F-Secure, a leading online security and privacy company with a strong presence in Malaysia, is extending its reach to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) throughout the country by signing a partnership agreement with leading IT distributor Jardine OneSolution (JOS). Paul Palmer, F-Secure Vice President, APAC, and JOS General Manager (Distribution Division) Chuah Kee Heng signed the agreement on 16 March 2015, allowing F-Secure to focus on delivering its cloud-based security solutions to small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs).

A B2B International survey conducted last year found that viruses, worms, trojans, and other types of malware were problems for 61% of respondents. The average cost of a single data security incident was $720,000 for a large company, and in the Asia Pacific region, financial losses due to security incidents increased by 22% from 2013.

A threat report published by F-Secure last year concluded that Malaysian businesses, especially SMEs, were vulnerable to increasingly larger numbers of botnet-related viruses. This leaves these organisations vulnerable to take-overs by botnets, which can result in businesses sending massive amounts of spam or even contributing to distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.

Palmer said that focusing on corporate cloud-based security solutions would be best for SMEs, and F-Secure’s partnership with JOS is a vital step towards that end. “SMEs are the future of business, and a vital part of Malaysia’s business ecosystem. We fully intend to keep them as safe as possible,” said Palmer. “Thanks to our Protection Service for Business (PSB), which will soon incorporate integrated mobile security and Freedome for Business, we can offer them exactly what they need.”