A decade ago the desktop PC was the primary connection to the Internet, and security was a whole lot easier. Fast forward to today and the threatscape has increased exponentially: More devices, more data, more locations, more malware attacks, and less control. Businesses are struggling to protect their data and processes, and everyone now has a role to play in ensuring that security.
The Romantik Seehotel Jäger, sitting serenly for 111 years in the picturesque Austrian Alps, fell victim to a ransomware attack. At the height of the winter ski season, cybercriminals took control of the hotel’s computer system and demanded $1,603 in bitcoins to release reservations and the system to program electronic keys used by guests to access their rooms.
The reason cybersecurity is a process, not a one-time solution, is that the Bad Guys – whether careless or malicious employees, hacktivists, cybercriminals, or rogue governments (not to be confused with the good governments, which only spy on us for our benefit) – are a problem that will never go away. Every new and improved security measure is only as good as the people who use it and only effective until somebody comes up with a way to beat it.
In an information-based economy where bring-your-own devices (BYOD) and, increasingly, bring-your-own applications (BYOA), are the norm, IT groups are struggling to enable their organizations to be fast and flexible while protecting their digital assets. Shadow IT, also referred to as rogue or cockroach IT, emcompasses the devices, software, and services outside the ownership or control of IT groups. While Shadow IT poses a significant threat to the management and security of organizations, it can also be a source of speed, agility, and freedom to enable business success.
With the digital threatscape proliferating exponentially – i.e. phishing emails increased almost 800 percent quarter-to-quarter in Q1 2016, to 6.3 million, while ransomware soared 300 percent year-over-year on its way to a billion-dollar-a-year problem – it’s important to remember that effective cybersecurity rests on three pillars – products and services, processes, and people. Simply throwing more money and resources at cybersecurity is not the answer: People are the key, and everybody has a role to play in effective cybersecurity.
This year, we are leveraging the power of distribution to help our channel partners take their security business to the next level. This is also aligned with our partner-focused approach.
Our distribution strategy will provide access to specialized, geo-specific distribution companies. This will increase ease of doing business for our partners.
Our distribution partners can provide services ranging from logistics to pre-sales, finance and technical support. Our AVG Business Sales team will remain heavily engaged with our growing partner base, and at the same time, develop new accounts and relationships within our distribution partner network. We will also continue to work with our large top-tier distributors to complement our model.
We have recently onboarded new distribution partners in the UK, Ireland, the DACH region and North America.
And today, EarthBend joined our channel as a new AVG Business distributor for North America and Canada.
Here are a few facts about our new partnerships:
We look forward to extending the benefits of our distribution model for our partners as we build out our strong, channel program.
Close to half all businesses in the UK are of the opinion that they are safe from cybercrime, according to new research. They believe the risks are minute.
The post Businesses ‘still naïve to the risks of cybercrime’ appeared first on We Live Security.
Employees at Caritas Design were using different security software making it difficult to manage.
Business owners in every part of the world have the same concerns. Scott Quinn from Montana-based Caritas Design, a small web-design firm run by Scott and his wife Kate, said, “There are lots of viruses out there you need to be protected from. In today’s world we have to protect personal information.”
Echoing that sentiment from clear across the globe is Levent Sılay, a business development executive from Login Business Solutions, a Management Information Systems solution provider based in Istanbul, Turkey. He says their biggest concern is, “to keep our clients and servers in a secure environment.”
Both businessmen have tried different solutions in order to create that secure environment. But as many smaller businesses have experienced, the setup was disorganized with people in the company using different solutions simultaneously like McAfee, Symantec, Microsoft Security Essentials, and F-Secure. This cobbling together of security programs meant that management was difficult and disordered. In evaluating better solutions, Silay said, “We wanted a security system which can easily be monitored and managed from a web portal.”
Silay was a long time Avast Free Antivirus user, so once he found out about the free Avast for Business option he didn’t turn back. Quinn had a similar experience. He found Avast Free Antivirus when he was a poor college student. “I was in college looking for the cheapest option, and it had to have boot time scan. So through internet searches, I found Avast.”
Many businesses already have a budget set aside for security, so sometimes free software isn’t the main benefit. Both Quinn and Silay had additional needs. The primary one: “Simple management”.
The advantages of Avast’s cloud-based business security according to Silay are “the quick and easy installation, the monitoring screen that helps in the visualization of all the computers on the network, the online management that can be utilized from anywhere, and the fact that it’s simple and there is no need for training.”
Avast for Business management console
Quinn’s Caritas Design is a startup company, so “Any savings are huge for us.” Because of the years of trust using Avast Free Antivirus, Quinn’s decision was simple. “I’ve been using Avast for my personal and business machines for over 10 years now, and when they released their new online free business portal, I had to sign up.”
“Avast for Business has been outstanding to work with as an enterprise-level solution for my customers,” said Quinn. “I can email silent deployments, manage tasks and scans, and categorize clients by organization or location.”
For a free business-grade security solution, the question often comes up about support. Quinn says, “Their support has been amazing on the rare occasions I’ve needed to utilize them. I would, and will, recommend Avast and Avast for Business to everyone I encounter.”
Avast for Business is a free cloud-based security solution available to business owners around the world. Learn more and sign up today.
Read the headlines and you would think cyber-crime was all about big brands fighting to keep customer data out of hackers’ hands.
You might even think it is about governments and cyber-espionage.
But behind the headlines, there is a day-to-day story of small business under attack.
So to mark National Cyber Security Awareness Month, we’re working with the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) to share free tools and resources and about online threats.
Through October, we’ll help NFIB members and small business owners learn more about some of the practical issues around cybersecurity.
We’ll share information about the common tricks and tactics of hackers, and we’ll explore the issues around Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and the challenge of keeping a business secure when the lines are blurring between an employee’s personal tech and their professional life.
This week we’re encouraging small business owners and NFIB members to take our AVG Small Business IT Security Health Check.
It’s a simple free tool to help business owners think about how well-prepared they are against cyber threats.
The tool poses 17 multiple choice questions across a range of security topics: from password security to IT infrastructure.
There are also questions about what plans business owners have in place to deal with the fall-out if a security breach happens and customer, employee or suppliers’ personal information is compromised.
In the weeks ahead, we’ll share updated versions of our free ebooks through the NFIB’s regular email newsletter to members:
Sadly, there’s no way to stop hackers from trying to breach the virtual defences of small businesses. Wherever they are in the world, hackers will keep trying to find valuable data and disrupt business operations. And as Steve Chabot (R-OH), Chairman of the Congressional Small Business Committee, explained earlier this year, 71 percent of cyber-attacks are targeted at businesses with fewer than 100 employees.
So we hope our association with the NFIB will spread awareness of the issues and help small business owners feel better prepared to deal with online threats and ready to take steps to make their businesses more secure in future.
Staying safe and protected online as an enterprise is growing in importance and recognition. We look at whether business security needs to be simpler?
The post Business security: Is simpler better? appeared first on We Live Security.
