The short answer is no. If you are relying on antivirus to protect your business you are vulnerable to cybercriminals. Don’t let your client and customer information end up on the dark web. Read on to learn the important answers to the question does antivirus stop hackers.
Why is antivirus not enough – Does antivirus stop hackers?
The last thing you want to do is rely on antivirus to protect your business from cyber attacks. Relying on antivirus leaves you vulnerable to many types of cyber attacks. How so?
Antivirus relies on signatures to spot cyber-attacks. What’s the problem with this? Cyber-attacks containing no signature or virus (like ransomware) will bypass your store-bought antivirus leaving you vulnerable to an abundance of threats.
What does antivirus leave me vulnerable to?
Relying on antivirus leaves you vulnerable to many cyber threats ransomware, advanced threats, polymorphic malware, malicious documents, fileless malware, encrypted traffic, and more.
Right now, ransomware is your biggest threat. Ransomware attacks have skyrocketed in 2021. Can you afford to be hit with a ransomware attack? The average ransomware payment increased 43% in Q1 of 2021 to $220,298 from Q4 of 2020.
So, Do I need antivirus at all on my Mac or PC?
We don’t believe so. In fact, you should also read our article about why antivirus is useless. To better protect your business from cyber-attacks, you need to ditch the store-bought antivirus.
MEDR or Managed Endpoint Detection and Response is what we recommend you replace your antivirus with. MEDR uses artificial intelligence and human monitoring to stop any anomalies found suspicious. It protects against the widest array of threats preventing known and unknown threats in real-time.
Devices self-defend and heal themselves by stopping processes, quarantining, remediating, and even rolling back events to surgically keep endpoints in a perpetually clean state. MEDR is not sold at your local Best Buy and is only sold by security experts. It is monitored by human beings 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If anything tries to attack your system, we will know immediately. This is a level a security that antivirus on your Mac or PC will never be able to come close to.
For enterprise-level cybersecurity like MEDR, you will need to go through an MSSP or Managed Security Service Provider like us! Contact us today to discuss how we can help your business stay protected.
What else can I do instead of Antivirus?
Multi-Factor Authentication or MFA is an additional security layer you can add to dramatically increase overall security stance. MFA is an electronic authentication method in which a user is granted access to a website or application only after successfully presenting two or more pieces of evidence to an authentication mechanism. This can be done via text message, phone call, email, or application. It is unlikely the cybercriminal has access to your phone leaving them unable to access your accounts even if they do have your credentials.
Password managers prevent the reuse of insecure passwords. Password reuse makes hacking other accounts easy for hackers. If they gain access to one site using one set of credentials, they will try other websites in hopes that you have reused those credentials. Password managers create strong and unique passwords for each site you visit, All you have to remember is one master password to then have access to all of your credentials.
In Conclusion – Does Antivirus Stop Hackers
Hackers are becoming more advanced every day, leaving one-and-done trainings outdated. As hackers become more advanced, new threats emerge. All employees must be up to date on the threats they are facing today, this can be done by implementing continuous cybersecurity training. By implementing a continuous cybersecurity training, you are holding everyone accountable for their actions and knowledge. Employees are more likely to take cybersecurity seriously if you do too. You can identify your weakest links and educate them to be your strongest defenses. Security awareness training reduces phishing susceptibility by 50%, drastically reducing your chances of a cyber-attack from an insider.
As you can see, relying on antivirus to protect your organization from cyber attacks is asking for disaster. If you’re asking, “does antivirus stop hackers,” hopefully you understand that the anwer is no and you should consider a security professional. Reach out to IronTech Security today if you are interested in learning more about MEDR and what you can do to better protect your business.
Download our FREE infographic on Why Antivirus is Useless here!
Does Antivirus Stop Hackers FAQ
Can Norton Antivirus stop hackers?
Norton Antivirus stops hackers in some ways, but it works similar to what we described above. You will not be fully protected with any antivirus software.
What is the best protection against hackers?
MEDR or Managed Endpoint Detection and Response is what we recommend to keep your system secure. MEDR uses artificial intelligence and human monitoring to stop any anomalies found suspicious. It protects against the widest array of threats preventing known and unknown threats in real-time.
Do I need antivirus software for my Mac?
While Macs do have a good level of security in terms of antivirus, they still have similar vulnerabilites to ransomware, advanced threats, etc.
Do I need antivirus software for Windows 10?
Windows 10 users don’t need to worry about installing their own antivirus software, as that is now included, however, as we’ve explained in this article. That is not enough to keep your network protected from cyber criminals. You should still consider MEDR for your business.
