A few days ago I received an email boasting how the message had been scanned by a popular free antivirus program.
No big deal, except it came from someone working for a big corporation.
While it’s encouraging they care about the security of their emails, it’s a worry such a big company was breaching their software licenses.
This is an easy area for business owners to be caught out. It’s tempting for staff and managers to save a bit of time and money by installing one of the many free and excellent antivirus programs.
The problem is those free deals are intended for home users only and the license terms are quite clear on this.
So installing a free anti-virus in a business usually breaks a contract and does a hard working software developer out of money they deserve for their efforts.
It’s also a lousy look – the message on the bottom of an email telling recipients the user is too cheap to spend $30 a year on an antivirus program really isn’t a message you want going out about your business.
The shame is the professional versions of those free antivirus packages are a good deal compared to their bigger brand name competitors. So there’s really no need skimping on the pennies.
So don’t look cheap with your security, buy a professional package and get it right.
Paul Wallbank is a speaker, writer and broadcaster on technology and business. He grew PC Rescue into a national IT company and set up the IT Queries website. Paul has a regular ABC spot on technology matters.
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James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
