The Cyber Essentials Malware Protection
What is Malware?
Malware is short for malicious software, which is software that is designed to cause harm by disrupting, damaging or gaining access to a computer, without the owner’s knowledge. Malware typically consists of code developed by cyber attackers, designed to cause extensive damage to data and systems, or gain unauthorised access.
Viruses, worms, trojan horse, spyware, adware and ransomware are all different types of malware that cause harm in different ways. If a system is infected with malware, your organization is likely to suffer from problems like malfunctioning systems, data loss, or onward infection that goes unseen until it causes harm elsewhere.
How does Malware get onto my device?
A common way that malware could get onto your computer is through a phishing attack. This could be in the form of an email from someone pretending to be your bank or another trusted institution. The email will generally ask you to open an attachment or click on a link, and if you do, it will try to install the malware onto your device. If you are using your computer with a regular user account as opposed to an administrator account, malware will not be able to download without the administrator password.
Other common ways to infect a computer device with malware is through clicking on an advert that appears on a website, or downloading software from a non-manufacturer approved source. Your computer could also be infected with malware from a removable storage device such as a USB stick (many companies have banned USBs for this reason).
Cyber Essentials Malware Protection
• detecting and disabling malware before it causes harm (anti-malware).
• executing only software that you know to be worthy of trust (allow listing).
Protect your laptops, servers and desk top computers with anti-malware software
Anti-malware software will monitor your device for any malicious activity, if it finds anything, it will destroy or secure it before it causes any harm. There are many anti-malware products available to download on a subscription arrangement.
Cyber Essentials Anti-Malware Requirements
Where anti-malware software is used:
- The software must be kept up to date.
- Signature based anti-malware software must have their signature files updated at least daily.
- The anti-malware software must be configured to scan files automatically upon access (this includes when files are downloaded and opened, and when they are accessed from a network folder).
- The anti-malware software must scan web pages automatically when they are accessed through a web browser (whether by other software or by the browser itself).
- The software must prevent connections to malicious websites on the internet.
Protect your mobile devices
For mobile devices, anti-malware strategy focuses almost entirely on controls or polices that dictate which applications or apps you allow to be installed on devices that access organisational data and services.
Cyber Essentials Mobile Device Malware Protection Requirements
For mobile devices, Cyber Essentials requires that:
- Only apps which have been application signed and provided by the official app stores can be installed.
- Only apps from an approved software list can be installed. An approved software list is a list maintained by the organisation identifying reputable
trusted sources from which software can be downloaded . This typically includes the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.
Manufacturer approved software
You should only use software that is from an official source that is approved by the manufacturer/vendor.
This way, you can be confident that the thousands of lines of code are not designed to harm your device or data. Some examples of official sources include the Google Play store and the Apple app store.
Software acquired from questionable sources may be counterfeit and unlicensed. Not only will it be of an inferior quality and unable to receive ongoing support, but there is also a high chance it will contain malware.
The Cyber Essentials Controls
How to Start Your Assessment
