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Small business, big risk

Many small business owners believe that they do not need to worry much about computer and online security. “After all,” they reason, “who would want to target my business when there are so many bigger targets out there?”

While it is true that small businesses are not directly attacked as often as larger organisations, small and midsize businesses are still falling prey to cyberattacks that cost them sensitive data, productivity and corporate accounts cleaned out by sophisticated banking Trojans.

“The threat of identity theft is very real for consumers and businesses alike, but owners of small businesses may not realise the danger they face of having their personal identities compromised through their business,” explains Lutz Blaeser, MD of Intact Security. “Unfortunately, small business owners are being targeted more today than ever before due to the criminals’ ability to easily access important information and go undetected."

He explains that this is because many of these business owners have very fragile firewalls between their personal and business finances, which in turn can make them exceptionally vulnerable to identity theft. These small companies are also becoming more digital, but without the necessary security expertise they often expose themselves to serious vulnerabilities. “For that reason, hackers now have small businesses in their cross-hairs,” Blaeser adds.

He explains that there are three reasons why small businesses should be concerned. “Small businesses often end up affected by larger attacks, such as mass worm outbreaks or efforts to harvest credit card numbers; security is becoming tighter than ever at larger companies, so small business networks look increasingly tempting to attackers; and not all security threats come from outside an organisation.”

This is why IT security expert Avira has announced a new product aimed at micro and small business users: Avira Endpoint Security. Available for both Windows and Unix users, Avira Endpoint Security includes features designed to simplify security set-up and administration for businesses with more than three users.

Avira Endpoint Security consists of the Avira Management Console, Configuration Wizard, Avira Professional Security and Avira Server Security (both for Windows and Unix). The Configuration Wizard allows users to install, set up and manage distributed endpoint machines from one central point. This capability makes Avira Endpoint Security ideal for any business that wants to protect its network without the hassle of a complex installation, configuration or administration procedures.

“Avira Endpoint Security was built specifically for micro and small businesses needing both PC and Fileserver protection,” says Blaeser. “Avira Endpoint Security brings together the protection if desktop PCs and file servers in a single license, ensuring your network is secure against viruses, worms, Trojans, adware, spyware and other malware.”

Regardless of how or why your business is attacked, recovery usually takes significant time and effort. Imagine if your computer systems were unavailable for a week. Imagine if you lost all the data stored on all the computers in your company. Imagine if your biggest competitor was able to obtain a list of your customers along with sales figures and sales notes. “How long would it take before you noticed? What would these breaches cost your company? Could you afford these losses?” asks Blaeser. “It seems like common sense. You would not leave your building unlocked at night. The same is true with information security, and one product is all the protection you need. Securing your business is easier than you might think with Avira Endpoint Security.”

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