Protect Your Network From Bots

One of cybercriminals' favorite ways to carry out criminal activities is through botnets. They use spam, phishing attacks, or malicious websites to infect computers, turning them into "bots" or "zombies" that can be remotely controlled. Under cybercriminals' command, these bots generate a healthy revenue stream for their owners, targeting and stealing from businesses. As technology improves and becomes more accessible, bots are becoming the tool of choice for crime.

A Trend Micro study found that of 100 million compromised computers, approximately 25 percent belonged to businesses. It's good business for cybercriminals, but bad for small businesses.

It's hard to know if your computer has been taken hostage to a bot. I always advise customers to immediately contact a security expert to fully assess the situation and then take action to clean and remove the bots. But if you're a small business owner, your first instinct is probably to protect your data, even before you call in the experts. Here are some initial steps to take:

First: Disconnect the suspected infected computer from the network. This will stop sensitive information from being stolen, prevent other computers from becoming infected, and will prevent your computer from being used in attacks on other businesses.

Second: Move sensitive data and information from the infected machine to a clean computer or external hard drive.

Third: Clean the infected computer either using free tools available (requires hooking computer back up to internet connection) or by working with a professional.

Prevention is always better than a cure, and this is the same with regard to bots. Help prevent your business's computers from infection in the first place by following these quick tips.

Ensure your antivirus is updated. It's a no-brainer, but computers are still being infected. Computers without the latest updates are not protecting your systems. However, updating can be tricky too, because security vendors need to be able to keep up with the latest threats without grinding their systems to a halt. It's important to find out how it's done, because if your PC becomes slow to a point where it impacts productivity due to the number of the updates, then you're just swapping one problem for another.
Harden your Windows. Make sure your Microsoft Windows and main programs (Office, Adobe products) have the latest patches. Vulnerabilities in the operating system and other key programs provide easy access for the bad guys to compromise your systems. Cybercriminals are very familiar with these vulnerabilities and know how to exploit them.

Read more: Entrepreneur

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