Author: Gary

Reading Time: 4 minutes Did you know that elephants are one of the most protective animals on the planet towards their young? They only have one calf at a time typically, and carry them for almost two years. When born, the mother receives help in protecting the calf, from all the mothers within the herd. Octopuses, Orangutans and Kangaroos… Continue reading What is Multifactor Authentication?

Reading Time: 6 minutes As unintended consequences go, online collaboration got a really massive boost when the COVID 19 pandemic swept around the world as the virus looked to decimate the business landscape. Video calling that had once been the communication tool for all but a few, two video conferencing tools Zoom and Microsoft Teams saved the day and… Continue reading Zoom Vs Microsoft Teams – Which is best?

Reading Time: 5 minutes At the heart of every business is a conversation. Between your team, between suppliers, customers, local or global. A telephone call is good, we have been making those for a long time-since March 10th, 1876, to be precise. Interestingly, the first words spoken by Alexander Graham Bell in the worlds first telephone call, were: ‘‘Mr… Continue reading Top 10 Benefits of Microsoft Teams

Reading Time: 3 minutes As in the classic convention of fairy tale storytelling, it typically starts off with a hero or heroine performing a task and then being rewarded. The best of them usually has an insurmountable event and then some magical assistance thrown in for good measure! The Cast The Handsome Prince – Who else? The pothole played… Continue reading A Pothole, Outsourced IT and Microsoft remote desktop story…

Reading Time: 3 minutes If Benjamin Franklin had been alive today, I am sure he would be impressed with what we have done with the place and been at the forefront of IT innovation, especially in the last 50 years. Remember how we used to use typewriters to generate a letter and to make multiple copies of it. You’d… Continue reading Benjamin Franklin and how to deal with Cyber-Crime…

Reading Time: 3 minutes A new widescreen screen arrives on your desk, along with a brand-new computer to power it. It has all the bells and whistles on it; Windows 10, Microsoft 365, virus and ransomware protection, all connected to a super-fast dedicated business leased internet line. It’s just like Christmas, as the boxes open, all the kit is… Continue reading HOW TO RECYCLE YOUR OLD COMPUTER? HERE’S HOW…

Reading Time: 4 minutes What a great film Pulp Fiction is, and that opening scene! Two thieves casually sipping coffee and discussing the good and the bad merits of robbing banks and liquor stores. As the Hawaiian shirt-clad villain says to the other, ‘‘There‘s no sense in robbing a bank. There’s no money in it’’. The method of robbing… Continue reading Everybody be cool, this is a robbery… (or how not to click on a phishing email)…

Reading Time: 4 minutes Back in 2002, the Greek entry by Michalis Rakintzis ‘SAGAPO’ for the Eurovision song contest came 17th. I’m sure Michalis won’t mind me sharing with you just how pertinent his lyrics are. Hey (Hey, hey, hey, hey) If you wanna get my love (Love, love, love, love) If you pray for me and hope (Hope,… Continue reading What has the Eurovision song contest got to do with Outsourced IT?

Reading Time: 3 minutes Your IT system crashes, and while it’s being repaired you put on the kettle to make a cup of tea. But you now realize you’re making lots of cups of tea every week and begin to wonder how much is all this downtime costing? Is it because you’re using sticking plaster solutions to resolve much… Continue reading How much does IT downtime cost your business?

Reading Time: 2 minutes The US Federal Bureau of Investigation says that more than $4 Billion was lost through cyber-attacks during 2020 by American businesses and individuals. An FBI report, using data from the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Centre (IC3), says that 20 per cent more money was lost in 2020 than in 2019. Victims also reported more than… Continue reading FBI reports 2020 cyber-crime surge

Reading Time: 2 minutes Half of UK businesses expect to reduce their office space, with a third looking to cut it down by 30 per cent. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) surveyed 258 C-Suite executives and other senior employees of the UK’s largest companies. Their proposed cuts signify a reduction of around nine million square feet of space. The pandemic appears to… Continue reading Virus spurs big office rethink

Reading Time: 2 minutes The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has stopped more online scams during the pandemic than the combined total of the previous three years. COVID and NHS-themed cyber-attacks fuelled the increase. Security experts recorded a 15-fold rise in the removal of online campaigns in 2020 compared to 2019. The findings were included in the NCSC’s… Continue reading COVID fuels online crime surge

