Antivirus packages are many and varied, with options out there to suit the needs of every kind of customer. When it comes to meeting the requirements of SMBs, antivirus can be a little more complex than, say, someone looking for security protection on their home PC or laptop. SMBs have more at stake, often with customer and personnel data to keep safe, as well as having the desire to keep things ticking over without being faced with security alerts.
Choosing the right antivirus for your SMB is, therefore, not quite as straightforward as many business owners might like, but it should form the main part of any proactive security measures your business has in place. Of course, the first thing to do when approaching the antivirus arena is to work out what your needs are. Not all businesses are made equal, with some obviously being bigger than others. In this respect, size really does matter.
Smaller isn’t better
Let’s start at the bottom end of the spectrum then. Many small businesses, say with under 200 employees, are often less well placed when it comes to having budgets to spend on antivirus. However, it can be a disastrous oversight if your business falls into this category, to simply ignore it and hope the issue of cybersecurity will go away. It isn’t going to go anywhere and, if anything, threats to small businesses are greater than ever – mainly because of this lackadaisical approach by some SMB owners.
SMBs need to carry out an evaluation of all the systems and devices used within the company, which means identifying the operating system such as Microsoft Windows, Apple’s OS or even Linux. It’s vital to ensure that any antivirus package you’re looking at will work across these different platforms and servers, and, hopefully, in harmonious fashion too. Hard-pressed IT departments have enough to get on with as is, let alone if they’re faced with compatibility issues caused by problematical antivirus software.
Think bigger
There can also be a tendency for small businesses to feel like they don’t have to bother, especially if the SMB has only a few employees. Making do with whatever antivirus package might have been bundled with a motley selection of company PCs is not the ideal security strategy. This is compounded if the software was free, because many gratis programs are frequently light on features and functions, plus they may not stay up to date. Running computers without current antivirus software is almost as bad as not having it installed at all.
Any worthwhile antivirus should include some core basics, such as the ability to block unknown threats, including unknown executables and carry out web filtering. A dependable antivirus package should also be able to cope with email scanning, patch management and handle remote log-ins with ease too. Spending a little more on a bundle that will give your SMB these advanced features will pay for itself in the long run by offering a much wider range of cybersecurity tools.
Growing requirements
Larger SMBs will naturally need to boost their requirements further, with potentially more to lose if a cyberattack occurs. More potent antivirus software can help with dealing with malware, phishing scams, ransomware and DDoS attacks too. The latter can be a hugely problematic issue for companies. It occurs when a business is subjected to multiple connected devices and fake traffic, which is often potent enough to bring a website to its knees.
DDoS attacks are increasingly frequent among the SMB community as they are relatively easy to instigate and can cause untold chaos for companies. Hackers who carry out these attacks are often after some kind of recompense, although there can also be a revenge motive behind it. Some hackers simply carry out DDoS attacks because they can. Whatever the reason, it’s vital to ensure that your antivirus software will be able to fend off these types of attacks.
Centralized solution
More sizable SMBs will doubtless have an IT department, which will be able to check that any antivirus protection will cover the likes of files, folders and any email attachments contained within a network. If the SMB is sufficiently large enough – and even if it isn’t – another option is to look at using a Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) strategy. This setup offers much more potent cybersecurity protection. It can be costlier and more complex to implement, but the time and money spent on it will invariably pay for itself over time.
By adopting a ZTNA strategy, SMBs are able to work using the ‘never trust, always verify’ authentication method. This is much more effective and secure than the old style ‘castle and mode’ strategy used for smaller concerns, or those with less concern for security. ZTNA offers a much more powerful way of deciding who gets access to a network, and it can monitor movements dynamically, meaning that the always on approach is much more likely to spot any potential threats and cut them off early, before any lasting damage is done.
Powerful solution
Any SMB with a lot to lose, and let’s face it, that extends to most businesses irrespective of their size and status, is probably being prudent if they at least take a look at the multiple antivirus and cybersecurity solutions offered from within a ZTNA package. The other good news on this front is that it is also possible to enlist ZTNA as a paid-for service, which can help to take the weight off beleaguered IT departments and ensure that your SMB is running a system that is closely monitored and always up to date.
As you’d expect, there’s a cost that comes with adopting a strategy like this. However, in an age when it is simply foolhardy to get by with a ‘make-do’ antivirus package, spending some time and budget on getting a product that you know and can trust seems like a very sensible approach indeed.
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