Security breaches are costing the global economy hundreds of millions of rands a year, and it’s not just the giants like Google and Sony who are falling victim. Smaller businesses are vulnerable too, and unlike their enterprise counterparts, don’t have millions to throw at the latest security technologies.
Simon Campbell-Young, CEO of Phoenix Distribution, says most SMEs have high expectations but modest budgets. “This needn’t be a problem though. If the breaches in the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that millions of rands invested in security cannot protect against every threat, as the dangers are both increasingly sophisticated and more highly targeted. The thing is, if these global giants can’t stop a cyber attack, how can the average SME, with very limited resources, and few experts on hand, hope to prevent a breach?”
He says a step in the right direction is implementing a good security solution from a reputable vendor. “Enter CloudCare from AVG, a free, web-based security portal with remote IT that simplifies how small businesses manage their client’s networks from a single, central platform delivering the services that are vital to every business.”
According to Campbell-Young, the solution offers total protection for a small business or individual machines. “Not only does it provide all the protection expected from a traditional AV solution, it offers additional features, such as subscription based payments so businesses pay only for what they need, and never have to worry about their licence expiring as long as they are subscribed.”
The remote management tool features one-click customer and service activation, real-time alerts and sales alerts, flexible and co-branded reporting and easy policy management. In addition, there is no upfront investment needed, no licence keys, no seat limits, and the company offers free 30-day trials for multiple services.
Campbell-Young says CloudCare offers network protection, email security, data storage, secure access and improved efficiency. “Businesses can offer their customers the latest and best protection without draining their resources. The central console alerts when issues arise and enables the user to push policies and automatic updates across all their accounts, without the need for heavy, hands-on management.”
In addition, CloudCare offers free rapid response support, removing the costs of on-site visits, which can be enormously expensive. “In this way, customer issues are quickly and remotely resolved, with one-click connections that allow customer workstations and servers to be accessed from the security portal.”
Moreover, Campbell-Young says the product protects customer data from loss and theft with regularly scheduled backups that run automatically, without any intervention. In addition, data can be restored from anywhere, regardless of wither it is a single file or an entire directory, should the data be lost, or become corrupt in the client’s environment.
“CloudCare from AVG allows businesses to offer their customers the vital security services they need – from blocking viruses and spam to complying with industry regulations and privacy requirements, all from a console that can be deployed, managed and updated remotely, from anywhere, without the need for any additional third-party software or extra hardware,” he concludes.