We live in the age of internet. Businesses are on the fore front when it comes to using the World Wide Web for market development, product promotion, customer relationship, internal organizational communication and other activities.

While the internet boasts of a wide range of benefits, it also comes with its own set of hazards. There are numerous dangers lurking around the dark corners of the internet that can turn a business and a business professional’s career upside down.

Following are the top five reasons a CEO, the most important person in the organization should have an anti-virus installed in their system(s). If a CEO uses a Mac computer, they should go for the best antivirus for Mac available in the market.

Virus

Anti-viruses can terribly damage a computer system. There are hundreds of kinds of viruses on the web. As soon as they are discovered, anti-virus companies find a patch for it and send it to your anti-virus program as a patch/ update.

Some of the most common types of viruses include boot sector virus, browser hijacker, direct action virus, file infector virus, macro virus, multipartite virus, polymorphic virus, resident virus and web scripting virus.

As the names suggest, viruses damage your system and information and slow you down.

Spyware

While anti viruses aim at damaging or slowing your computer system (something that can be recovered from if you have a back up), spyware can do irreversible damage. As a CEO, critical information resting in your system can be leaked. Competitors of your business are always on the move and invest in spying.

Spyware also watches out for your personal information. Individuals or parties within or outside your organization may seek personal information that can be used against you.

Identity Theft

If you think having your information leaked is bad, having your identity stolen is exponentially worse. Your identity can be used for a number of activities that can totally destroy your reputation, temporarily or permanently.

Criminals acting over the internet often steal identities such as by breaking in to multiple accounts of unsuspecting victims. Access to multiple accounts at the same time, enables them to communicate with other criminals or shady parties. This can definitely be dangerous for the entire business regardless of the nature, size, and industry of the business you want to operate.

Real Time Scanning

While certain malware act gradually and the damage shows up slowly, other kinds can be disastrous for the system the moment they enter. Within a matter of a few seconds, your entire system can be wiped out from its memory. Some viruses are so deadly that their complex formulae allow them to even damage hardware (by changing the frequency of the clock).

Anti viruses not only remove security threats present in your system, they also prevent further more threats from entering. The proverb, a stitch in time saves nine, fits here perfectly.

Scheduled Scanning

Some CEOs prefer detailed scheduled scanning over real time scanning. This is so because they are sure that their browsing activities are relatively safe and real time scanning may slow the processer marginally.

Hence, when their system is to be idle for a while, a simple press of a button can initiate the system scan process. At the end, the antivirus program generates a report as to how many threats were identified, how many were deleted and how many were put in the quarantine box.

All in all, anti-viruses are a must-have for all professionals. They are essential because they safeguard not only personal information of top management professionals but also information critical to a business’s policies, procedures, clients, partners, employees, vendors, financial status and other areas.