Vintage: Cool for Fashion, Furniture, but Not For Software

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In a recent F-Secure survey, four out of ten SMBs report using out-of-date software, leaving themselves wide open to data breaches.

Helsinki, Finland – April 2, 2014 — /BackupReview.info/ — Buy something and keep it long enough, and in time it will become vintage: cool, unique and a throwback to days gone by. But while vintage works for fashion, furniture and cars, when it comes to business software, old is a blatant security risk. An F-Secure survey* shows that many businesses are risking company assets by using outdated software.

94% of small and medium size businesses (SMBs) think it is important to keep software updated. However, this fails to carry over into practical results: Only 59% of businesses report that their software is always up to date. And only 63% say they have enough resources to keep software updated.

Keeping software up-to-date is a critical piece of the overall business security picture. Outdated software contains security flaws which cybercriminals can use as avenues to infiltrate the corporate network. 70 to 80 percent of the top ten malware detected by F-Secure Labs could have been prevented with up-to-date software.

Software updates take time
Companies report spending on average 11 hours a week on software updates. The bigger the company, the more time is spent. Companies with less than 50 employees spend on average three hours per week, while companies with more than 250 employees spend over 15 hours.

Often, even the time companies do spend on updates touches only the tip of the iceberg, says Pekka Usva, Vice President, Corporate Security at F-Secure. “A common misconception is that the problem is the OS – it’s not. Operating systems are fairly well maintained and updated. The real problems are third party applications for both business and personal use – Skype, Adobe Reader, browsers with various plugins, and Java, to name a few. Do you know what’s been installed on your device?”

Meanwhile, the number of cyber attacks via vulnerabilities in outdated software continues to grow. And the time to create new variants of threats is counted in seconds, not days or weeks.

Employees use their own software
Employees are bringing their own devices, and almost half of all surveyed companies tolerate employees using their own software too. Smaller companies are more accepting of this trend: 56% of companies with less than 50 employees allow it, versus 39% of companies with over 250. Higher rates of acceptance are reported in Finland (53%) and Sweden (59%), and lower in Poland (30%) and France (36%).

In 67% of companies, employees who use their own software must take care of software updates themselves – a risky policy, as people can’t be relied on to always update software. In companies with less than 50 seats, 81% of employees must take care of their own updates. 30% of companies take care of Microsoft updates only.

Software Updater: the modern, not vintage way of keeping software current
The only way to keep up with all the software updates on all a company’s computers and devices is to automate the process, says Usva. “Software makers release updates weekly, or at least monthly. Trying to keep up with all of these manually is a battle that’s already lost. That’s why every SMB needs automation with our Software Updater – it takes care of all security updates across the board, freeing up time and resources and keeping your business defenses strong.”

Software Updater is a feature of F-Secure Protection Service for Business. It keeps operating systems, applications and plugins constantly up to date, even software installed by the employee. Software Updater is also available for other F-Secure business products.

Let vintage rule in fashion. Software from yesterday is a waste of time and money today, and risks loss of trust and important data tomorrow.

*F-Secure’s Digital Company Survey 2013 consisted of web interviews of deciders and influencers of software purchases working at companies with up to 500 employees. Participants were from eight countries: Germany, Italy, France, the UK, Sweden, Finland, Poland and the USA. There were 805 respondents in total, with at least 100 per country. Respondents were 67% male and 33% female. The survey was completed by GfK in November 2013.

Get F-Secure Protection Service for Business with Software Updater: www.f-secure.com/en/web/business_global/suites/protection-service/overview

F-Secure 
While you concentrate on what is important to you, we make sure you are protected and safe online whether you are using a computer or a smartphone. We also backup and enable you to share your important files. Our services are available through over 200 operators around the world and trusted in millions of homes and businesses. Founded in 1988, F-Secure is listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd.
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Source: F-Secure

Tags: F-Secure