Preventing Malware Attacks – Our Top 5 Security Tips

A data breach is one of the most devastating cyber attacks that many businesses often face. In fact, malware is responsible for around 28% of data breaches that businesses experience.

Malware is dangerous software that can threaten an organisation’s IT systems and it is becoming increasingly more common day by day. This calls for businesses to seek proactive measures.

As cybersecurity experts, we actively work towards helping companies deal with digital security issues and cyber threats, whilst also curating bespoke IT solutions for them. What’s more, we have experts who understand IT problems thoroughly and who offer robust IT solutions that can help you at every step of your business, making your data absolutely secure. 

If you’ve been looking for ways to prevent malware infections and avoid falling prey to these malware attacks, you’ve come to the right place. 

In today’s article, our team of experts have put together some of the best malware prevention tips to help you protect yourself from malware. We will also be addressing what exactly this problem is and how you can minimise its impact on your business.

Let’s get started! 

What is Malware? 

Malware is a shortened term for malicious software, it is a code or programme which is specially designed and deployed by cybercriminals. It attempts to gain unauthorised access to your computer systems with the intention to damage, disable or exploit your company. 

In simple terms, these people who try to invade your computers are hackers. They create malware to attack your business and try to –

• Steel, encrypt or delete company information searches, personal customer data or passwords
• Hinder your core system functions to modify or hijack them 
• Monitor your day-to-day activities without permission
• Blackmail or demand money in the form of ransom
• Introduce spam and forced advertising.

Needless to say, companies need to engage in proactive actions to prevent such malware infections. If you’re looking to seek help, feel free to get in touch with our team today!

5 Effective Malware Prevention Tips for Your Business 

Malware attacks can cause a great deal of damage to any organisation. In order to prevent these attacks, there are certain proactive measures that you can take to avoid malware impacting your business.

Let’s take a look at some effective malware prevention tips you can implement in your business:

1. Installing Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware

One of the best malware prevention tips is to look for protective antivirus and anti-spyware software, available on the market. These programmes help you mitigate malware attacks and protect your data by preventing any virus from entering your computer. 

They’re designed in a way that can help you block unwanted and unfamiliar foreign installations, which is extremely useful if you ever become a victim of malicious activities.

To top that off, they can scan your computer files to identify and remove malware, giving your business real-time protection. 

Similarly, it is important to audit your files frequently, checking for missing data, edits or additions, that you were unaware of. 

2. Using Email Security and Spam Protection

Emails are probably one of the most important communication tools in the business. 

While effective use of emails can help your business grow in numerous ways, they’re also a common malware channel. In fact, they can very well become a great means of passing on information that you wouldn’t prefer to be passed on. 

However, if you want to reduce the risk of infection, you can do so by:

• Scanning all incoming and outgoing emails 
• Use spam filters to reduce malware
• Limit user access to only company-approved links 

To find out more about how you can secure your emails, contact the team at Redpalm today.

3. Educating Your Team

The people around you, particularly the users, are the best line of defence. By passing on constant updates and educating your users accordingly, you can reduce the risk of phishing or other strategies that invite malware into your IT networks. 

Access controls also help prevent malware infections. They ensure your employees can access what they need to perform their roles and protect sensitive information. 

Emphasise the importance of only downloading apps for mobile phones and tablets from manufacturer-approved stores (such as Google Play and Apple App Store). These stores are checked to offer a certain level of protection from malware. 

Ask your staff to avoid downloading third-party apps from unknown vendors or sources as these will not have been checked.  

While you’re at it, also make sure you make the users aware of common malware practices and use everything that you have in your power to protect your business. 

4. Keep All Your IT Equipment Up to Date

Ensure that the software and firmware on all your IT equipment is always kept up to date with the latest versions from software developers, hardware suppliers, and vendors. 

Applying these updates, or patching, is one of the effective malware prevention tips that can improve the security of your organisation. Set operating systems, programmes, phones, and apps to ‘automatically update’ wherever possible. 

5. Control How USB Drives (and Memory Cards) Can Be Used

It can be tempting to use USB drives or memory cards to transfer files between organisations and devices. However, it only takes the plugging in of a malware-infected USB drive to unleash chaos in your business’ IT system. 

When drives and cards are shared, it becomes difficult to track what they contain, where they’ve been, and who has used them. Some of the ways you can mitigate malware attacks include blocking access to physical ports for the majority of users and using antivirus tools. It’s also a good idea to only allow the use of approved drives and cards within your organisation. 

Implementing these malware prevention tips into your company policy helps prevent your company from being exposed to unnecessary risks. 

Get in Touch with Redpalm to Make Your IT Environment Secure 

Malware infections can be detrimental to organisations, as they can hinder your workflow while stealing your confidential data. In fact, a successful malware attack can also result in reputational damage and drive you out of business.

This is where cybersecurity experts like us can come to your rescue!

At Redpalm, our team of knowledgeable IT professionals have the required skills to understand what is good for your business’ IT environment. Our experience also enables us to provide you with multiple IT solutions for all of your requirements and we pride ourselves in catering to all your needs.

We also offer services like vulnerability assessments, technology procurement, incident response, IT audits and health checks and so much more.

With us by your side, you can rest assured that all your business’ IT functions are running smoothly and can focus on other important aspects of your organisation.

To learn more about our services, click here or contact us to schedule an appointment today!