manage your software updates proactively.
by roman h. kepczyk
quantum of paperless
every firm has concerns about their systems being hacked, getting attacked by a virus or malware, or being the victim of ransomware that encrypts all the firm’s data. the latest cpafma survey finds an increase in firms impacted by ransomware.
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the vast majority of these virus and malware issues can be effectively negated with one simple process: keep your software updated on your servers and individual workstations.
for workstations, your operating system and antivirus software should regularly look for updates and automatically install them. microsoft windows has an update feature that can be set to automatic for security upgrades. turn them on and schedule them to run automatically, either overnight or on weekends.
on the server level, there is a slight twist to this issue. oftentimes tax, audit and accounting applications are behind on their compatibility testing with new server versions. to combat this, it is always recommended that your it personnel be on-site to run the updates on the servers, so they can roll them back if necessary. we recommend firms utilize the microsoft windows server update services (wsus) to automatically download the updates and then notify your it personnel so they can manage the updates. firms lose significant time to virus and other malware infestations, so regularly updated applications help sustain the firm’s overall productivity.
proactively updating applications so that everyone is operating on the same version also reduces conflicts that can occur when people are using different versions running on their local workstations. using network applications can alleviate this but requires firm personnel to run updates at their convenience. one significant advantage of utilizing today’s cloud applications is that all updates are done by the vendor during scheduled maintenance windows, which are usually performed late at night to minimize the impact on professional staff during working hours.
recommended action: standardize procedures to verify that all workstation and server security updates are automated and completed on a timely basis or transition to cloud applications where the server updates are automatic.