| I am certain you’ve heard more about viruses recently than you care to admit, but I want to remind you about a different type of virus. |
| Recently a long-time customer contacted us about an issue they had with ransomware. Ransomware is a malicious program that infects a computer when the user opens a file or clicks on a link in an email that comes from an unrecognized source or may have even been forwarded by someone you know. Ransomware typically prevents access to information on the machine until you pay a ransom to the individual that created the virus. The alternative to paying the ransom is to restore a backup from a time before the computer was infected. |
| I bring this up to point out the importance of regularly backing up your data and keeping your antivirus software and operating system up to date with current versions. As older versions of operating systems and software are phased out and not supported by the authors, updates that include code that attempts to prevent these attacks are no longer available. The cost of keeping your technology (hardware and software) up to date is far lower than the price of recovering from malicious activity. Another possible solution to protecting your accounting and payroll programs and data is to move them to the cloud. Hosted environments offer some added security and protection from viruses and malicious activity. |
| As you create your budget for the year (which should be complete for 2021 by now), in addition to the normal budgeted items, you should include a line item for keeping your technology current. |