Thanksgiving week is upon us and many consumers still have a lot of holiday shopping to complete.

Online retail sales this holiday season will grow 12% to $44 billion (predicts Forrester Research Inc.), and much of this will be done by employees using company computers in the workplace. And according to a recent study published by ISACA, a nonprofit association of IT professionals, the most prolific shoppers are those in the 18-24 age bracket, as 40 percent of those in this bracket said they will spend up to five hours doing online shopping from their desks. Ironically, this group is also the least concerned about the security of their work PCs.

The fact so many plan to do holiday shopping from their work computer, combined with their lack of concern for how secure their computer is, points to an urgent need for employee education according to David Vella at GFI. And SMBs, which typically have fewer IT staff and rules on employee computer conduct, are often more vulnerable to Trojans and other viruses that may be on these sites.

Following are some tips from GFI on how to protect your computers this holiday season:

·         Educate users – Users need to know exactly what kinds of threats are out there. Uneducated computer users are often those who fall victim to viruses, spyware, and phishing attacks, all of which are designed to corrupt systems or leak personal information to a third party without the user's consent.

·         Monitor user’s activity 24 x 7 - Utilize web monitoring tools to control employees' web browsing activities and to ensure that any files downloaded are free of viruses and other malware.

·         Implement Security Policies - Implement a clearly defined, and not complicated, security policy. Back it up with clear communication. Security policies also need to be updated regularly to take into account new threats, developments within the organization and changes in processes.

·         Limit access - In SMEs, it is not uncommon that there is a high level of trust between management and employees. Access to the Internet should be given only to those who need it, even it that person happens to be your cousin or the boss’s son.

·         Invest in technology – Security should not be considered an expense but a cost of doing business in an online age.   Vulnerability management, event logging and proper archiving software are essential tools to combat security vulnerabilities and help administrators secure their network.

·         Update virus detection software. What is the use of having virus and spyware scanners if they're not updated? Up-to-date scanners ensure that the latest malicious software is detected immediately. Security holes exist in your operating system and no software is perfect. Once vulnerability is found, it's usually exploited within a very short period of time.