Virus and Hacker attacks can be detrimental to your business.  Unprotected computer systems are vulnerable to expensive down time and possible loss of important data.  If you use the Internet through a dial-up or a high-speed connection, anti-virus protection and firewall software are extremely important.  Some of today's threats include e-mail viruses that no longer require opening an attachment.  Just viewing the message will infect your computer.  In addition, there are worms, which can crawl the Internet, locate and penetrate unprotected systems without using email.

Anti-Virus software should be installed on all systems.  They have initial limited free subscriptions, then you must renew in order to access new definitions.  Viruses are constantly being invented, so I cannot stress the importance of updating your virus definitions often.  Again, update – update – update!  It is well worth it for your peace of mind.

Firewalls insulate your computers from the Internet.  Today, hackers can take control of unprotected systems and use them to launch attacks against other systems or for use as mail servers to send out unsolicited emails.  You would not let a stranger into you office to poke through your filing cabinets, steal company secrets and use your postage meter.  Nevertheless, that is what it is like when a hacker accesses your system.  Routers provide firewall protections that defend against hackers.  Smaller networks with "always on" connections via cable or DSL are just as open to attack as large companies.  There are excellent inexpensive routers that are perfect for small businesses or home users.  They use network address translation that makes a computer behind the router essentially "invisible" to others on-line.  It is advisable to have a router even if you only have one computer connected to the Internet.  An alternative to a router would be firewall software.  Many of the Anti-Virus software companies are now providing Internet security features with their latest editions.

A good system backup is the ultimate protection against severe damage from Viruses or Hackers.  A new, undiscovered virus or software, security flaw could compromise even the most protected networks. It happens all the time.  Therefore, it is vital that you have a backup solution in place for disaster recovery.  Back it up often; Back it up onto more than one tape or disk; and remember to store a copy off site.  The only way a computer expert can put all the pieces back together is with a good, recent backup.