Anti Virus

We advise on protecting your business from viruses and malware, install and manage anti-virus products, and help you recover from any outbreak.

Choosing an anti-virus product

Many factors go into choosing the right anti-virus software: effectiveness, the impact on your machines and, lastly, cost. The landscape of malicious code changes constantly, so a few selection criteria help reduce the risks that come from poorly configured products and from high-risk online activity such as downloading pirated music or streaming from questionable sources:

• Check the product’s rating with an independent testing body such as Virus Bulletin before you buy.
• Avoid multi-year “value” licences: product rankings change over time.
• Make sure the software uninstalls cleanly in case you need to change products.
• Make sure it can run an off-line scan, booting the system from a dedicated anti-virus disk so that a rootkit or similar cannot hide from the scanner.
• Choose a product with a long support life; some free products need the current year’s version installed every year.
• Make sure virus definitions can be updated both automatically and manually, for the times when you suspect an infection but cannot connect to the internet.

If you find you have made the wrong choice, do not be afraid to replace the product. A virus or malware infection will always cost you more in time and money than the tens of pounds spent on changing a defective product.

Staying protected

• Install an anti-virus product. Some free ones work well, but they do fail too: check independent reviews and re-review what you use regularly.
• Keep your virus definitions up to date.
• Do not invalidate Microsoft Windows or Office by installing illegal software. Security updates are essential, and they are often blocked when Microsoft validation fails.
• Do not use BitTorrent or similar to download pirated software, music or images: they are frequently infected with the latest malware.
• Try not to run your day-to-day account with administrative privileges. Typing an admin password when installing software is a small price for a much lower risk of a major compromise.
• Take regular backups and keep valid system restore points where possible.
• Set your anti-virus to scan removable media on insertion, and to scan email as it arrives rather than after you have opened it.
• Most of all, be vigilant and use common sense.

Based in Chorley, we provide anti-virus and malware protection for businesses across Lancashire and Greater Manchester. Contact us if you need help choosing, installing or recovering.