Cyber-attacks against small and medium sized enterprises are on the rise, with UK businesses experiencing approximately 7.78 million cybercrimes in just 12 months between 2023 and 2024.
Anti-virus has been around for a while, and it’s probably the tried and tested cyber defence for your business you have heard of the most. We understand that the rise in cyber security software can be overwhelming, and it can be tempting to just stick to what you know. Unfortunately, anti-virus is no longer the catch all solution it used to be – and solely relying on it could put your business at risk.
Your business needs a comprehensive suite of defences at all levels, and in this blog we will explain how endpoint protection and user awareness training can help keep your business safe.
Anti-virus protection
As you will probably know, anti-virus software is installed directly onto a device or server to protect against threats. It scans for known threats by detecting signatures (file patterns). If threats are detected, anti-virus prevents them from executing malicious actions, and deletes any traces of the files. This response is immediate and automated.
Anti-virus software can only protect against threats it is already aware of, resulting in a limited scope compared to other solutions. In order to detect unknown threats, anti-virus relies on developers adding new threats whenever they are identified.
Anti-virus can even be vulnerable to known threats, with malware authors changing the patterns of signatures in order to go undetected.
Overall, anti-virus often provides reliable cyber protection for personal use, but falls short when protecting small to medium sized enterprises.
Here are some further ideas for cybersecurity for businesses, offering more thorough protection than traditional anti-virus.
Enter endpoint protection
Endpoint protection is a modern solution that works differently to anti-virus software, and is a more robust way of defending your business. Endpoint refers to the devices used by you and employees.
How it works
Endpoint protection defends across an entire network. Whilst anti-virus is reactive, Endpoint Protection is proactive, with a behaviour-based detection method. This means it identifies suspicious behaviour at network endpoints to detect threats: both known and unknown.
Endpoint protection responds in an automated way, blocking the threat and preventing malware from spreading. It also provides analysts with valuable information to investigate a potential threat, impact, and recovery.
The importance of user awareness training
Even the strongest of cyber security systems can have a weak link: humans.
All it takes is one member of staff clicking an unsafe link to potentially jeopardise your business. There has been a 40% rise in phishing scams since 2021, and they are growing increasingly harder to spot.
User awareness training teaches your staff how to detect phishing scams and other threats. It aims to support your staff and protect your business, and can be done in-person or via e-learning.
Combination is key
In order to protect your business at all levels – we believe a combination of defences is key.
Anti-virus software can complement endpoint protection solutions, taking down many of the known threats, whilst leaving the more complicated stuff for endpoint protection!
With user awareness training minimising the risks of any human error, you can relax with the knowledge that your business is protected.
Where to begin
Several different defences are needed to protect your business from cyber threats. It can be difficult to know where to begin with implementing just one of them – let alone all three!
That’s where we come in. At Nebula IT, we’re here to protect your business securely online. Whether you’re still reliant on anti-virus, or want to see how to boost your cyber defence, get in touch today to see how we can help.