Virus Attacks

We have a Firewall and antivirus so we are safe. We’re covered. 

I often hear this response. And to be fair, this is a good start.

In fact, we had a similar line of thinking before we were brought in to diagnose what had happened to a company who was hit by a serious virus a few years back.

The incident.

The internal IT person had setup a reliable system and was using business grade protection. However, the company was hit hard by a virus. The virus came from a USB stick, bought in by an employee. When inserted into their workstation the antivirus protection software cut in and detected the virus, as it’s meant to. The employee acted quickly, pulled the network cable from the workstation so the virus would not spread. As they learnt in training. However, the virus did make its way to the company servers causing the significant disruption.

So, what happened?

When the workstation was unplugged from the network it automatically switched over onto the companies WiFi access point. The WiFi was not on a separate network thus the virus reached the servers locking critical files.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Speed of response in a cyber-attack is critical often making the difference from bad to worst. If only the antivirus could have alerted the WiFi access point and Firewall the virus could have been captured and contained. This is an example why we now recommend you synchronise your security and set up breaks within your network.

The bad actors are constantly working on new ways to attack you. So, you have to make sure to PROTECT yourself and your business. See how we can help at techprecision.com.au