An IT Support Blog from London

Read the latest IT news, tips and insights from IT Support pros at HTL Support

Data Breaches Have Hidden Costs – Learn What They Are

Data Breaches Have Hidden Costs – Learn What They Are

Data breaches can result in dire financial repercussions for any organisation that has to deal with sensitive data, whether that be personally identifiable information (PII), personal health information (PHI), payment details, or other similar data. Depending on the number of records compromised, the costs range anywhere from tens of thousands to hundreds of millions of dollars.

The latest Ponemon study, sponsored by IBM and released in July 2018, calculates the full cost of “mega breaches” (involving more than 1 million lost records) to be $350 million. This figure takes into account the more evident cyber incident expenses such as those for technical investigation, customer breach notification and credit monitoring, regulatory fines and litigation services, among many others. The organisation would also have to cover the cost of investing additional resources into network security improvements.

Continue reading
  2894 Hits
2894 Hits

Beware the Growing Cryptocurrency Mining Malware Threat

Beware the Growing Cryptocurrency Mining Malware Threat

A new IT security threat is infecting computers across the globe, and it could be wreaking havoc on your organisation’s devices as you read this post. This malware threat uses a computer’s processing power to mine cryptocurrency, without the knowledge or consent of the owner.

Unauthorised cryptocurrency mining–or cryptojacking, as it is commonly called, is spreading like wildfire. This is not surprising, given how simple it is for cryptojacking scripts to infiltrate a computer. Hackers can initiate it using one of two methods:

Continue reading
  3037 Hits
3037 Hits

Top 10 UK Industries That Can Benefit from Big Data

Top 10 UK Industries That Can Benefit fFrom Big Data

Certain UK industries such as manufacturing, telecommunications, retail, and others who collect large volumes of data, have the potential to reap substantial benefits from Big Data analytics projects. If you really think about it, almost all industries accumulate huge amounts of data. And so it follows that practically all industries can potentially benefit.

We can’t feature every single industry here, or at least, in a single post. So, for now, let’s just focus on these 10 industries and provide brief examples or ideas on how these industries can take advantage of this relatively new trend:

Continue reading
  3148 Hits
3148 Hits

7 Ways You Can Improve Security Without Breaking Your Budget

7 Ways You Can Improve Security Without Breaking Your Budget

It is easy to follow the mistaken belief that beefing up security at your business involves buying expensive hardware and software or hiring a top-rated security consultant to step in and make major changes. In fact, it is possible to make solid security progress by simply following good practice, and by tightening protection where needed.

Making these essential improvements is important for businesses of all sizes. In 2016, the Federation of Small Businesses found that the UK’s small businesses are collectively attacked over 7 million times a year, costing up to £5.26 billion. In this article, we cover some of the most effective ways to improve resilience against these attacks without spending an arm and a leg.

Continue reading
  2816 Hits
2816 Hits

Four Reasons Why Your Company Should Use Web Content Filtering

Company should use Web Content filtering

Web content filtering is typically supplied as part of broader cybersecurity measures, with most internet security appliances offering the option to enable filtering, and many default configurations enabling it from the outset. Yet as with many topics in information security IT personnel should never assume that content filtering features are active or optimised. In this article, we outline key reasons why content filtering is still so important, and briefly describe how to enable content filtering for your organisation.

Continue reading
  4786 Hits
4786 Hits

Introducing WPA3, And How to Improve Wi-Fi Security

Introducing WPA3 And How to Improve Wi-Fi Security

Love it or hate it, IT departments cannot prevent users from engaging with Wi-Fi networks; the convenience factor is simply too high. The IT security risks are real, however, whether your users are roaming – or using Wi-Fi where you have some control over internet security, such as the office space. It is also an evolving threat, with the gold standard of Wi-Fi security, WPA2, losing its shine. In this article, we discuss the next generation of Wi-Fi security, WPA3, and the measures you should currently be taking to boost your company’s Wi-Fi security.

Continue reading
  3826 Hits
3826 Hits

How Important is Penetration Testing to Achieving Optimal Network Security

How Important is Penetration Testing to Achieving Optimal Network Security

Let’s say you’ve already invested a fortune on network security. How do you determine that investment’s effectiveness in preventing a data leak or withstanding a deliberate cyber attack? Your best option would be to conduct a penetration test or pen test.

Continue reading
  4819 Hits
4819 Hits

How Can You Tell if Technology is Not Aligned to Business Objectives?

How Can You Tell if Technology is Not Aligned to Business Objectives?

It’s a back-and-forth sentiment that’s not uncommon in many organisations: business executives believe that IT is not doing enough to support business goals while IT leaders are of the opinion that management is holding out on IT investments, preventing them from doing more. In today’s ever-evolving business landscape where the right use of IT can give organisations a competitive edge, the need for aligning technology with business objectives has never been more important.

Both sides–management and the IT organisation – may assert that they are working towards the achievement of the company’s goals. But unless their efforts are aligned, i.e. IT contribution is clearly manifested in efficiency, productivity, and profitability, top management will be hard-pressed to see technology as an enabler of core business strategies and IT people will continue to feel underappreciated.

Continue reading
  5772 Hits
5772 Hits

5 Business Benefits of Managed Services

5 Business Benefits of Managed Services

Because your main objective is to grow your business, it can be burdensome when you also need to allocate time to manage your IT assets - even if that can also translate into business benefits. The good news is that there’s a way to grow your business and manage your IT assets without spending much time on the latter. It’s called managed services.

This isn’t an article for explaining what managed services is. We’re assuming you already know what managed services is but are still looking for a good reason to hire one. This post should take care of that. In this article, we’ll discuss some of the major benefits of working with a managed services provider.

Continue reading
  3582 Hits
3582 Hits

Why is It Better to Put Microsoft Office Online?

Why is It Better to Put Microsoft Office Online?

Like many software applications these days, Microsoft’s flagship office suite is now being offered as a cloud-based service. User files can be stored on OneDrive, making them available online. There are other online and collaboration features as well. But is Microsoft online Office really a better alternative to the on-premise MS Office we’ve all been used too? What are the possible reasons why Microsoft took this path?

Continue reading
  4078 Hits
4078 Hits
Top