Virus infections up

A survey of over 1,000 companies by the Department of Trade and Industry has concluded that the number of companies falling victim to virus infection over the last twelve months is on the increase.

Two years ago, around 40 per cent of UK firms had experienced virus infection or denial of service attacks. In 2003, this figure rose to approximately 50 per cent.

Vulnerability to attack has also gone up as 89 per cent of companies now send email compared with 77 per cent in 2002. Of all those surveyed nearly three quarters had received infected email in the past twelve months.

The message coming through is that no matter the size of your company, you are open to attack. To minimise the risk ensure anti-virus software is updated daily, regularly check for operating system patches and updates and ensure you have a firewall in place.