13 February 2015 02:45:00 AEDT 6 MIN READ

Hey IT Manager, What Are You Spending Your Time On?


Technology conceptWith the level of cloud adoption by businesses increasing, it's clear to see the value of cloud email filtering is appreciated by SME and Enterprise organisations alike. For IT Managers, the burden of ensuring a secure business network is significantly reduced by employing a cloud filtering solution to protect the business 24/7. With the stress of malware containing spam causing havoc to a business network removed, how else are you as the IT Manager benefiting? Cloud email filtering gives you back more time by having experts manage the email spam and malware filtering on your behalf. By having security updates managed for you through the cloud, IT staff are able to concentrate more on core business activities and you might even find you have more money in your IT budget to spare. Cloud email filtering is definitely the key to having constantly updated and monitored spam and virus protection.

But, are you still protected from all email threats?

These past months have seen a dramatic increase in the threat of malicious emails, including those tempting emails asking users to click links or open attachments which can cause havoc to businesses and business networks. Cyber criminals are not only targeting businesses via emails with malicious content, they are targeting personal email accounts too, including Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail etc. That's right, for example, your 'average Joe' is reading his personal email during his lunch break at work, when he receives an email from FedEx saying there is a parcel waiting for him. He clicks on a link to find out the details of this delivery, and before he knows it, his computer is infected with malware along with the rest of the company network.

You are probably sitting there, shaking your head - remembering the days before cloud email filtering where you had to rely solely on your desktop antivirus and server applications to kick in, in order to stop these threats. That's a desktop anti-virus or server application which may or may not have been updated recently… how sure are you? Unlike cloud apps, desktop and other on-premise apps can have a delay of up to half a day when new threats are detected by security Vendors.

Staff within your organisation may not be educated enough about online scams and how to avoid falling victim to them. Cloud email filtering will stop them coming through their corporate email client, but what about their personal email accounts? When staff check their personal email/webmail accounts at work, your business network is still at risk. When malware is inadvertently downloaded, those staff members won’t suffer as much as you and the rest of your IT department. Just think, who will be questioned as to why the business network was compromised and why files have been locked down? All while business owners are held to ransom for their vital company data!

This is not just a hypothetical - this happens to businesses on a regular basis, and it doesn’t just occur through email scams. Social media platforms such as Facebook have also experienced a spike in posts that contain malicious links. Just like email scams, for example, these links within social posts can easily trick someone into downloading malware contained within '.exe' files.

If you have personal email and social media restrictions put in place such as acceptable usage policies, your organisation is still susceptible to spam containing malware penetrating your network. Simply telling your staff, not to access their personal emails or Facebook during business hours is extremely difficult to enforce. The fact is, your current desktop antivirus and business email filtering together will not be able to pick up on these entering through other avenues such as personal email, social media and other websites. You've just found the chink in your security armour.

Web filtering services protect organisations like yours from web-based threats by filtering web-browsing, eliminating malware and keeping unwanted web content out before it reaches your business network. Quality solutions should have features that allow you to set web browsing restrictions at particular times. If you don’t want to play 'Big Brother' to your staff, then using a web filtering product is going to be your saviour, providing you with backup for email scams that are received through non-business email accounts and social media sites.

Web filtering also allows you to block sites such as gambling, pornography and hate sites. This is to ensure businesses are protecting their staff from being exposed to sites that may offend, thus preventing any HR issues for your business. Setting usage parameters is one of the greatest features you should look for from a web filtering solution. This is so you can allow staff access to email and social media sites only outside of critical business hours, ensuring staff are productive and stay focused on the job for most of the working day.

Web Filtering relieves IT Managers from the responsibility of having to constantly monitor business networks for any compromises, and in addition to email filtering it takes away the sole reliance of your desktop antivirus which requires constant updating in order to be effective. Cloud services, as you know, are updated in real time by the Vendor.

You need to take as much off your shoulders as possible in this world of constant cyber attacks. Outsourcing email and web to a cloud filtering provider allows you to rest easy, save money and focus on other IT projects knowing experts have your network constantly protected.

It's these email ‘clicks’ that can turn into major catastrophes within the blink of an eye. Wouldn't your time be better spent on more important IT projects, rather than trying to recover network data that has been compromised from malware creeping through unsuspecting staff’s personal emails?


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