Most SMEs don't even filter the web content they download for harmful software. | |
| Targeted attacks by criminals online are at their highest-ever levels, says managed Unified Threat Management (UTM) services company, Network Box. And SMEs are the most vulnerable to them since they have the lowest levels of protection in place. |
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| Moreover, viruses are being replaced with a much more sinister threat "� cyber criminals. These comprise worms, trojans and spyware which now make up to 70 per cent of all malware that target the most vulnerable sectors of PC users: smaller businesses (read SMEs) and home users who do not have sophisticated anti-virus packages. |
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| Research by Network Box indicates that 63 per cent of SMEs have no protection against phishing attacks, 69 per cent don't filter web content to protect themselves from employees downloading harmful content and 50 per cent have no protection against spyware. |
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| Meanwhile, botnets too have come into their own in the first half of 2006 with botnet 'masters' continuing to hone and improve techniques to enslave business PCs to run software, allowing a system to be controlled without the knowledge of its user. |
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| The increase in botnets has led to a marked increase in both the number and sophistication of phishing attacks, which have developed to include 'spear phishing' "� a targeted email against an individual that appears to come from a trusted source, eg. from within a company. |
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| By neglecting to update anti-virus protection regularly, SMEs continue to put their networks and critical data at risk. Only a small percentage of SMEs have implemented anti-virus gateway protection (to combat viruses and worms which spread via email). Mass-mailing viruses dominate the infections reported to virus companies. |
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| However, several tools are available to help SMEs manage their anti-virus software. Automated systems can be scheduled to check for updates from a dedicated server on an hourly basis and even laptop and remote home workers can be provided with the latest virus protection. |
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| The bare minimum an SME should consider is a firewall and a desktop and server anti-virus, an anti-spam and an email content-filtering solution, and a virtual private network (VPN) for remote users. UTM devices are gaining favour with SMEs too. They combine a number of the key IT security products "� firewall, anti-virus, intrusion detection, anti-spam, content filtering "� on a single appliance. |
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| When choosing an anti-virus package, look out for decent support for the product. You can either choose McAfee, Symantec (Norton) or Trend Micro. But remember that whichever package you choose, you have to update the anti-virus package. |
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