There are a number of unsavory ways in which criminals can conduct attacks against you and your colleagues. Do not let yourself or your users become victims of an attack.

One mechanism is malware embedded within websites that can penetrate your antivirus software defenses to steal sensitive personal information. It used to be the case that having a strong anti-virus package would do the trick. However, these days, this malware software can all too often pass these defenses undetected.

Protect your Internet Browser

The primary mechanism for these elements to make their way into your organization is via the web browser. As your users use Internet Explorer and Firefox to visit websites, unsavory websites are looking to exploit flaws in the browser. The key is to keep your web browser version current and routinely download security updates as they become available. However, you may want to consider software that detects adware.

Obtain Updates for Adobe Acrobat

We all receive Adobe PDF files via email. These same files can be embedded with code that exploits flaws in Adobe Acrobat Reader. Be sure and keep the reader up-to-date for all of your users.

Watch those ads

One avenue that attackers use is to build supposedly legitimate websites that encourage users to click on unsafe advertisements. "Malvertising" is a combination of the terms “malware” and “advertising” and it exploits vulnerabilities on your system to dispatch pop-up messages. These messages can be both deceptive and annoying.

The most popular pop-up involves a virus alert that asks the users to click for virus updates. There are in fact no viruses on your system. That is until you click on the ad. The ad will however infect your system with adware. Google recently launched a site to fight off bad ads called anti-malvertising.com.

Consult with us and we can help. As your website developer, we can provide ideas on how to build a website that is both safe to visit and likely to be found!

So be on alert. It could mean the difference between protecting your system and the data of greatest importance to you!