Online Safety Tips for SMEs

When running your own business you usually don't have time to make yourself a cup of coffee, let alone deal with computer viruses or wade through unsolicited e-mails. To make sure your business is protected against viruses and spam, MWEB, South Africa's leading Internet Service Provider, offers the following advice on online security.

Spam or junk mail is defined as unsolicited, unwanted or inappropriate e-mail. Not only annoying, spam also fills up your mailbox and takes time to download, wasting bandwidth. "To deal with spam, MWEB offers MWEB Total Protection from McAfee and MWEB Junk Mail Filter, an anti-spam solution that allows us to eliminate spam before it reaches our members' inboxes", says Natalie Thayer, General Manager of MWEB. "The software scans incoming e-mails and calculates a score to indicate the likelihood of that message being spam. If the score is high enough, the message is automatically deleted."

"You can also disable your computer from viewing rich content features such as HTML mail, as downloaded images can be used by spammers to identify email addresses", she adds.

According to Thayer, your Internet Service Provider should be responsible for some aspects of Internet security. "A virus filtering service, which automatically detects and blocks most e-mail viruses before they reach your inbox, should be included in your subscription fee." When MWEB's Virus Filtering Service detects an infected email, it will either repair the infected attachment or delete it altogether if repair is impossible.

As an added extra, you should install reliable up-to-date anti-virus and anti-spyware programmes regularly to protect your PC while you surf. "MWEB's Total Protection is specifically designed to protect your computer against malicious software or malware, hackers, viruses and worms. It's easy to download, provides your PC with a personal firewall and updates itself automatically with the latest security, so you can have peace of mind when browsing, banking or shopping online." 

Ten tips from MWEB for safe Internet use:

1. Keep your operating system up to date with the latest Security Updates from the Microsoft's Windows Update function (visit the Security Services section on http://www.mweb.co.za/ every two weeks).
2. Set the security of your Internet browser to prevent web pages from activating scripts, which could install malicious software on your system
3. Be wary of free software applications or game downloads, as these often contain additional Spyware (software that can collect personal information from you without your knowledge or permission), which can compromise the security of your system.
4. Never select the option on your browser for remembering your user name and password for websites.
5. Never share your usernames or passwords.
6. Change your password regularly. Your password should be as long as possible, preferably a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters and numbers, and never a pet name, family name or birthday
7. The most important rule about junk mail is to ignore it and delete immediately. Never respond or unsubscribe, as the sender will know that they have found an active email address.
8. Ensure that when you bank or shop on the Internet, you do it on a secure site. You will know it's secure by looking at the website address. The "s" at the end of http will confirm that it is secure, i.e. https://www/... Also ensure that there is a small padlock at the bottom right hand corner of your screen.
9. Control access to your computer and do not allow anyone to install or adjust settings without checking that they know what they are doing and that they can be trusted. Once someone has had access to your computer, whether it has been in for repair or lent to someone, change your password.
10. If you sign in or log on to a website, make sure that you sign out or log off when you leave the site.

For more information on how you can protect your inbox against spam and your computer against malware, visit http://www.mweb.co.za/ or contact MWEB on 08600 32000.