Researchers at Onapsis and DHS CERT today published reports describing a critical SAP Invoker Servlet vulnerability that has been used to attack 36 global enterprises spanning 15 critical industries.
Tag Archives: business software
Avast for Business gets task scheduling for IT admins
The Avast business solutions team is excited to announce the newest update to Avast for Business – Task Scheduling.
All scheduling features are turned on in the Premium version, for those who manage multiple endpoints
Now Avast for Business users can set the date, time, and frequency for all scans, updates, and system shutdowns. This reduces the impact on your workforce and increases your protection.
“The task scheduler in the Premium version of Avast for Business gives IT managers the ability to plan all their tasks in advance,” explained Martin Svoboda, Avast for Business’s technical product manager. “Even more, they can set up how often tasks will be executed, which means that this feature saves their time!”
Better protection, less disruption
We recommend that IT managers schedule a weekly full-system scan to ensure that your network is safe. You can also schedule scans to run over night or during lunchtime to preserve productivity. Check out these examples:
At a school – All the computers in each classroom, lab, and office need to be turned off at the end of the school day. The old, time-consuming way was to visit each room and manually shut down one-by-one. With Task Scheduling, the administrator can use the Avast for Business web console to create a shutdown task that will execute every day at 6:00 PM. No more walking the hallways at the end of the day; all devices will shut down when you schedule them to.
Select how often your task should run
In a company – As the owner of a small company, one of your most important tasks is to keep your customer’s data secure. Many SMBs and non-profits allow BYOD (bring your own device), but employees have valuable data on their devices that you need to make sure stays secure. One click of an infected webpage, and your whole network could be at risk for data leaks and hackers. With task scheduler, you can create a task which will be executed every day at 12:00 AM and perform a scan on all devices. In case there is an infection, Avast Antivirus can handle it before it reaches the company network.
Select the time your task should run
What else is new in Avast for Business 1.9
- Ability to schedule all types of tasks [Premium only]
- Ability to schedule recurring tasks [Premium only]
- Ability to manage exclusions for the Sandbox
- Ability to manage your Web browser exclusion-settings for the Sandbox
- Ability to manage Sandbox storage
- The “Devices awaiting activation” notification now contains up to 20 devices plus a link to the web Console where you can see all awaiting devices
Avast for Business is the first free business-grade security for PCs, Macs, and servers. It’s managed via a web-based portal and available to protect business networks of all sizes. Learn how you can get started with Avast for Business in your company or school.
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Avast for Business: Zero to One Million endpoints protected in less than a year
Since the launch of Avast for Business, a free, cloud-managed security solution, in February 2015, organizations worldwide have deployed it to protect more than one million PCs, Macs, and servers from cyberattacks and data breaches.
Avast for Business is successful across diverse sectors
Avast for Business is extremely popular with Education, Non-profits, Retail, Healthcare, IT consulting firms, and small business because many organizations lack the IT resources to install costly and complex security solutions. Avast for Business is easily scalable and managed from anywhere. Additionally, Avast for Business starts at a price everyone can afford: Free, making it a natural fit for organizations worldwide.
Education IT admins value easy deployment, management, and the free cost
The sector that has embraced Avast for Business whole-heartedly is Education. IT administrators from universities, school districts, private and charter schools, libraries, and museums all tell us that ease of deployment and management is at the top of their security solution wish list. The fact that it’s also free makes it an easy decision.
“Avast for Business is so easy to deploy and monitor, it’s made the administration of our network much smoother,” said Jothan Virgil, an IT Administrator at Alabama State University. The university has a large network managed by multiple IT professionals, with over 1,000 faculty and staff members and more than 5,600 students. Avast for Business now protects all of them from one console.
“We had AVG before switching to Avast and we really needed to simplify our security solution,” said Tyler Hisel, an IT technician with the Chillicothe City School District in Ohio. He needed software with easy-to-use centralized management where he could monitor the district’s devices. “All we wanted was a simple security solution that worked, and I knew we didn’t have to pay a fortune for it,” he said, “Avast was cost saving and had lots of features that I was surprised came free,” said Tyler. “I’ve got to hand it to you, it’s really an impressive product and it being free just makes it better.”
Non-profits value ease-of-use and the free cost
Monitoring their budget is a priority for non-profits. Avast for Business is free and compared to other antivirus solutions, the optional support costs are nominal. Michael Hensley, Information and Facilities Officer at NeighborImpact, a non-profit human-services agency in central Oregon switched from BitDefender because of the costs.
“The savings on software were extremely helpful in budgeting for our hardware upgrade. The extra money allowed us to get hardware in a different category than we otherwise would have been able to afford,” he said.
Hensley’s staff is not tech-savvy, which contributed to significant security issues in the past.
“The fact that [Avast for Business] is cloud-managed is the primary feature that we needed. We have offices and classrooms distributed throughout the area. We are able to monitor all of our computers from the web-console which has shown consistent improvement.”
