You have seen the headlines. “Data Breach Exposes Personal Information of Millions of Americans” or “Millions of Social Security Numbers Stolen in Latest Cyber-Attack.” The last thing you need to deal with as a business owner is a virus or malware attack that compromises private information or lands you in the headlines. Even if you do not house personal information on millions of subscribers your business still has valuable data that needs to be protected. There are some best practices that you should be employing to combat viruses and malware attacks.

  1. Change Your Passwords Often
    Passwords are your first line of defense against security threats. Make sure you change them regularly and do not use the same password across multiple accounts. Strong passwords are long, use a mix of capital and lower-case letters, symbols and numbers. Don’t use numbers tied to personal information like your birthday or address.
  1. Beware of Phishing Emails
    One of the most effective ways for hackers to infect your computer with viruses and malware is through phishing emails. Emails that look like they are coming from your bank or another trusted source can often be a virus in disguise. If anything about an email looks suspicious, don’t open it and don’t forward it on to anyone else. Alert your IT professional immediately (via screen shot!) so they can review it. Alternatively, you can call the supposed sender and confirm that they sent the email. As a reminder, never share personal information like bank account numbers or your social security number over email.
  1. Keep your Operating System Up to Date
    As easy as it is to click “remind me later” when you get a system update alert, it is important to update operating systems, browsers and plugins right away. Those updates often include patches that protect you against known security issues. If you let those updates lapse you could be opening yourself up to hackers.
  1. Invest in Security Software
    We recommend investing in multiple layers of security technology including antivirus software, firewalls, anti-malware and breach detection programs. This way your system is protected from every angle.
  2. Maintain a Versioned Backup
    Despite all the security measures you put in place, new, more sophisticated malware can still infect your machine.  Having a managed and accessible cloud backup solution that retains versions of that backup image will render a serious virus infestation obsolete.

Protect against Viruses and Malware with Certified CIO’s 24/7 Remote Monitoring Service

If you have tried these protection methods and are still struggling to protect your business from viruses and malware Certified CIO can help. We take a proactive approach to ensure that minor issues never become major emergencies. Certified CIO offers proactive remote monitoring and maintenance to keep your business’s entire network working at optimal health and speed. Call us today at 443-283-0666 and learn how we can help you protect your business from security threats!

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