The headlines are always scary: “Conficker Worm Strikes Police Department,” “Botnet Attack Launched on Government Web Sites” and “Computer Virus Brings Down Hospital.” The way viruses, malware, spyware and denial of service attacks are striking businesses on a regular basis show that they’ve almost become a way of life for us.  These problems constantly put us on the defense, so it’s a good idea to make sure you’re doing all you can:

1. Implement solid anti-virus software across your business. Make sure virus definition files are updated frequently for all your users.
2. Put up firewalls and make sure they’re adequate for the latest kinds of attacks.
3. Educate your users. Tell them that the Web sites they visit — even reputable ones — might be infected. So they shouldn’t download software unless they’re sure it’s safe.
4. Make sure you’re backups are up to date.

That last one may seem strange, but it’s something you can do that proactively addresses the next possible attack. After all, there is no “current” defense for the next virus, adware or malware.

Consider that your backup can be another kind of “anti-virus” tool. With a point-in-time solution like ShadowProtect, you can recover your server (or a desktop or laptop) to a known, good state before the attack took place. Plus, your backup should allow you to restore quickly, otherwise it’s just as much a problem as the virus that took you down. Waiting around while you restore terabytes of data, isn’t an option. You need a solution that can get you up and running in a matter of minutes, not hours.

The next time you’re updating  your anti-virus software or fine-tuning your firewall, consider that you might want to make sure you have a plan in place in case your first line of defense doesn’t hold.