Do you, and perhaps more importantly, your staff know the signs of a computer security issue? With more and more businesses reporting hacks, viruses and ransomware in 2019 already than all of last year, you should. And you should share this blog with your staff so they know the signs and can immediately notify your IT person for help.
Increased Spam
Increased spam is usually a sign that you’ve either downloaded or opened an email that has something suspicious in it. Usually that’s a worm of some sort. It downloads your contact list and then proceeds to try to fool others into downloading it as well spreading’s its malware along the way. If the emails all seem to originate from one specific staff member, you should check their machine first. Also, your staff should know that even if an email comes from in-house and seems odd, don’t open it without first calling their coworker to see it truly was sent.
Ads & Pop-Ups
One of the reasons we don’t recommend using Chrome is that ads and pop-ups are more prevalent on this browser and that impacts your network and computer security. It’s also why we recommend preventing users from being able to download applications on their machines. Often ads and pop-ups are imbedded in the download. Some are harmless but all are annoying. Don’t be fooled that adware and pop-ups only come from downloads, they can also be installed simply by clicking on a link. Don’t click on links in sites you don’t know and trust.
Things Don’t Work the Way They Once Did
This is one of the more common things we see and fix. If software you used every day is acting strange or isn’t working at all, chances are good there’s malware on your machines somewhere. Cloud based systems are especially good at shutting down when they detect an issue because they don’t want the rest of their system compromised.
If you notice any of these signs of a computer security issue or your computer clearly has a problem, contact your IT department. If you’re a small business and don’t have a dedicated IT staff to handle removing malware and aiding in system backup and recovery, contact Toucan Technology Group. We’re local experts who can help on either an hourly basis or retainer to make sure your machines work the way they should, every day. Call us at (317) 376-4874 or fill out our contact form for your free consultation.
