What Is Spyware and How Could It Harm Your Business?

You don’t need to be an IT professional to appreciate that organizations are at increased risk of being hit by cyber-attacks. One particularly pernicious form of exploitation takes place at the hands of spyware. So what is this exactly, and what damage can it do to unsuspecting companies if left unchecked?

Understanding Spyware

Spyware is a term that covers malicious software that’s designed to infiltrate devices and snoop on what they’re used for. It includes:

Mobile Phone Spyware

Smartphones are hugely convenient in the modern business world and are ripe for targeting with spyware. If infected, cybercriminals can steal data and even listen in on calls. Installing mobile spyware protection to deflect dangerous apps before they are installed, and detect infections if they’re already present to wipe them out, is a must for any business mobile user.

Desktop Spyware

Spyware is also a real risk for those using desktop workstations or laptops in their everyday professional life. On a PC, spyware can log every input you type on your keyboard, record every website you visit, and secretly access your files.

Appreciating the Dangers

There are many ways for spyware to be used, whether for straightforward data theft or full-blown corporate espionage. It’s even possible for hackers to harness what they learn through spyware infections to disrupt businesses and bring them to their knees. You can recover from successful breaches, whether on a single device, on a whole website, or in any other context. But this is always a costly and time-consuming process, which will have a knock-on effect in other areas of your operations.

It’s particularly bad for small businesses, which already have a high failure rate to contend with. Even short periods of downtime caused by spyware interference can be catastrophic.

Taking Steps to Avoid Spyware Infections

You shouldn’t simply sit back and hope you somehow manage to avoid spyware. Whether you run a business from home or have a large organization with teams across several sites, it’s in your interest to take the threat of spyware seriously and take action against it. We discussed the usefulness of mobile security software earlier, and this is a good investment regardless of the platform you fear is vulnerable.

It’s also sensible to install software updates for your operating system and your apps. These will include the latest patches against security vulnerabilities, so if spyware has been developed to exploit loopholes, it’ll be unable to breach your defenses. Employee training should also be part of your anti-spyware agenda. Team members will need to know how to identify phishing scams, for example, since these are frequently used as a means of duping people into downloading malicious software.

The point is that spyware won’t find its way onto a device by chance; like a vampire, it needs to be invited in, and it will use all the tricks in the playbook to do this.

Conclusion

Spyware is just one of the cornucopia of threats that face businesses in the digital era, along with other dangers such as ransomware, social engineering scams, and many more. The truth is that there’s a price to pay to prepare yourself to fend off spyware and to plan for what you’ll do if an infection is detected. However, you’ll be saving cash in the long run by spending the money and taking the time to make your preparations and take precautions. A total lack of security will lead to more significant costs when a breach inevitably occurs.