Reading Time: 2 minutes BT is set to create 7,000 new jobs to support its fibre broadband roll-out to 25 million UK premises. The company’s chief executive, Philip Jansen, said the jobs are part of plans to “build like fury across the country” to expand broadband coverage. Money from a government tax deduction will help pay for this investment.… Continue reading Jobs boost speeds fibre roll-out

Reading Time: 2 minutes Leading companies are now looking to significantly change the working experience for employees due to the pandemic. Most recently, Salesforce announced it will let all employees work “remotely part or full-time, after the pandemic”. The software giant intends to scale-back its real estate footprint with more than 65 per cent of its workforce only coming… Continue reading Virus fuels working revolution

Reading Time: 2 minutes Cyber-crime had a boom year in 2020 as online attacks soared and ransomware earned perpetrators millions. UK businesses faced a 20 per cent rise in cybersecurity threats compared to 2019 and the first COVID-19 lockdown in March escalated hacking attempts into corporate networks. According to the internet service provider, Beaming, there were more than 686,000… Continue reading Pandemic boom-time for hackers

Reading Time: 2 minutes Around half of the UK’s businesses had no security policies in place in 2020 – fewer than in 2019. According to a report by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the proportion of businesses and charities using security monitoring tools fell from 40 per cent in 2019 to 35 per cent in… Continue reading Firms shun security as cyber risks soar

Reading Time: 2 minutes UK roll-out of Fibre To The Premises (FTTP) is being accelerated by Openreach and its competitors following new Ofcom regulations. The regulations, governing the wholesale telecoms market, aim to promote competition and investment in networks which can provide gigabit speeds to and from premises. Openreach became a legally separate company from BT in 2018, with… Continue reading Ofcom triggers full-fibre roll-out

Reading Time: 2 minutes Beware when disposing of old data storage devices because these are likely to contain confidential business or personal information. Research company Kaspersky found that 90 per cent of second-hand storage devices, such as USB sticks, contained data that could be exploited if it fell into criminal hands. Anything from banking documents and company emails to… Continue reading Second-hand data storage danger

Reading Time: 2 minutes Videoconferencing, using tools such as Zoom, Skype or Teams, is causing many remote workers to suffer serious fatigue. As so many people resort to virtual meetings due to the COVID 19 pandemic, various research studies are highlighting the downsides of technology which has proved such a lifeline for many businesses. In a report by Microsoft… Continue reading Video call fatigue hits home

Reading Time: 3 minutes Cyber criminals have attempted to poison a city’s water supply in the United States. The attempt sharply highlights how critically important robust cybersecurity is to avoid exposure to hackers. Someone gained access to a computer at the water facility which supplies Oldsmar City in Pinellas County, Florida. By altering the facility’s remote-control software, TeamViewer, they… Continue reading Hackers poison US water supply

Reading Time: 2 minutes Microsoft Exchange Server users are being targeted by hackers in a series of ransomware attacks affecting thousands of organisations worldwide. According to Reuters, more than 20,000 organisations have been compromised in the US with many more across the globe. The victims include the European Banking Authority which has announced that personal data may have been… Continue reading Hackers wage war on Microsoft Exchange

Reading Time: 2 minutes A superior wi-fi experience is now on the horizon for UK businesses after successful trials of Wi-Fi 6 and the birth of the new Wi-Fi 6E standard. Regulators in the US and the UK have this year opened up the 6GHZ spectrum. And the technology which will use it has been branded 6E by the… Continue reading Giant leap for wi-fi with 6 and 6E

Reading Time: 2 minutes Global sales of personal computers (PCs) soared over the past 12 months as many more people worked from home. Market research firm Canalys reports that PC shipments reached 297 million units in 2020, up an impressive 11 per cent from 2019. IDC puts the year at 302 million shipments, up 13.1 per cent year-on-year. And… Continue reading Global PC sales soar

Reading Time: 3 minutes Plans to bring high-speed internet to 85 per cent of UK households by 2025 is over-ambitious. So says a Broadband and the Road to 5G report, published by parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sports Committee (DCMSC). It says there is “no genuine belief” that the current goal can be met. The National Audit Office has… Continue reading Unrealistic broadband and 5G targets

Reading Time: 2 minutes The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has reported a surge in pandemic-related cyber attacks, with more than a quarter of all known incidents related to COVID-19. It handled 723 incidents between 1 September 2019 and 31 August 2020 – up from 658 reported in the previous 12 months. The increase in cases reflects ongoing… Continue reading COVID fuels cybercrime surge

Reading Time: 2 minutes Major technology providers are now moving towards a password-free world, but is it time for you to forget them? Steps towards a ‘password-less’ environment being taken by the likes of Google and Microsoft reflect the fact that the traditional way of protecting personal data is fundamentally unsafe. A report from Risk Based Security revealed more… Continue reading Time to forget passwords?

Reading Time: 2 minutes City firms may axe office space in London as the demand for remote working forces them to review how much square-footage they need. A survey by the Confederation of British Industry and professional services firm PwC has found that 74 per cent of London-based banks and insurance firms are re-assessing their office requirements. Of the… Continue reading Offices axed as remote working grows

Reading Time: 2 minutes British Airways (BA) has been let off a possible £183 million data breach fine due to the economic disruption caused by the coronavirus. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) will now fine BA the smaller sum of £20 million, after taking into account appeals from the airline and also the economic fallout from the pandemic. The… Continue reading BA gets £20m slap for mega-breach

Reading Time: 2 minutes Global ransomware attacks soared by 20 per cent in the first half of 2020 with 121 million incidents recorded worldwide. That’s according to research by SonicWall Capture Labs, which shows that 79.9 million targeted the US and 5.9 million in the UK. Both countries were just outside the top ten nations most affected. China and… Continue reading Virus fuels ransomware surge

Reading Time: 2 minutes The scourge of coronavirus could be fundamentally changing the way businesses operate by expanding remote working and accelerating the deployment of robotics and AI. The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has released the results of its Coronavirus Impact Tracker, which reveals that the majority of businesses have made changes to adapt to the UK lockdown… Continue reading Robotics surge as virus strikes

Reading Time: 2 minutes British broadband speeds are now among the slowest in Europe having dropped to a lowly 47th in the world. This alarming news is revealed in new research conducted by Cable.co.uk, which indicates that the UK has fallen 13 places in an annual league table of global broadband speeds. Britain’s average broadband speed is 37.82 Mbits/sec.… Continue reading UK’s broadband ranking plummets

Reading Time: 3 minutes There are many signs that the COVID-19 pandemic is fundamentally changing the world we live in today. How we work, consume, enjoy entertainment and travel are all being re-assessed by governments, businesses and individuals. Some steps are totally new, and others are accelerating trends already apparent before the pandemic. As soon as countries went into… Continue reading COVID changes the world

Reading Time: 2 minutes The cost of cybercrime is snowballing at an alarming rate and costing organisations around the world many trillions of dollars. Four years ago, Cybersecurity Ventures – a leading researcher – predicted cybercrime would cost the world US$6 trillion a year by 2021. It’s a prediction which has been corroborated by many academics, senior government officials… Continue reading Cybercrime epidemic costs trillions

Reading Time: 2 minutes NatWest Bank is developing behavioural biometrics technology which could soon replace conventional passwords. Behavioural biometrics analyse the unique ways customers interact with their devices when making online purchases – helping to verify the identity of a payee to ensure it’s actually the cardholder who’s authorising the payment. NatWest’s roll-out of the technology starts next year… Continue reading NatWest’s banking on biometrics

Reading Time: 2 minutes Millions of Microsoft users have been using log-on credentials that could be known by cybercriminals. A big part of the problem has been the re-use of passwords which has made it much easier for hackers to unlock users’ accounts. The software giant analysed a database of more than three billion leaked credentials pooled from multiple… Continue reading Password re-use still poses a big threat

Reading Time: 2 minutes Many organisations that set out to modernise their legacy IT systems never complete the process, according to new global research. A report commissioned by IT solutions and services company, Advanced, shows that different teams in a company can have conflicting priorities, and this makes any IT transformation much more challenging. Leadership teams often fail to… Continue reading Too many IT projects fail

Reading Time: 2 minutes Major technology companies are suspending sales of facial recognition software to US police departments until the laws concerning their appropriate use are tightened up. The decision from three tech giants came just two weeks after the death of George Floyd, which sparked a series of protests in the US, the UK and elsewhere. Amazon has… Continue reading Tech giants suspend police sales

Reading Time: 2 minutes Working from home during the pandemic has made many people reluctant to go back to their workplaces on a full-time basis despite an easing of the UK lockdown rules. Research commissioned by technology provider Okta surveyed 6,000 office workers across the UK. Just 24 per cent of respondents said they wanted to return to the… Continue reading Flexibility bug bites UK workers

Reading Time: 2 minutes Covid-19 is causing a surge in cybercrime as hackers use various techniques to steal data and disrupt organisations. According to analysis from an internet service provider (ISP) Beaming, UK companies experienced on average 157,000 cyber-attacks each in the first quarter of 2020. That’s the equivalent of more than one every minute. As a result, Beaming… Continue reading Cyber attacks soar during the pandemic

Reading Time: 2 minutes The Microsoft Teams collaboration suite is becoming a force to be reckoned with, as it now has 75 million daily active users. That’s an increase of 62 million since July 2019. Only a few months ago it overtook its rival, Slack, but it’s still less popular than Microsoft’s other business chat platform, Skype for Business.… Continue reading Leap in Microsoft Teams popularity

Reading Time: 3 minutes The UK government has confirmed plans for an app that will warn users if they have recently been close to someone infected with the coronavirus. The health secretary Matt Hancock says the NHS is working closely with leading tech companies on the initiative and the health service’s digital innovation unit NHSX. The unit has tested… Continue reading Tracing app to combat the virus

Reading Time: 2 minutes Could Covid-19 fundamentally change the way businesses operate – prompting a permanent shift to more virtual working? There is no doubt lockdowns caused a significant drop in movement across major cities. New Yorkers were going to the grocery store 32 per cent less often at the start of the nightmare. And according to Google, London’s… Continue reading Will Covid-19 transform business?

Reading Time: 2 minutes There are growing security fears about the video-conferencing app, Zoom, as millions of people face the possibility of protracted home-working due to the coronavirus. By the end of March, most tech giants had closed offices and shifted employee communications online. Across the world, Zoom’s popularity surged to more than 200 million daily meeting participants as… Continue reading Zoom danger as pandemic hits

Reading Time: 2 minutes The blistering speed of new Wi-Fi 6 technology could help bring big improvements to productivity for thousands of UK businesses. Because a recent trial has shown the new wi-fi standard can support download speeds of 700Mbps in very difficult environments. The trial was conducted by the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) at Mettis Aerospace’s factory in… Continue reading Faster wi-fi set to boost productivity

Reading Time: 2 minutes Many UK businesses are still dangerously exposed to cyber threats because they haven’t got a robust security strategy. According to the UK government’s latest Cyber Security Breaches Survey , 32 per cent of businesses have suffered a data breach or cyber-attack in the past 12 months. While that’s lower than previous years, it still suggests… Continue reading Take control of cyber security

Reading Time: 2 minutes British businesses need to use more effective defences against relentless attacks from state-sponsored cyber hackers. Several countries are now using digital interactions to launch attacks on individual companies as well as national infrastructures. The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), the US Department of Homeland Security and the FBI recently warned that Russia is a… Continue reading State Actors pose a big threat

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ofcom’s decision to open-up access to Openreach’s dormant unlit fibre should be a big boost for UK businesses. Communications providers who serve residential and small business customers already have access to this “dark fibre”. Now, bigger businesses will also have access to it which could cause a communications revolution for millions of customers and employees.… Continue reading Dark fibre’s set to make UK shine

Reading Time: 2 minutes The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has helped stop 658 attacks against UK organisations in 2019 – stark evidence that businesses need to be forever vigilant to defend against a persistent threat from cyber space. According to its third annual review, the NCSC has prevented 1,800 attacks since its inception in 2016. It’s also… Continue reading Be ready for cyber attacks

Reading Time: 2 minutes Concerns about 5G have caused some UK local authorities to ban the erection of new masts to support the new technology. Brighton and Hove City Council is one of the latest. Masts were due to be installed near Hove Park, but the council decided these would create “visual clutter” and damage the area’s character. Other… Continue reading Are 5G fears credible?

