It doesn't take much to reduce the risk of a malware attack

Every business owner out there knows that the risk of a malware or ransomware attack is real. However, in my experience most don’t realise just how real the risk actually is and tend to think it’s only the big companies that get targeted. Unfortunately, this is not the case – the reality is that SME’s are easy targets.

Often business owners tell me that they know they ‘should’ do more to protect against malware, but that it is all just too confusing and time consuming. I’m here to tell you it doesn’t have to be.

Malware is like any other business risk – it simply needs to be mitigated. To mitigate the risk to your business, as a starting point I recommend you:

Install Anti-malware software and make sure it is linked to all email addresses as the majority of attacks come through email.
Ensure your staff DO NOT have administrative rights to their PC’s or laptops – that way they can’t inadvertently download software that contains malware.

The reality is the odds aren’t in your favor when it comes to avoiding an attack. Putting in place these two simple measures could save you an enormous amount of stress and frustration, not to mention potential harm to your business and reputation. When you consider that a major malware attack is likely to impact your operations for at least a month and cost upwards of $10,000 to recover from – it’s well worth taking these measures.

I should stress that these two measures are just a starting point and the ‘bare minimum’ if you like. Like all risks, you should really take a moment to assess the impact an attack would have on your business. The greater the risk or consequence the more you should do to manage the risks.

If you would like help assessing your businesses risk level and putting in place a strategy to mitigate it – you know who to talk to.

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It doesn’t take much to reduce the risk of a malware attack