How to Recover from a Virus Attack Take these steps as soon as a virus penetrates your network to minimize damage.

If your business has suffered a virus attack and your network has been compromised, you'll need to act fast in order to prevent the virus from spreading to other computers on your network. Once a virus penetrates your security defenses, it can quickly rip through your network, destroying files, corrupting data, rendering applications useless and causing expensive lulls in productivity. The following recommendations will help you quickly get your small business back up and running again.

Above all, learn from your mistakes. If a virus penetrated your defenses, consider changing or enhancing your current security practices. Ask yourself why your previous security measures weren't effective. Did you need a firewall? Were you lax about updating virus definitions and security patches? Did you download files without scanning them first? Now is an ideal time to comb through, edit and reinforce your IT security policy, as you'll need to shore up the holes in your security practices. After all, prevention is always the best security policy.

Mark Piening is senior director of worldwide small to medium-sized (SMB) marketing for Symantec Corporation, which offers a host of security and availability products, as well as information on the latest virus threats and step-by-step guides through its website,www.symantec.com. He can be reached atmark_piening@symantec.com.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Business News

Amazon Tells Thousands of Employees to Relocate or Resign

Amazon says the move to bring teams together will make them more "effective."

Productivity

6 Habits That Help Successful People Maximize Their Time

There aren't enough hours in the day, but these tips will make them feel slightly more productive.

Business News

'Largest Data Breach in History': Apple, Google, and Meta Passwords Reportedly Among 16 Billion Stolen in Massive Hack

"Massive datasets" have been emerging every few weeks, according to a new report.

Business Ideas

70 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2025

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2025.

Business News

Meta Poaches the CEO of a $32 Billion AI Startup — After Trying to Buy the Company and Being Told No

Meta is reportedly offering up to nine figures in compensation for AI researchers, amounting to $100 million signing bonuses and even higher overall pay.

Management

The Best Defense Against Uncertainty Isn't a Single Strategy — It's a Mindset

In a business environment where the only constant is change, the small business owners who see the most success are the ones leaning into it.