We have about 8-10 Windows devices in our business. Some of them do not hold important data. Others store company accounting files, labels, inventory databases, etc. We would like to install a good anti-malware program on our computers, especially in prevention of ransomware.
Do we need this full protection on all devices, even if they do not store any significant data? (They would, of course, have standard, free, antivirus protection). Would malicious software, in case of infection, infect other computers, or compromise our network in some way, by coming in through computers that have less-complete protection?
Answer
If a less important PC has access to files via the network (i.e. it can access files on a server or on a shared area of another PC) then those files could be damaged by a virus/malware running from that PC.
If you are trying to save money on licencing costs, I would at least put the anti-malware software on every PC that has access to the internet or is accessible to the public, or holds important data.
Which might potentially leave one or two utility PCs that perform specialist roles that are infrequently used - like if you had a PC that was hooked up to a scanner and that's all it was used for. At that point though, the difference between 8 licences is pretty similar to 10 licences so you might as well protect everything and be done with it. Especially when you consider the cost of data and IT time. For example, Malwarebytes business costs $50/licence/year. Whether you pay $400/year or $500/year it is pretty similar and the certainty of knowing that you haven't left an attack vector open is probably worth more than the $100/year saving.
No comments:
Post a Comment