How Does Malware Hurt a Business?

Right before Thanksgiving 2011, BBB became part of a huge phishing scam that continues to this day. Millions of pieces of email bearing our name and/or logo have been sent to consumers and business owners in the hopes the recipient will click on a link or open an attachment that launches malware. We responded aggressively to this illegal use of our name by assigning an IT professional on our national staff to manage the problem on the full-time basis, hiring a third-party vendor to help us shut down the referring websites, and launching BBB Scam Stopper (bbb.org/scam) to educate consumers about all kinds of scams.

Technology blogger Dan Steiner has an interesting post yesterday that just happened to mention “our” scam. He notes that globally malware is now a $100 billion problem, and he says all business owners need to think of IT security as a business necessity, not a luxury:

“How does malware hurt a business? By far the most damaging of cost of malware is on business reputation. Google, the world’s most popular search engine, protects users with its Safe Browsing Feature. If an online business, no matter how reputable, accidentally distributes a virus, Google automatically flags it. This leads to an ominous surfer warning or even removal from Google search results. Although a site can eventually be removed from blacklisting, it means weeks or months of lost business.  A lull like that is the kiss of death for many businesses.”

Read the whole story here on Business2Community.