There are a lot of misperceptions about the level of security provided by antivirus software. Many people tend to think it’s the ultimate, all-encompassing solution; when in reality, it’s a single piece of the cybersecurity puzzle.
It’s important to know antivirus software cannot work until a file has already found its way onto your computer. Antivirus scans files on your computer or network and prevents potentially malicious files from executing. However, it has little to no capability of stopping malicious files from entering your network. Antivirus software was invented over 30 years ago to combat a very specific threat. As threats evolved and grew in sophistication, new technologies were developed to combat them.
Securing your network is like protecting valuable treasure
Imagine you have $10 million worth of gold and diamonds you are trying to protect. At first there might not be many thieves looking for your treasure and few people near its location. Like 20 years ago when less than half of homes in the U.S. had internet access and most were a slow dial up connection. In this case the threat is low, and an armed guard is all you need to protect your treasure. Antivirus is like the armed guard, it does not actively try to prevent a threat, it is simply there to eliminate threats as they are identified.
As the population around your treasure grows like internet access becoming more universal, the threat grows, and more security is needed. Other security technologies were introduced to help limit the number of ways someone can access your network. Like a vault for your treasure, additional security technologies attempt to limit access to your network. Just as you must know the code to enter a vault, now only authorized people have access to your network.
Then, as cyberthreats grow in sophistication, similar to individual thieves becoming organized crime syndicates, the need for greater security increases dramatically. To protect your treasure from organized crime vs. a single robber your levels of security must increase. Like creating a fortress around your treasure by adding thick walls, an alarm system with laser motion detectors and pressure sensors, plus security cameras so your armed guard can monitor more than one location. Likewise, the sophistication of cybersecurity measures must evolve to support antivirus and combat these increasingly sophisticated threats.
It is important to know that no matter how many levels of security you have in place, there is still a risk of a criminal breaking through. That’s why it’s important to have a backup solution in place to restore your data in case of a successful attack like ransomware. A backup solution is like an insurance policy for your treasure that will reimburse you if somehow a thief does manage to get away with some of your diamonds.
Just like you would not rely on a single armed guard to protect $10 million worth of gold and diamonds, neither should you rely on only antivirus to guard your valuable network. It takes multiple levels of security plus insurance to keep your network as safe as possible.
Contact tca SynerTech today to learn more about how to set up multiple levels of security for your organization.
