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When a virus strikes it can hurt your business and dent your reputation. But take the right steps and you can minimise the risk

It's every company's worst nightmare. Last November, a worm-type virus struck Bright Media, a London-based office supplies company. "The virus forced us to shut down our computers for the whole day. That cost us a lot of money, money that is crucial to a business our size", recalls Bright Media director Deborah Wallace. But that's not the worst of it. "You lose money and, if you pass the virus on to your customers, the company looks bad as well."

The worm arrived in an attachment that came with an email from a client. Once opened, it wrought havoc by sending itself out to every email address it found in the recipient's address book, which also started to overload the mail server. Bright Media was forced to shut its computers down. "What made it worse was that we'd only recently updated our anti-virus software," says Wallace.

It's not easy to put policies in place that protect you against such attacks without, at the same time, hampering your ability to do everyday business. Since the attack, Bright Media has significantly increased the number of anti-virus scans of its computer system and given employees strict instructions not to open any attachments in emails not related to work or in unexpected messages from clients or contacts. In addition, they have been told to check with the sender before opening any attachment if they feel there is cause for concern, and to consult senior staff if they're in any doubt.

The bad news for Bright Media and other businesses is that the number of viruses circulating online appears to be growing rapidly. Around 1,200 new Internet-borne viruses are being created each month, according to Natasha Staley, a consultant at anti-virus software vendor Sophos. She adds that this steady stream puts the number of viruses to date at about 72,000. "It's clearly a growing problem and as long as there continue to be people who seem to enjoy creating them, the number of viruses will continue to increase," she says. "It's difficult to get exact figures on how much viruses have cost companies because businesses are reluctant to publicise the damage - it's bad publicity," says Staley, "but in terms of lost orders and general downtime across the company it can easily run into millions of pounds."

The majority of viruses arrive via email in a similar way to the one that struck Bright Media. There are a number of ways businesses can protect themselves, says Kris Barker, Demon's product manager of Internet products: "We tell customers not to propagate viruses by not opening attachments that they're not expecting, or from a sender they're not familiar with."

Barker also points out that Demon's Turnpike software - unlike most common applications - warns the user before opening JavaScript that has been attached to HTML emails because it can be a recipe for viruses. The recipient is asked twice whether they are sure they want to open the attachment, as a way of alerting them to the danger. You should also always ensure any personal anti-virus software you install is updated with the latest security patches.

However, not all viruses arrive via email, so managers need to be vigilant about how employees use the web, too. "Companies should have a strict policy preventing employees downloading executables such as screensavers or games from the net," Staley recommends. Using software that prevents users visiting certainly types of domain - such as porn sites - also reduces the possibility of downloading viruses, she adds. While employees are an important line of defence against viruses the inclusion of anti-virus software where the company's internal computer system meets the Internet - the "gateway" - is increasingly vital.

However, to date, anti-virus software has relied on being able to spot a string of computer code in the system that belongs to a recognised virus before it can go into battle. If the virus is unknown to the anti-virus software, it won't work. A technology company called OKENA claims its StormWatch product can proactively defend against damage to your Windows desktops and servers.

StormWatch checks computer code for features commonly associated with viruses and blocks the virus from spreading. But it's still early days for proactive detection and the best that most companies can do right now is get their anti-virus software updated regularly to combat the newest viruses. Whether or not your system is totally secure, though, some virus protection is far better than none.

Wallace of Bright Media has learnt her lesson: "We're doing all we can to prevent a virus attack happening again," she says, ruefully.

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