remain secure.

So, as you can see there are many ways of protecting your business. If you're not sure of where to start please let me know or talk to your local Tech and ask for advice. Don't just accept the easiest and cheapest solution, it will only cause you grief later.

So now for a plug for my business:

Mail Filtering to stop 100% of viruses and 99.7% of SPAM for $2.50 per e-mail address per month

Internet Firewall Appliance runs on a PC and can be configured to stop viruses, SPAM, block websites and more...

Cheers

Troy