Virus Protection by Doug Macomber, Systems Engineer at TNSC

It’s very important to protect your computer from viruses and malware. Viruses are malicious programs that are capable of gathering sensitive information from a computer and can even grant someone unauthorized remote control. Like a virus that affects humans, computer viruses can spread from computer to computer. Malware is similar to a virus, but cannot spread from computer to computer on a network. Most malware programs are either adware or spyware which generate unwanted pop-ups or disrupt normal computing.

There are many anti-virus/anti-malware applications available; some require a subscription and some are free. Free anti-virus applications work fine for home networks, but for corporate environments, a subscription-based solution that can be centrally managed is highly recommended. With a centrally managed anti-virus solution, administrators can insure that the anti-virus application is running on each computer, and that the programs update regularly with new virus definitions. Administrators are also able to deploy settings to client computers without physically touching each computer. There are also hardware devices that are capable of blocking viruses and malware before they enter a private network.

SonicWALL has a line of network security appliances that include a subscription-based feature called Comprehensive Gateway Security Service (CGS). The SonicWALL CGS scans incoming Internet traffic and blocks the traffic if it is determined to be malicious. Combining both a software and hardware anti-virus solutions will provide your company with the highest level of protection.

Spam is another problem that all companies deal with on a daily basis. The most reliable form of spam prevention is to use a hosted anti-spam solution to detect spam before it reaches the corporate email server. It is also possible to use software-based anti-spam solutions but this method utilizes resources, such as processing power and storage, on the computer where the software is installed.