The total damage done to the world economy by virus writers, hackers and spammers exceeds $500 billion annually. This terrifying figure continues to increase with a yearly growth rate of 30 to 40 percent (coinciding with the continual surge of malicious programs).
Without an effective defensive shield against cyber threats, no business is safe from widespread criminal activity and consequences such as:
- Compromised bank account information
- Stolen credit card numbers
- Company data held to ransom or publically distributed
Today and into the future, cyber threats are only going to increase and cyber criminals will only get smarter, putting your business in a vulnerable position if it’s not properly protected.
We all know that many viruses exist at any given time, as do a number of antivirus solutions. However, antivirus solutions offer different technical characteristics that vary from product to product, covering certain types of attacks, but definitely not all of them. Some antivirus products rate URLs that employees visit or that show up in search results, while others actively block your system from connecting with known malware-hosting URLs or fraudulent (phishing) pages.
An on-premise antivirus solution is a start, but it doesn’t prevent fast-break phishing scams and zero-day malware variants from sneaking through and stealing sensitive information or causing a major disruption to your business.
The only failsafe antivirus solution is one that protects against multiple types of malicious programs and is faster at detecting them.
Partnering with a cloud email security provider is the next step, but you must ensure you have the right vendor: one with a multi-layered defence system, reliable, real-time support to keep malicious attacks at bay and a proactive alert system of real or possible cyber threats.
Consider the following questions you must ask yourself to understand how solid your email security provider truly is:
- Are fast-break and zero-day malware threats still an issue for your business?
- Is your vendor’s support reliable if your company’s email has been compromised?
- How many layers of defence does your provider offer for antivirus protection?
- Is your current email security provider proactive in alerting you to the status of your service?
- Is your current provider distracted with other competing priorities?
Before renewing your contract with a cloud email security provider, you must ask yourself if the service is premium or if it is still leaving your business susceptible to spam and malware attacks.
If the above questions have left you feeling concerned about your network’s vulnerability to the ever-changing landscape of zero-day malware threats, stay tuned for the next three blogs in this series, where we take a deeper dive into what it means to have the right cloud email security provider.
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