Malware is malicious software that is designed to cause harm. Malware may also be referred to by specific types such as viruses, trojan horses, ransomware, spyware, adware and scareware. Malware can have a variety of negative effects such as:

Potential Threats

• Causing devices to become locked
• Stealing and/or encrypting data
• Taking control of your devices and using them to attack other companies
• Obtaining credentials to allow access to business devices/software/applications
• Using services that cost you money e.g. premium rate phone calls.

Incident Response

It's good business practice to have a plan in place for if your company is a victim of a malware attack. This could be part of your Personal Data Incident Reporting Policy. The National Cyber Security Centre has advice for how to limit the impact of malware attacks on the Mitigating malware and ransomware attacks page.

Prevention Measures

There are some actions you can take to help prevent malware damaging your business: