GFI SOFTWARE: 46% OF CZECH COMPANIES STILL LEAVE UPDATES TO USERS

Attacks on un-updated systems are currently one of the most common security incidents.

PRAGUE, April 6, 2022 – GFI Software, a provider of enterprise network security solutions, said that according to its survey of partners in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, less than half of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) still leave updates of their systems to their users. The survey was conducted in February 2022 among resellers of ZEBRA SYSTEMS, a distributor of GFI Software solutions in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Southeast Europe.

Respondents also indicated that, in addition to ransomware attacks and lost emails, it is attacks on non-updated systems that they deal with most often with their customers. Exploiting vulnerabilities in computer networks and software applications is an increasingly evident part of combined, multi-stage attacks. With this tactic, attackers typically set the stage for attacking target systems, stealing data or encrypting it. Microsoft systems are the most vulnerable from this perspective, but this may be skewed by the fact that Microsoft solutions are usually significantly more prevalent in SMBs.

Some of the most interesting statistics from the survey include:

• 3% of business users install updates as soon as they are delivered, 20% schedule the update after work hours, and 23% run it manually later. 54% of businesses handle updates centrally or leave them to their IT provider.
• 64% of vendors most often resolve incidents related to Microsoft systems, 14% to Adobe applications, and 9% to Google software.
• Attacks on out-of-date systems were dealt with by 23% of vendors in the last year, while ransomware attacks were dealt with by 38% and lost emails by 25% of vendors.

“The recent attacks on Microsoft Exchange, which is relied upon by the vast majority of organisations of all sizes, have highlighted the high severity of the existence of software vulnerabilities,” said Marie Baranová, Sales Manager for GFI Software solutions in the Czech Republic and Slovakia at ZEBRA SYSTEMS. “If companies and organizations do not use centralized and automated patch management systems and leave updates to their users, they can run into problems very quickly. Yet deploying and operating such tools is very easy and available today even for SMB companies.”