How to Prevent Malware: 6 Effective Methods

With new, distinct forms of malware emerging every few months, businesses have to strive to protect themselves from this cyber attack vector. In order to prevent malware, organizations must enlist a comprehensive selection of security tools to build out their security posture.

Coupling cybersecurity infrastructure with educational initiatives to improve cyber threat awareness in businesses is an effective strategy to prevent malware.

Quick Takeaways

The power of education: Educating employees about what malware threats may look like will radically decrease the number of breaches in your organization.
The power of cybersecurity defenses: Investing in comprehensive cybersecurity systems that offer multi-layer, real-time protection is a leading strategy to prevent malware from entering enterprise environments.
The power of information: Understanding how malware threats are changing over time will better prepare an organization by letting them create effective contingency plans.

Quick Primer on Malware

Malware is any malicious software that malicious actors create with the intent to infect a system, disrupt its functioning, and gain access to any sensitive information in its network.

There are several types of malware, ranging from spyware that collects users’ data on a machine to keyloggers that record what a user types on their computer. Ransomware is one of the most common types of malware, which encrypts business systems and forces the company to pay a fine to have their files unlocked.

6 Ways to Prevent Malware

Incorporating effective strategies that prevent malware into your business security activities will help decrease the risk that this attack vector poses to your organization.

Here are 6 ways to prevent malware in your business.

#1. Recognize Malware Distribution Methods

The first step to preventing malware in an organization is to ensure that all employees are aware of the most common malware distribution methods. 74% of all data breaches stem from human errors. By reducing the number of cybersecurity mistakes that your employee makes, you’ll help to keep your business safe.

Businesses should include mandatory cybersecurity training during the onboarding process and offer additional training modules for existing employees. Train employees to understand and be able to identify the following malware distribution methods:

Phishing Emails: Phishing attacks aim to steal information from users, like their passwords and usernames. Once a malicious actor has these, they can log into a device and download malware.
Infected Files: Malware email attachments on emails are a common method that malicious actors use to infect computers.
Malicious Websites: When an employee navigates to a link from a suspicious email, they may enter a website that triggers a malware file to download.

#2. Implement Strong Security Practices and Tools

While education is an important first step, matching it with a comprehensive range of security tools and systems is vital. Businesses should ensure they have active anti-malware solutions in their ecosystem that scan files and look for typical threat markers. Equally, general firewalls, web application firewalls (WAFs), intrusion detection systems, endpoint malware protection, and runtime application self-protection are all small parts of a thorough approach to cybersecurity.

By teaching your employees and your cyber defenses to keep you safe from other main attack vectors, you can decrease the likelihood of a breach occurring.

#3. Strengthen Password Security

Every employee should already know the importance of a strong password. Some organizations even go as far as to require their employees to change their account passwords every three months.

Alongside strong password practices, businesses should use multi-factor authentication to add another layer of security to their login progress. MFA will require employees to validate their identities using another connected device, eliminating the possibility of brute-force password attacks.

#4. Create Regular Backups

While preventing malware should be a priority, organizations must also plan for the possibility of a potential infection or breach. Creating backups of all mission-critical data and backing it up regularly will help ensure that if a malware attack does happen, your business can carry on as normal while the threat occurs.

Backups ensure that you are never shut out of your most important data, rendering many basic ransomware attacks completely ineffective.

#5. Perform Security Audits Periodically

Security audits, penetration testing, and red and blue teaming are all exercises that help to test your security systems and aim to identify potential vulnerabilities. Conducting security audits will help your business locate potential vulnerabilities in your systems that you can then fix.

Finding these critical points before attackers do will enable you to continuously improve your security posture.

#6. Stay Informed About Emerging Threats

Finally, malware is never just one thing. It’s important to note that the threat markers of malware today might be completely different from those of tomorrow. Staying one step ahead of attackers by regularly researching new threats and following news of emerging malware groups will help you better prepare your organization.

Sites like MITRE ATT&CK offer extensive frameworks for emerging cyber threats and appropriate company responses.

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Discover how Perimeter 81 can keep your business secure and prevent malware.

FAQs

Can you block malware?

If you have anti-virus software on your computer, then there are several forms of malware with obviously identifiable threat markers that you can block. Whenever you or someone on your system goes to download a file with these markers, the antivirus will block the download. However, you cannot fully block all forms of malware, as the threat is evolving over time and developing new forms.

What is good protection against malware?

There are numerous ways of protecting yourself from malware, spanning from using email security software to following secure practices when navigating online. Above all, you should educate yourself on what phishing and malware attacks look like to prevent malware from entering your system in the first place.

How do you permanently remove malware?

Malware is notoriously difficult to remove, mainly because the malware program itself is designed to evade detection and often replicates in your system. The main method to remove malware from an infected system is to use a tool that is strictly designed to fight against malware, like an antivirus program.

How to detect malware

The most accurate method to detect malware is by using antivirus software and scanning for any malicious entities in your system. Other signs that there may be malware on your operating system include a sudden decrease in performance, files or documents that you do not remember interacting with, or the inability to access your accounts. If you notice any of these symptoms, you have an infected device, and you must contact your company’s cybersecurity team immediately.

Can antivirus software detect malware?

Yes, antivirus software can detect malware by looking for known characteristics that some malware programs contain. By identifying these signatures, it can detect malware and also pinpoint what form of malware is on a device. Early detection will help to reduce the damage that malware can cause in a system