Warnings from the FBI about the potential for security breaches have been issued to businesses ahead of the switch off of systems protecting PCs and laptops from malware and virus attacks.

With 12% of Fortune 500 companies estimated to be affected by malware infections, KPMG’s Stephen Bonner comments that complacency and inertia is not an option for business.

Bonner, a partner within KPMG’s Information protection and Business Resilience team, says: “The risk of downtime due to malware infections is nothing new and is potentially being over inflated, but old news should not be an excuse for inertia or complacency because the impact of security breaches cannot be underestimated.

“The diligence of the FBI means that for organisations with affected PCs it is relatively easy to find out which of their machines are at risk. Yet, with analysis suggesting that 1 in 10 Forbes 500 companies are still exposed to malware attacks, the onus must be on these organisations to take preventative measures.

“Rather than wait for disruption and the inevitable impact on business, organisations urgently need to focus their efforts on establishing an inventory of their PCs, test and protect them. That must be the short-term goals, but long-term they should establish pragmatic approaches towards ensuring systems are constantly updated. Anything less and Malware Monday could become a daily concern.”

To check whether a computer is infected, organisations and individual users can visit a website run by the group brought in by the FBI at http://www.dcwg.org

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