An IT Support Blog from London

Technology expenditure is usually taken on in a reluctant manner: few businesses rush forward with adopting the latest technologies, instead deferring IT expenditure for as long as they can. Whether it is updating on-premise servers, migrating to the cloud or overhauling a creaking website – management teams tend to delay spending the funds for as long as possible. But is this wise? Are there hidden costs to squeezing the last bit of usage out of outdated technology?

Of all the types of malware wreaking havoc these days, one clearly stands out - Ransomware. This troublesome malware appears to be gaining a lot of fans in the cybercrime community and has, in turn, caused considerable stretches of downtime on a large number of organisations.

It is without question a risky affair: allowing employees to use their personal devices to access your network and valuable, often confidential company data. Yet despite the risks BYOD (bring your own device) marches on and companies and organisations around the world are adopting tactics and technologies to make it work.

There used to be a time when it was relatively easier to prevent malware from infecting our systems. We’d install an antivirus, keep its database updated, and equip end users with a laundry list of things to avoid - like suspicious email attachments and unfamiliar websites. Today, drive by downloads are making malware avoidance a more challenging task.

A drive-by download is a malware infection procedure that doesn’t require the user to download anything or even click a link. For his/her system to get infected, the user only has to visit a site that’s been compromised. The infection process then takes place behind the scenes, without the user ever noticing anything unusual.

In the wake of Brexit, it seems like there has never been a more important time to attract businesses to the UK. There are still plenty of reasons for multinationals to set up shop here. While it has experienced setbacks in recent times, London has retained its status as one of the world's financial hubs. We also have the fifth largest economy in the world according to GDP (Nominal), and despite the current uncertainty, there are still solid strategic reasons for companies basing themselves in the UK.

Information technology risks range from the very apparent to the silent and hidden. The majority of businesses mitigate the most obvious risks: only an irresponsible IT operation will do without network firewalls in place or skip on regularly updating operating systems and software. Yet it is the less obvious risks which can trip up even carefully run IT functions – and which can cause progressive or indeed sudden harm to your business.

Data centre optimisation and consequential benefits for businesses

With so much focus on hacking and internet security, many firms of 10 - 100 people will feel that they have put a lot of effort into making their data as secure as possible. Unfortunately, internet security is a moving target, where the threat may be characterised as agile and continually evolving. Consequently, it is impossible for networks to remain impenetrable.

Standard IT best practice, such as upgrading and patching operating systems and applications, and maintaining a reliable backup and Disaster Recovery capability, are all layers that help to ensure that a firm is in a position to resume normal operations within an acceptable timeframe, should it be the victim of an attack.

Privacy Shield a more formal compliance framework

The ‘borderless’ internet has created legal problems for nation-states across the globe. Tax laws have brought all sorts of problems for international businesses as well as tax authorities and governments.

The laws on privacy are no less challenging. In the UK, the Data Protection Act, as enforced by the ICO, has been the cornerstone of safeguarding privacy. International standards are bounded by Privacy Shield and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

It is an area of some confusion. Here we help to untangle it with some key facts about Privacy Shield and GDPR.

The cloud marches on… the question is where next?

The cloud is perhaps the fastest growing technology trend of the last decade. When the world was dealing with the aftermath of the credit crunch and reeling with the blows from The Great Recession, businesses still needed the latest technology tools to ensure they could be competitive.

Shadow IT: Questionable practice in a business context

The vast majority of computer users routinely use cloud services of some description. Whether it’s a Gmail account or a file transfer service, almost all of us use free cloud-based tools. This might be OK for personal use, however, in a business context, such an approach is highly questionable. Why?