SMBs and MSPs value prevention, support, and the free cost
Many businesses have budgeted for security, so free software isn’t the priority, but it certainly doesn’t hurt. Scott Quinn from Montana-based Caritas Design, a small husband and wife web-design firm said, “Any savings are huge for us.”
Despite the huge savings, the primary need is simple managementfrom a solution designed “to keep our clients and servers in a secure environment,” said Levent Silay, of Login Business Solutions, a Managed Service Provider in Istanbul, Turkey. The advantages of Avast’s cloud-managed 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.”
When managing your own business or multiple clients, quick support is essential. Quinn says, “Their support has been amazing on the rare occasions I’ve needed to utilize them. I would, and will, recommend Avast for Business to everyone I encounter.”
Avast for Business is available for every business worldwide
Avast for Business is free for every organization worldwide. Visit Avast for Business to learn more and sign up.
Alabama State University switches to security in the cloud
Networks are relentlessly attacked by online threats. Organizations need quality security products to keep their network secure.
When Jothan Virgil, an IT Administrator at Alabama State University located in Montgomery, Alabama, got an email announcing the new, free Avast for Business product, he did his research and signed up.
image via swac.org
Virgil knows that a good antivirus product is the most important part of protecting a network and was using Avast Endpoint Protection before switching. ”The new cloudbased solution is easier to manage.” Avast for Business lets Virgil see his entire network anywhere, anytime making his job easier.
Alabama State has a very large network managed by multiple IT professionals, with over 1,000 faculty and staff members and more than 5,600 students. Avast for Business now protects all of them from one console.
“Avast for Business is so easy to deploy and monitor, it’s made the administration of our network much smoother.” System notifications tell Virgil exactly which machines are being hit with viruses or malware.
And it’s not just easy. It’s also free. Avast for Business created a savings that Virgil can use somewhere else. He’s certain the savings will go to good use in their growing IT environment.
Avast for Business can save your non-profit, company, or school money and time. Sign up on the Avast website.
Nonprofit organization upgrades hardware with savings from Avast
NeighborImpact uses free Avast for Business to manage computers in multiple locations.
Nonprofit organizations operate on extremely tight budgets. Michael Hensley, Information and Facilities Officer at NeighborImpact doesn’t let that stand in the way of his organization’s mission. The Avast team recently spoke with Hensley about his work and how Avast for Business has helped him.
“We are a non-profit human-services agency serving 3 counties in central Oregon.” Hensley said, “Our staff is not very tech-savvy and we’ve had significant issues with that. We needed something simpler.”
Hensley recently switched NeighborImpact to Avast for Business security software and explained what made him choose the new cloud-based solution.
“The fact that it’s cloud-based is the primary feature that we needed. We have offices and classrooms distributed throughout the area. We are able to monitor all of our computers from the web-console which has shown consistent improvement.” Hensley went on to say that “viewing all of our devices from one place is really convenient.”
Hensley said that his nonprofit used to use Bitdefender but switched because it was too expensive.
“I was somewhat familiar with Avast. I knew it was a reputable company that had been around for a while. When I discovered Avast for Business and weighed the options it was the natural choice. It’s simple, cloud-based, and free.”
NeighborImpact was able to save enough of their precious budget by switching to Avast for Business to make a big impact on NeighborImpact’s server upgrade.
“The savings on software were extremely helpful in budgeting for our hardware upgrade. The extra money allowed us to get hardware in a different category than we otherwise would have been able to afford.”
Avast for Business can save your non-profit, company, or school money and time. Sign up on the Avast website.
Free software and services your start-up can use
Get your small business up and running with free software.
Getting a new business off the ground is not an easy task and can be quite costly, but there are a lot of free software and services available online that your new or small business can use as an alternative to paid-for products.
Here is a list (in alphabetical order, so no favorites 
) of some you will find useful:
Avast for Business – cloud-managed security
Avast not only provides consumers with free security, but we also provide small and medium sized businesses with free cloud-managed protection. Avast for Business is easy to install and can be managed from anywhere and at anytime.
Facebook Page – alternative to building your own website
If you’re a restaurant owner or a small boutique you could also, either in addition to or instead of hosting your own website, create a Facebook page for your business. You won’t be able to sell items online, but you can add your business’ address and directions, opening hours, a description of your business and post images and status updates to inform your customers of new items on your menu or of new items available for sale in your store.
Fundera – loans for your business
Fundera is a free service that offers you loan options and lets you choose the one best suited for your small business. All you need to do is fill out a short questionnaire and then you are presented with loan products, lenders and rates and can apply to the lenders that fit you best with only one application.
Hootsuite – social media manager
Using social media is a great way to get the word out about your budding business, and a social media manager is, therefore, very helpful to keep track of your sites and their effectiveness. Hootsuite offers a free starter package where you can add three social media platforms, get basic analytics reports and schedule posts.
