Businesses keep on functioning day and night, and face equal amount of troubles on daily basis. Out of all the hardships that businesses face, the threat associated with computer viruses is the worst one. A survey conducted by Webroot in 2013 revealed:
8 out of 10 companies experienced web-based threats in 2012
88 % of website security supervisors said that internet browsing is a serious threat
Out of all the companies which suffered web-based attacks, 55 % of them were affected by Phishing attacks.
Computer viruses mar the efficiency of the business and results in the loss of time, money, and data. These things ultimately affect the productivity and output of the enterprise. Having an in-depth knowledge of how viruses enter your computers can help you in protecting your system from nasty virus attacks.
Here are some of the reasons how viruses enter your desktops and laptops.
–Emails from unknown sources often contain links and URLs which are potential threats
Emails which generally come from unknown sources are the most common causes of virus delivery to your system. These mails contain links which act as originator of viruses and malwares in your system. Most of the time, these mails appear as if sent by your trusted service vendors, such as DHL Express.
Such emails often contain links related to some official tasks such as tracking of freight. Such mails are quite common and most of the employees keep on receiving them on daily basis. Anything related to official task is capable of compelling one to complete it as soon as possible. So is the case with such links. Employees quite often click these links without thinking of associated virus threats.
To overcome such problems, educate your employees to avoid emails from unknown senders, and in case they happen to open such emails, then not to click on the links mentioned in them. Also train them to straightaway check the source website instead of checking the same through clicking on the embedded link in cases where the email seems from a valid and reliable sender.
–Computers and laptops are susceptible to virus attacks in cases where the passwords are weak
Passwords are used in cases where you want to add an extra layer of security to your system. A password prevents others from using your personal computer. These passwords are useful only if they are changed frequently and are limited to you and tough for anybody else to guess.
In case your password is a simple one and can be guessed easily, anybody can attack your system. Besides this, if you do not change your password frequently, you make your system vulnerable to attacks. If any hacker or system attacker gets your password, he can access your system and introduce viruses into it.
In order to avoid such situations, ask your employees to go for a complex password formed by the combination of uppercase and lowercase alphabets, numbers, and special characters. Ask them to follow the practice of changing the password every two or three months. Also tell them not to use a common password for each and every system.
–Antiviruses do not have a long life
Viruses can be avoided by both preventive as well as defensive practices. Preventive practices are those which are practiced beforehand to save your system from the entry of viruses. Defensive practices are those which are enacted when the virus has already come in contact with your system. Antiviruses scan your personal computer in order to discover hidden viruses and malwares.
Keep on scanning your system on regular basis in order to eradicate all the threats that might have entered your system. Besides this, run a virus scan while downloading any file or software from the internet. Even if your laptop is broken and you replace it, you have to go rescan it to be safe. IT professionals who replace broken laptop screens do not necessarily have to scan their laptops again but it’s important to keep an updated antivirus running all the time.
Go for such an antivirus which is capable of protecting your system even when it is in offline mode. Ask the team of IT experts to manage the scheduling of virus scans. This will be a great relief to all the other employees.
–You yourself act as a host if you download unscrupulous content from the internet
Almost everyone who uses the Internet is in a habit of downloading free software and content from various websites. In such cases, you cannot ensure to yourselves that whatever you are downloading is free from viruses. There are possibilities that whatever you download for free might act as a source to introduce viruses in your system.
To avoid viruses entering your system via such downloads all you need to do is avoid web-based downloads from your professional systems. In situations where download of software from the Internet is mandatory, IT team can be incorporated to ensure the safety of the website while downloading the software.
–You send an open invitation to the viruses if you do not update your software timely
If you act sluggish in updating your software, you are simply making your computer vulnerable to virus attacks. Hackers and viruses keep on updating themselves in order to attack your system, and in order to protect your computer from such malicious elements, software companies keep on updating their products and services.
When you do not update your software timely, you straightway dump the extra layer of protection against evolved viruses and threats. If you cannot update your software regularly, you can schedule the same. Moreover, the scheduling can be performed after the office hours in order to ensure that no interruption takes place in the regular working.
It is very easy to protect your system against virus attacks. All it requires is continuous monitoring of the system. Besides this, if you put in a little effort and train your employees properly, you can wipe away all the potential viruses and threats. This will protect the computers of your company and help in continuous running of your business.
Author bio: Viola Allen is a Cloud, SIP and VoIP expert, currently employed with My Real Time Cloud Dot Com. Her passion is to write about the recent technological advancements, including Cloud Hosting, Hosted PBX and SIP Trunking. Her main motive is to gain more and more information about the latest technological advancements in the industry.