You walk out of Best Buy with a shiny, new laptop and you feel good that it comes with some sort of built-in antivirus.
But is that level of protection good enough for a business?
Not even close.
Unfortunately, we actually see small businesses set themselves up with network and cybersecurity tools that aren’t even strong enough for a home environment.
So, no: antivirus is not enough to protect your business from threats. There are a number of reasons why, but a core fundamental reason has to do with zero-day threats – malware and viruses that are new and unknown to the security community.
Boiling things down, antivirus software can’t prevent zero-day cyber threats because:
- It relies on signature-based detection, which won’t detect unknown malware.
- Malware authors use evasion techniques to avoid detection, such as code obfuscation, encryption, and polymorphism.
- Antivirus software may not cover all types of malware, such as fileless threats or malware that exploits vulnerabilities.
- It can produce false negatives, where it fails to detect malware that is actually present.
The Growing Threat of Zero-Day Vulnerabilities
In recent years, the number and sophistication of zero-day vulnerabilities have surged, posing a significant threat to organizations of all sizes. These unknown security flaws in software can be exploited by attackers before any defensive measures can be implemented, making them a potent weapon for cybercriminals.
Modernize Your Cybersecurity Approach
Organizations need to adopt a more modern and adaptive approach to cybersecurity. To effectively prevent zero-day attacks, it’s essential to use a combination of security solutions that provide real-time protection, threat intelligence and proactive monitoring. This includes:
- Implementing AI-powered security solutions that can detect and respond to unknown threats.
- Developing incident response plans to quickly respond to and contain zero-day attacks.
- Educating employees on the importance of security awareness and best practices.
- Employing Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions that prevent, respond to and contain threats, and can even roll back damage done, if any.
In addition to the elements listed above, greatly increase your security posture with continuous vulnerability scanning, as with our one-of-a-kind SecureKIT Shield offering.
Truly: why conduct such scans only quarterly or annually when you could be running them 24/7?
But the bottom line is this: traditional antivirus is better than nothing, but only that.
By becoming serious about data security and adding the layers of protection listed above, organizations can reduce the risk of zero-day attacks and protect their sensitive information – and at costs that are surprisingly affordable.
