One of the concerns Tom Burns hears quite frequently from his clients causes him to shake his head in bewilderment. With worldwide spam volumes doubling from last year and unsolicited junk mail now representing more than 9 of every 10 e-mail messages sent over the Internet, spam now accounts for nearly half of all mail server traffic.
This alarming issue has network administrators in constant fear of a virus attack on their IT systems. Bandwidth consumed by the spread of a virus or worm slows network speed to a crawl or shuts the entire network down at once, and infected workstations frequently lock up due to the processing power consumed by the virus. Virus attacks do not only cripple a company for days but the lasting damage and financial impact resulting from a virus infection extends long after the actual attack.
"The costs associated with email spam viruses are increasing at a remarkable pace," commented Tom Burns. "This results in loss of productivity, clogged e-mail systems, bandwidth, storage costs, user support and antispam software for companies. This also puts a negative impact on IT spending because you now have to put that money into the fight against junk e-mail versus utilizing it for system upgrades."
Many times, companies that fall victim to a virus attack will likely result in lost confidence from business partners and customers and affect it's perceived trustworthiness in the marketplace. Companies that spread viruses, worms, and spam find not only that malicious software can hinder their profitability, but also that other businesses will disconnect from them if they are considered to be at risk.
Understanding the risks posed by viruses and worms is only the beginning of your battle against them. Have the proper network security parameters and anti-spam software in place to stop corruptive e-mail spam before it stops you and your company's productivity.
About Thomas Burns and Intelligent Network Services, Inc.
Thomas Burns is the founder of Intelligent Network Services, Inc. (INS), a San Francisco Bay Area IT support company that caters to small to mid-sized companies in designing and maintaining their IT systems to ensure their day to day business operations are not interrupted. Part of the service they provide to clients is the installation and monitoring of remote connectivity systems and security systems. For more information, visit www.intelligentns.com,