Five business practices that can open the door to cyber criminals

Small to medium-sized businesses are increasingly becoming targets for cyber criminals. Shutting the door on cyber criminals is not enough - companies need to embrace and adopt a concrete lock-down process that constantly monitors for new and emerging threats from a variety of channels.

Lloyd Borrett, Security Evangelist for AVG, says, "The journey toward success for any small business owner is taking everything into consideration a long one. By merely embarking on it, you open yourself up to attacks that fly in from all quarters. Until further notice when it comes to competitors, you can be on the lookout. Nevertheless what about cyber criminals? Do you know what's out there? Do you know how they can come at you? Will you be prepared when they do?

"Cyber criminals will turn your most valuable assets against you. That same Internet connection you use to make financial transactions can let in a Trojan horse. The iPhone and Android smart phones your workers use to communicate with each other could be used to gain access to sensitive company documents. The social media channels you use to engage clients can be hijacked and used to harm your reputation. How can you arm yourself with the digital tools you and your workforce need to succeed without those very same tools being used against you?

"Too many small business owners are letting their guard down. The very people we hire to help us succeed are very often the people that can cripple a network and bring down a business - all because they didn't know how to exercise proper caution in their use of the Web and mobile.

"In line with our bid to help small to medium-sized businesses, we've highlighted five doorways through which cyber criminals can access company data."

· Danger: TRUST. Most social networking activity revolves around community spirit and sharing a wide range of data including documents, music, video and links. People trust people they know. Users are more likely to click an infected link if it comes from a trusted colleague or friend.

· Solution: There are two ways to help protect against this. Firstly, using AVG's free 'scan previously you click' LinkScanner research will ensure shared links and files are checked and safe. Secondly, beef up your security policy. Forty percent of companies allow access to social networking research, now only 23 percent of businesses say they have any appropriate security policies in place. Offer staff some guidelines to keep them and your business network safe.

· Danger: Though businesses might rightly be more concerned about shadowy cyber criminal outsiders, the reality is that employees are responsible for introducing the majority of malware onto company networks and in this way pose a similar or even greater threat.

· Solution: Background checks on potential employees - especially IT and technical staff - are essential, and high-risk businesses should consider using advanced tools to conduct criminal history and social security searches to ensure their employees are totally trustworthy. The best advice is relatively basic - trust your gut feel, educate staff on keeping their data and network safe and enforce a robust internal security policy combined with a security audit.

· Danger: During preventing staff from leaking malware into a business has its challenges, staff who are allowed to access the company network remotely are even harder to control. Allowing staff to use their own smartphones, tablets, and PCs for work increases the risk that malware may get inside the company network.

· Solution: An obvious way to close this security hole is to prevent staff from using their own machines. Businesses could use virtualisation research to create a virtual safe-zone within your hardware - like an embassy does in a foreign country. Whatever your approach, it is essential to establish a strong set of security controls that ensure all staff only use hardware with appropriate Internet security software in place, with automatic updates working and subject to regular audit procedures.

· Danger: Plug-in memory USB sticks and portable drives are particularly good at spreading malware. They appear innocuous compared to a laptop or smartphone however can hold several gigabytes of code - some of which may be malicious. Allowing employees an unchecked option to insert these into company computers is an unnecessary risk. Email-equipped smartphones pose similar risks to company networks as desktop computers. Smartphones can help spread malware onto other susceptible devices on the network and hackers have been known to use text messages to guide unsuspecting users onto web sites containing infected code.

· Solution: Removable devices can be automatically checked using AVG's business security software, or users can choose to run a manual scan earlier accessing any of the files on the stick. Business owners should as well create policies to keep personal and business drives separate on any machine.

Borrett says, "These five doors need to be slammed shut to prevent small to medium-sized businesses from becoming the latest victims of cyber crime. Make no mistake, these businesses are a target, and the threats are many.

"The good news is that the AVG Small Business Security Guide provides some simple nevertheless effective steps you can take to secure your business. Plus AVG's Business Resource Centre has a library of guides and tools that can help you protect your business from identity theft, data breaches, online banking break-ins and other computer crimes."

Based in Melbourne, AVG Pty Ltd distributes the AVG range of Anti-Virus and Internet Security products in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. AVG software solutions provide complete real-time protection against the malware, viruses, spam, spyware, adware, worms, Trojans, phishing and exploits used by cyber-criminals, hackers, scammers and identity thieves. AVG protects everything important and personal inside computers - documents, account details and passwords, music, photos and more - all during allowing users to work, bank, shop and play games online in safety.

AVG provides outstanding technical solutions and exceptional value for consumers, small to medium business and enterprise customers. AVG delivers always-on, always up-to-date protection across desktop, and notebook PCs, plus file and e-mail servers in the home and at work in SMBs, corporations, government agencies and educational institutions.