An IT Support Blog from London

Budgets can get tight and often one of the first things companies look at trimming is IT support services.

At first, it looks like it’s something that a business can forgo. But treating technology with a "wait until it breaks" mindset, to save money, is often a costly financial illusion.

Your business may be saving a good amount of funds at first... but it can mean technology inefficiencies that don't show up immediately on a balance sheet. And worse, unpatched security gaps can leave your company vulnerable.

London is a financial and commercial hub, with plenty of global companies settled in the city. From a cybersecurity perspective, it makes companies in London a target – and it all happens within a threat landscape that is changing quickly.

The city has such a dense concentration of high value businesses that it’s no surprise that financial services and other high-profile businesses in London tend to see the brunt of cutting-edge attacks – from AI attack methods through to clever social engineering.

Walk into any modern office today, and you'll spot them everywhere: smart sensors monitoring temperature, connected printers that order their own supplies, and security cameras that send alerts straight to your phone. Internet of Things (IoT) devices have quietly revolutionised how UK businesses operate, offering everything from cost savings to competitive advantages.

But it’s not as straightforward as it sounds. For every IoT success story, there's another business dealing with sluggish networks, mysterious security vulnerabilities, or devices that simply refuse to play nice with existing systems. The difference between IoT triumph and disaster? Having the right IT support strategy from day one.

When implemented thoughtfully, IoT can transform operations. But to skip proper planning can bring on more chaos than efficiency. In this post, we discuss how innovative businesses are navigating this landscape, and why IT support for business isn't just helpful, but absolutely critical.

Cyber threats increasingly target small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in London. Data show that at least one in four UK businesses fell victim to a cyberattack over the last year.

To protect sensitive data and maintain compliance, updating your IT security approach is essential. One framework that is helping organisations elevate their security is the Zero Trust model. Its key principle is  “never trust, always verify.”

In this post, we’ll look at how SMEs can start using Zero Trust to improve business security, discussing the essential and practical steps that you can take right away. You will also see how trusted IT security and internet solutions from London-based providers can help along the way.

Sharing files through the cloud has become the norm in today’s modern businesses. It’s fast, efficient, and facilitates efficient remote work. But with convenience comes responsibility, and this is particularly true when protecting your business data. If you’re a small or medium-sized business (SMB) in London relying on cloud solutions, understanding how to share files safely is essential to maintaining your cloud security.

There’s no denying that IT support teams are crucial for keeping an organisation’s IT infrastructure such as networks, devices, and data storage running efficiently. Their offered technical assistance is also a service that is valuable for both employees and customers. But with malware threats continuing to rise, the role of IT support services has evolved to more than just ensuring smooth technical operations.

Tech support teams now often function as a business’s first line of defense against cyberattacks. Whether it’s verifying phishing emails, dealing with ransomware attacks, or investigating system vulnerabilities, IT support teams are at the forefront of the enterprise’s IT security.

According to Gartner predictions, 45% of organisations will fall victim to a software supply chain attack by 2025—three times as many as that of 2021. And that’s not even counting other types of cyber threats such as levelled-up social engineering/phishing schemes, ransomware, and even nation-state attacks for certain industries. Truly, the value of reliable cyber security in every enterprise can not be emphasised enough.

Most companies are well aware of which aspects of their business operations they should fortify. The key areas most susceptible to malware and other cyber attacks in an organisation are:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has transformed the dynamics of many organisations across almost every industry. Companies and the leaders at the helm of these businesses have long realised the benefits of harnessing AI algorithms in their daily operations. From automating and streamlining various business processes to preventing fraud to enhancing data analytics for targeted marketing and better decision making, the impact of AI on enterprises has been nothing short of groundbreaking.

Now while AI development and technological advancement in general has paved the way for various innovations, it has also opened many opportunities for malicious actors to exploit. This is why artificial intelligence has been a major boon but somewhat a bane as well to the IT security industry. Let’s start with the negative ways that AI has affected online security.

For years now, firewalls have been considered as one of the critical pieces of an organisation’s IT security infrastructure. The importance of firewall security has become even more apparent as the world further advances into digital technologies, and this is why firewalls are evolving in features and functionality and its market is growing at a fast pace.

In this blog post, we discuss the important considerations to keep in mind when choosing a firewall for your enterprise. But to start with, it’s best to refresh our basic knowledge.

As we go further into the technological age, cybersecurity has become an integral part of the discussion in every boardroom, data centre, office, and just about any place where digital assets reside. One of the latest (and perhaps the most effective as well) strategies to be added to the IT security arsenal of cyber experts is Zero Trust.