According to a new study of over 500 client computers by J&M Security, LLC, 23% of small business customers had no antivirus software installed, and 49% had virus definitions more than three days old, which is old enough for the newest viruses and worms to infect their computer and undermine their antivirus software. According to Jim McKenney, who conducted the study “All of these customers were processing financial transactions on unprotected computers. They thought their antivirus protection would keep them safe, but it can’t help if it’s not up-to-date.”

But even antivirus software may not be enough. Hackers can exploit security in holes in out-of-date applications such as Microsoft Office, Sun Java, Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Flash. More than half of Microsoft Office installations were vulnerable, nearly three-fourths of Java installations were out of date, and over 80% of Acrobat programs were out of date.

McKenney, who is founder of Daily Safety Check®, a service that alerts businesses when their computers have been attacked or are at risk from cyber attacks, says, “Once inside the computer, cybercriminals can operate with relative immunity, giving criminals access to bank accounts, financial information and trade secrets.”

With Daily Safety Check, small businesses can be alerted to security holes in their employee or Point-of-Sale computers and get help updating them. “Within 60 days,” McKenney notes, “PC-vulnerabilities were near zero on client computers.”  For more information, please contact Jim McKenney at 1-855-372-2769 or visit www.DailySafetyCheck.com.