Jimdo and Weebly – (subdomain) website hosting
Jimdo and Weebly are both web hosting services that offer free starter packages when you create a website using their subdomain. With Jimdo’s free package you get 500MB of storage space, one password-protected area and mobile versions of your site. Weebly offers unlimited pages and a drag and drop builder. Both services offer the possibility to sell up to five items for free in case you want to use your site for ecommerce. Checkout services are also included for free.
Ope
nCart – shopping cart solution
OpenCart is a free and open source shopping cart solution. All you need to do is install OpenCart, select your theme, add your products and you are ready to start selling your products on your website!
Ope
nOffice – office suite
Apache OpenOffice is a great alternative to Microsoft’s Office Suite. OpenOffice is an open source office suite that includes essentials like a Word processor, spreadsheet, multimedia, graphics, database and math software. Best of all, OpenOffice is license-free and can be installed on as many computers as your business needs!
Orange HRM – human resource management software
Orange HRM is a free and open source software for human resource management. It is a full-featured HR management system offering various modules such as system administration, personnel information management, and recruitment.
Producteev – task manager
Producteev is a task manager that offers unlimited users, projects and tasks in its free version so you can ensure that you and your team stay on top of the most important to-dos to get your business up and running!
Suite CRM – customer relationship management
Suite CRM is free, open source software for customer relationship management. It’s based on Sugar CRM and comparable to Salesforce. It gives you a full overview, including products, quotes, contracts, projects, reporting, teams, workflow and much more.
Wave – accounting tools
Wave offers cloud-based invoicing, accounting, payroll and payments for free for businesses with 9 people or less. They finance their services by connecting small business owners with vendors of products and services that offer discounts to Wave users.
Nearly all of the above mentioned products also offer premium services your business can take advantage of as it grows. For now, we wish your business the best of luck and hope this list of free software helps your business. 
How one IT guy gained control of 500 devices with Avast for Business
The rule of thumb for managing devices is one IT Administrator for every 100 computers or devices. Five hundred is difficult to manage for an entire IT department, let alone one IT Administrator. But, Gary Myers is up to the task.
The Avast team caught up with Myers recently to see what he thinks about the new Avast for Business product. “They say you should have one person for every 100 devices so it’s definitely a challenge.”
Gary explained how he chose new Avast for Business as his security solution. “I’ve been using Avast for a long, long time, so when I saw that there was a new business product, I knew I should give it a try.” Myers says that Avast is a step above the rest and he switched to Avast for Business because he wanted the new features of the cloud-based product.
Our easy-to-use Web console lets you see and manage devices, reports, and alerts from anywhere.
Myers said the upside of the new cloud-managed antivirus is obvious. “I’m seeing advantages with the software being cloud-based. The web-console allows me to see everything I need to see at once and everything is up-to-date.”
Streamed updates and the cloud-managed console certainly make life easier for an IT administrator that manages as many devices as Myers.
Budget is often a huge factor when IT professionals purchase antivirus software but for Myers, the free product “works, and it’s low overhead.”
Avast for Business is completely free forever – which makes it the ultimate cost-cutting, money saver.
Sign up for Avast for Business and save money and time for your company.
Ohio school district teams up with Avast for Business
Avast teamed up with Chillicothe City School District in Ohio to provide free antivirus software their schools.
The best defense is a good offense.
Educational institutions manage sensitive data including names, birthdays, and even social security numbers. That data needs to be secured to ensure sensitive student data remains confidential. Tyler Hisel is an IT technician the Chillicothe City School District in Ohio. Tyler recently started protecting his school with Avast for Business. “We had AVG before switching to Avast and we really needed to simplify our security solution.”
Servicing an entire school district’s IT needs is a challenge. That’s why Tyler said he needed software with easy-to-use centralized management where he could monitor the district’s devices. “Avast was cost saving and had lots of features that I was surprised came free,” said Tyler.
Tyler discovered Avast for Business by searching for free antivirus software for business. He explored all of the options and after considering the alternatives decided that Avast for Business was the best antivirus software for the district. “All we wanted was a simple security solution that worked, and I knew we didn’t have to pay a fortune for it.”
Budget wasn’t the biggest factor in Tyler’s decision but he claimed that it was definitely important. There were other security solutions that fit most of Tyler’s qualifications but he says that Avast for Business’ nonexistent price tag and centralized management made it the clear choice. When asked if he would recommend Avast to others he replied saying, “We’ve told businesses in the area about it already!”
Tyler’s final thoughts on Avast for Business were simply this, “I’ve got to hand it to you, it’s really an impressive product and it being free just makes it better.”
Avast for Business is free for schools, small and medium sized businesses and non-profit organizations. Visit our Avast for Business website to learn more and sign up.
