Why anti-virus software is not enough to protect your business

Anti-Virus software, commonly called AV, is an critical requirement for anyone accessing the web.

AV is a software which monitors network traffic and filters out any threats that may have adverse effects on both the device and information held on it.

As we know, security breaches and attacks via the internet are growing and evolving constantly. In fact, 68 percent of large firms and 52 percent of small firms experienced cyber security breaches in 2017.

anti-virus software is not enough to protect your business

Fighting back with AV

Various methods of tackling cybercrime have emerged. These range from constraining access to accounts, all the way up to sophisticated AV software.

It is worth to mentioning that not all AV software available will protect you as you may expect. If we look at Windows Defender as an example, an AV which is provided by Mircosoft and free to use, the software is fairly generalised, meaning it will not provide as much protection as some of the more premium softwares and will not recognise more sophisticated attacks or malwares. Therefore, Windows Defender should not be the AV software of choice for anyone working with sensitive data.

Protecting your business

For single users, an enterprise AV software such as Sophos AV would provide sufficient protection levels. This is because it is very unlikely that a single user would be targeted for attack directly, therefore single-point protection is still a viable measure of security.

However, Businesses are a more worthwhile target for malicious users, and therefore security should be treated with the utmost priority.

Within the average business, there are tens and hundreds of devices hooked up to the same network, meaning network traffic is significantly higher. This means more traffic, which equals more data flowing, and consequently a higher chance of a breach. detecti

Unfortunately, there is no Anti-Virus software which provides 100 percent protection due to the ever-changing nature and scale of internet. But there is one fool proof way of protecting your online assets, and it is called multi-layering.

What is multi-layering?

The term multi-layering or layered defence refers to the practice of using a combination of different security techniques and advanced security technologies to cover a full spectrum of threat vectors. Layered defence creates multiple layers of protection across your network.

Using multi-layering with AV software

Imagine your internet connection as a road and travelling data as a car. To travel across to another country, you have to go through multiple border controls.

In multi-layering, AV software is your border control. Border control is installed on different parts of the journey. These include firewalls, servers and end-user machines to analyse and filter the cars coming in, or in our case; the travelling data.

These different stop points regulate all travelling data before it reaches its final destination, your internal network. Multi-layering cuts down the risk of attack significantly, as any threats bypassed by the first security point can be picked up by the second or third in your multi-layer structure.

Feeling confident with multi-layering

AV software may not guarantee 100 percent protection from cybercrime and security breaches. But, by embracing a multi-layered security structure you can sleep easy knowing your organisation is protected by multiple defence mechanisms.