Reading Time: 2 minutes Many businesses are unaware that the 4G mobile connections they’re using aren’t always what they’re cracked up to be. This is because mobile network operators have been promoting Long Term Evolution (LTE) as a form of 4G, describing it as 4G LTE when LTE is actually significantly slower. Both 4G and LTE were officially classified… Continue reading 4G or not 4G?

Reading Time: < 1 minute The problem of fake news is now so serious it’s the target of a new initiative by leading media channels and technology providers.

Reading Time: 2 minutes A Government boost for the UK tech sector is recognition of how fundamentally important IT-related services are now for British businesses. The government’s Future Leaders Fellowships scheme will invest £78 million in 78 researchers to support their work on new scientific and technological discoveries. And a further £20 million will be allocated to University Enterprise… Continue reading Funding boosts vital tech sector

Reading Time: 2 minutes The leak of millions of fingerprints and other personal data has posed serious questions about how secure current biometrics technology is. A tool used by many organisations worldwide to provide secure access to buildings has been proved to be insecure. Researchers working for the cyber-security firm VPNMentor discovered a massive leak of data on the… Continue reading Security fears over big data leak

Reading Time: 2 minutes Britain’s tech sector has received record amounts of foreign investment so far this year – and it’s broadening the range of IT services available to UK businesses and customers. According to a report compiled by Tech Nation and Dealroom, $6.7 billion was invested in the UK up to July. That’s two billion more than the… Continue reading Record boost for UK tech

Reading Time: 2 minutes Theft of copper cables continues to be a problem disrupting UK businesses and affecting people’s lives. One of the most recent, in Cambridgeshire, deprived thousands of people of their broadband connections. Openreach, which provides network connections for the UK’s internet service providers, says the thefts and associated vandalism caused two outages in two weeks. Around… Continue reading Broadband hit by copper crime

Reading Time: 2 minutes Britain’s now a top target for ransomware attacks so all organisations need to be much more vigilant. The UK has suffered a 195 per cent increase in such attacks this year, compared to a 59 per cent decrease in 2018. Meanwhile, total global malware detections actually fell in 2019 after a record-breaking 2018. According to… Continue reading Ransomware threat soars

Reading Time: 2 minutes Beware desk phones that enable hackers to listen in on your organisation – because there’s an old bug in many phones that could open doors to cyber criminals. New research from cyber security firm McAfee has identified that there’s still an old bug in Avaya handsets. Avaya’s the popular choice for many organisations of all… Continue reading Old bug could still bite

Reading Time: 2 minutes The hefty £183m fine imposed on British Airways for losing half a million customers’ personal data shows Europe’s new data protection law has teeth. And if you don’t take care, it will bite you. BA is appealing against the fine – which amounts to 1.5 per cent of its annual turnover. But even if the… Continue reading Huge BA fine is scary warning

Reading Time: 2 minutes Businesses are urged to start using the new Windows Hello service to make network access ultra-secure. It has been granted official certification by the authentication body FIDO and has just been launched to millions of customers worldwide. Hello uses facial recognition, fingerprint scanning and PIN numbers to verify access to your computer and the network… Continue reading Say Hello to safer network access

Reading Time: 2 minutes Should British companies adopt facial recognition technology to improve security, just when tougher legislation is being called for? As businesses attempt to make their digital presence safer – to avoid attacks from hackers and to protect customers – one of the key technologies being considered is now facing serious questions. The House of Commons’ Science… Continue reading Tighter law for facial recognition?

Reading Time: 2 minutes A worrying warning from Samsung has highlighted the potential threat of cyber-attacks on devices connected to the Internet of Things (IoT). The Korean technology giant has advised customers to perform regular security checks of its smart TVs to stay safe from viruses and other cyber threats. To carry out a check Samsung advises users to… Continue reading Samsung video stirs IoT fears

Reading Time: 2 minutes 5G is being switched on by UK network operators – offering data transfer speeds of up to 20Gbps for mobile device users. EE launched first on 30 May and Vodafone will follow on 3 July. O2 also plans to launch this year. EE’s initially making 5G available in London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast, Birmingham and Manchester… Continue reading 5G switch-on starts