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

Where to now with Windows 7

It's been an exciting week for techies everywhere this past week, with Windows 7 now available. From all accounts, and even by our testing, this is a much better system than Windows Vista. It's faster, more stable, works with your current hardware and doesn't require any major hardware upgrades like Vista.

 Will it run on my PC running XP?

You can check whether your computer is up to speed by running Microsoft's Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor program.

Microsoft Upgrade Advisor Program

You won't have to buy a new PC if you want Windows 7. It will run on older hardware suitable for Windows XP, however make sure that you have at least 1GB or RAM and  are running at least a 2Ghz CPU. Obviously if you really want to take advantage of the speed and improvements in 7 get the latest hardware.

Upgrading to 7

The upgrade process from Vista to 7 is quite simple and should not cause any problems. Because 7 is based on the same system as Vista the upgrade will migrate all your existing settings and programs over thto the new version, please remember make a backup of your data before attempting any upgrade.

Upgrading from XP to 7 is not so simple and will not migrate your existing settings, so we suggest this should be done as a clean installation, which means reinstalling all your software again. Make sure you backup first.

Any software you have been using with Vista should also run on 7 without any problems.

Windows XP and Vista came with inbuilt programs for handling email and instant messaging, along with a photo manager and movie-maker programs plus some basic computer security software.

Microsoft has removed these from Windows 7 in favour of promoting its free online versions of the software under the Windows Live brand. So before you can use Windows 7 to fetch email or share your holiday snaps, you'll need to download these programs, most likely as part of the integrated Windows Live Essentials pack.

While online, you should also grab the just-released Windows Security Essentials, which provides a first line of defence against viruses, hackers and malicious software.

What Edition Should I Get?

There are three editions of Windows 7 that will affect your business:

Home Premium

Business Professional

Ultimate

How Much is it?

So how much will you pay for this beast (these prices are indicative only)

Upgrade Editions:
Home Premium    -  $199
Professional         -  $399
Ultimate                 -  $429

Full Versions:
Home Premium    -  $299
Professional         -  $449
Ultimate                 -  $469
 
Basically if you have been using Vista you won't notice many changes apart from improved performance and minor tweaks to the user interface. So, unless your really into spending money on things you dont need or don't provide any immediate benefit, stick with Vista or XP.

More information on features checkout Microsofts Windows 7 page:

Windows 7 Features

Cheers

Troy