e-Business Solutions Feature Article

With every advance in technology there is a corresponding introduction of potential problems. The proliferation of computers and the introduction of wireless technology are no exception.

Both work and pleasure can now be taken home or taken on the road with the new technology available, but increasingly this also means that outsiders, some with evil intent, can hack into anyones information. Security issues come in a number of forms including viruses, worms and hackers.

When it comes to viruses, you can watch computer users go down like bowling pins when one hits, said Allen Chanes, principal partner for MSI Technologies LLC, based in Succasunna. Out of 75 to 100 calls a day we were getting from clients, 50 percent would have something to do with viruses. It is that pervasive of an issue.

Linda Hetcher, vice president of professional services for Concurrent Technologies in Liberty Corner, explains, A virus is a computer program file capable of attaching to disks or other files and replicating itself repeatedly, typically without user knowledge or permission.

Some viruses attach to files so that when the infected file executes, the virus also executes, she said. Other viruses sit in a computers memory and infect files as the computer opens, modifies or creates the files.

Viruses, and in a somewhat similar manner, worms and Trojan horse programs, invade a computer and infect files, destroy data and in some cases can be spread to other computers or other networks. Fortunately there are some solutions, although no solution is foolproof, according to the experts. The easiest and most cost effective is to install anti-virus software from a reputable company.

Most anti-virus packages include an automatic update feature, which is important because new viruses are constantly being released, Hetcher said.

The second important step for a business person to take is to install a firewall that prevents computers from communicating directly with external computer systems.

This acts as a barrier through which all information passing between your computer or your computer network and the external systems must travel. If the information conforms to certain pre-configured rules, access is allowed. If the information does not conform, access is restricted, she said. Dont leave your office system vulnerable. Anti-virus and firewall programs are the first lines of defense to protecting your system and data from attack.

Chanes agrees on the importance of protections for any business.

What a virus writer does is look for the holes in the old computer system. Microsoft is constantly updating its system to plug those holes, but without the updates, you are vulnerable, he said. Unfortunately, it can take a long time to download the updates with a dial-up computer connection.

Broadband is changing the face of the computer world because to fight viruses you have to update the computer software, but the time it takes to download the new updates from Microsoft with dial-up connections is prohibitive, Chanes said. Without broadband, a business owner is at a distinct disadvantage in trying to fight viruses.

MSI Technologies has taken a new approach to fighting viruses through a wellness program for its customers.

We go to all our customers on a quarterly basis and make sure their virus scans and definitions and their Microsoft operating systems are up to date and we have not had a problem since we started this program, Chanes said.

As many as a dozen new viruses can be written each day that are passed from one computer to another, usually by email, although they can also be passed by CDs or floppy disks, explained Catherine Coloff, vice president of Veraciti in Cedar Knolls, which provides network and internet services. Similarly, worms infect programs and can drastically slow down a computer system.

For $30 to $60, an anti-virus program is well worth the money, Coloff said. For complex viruses it can take time to write the anti-virus program and there may be a two to three day window between the time a virus is discovered and a protection program is written, but most computer vendors for businesses have a method for clients to send them suspicious mail so it can be checked.

Some viruses can select a name from a computers address book and make it look like the virus-ladened email came from a known person.

So the best thing a business owner can do is educate the employees not to open email attachments and to question anything that looks suspicious, Coloff said.

Gordon Bridge, of CM IT Solutions in Mendham, noted that viruses and security are two of the most talked about subjects in the information technology industry today. Bridge is chairman of the Business Technology Committee for the Morris County Chamber of Commerce.

What is amazing to me is how many of our small business and residential customers do not keep their anti-virus protection current and then get stung by it. That is like living in a dangerous neighborhood and not locking your door, Bridge said. Some viruses are very destructive and you can lose all of your data and it is so simple and inexpensive to solve the problem. You can easily buy the greatest protection with automatic updates for very little money.

There are a few other steps business owners can take to educate their employees, according to a story in the magazine New Jersey Municipalities. Employees should look for the file extensions that are automatically hidden by Microsoft and know which ones may be viruses. They should regularly back up all files and turn computers off when not in use.

Malicious code sent as viruses, worms or Trojan horse programs will cause $54 billion in economic loses by 2006, predicts The Radicati Group, a consulting and market research firm based in Palo Alto, Calif., and quoted in New Jersey Municipalities. In another survey, 90 percent of the people surveyed said they have experienced computer security breaches within a 12 month period and 74 percent of those said the breach resulted in financial loss.

Viruses are a problem that is not going to go away but the clients who listen to advice and take precautions are virus-free, Chanes said.