A malware attack is something most business owners are afraid of.

A particularly vicious one might result in lost time and revenue. The last thing you want is to be hijacked and held for ransom to access your customer files. The concerns about what unscrupulous hackers might do with sensitive data are alarming.

A single attack can almost destroy a small brand. You may be operating on a shoestring budget, and the cost to remove malware or time lost due to an attack is devastating to your bottom line. 

What Are Some Famous Malware Attacks?

Cyberattacks increased by 15.1% last year. More people are conducting business online than ever, and numbers are expected to rise. You’ve likely heard reports in the news about giant corporations getting hacked:

• At the beginning of 2022, Crypto.com fell into the hands of hackers and lost $18 million worth of Bitcoin and $15 million worth of Ethereum. 
• Cyber thieves also tapped into the Red Cross’s databases and stole sensitive information.
• In April this year, a disgruntled former employee grabbed tons of sensitive data from the Cash App. 

If large corporations and internet-based firms are vulnerable to cyberattacks, small businesses are as well. You can avoid some dangers by ramping up your malware protections and educating your employees about the risks of specific scams, improving their general knowledge of cybersecurity. 

How To Protect Your Business From Malware Attacks

1. Avoid phishing scams

A phishing attempt is when you receive an unsolicited email, text message, or other communication that encourages you to log in via a link. Often, the link is not to the actual website, although it might look almost identical. Once you input your personal information, the hacker has your username and password to access your real account.

Train employees never to click on a link as they could download malicious software and infect your machine and even your network. They should always go directly to a website and log in via the company’s landing page. 

2. Invest in the antivirus software

The new freebie third-party software might seem like a great idea until their site becomes infected and you wind up with malware on your machine. Spend a little more to go with the service with top-notch security.

You should also install antivirus and malware protection on any computer used to access your databases. One infected machine puts your entire company at risk, so take time to install security features. Install protection on remote workers’ devices. Your IT department should be able to help with this. 

3. Run scans

Train your tech department to run nightly scans and actively keep an eye out for attacks. A scan might not prevent the malware from getting on a machine, but it can stop it in its tracks. Your IT workers can remove it before it infects other systems or does too much damage. 

4. Keep backups

Studies show hackers can breach company networks with a 93% success rate. You might face malware at some point even if you put all the safeguards in place, run real-time monitoring and invest in top security.

Make sure you back up your systems regularly so you can restore your database to where it was before the cyberattack. You can set backups to run at a specific time every day, keeping old copies for a few weeks before discarding them to save on space. 

5. Create complicated passwords

Insist employees frequently change their passwords and go with complicated combinations that are difficult to guess. You can prevent many malware and other attacks simply by making it hard to get around your systems. 

Disable any default login options, such as “admin,” and insist that your staff uses passwords with a combination of lowercase and uppercase letters, numbers, and special characters. For example, “iLoveCats” is a very risky password. It’s easy to guess and not very long or complex.

A better option that would be much harder for a hacker to get around would be: “Pkal87!haoid18903Zdkl?”

You and your workers can utilize password lockers to keep track of the more complex combinations. The key is to make it so difficult for a hacker to guess that they move on to easier targets. 

Conclusion

One of the best ways to protect yourself and mitigate risks is by studying what threats are currently ongoing. Read articles on cybersecurity, hire an expert to run an audit of your systems, and pay attention to what other business owners deal with daily. 

Understand that cybercriminals spend all their time looking for ways around your systems. You have to be a step ahead of them. If they do lock up your computer and demand ransom to release it, never pay it. You don’t need to if you’ve created backups because you can restore from the last point before the malware. The idea is always to be one step ahead.