Without a doubt, 2020 will go down in the history books as a time of challenge and change. Between COVID-19, riots and looting, our world has rapidly evolved how we approach security, including digital security. It’s estimated that hacker attacks take place on average every 39 seconds. To help combat these issues, your business needs a multi-layer, multi-faceted approach to cybersecurity. One option that has been making waves recently is PC Matic, an app or program blocking security measure that helps you automatically deny threats to your network. But how does it work, is it effective and how do you use it? Here’s a quick overview to help you get started.
Improve Your Digital Security: What MSPs Think Of PC Matic
How it Works
PC Matic automates your whitelisting and blacklisting process. Once the program has been installed, it scans your computer’s programs. If a program is identified as either an unknown program or as malware or a virus, it is automatically blocked. It is then submitted to PC Matic’s malware research team for review, preventing the program from working while the program is being reviewed and determined to be good or bad. You also have the option of choosing to whitelist a specific program until PC Matic’s malware research team has the opportunity to review it, allowing you to use it in the meantime.
This means that custom software may temporarily be flagged for review, but you can still choose to whitelist it and continue using it in the meantime while the review process is taking place. Instead of having to decide every time whether a file is good or bad, you can instead allow the software to make the call, allowing for common programs to be quickly classified and threats that enter your system through this sort of activity will be neutralized.
Is it Effective?
But what about the software that is flagged for review? PC Matic’s malware research team leverages a number of industry-standard tools, including Virus Total, Metascan and many others to provide a thorough review and audit of the software, so that they can determine whether the software is safe or a potential risk for your digital assets. It allows known programs to automatically be marked as good or bad, removing a significant amount of work required by IT administrators. This reduces the overall work that needs to be done locally while still providing a solid security measure as part of an overall digital security strategy for your business.
However, that doesn’t mean that it should be the only tool in your company’s digital security basket. It only scans programs on a PC, not necessarily in other areas of your infrastructure. To be able to make a solid overall digital security strategy, you’ll need to implement other tools into your system. These can include physical security measures such as locking cabinets and keycard access to sensitive areas or digital security measures such as firewalls and antivirus software that actually removes the virus rather than blocking programs. You need to make sure that the security measures you implement are able to deal with a wide range of threats, not simply the threats in one specific area.
How PC Matic Works
If you’ve decided to include PC Matic as part of your overall digital security strategy, you’ll need to start by installing it, then log in to start your first scan. It’s available for Windows, iOS and Android systems, giving you a single program to get familiar with to protect everything. PC Matic has a simple user interface, and once you’ve installed it, you simply need to press the “Scan” button to start an initial scan to clean up your PC. You’ll then go through a few options to select, including Disks to check your hard drive, Benchmarks to compare your PC to recently scanned PCs and Malware will check for malicious applications or programs.
On the same screen is an additional option, Automate Changes, which allows you to skip the page showing the results of the scan in favor of jumping right into addressing any issues that were found during the scans. You can also choose to remember the settings you select for future sessions and to have that screen hidden during future sessions if you don’t want to change those settings at any point in the future. Once the scan has completed, you’re able to look at the results and make changes, updates or improvements to prevent any future issues, then reboot your computer to apply those changes.
Once you’ve finished your scan, you can put PC Matic’s SuperShield online. That automatically provides real-time protection of your equipment, notifying you if any threats to your system arise. You also have the option of setting up Scheduled Scan, which allows you to automate the scanning process so it’s only happening during off-hours or weekends when you don’t need to actively use your machine. These can be set up on a regular timeframe, such as weekday evenings, or otherwise adapted to your needs, to ensure that your system is regularly being checked for new threats or issues that can arise as hackers figure out how to take advantage of specific vulnerabilities that pop up from time to time.
Generally speaking, professionals tend to have a different view of PC Matic than small business owners. Many IT professionals tend to prefer ThreatLocker for this type of service, while others have been using the system for a long period of time without any problems. However, as with any digital security asset, PC Matic is only one part of what should be a multi-layered, multi-faceted approach to your overall digital security strategy, which should also include physical security, strong passwords, firewalls, antivirus and anti-malware software, and a wide range of other approaches that help keep your digital assets secure. If you’re not sure what your next step should be or if you need help developing a solid strategy for your business’ digital security, why not outsource the issue to a managed service provider that can deliver solid solutions in a comprehensive program?
