In this fast-moving digital age, it’s important for companies as well as individuals to find ways to protect their data and personal information while browsing the internet. Computer viruses, data breaches, and cyber attacks are becoming more common everyday and finding ways to guard your data is becoming essential. According to a report done by Connectwise, 51% of small and medium-sized businesses don’t have an incident response plan in place for responding to data breaches and cyber attacks.

Malware is commonly known as malicious software designed to disrupt, damage, and destroy computers. Sometimes certain types of malware are designed to gain unauthorized access to a system, so it can leak information or change the security interface. According to the AV-Test Institute, 560,000 new pieces of malware are detected everyday. Some common signs of malware being on your computer include pop-ups, disabled programs, and much slower loading times. You may feel overwhelmed when facing the threat of malware infection, but don’t worry because we have you covered with six ways to guard against malware below.

1. Update Computer

Everyone forgets to update their computer every once in a while, but it’s a crucial part of guarding against malware and other viruses. Data is highly valuable, and several bugs in your computer system can accumulate overtime if you don’t update your computer. These bugs and abnormalities in your system can be exploited by hackers, and lead to data loss. Make sure you stay on top of updates because they come out with security patches on a frequent basis, which could safeguard you against potential cyber attacks.

2. Backup Data

Backing up data may be one of the most overlooked ways to guard against malware. According to Money Talk News, 29% of computer users don’t back up their computers. It’s important to schedule periodic data back-ups as a preventative measure against cyber-attacks. You can backup your data with cloud-based services such as Barracuda, Zendesk or Carbonite, hard-drives, or even via email. Implementing this small yet simple measure will help retrieve your data and ensure smooth business operation.

3. Download Anti-Malware Software

Downloading anti-malware software is one of the easiest ways you can protect yourself against malware attacks and/or infection. Finding anti-malware software that scans periodically, removes malware, and strengthens the security of your system would be the best choice for you as an individual as well as a company. If you want to boost the security of your computers, look into installing anti-virus and anti-spyware software to cover all of your bases. A few worthwhile anti-malware software include McAfee Endpoint Security, Norton Small Business, and Trend Micro’s OfficeScan.

4. Cyber Insurance Companies

Big data has become highly important for companies are the last two decades and finding ways to protect their data is paramount. Several cyber insurance companies have risen to help strengthen security, protect companies from data breaches, and data compromises. Personally identifiable information, confidential information, and corporate information are the most common technology-related risks that cyber insurance companies can protect you from. If your company does face a cyber-attack, cyber insurance companies can help cover legal fines, lost income, extortion money, lawsuits, regulatory fines, and more.

5. Safe Internet Browsing

This may seem obvious to many people who use the internet everyday, but it’s important to implement safe internet browsing practices. Make sure employees are educated about the best practices and consider holding training to empower staff about the best ways to protect themselves. This can include downloading files from trusted websites, creating strong passwords, two-point security verifications, visiting secure websites, and completely logging out of websites after you’re done using them. Failing to log out or visit unsafe websites gives hackers opportunities to create data breaches, steal information or infect your system.

6. Encryption Software

Taking the time to encrypt your data can prevent cyber attacks from being successful more times than not. If a hacker steals encrypted data, they won’t be able to translate or understand the data because it’s scrambled, which makes it virtually useless. Creating private keys and/or public keys is a common form of encryption many companies utilize. There are a lot of built-in encryption programs companies can use or they can look to third-party software solutions.

Conclusion

According to the AV-Test Institute, there are more than one billion malware programs and that number is slowly growing everyday. It’s important to incorporate several safeguards and safe business practices to prevent data breaches, cyber attacks, and malware infections. Keeping your computers updated and backing up data in multiple places can help your company from losing valuable data. Investing in one of the cyber insurance companies out there would be essential for businesses trying not to lose money, information or lawsuits. Another good safeguard is safe internet browsing practices and taking the time to educate employees on how to protect themselves. Encrypting your data is another great way of protecting your data against hackers. Utilize these six ways to guard against malware above and your company will become much more secure overtime.