Every day, businesses and individuals send over 205 billion emails all over the world. Though many of these messages contain valuable information, a significant portion of them are spam. Receiving or sending spam exposes your business to a variety of risks, including:

Ruined Reputations

Many firms are unaware that their email accounts have been compromised, sending spam to current and future clients and partners. This can quickly ruin your company’s reputation and make it harder for you to succeed in the long run. If clients and customers think you’re sending them spam intentionally, they will view you as untrustworthy. Even when they realize your accounts were hacked, they may conclude that you do not understand IT issues or take them seriously. Thus if anyone reports that you have been spamming them, you must promptly apologize and put a stop to the problem.

Malefic Malware

Be wary of spam messages that you receive, as they could harbor viruses, trojans, and other harmful programs. Malware can lock you out of vital programs, provide unauthorized access to sensitive information, or even crash your entire computer system. You should thus never open messages you suspect to be spam. If you don’t realize an email is spam until you have already opened it, do not reply to it or click on its links— not even to unsubscribe from the mailing list. The more you engage with spam, the more opportunities it has to transmit critical programs.

Subtle Scams

In addition to infecting your computer systems, spam writers also use more subtle tactics to cheat you. Junk mail may come in the form of a fake business offer, using the name and writing style of a real company that could be a potential supplier or partner. The scammer will try to convince you to pay them, supposedly for a service or venture that will help your business; if you comply, they will take your payment and leave you with nothing. To separate scams from real business propositions, look up the companies that claim to be sending the emails and contact them independently. If a company has no record of sending the message, the offer is not real.

Data Deliverance

Besides stealing money, scammers can also use spam mail to get you to hand over sensitive information. Phishing scams involve sending you mail under the name of a company or individual you trust, such as your bank, your health insurer, or one of your employees. The message will ask you to send over sensitive information that the company or individual would have access to.

In general, you should never send sensitive information over email, to begin with. If you do receive a message from a trusted entity demanding such information, contact them at a different address or meet with them to confirm their request. Never expose your business to phishing scams.

{company} strives to protect businesses throughout {city} from spam and all other risks. To learn more, call us at {phone} or contact {email} today!

As malware attacks continue to increase in frequency, businesses must take proactive steps to protect their enterprise data from theft or ransom.

IT security experts have revealed that there were over one million web attacks against individuals 365 days in 2015. Unfortunately the number of attacks didn’t slow down in 2016, which means that businesses took stronger security measures to protect their vital business data. Education and awareness of the negative affects of malware, as well as the steps needed to prevent these attacks, remains one of the best ways that businesses can properly protect their information and data.

How Can Malware Negatively Affect Your Business?
Hackers deliver malware to your computer by disguising emails, creating fake websites, or tricking you into directly downloading the malicious code. Once you have accidentally installed the malicious program, a number of activities can take place:

1. The malware can begin to replicate;
2. It can block access to certain files or the entire system;
3. Your desktop can be spammed with unwanted ads; or
4. It can capture keystrokes to better access secure areas of your enterprise network.

As these negative affects show, malware protection and detection is key to protecting your enterprise data.

What Are The Most Popular Types Of Malware?
Identifying the most popular types of malware attacks can help you to protect and detect malware attacks.

• Computer Virus — A virus is one of the most common types of malware. It is typically designed to replicate itself from one file to another for a wide variety of purposes.
• Trojan Horse — This type of malware is designed to remain harmless to programs, while simultaneously attempting to steal passwords of important files from the computer or account user.
• Worms — Worms are a type of malware that are designed to create widespread damage on an entire network by “jumping” from computer to computer.
• Spyware — As the name suggests, this type of malware is designed to monitor user activity, while simultaneously gathering information, including: passwords and login credentials.
• Logic Bombs — When triggered by a specific action, this type of malware can wipe a computer hard drive or crash an entire system.
• Ransomware — This new type of malware is designed to hold your computer, network, system, or data hostage until a set ransom is paid to the hackers.

In conclusion, understanding the harmful affects of malware can help you to create a proactive security approach to securing your network from current and future threats. Remember that employee education is the key to any IT security solution. To learn more about how to protect your network from malware attacks or for additional information on the latest data security threats contact {company} located in {city} via {email} or {phone}.