How has September been for you and your business? For us, it's been clear that the August holiday season is over: we've seen three major projects run to completion in the last few weeks. Projects are often a time where we really get to know the details of our client's business and their staff, delivering upgrades or new facilities and integrating them into their operation.
Highlighted below is one project, working to deploy new services to support their core operation as well as assisting them achieve CyberEssentials accreditation. We've really enjoyed helping our client to take the next steps in their business and delivering on that, a true partnership with win-win all round.
Keeping You In Step
Some current news articles that caught our eye, from the world of IT and technology.
Google search monopoly is illegal according to a ruling by a US judge. Based on antitrust legislation, Google has been found guilty of illegal actions to maintain its monopoly over web searches, in particular by paying huge sums to ensure its search engines are default on various platforms.
15 cybercrime statistics you ought to know
If you have an eye for statistics, we thought this article was a great summary of the current state of play regarding cybercrime. Note that 50% of UK businesses experience some form of cybersecurity breach - that's an actual breach, not just an attack.
“a disaster waiting to happen”
Cybersecurity laxity became an issue for the UK's national security recently, as Sellafield Ltd - who operate a major nuclear site - plead guilty to serious failings. Investigations by journalists align with independent security reports about the shortcomings.
Check it out on the ITPro Website.
US Senator Falls Victim to Deepfake Scam—Are Your Users Next?
Recently we saw a news article about a US senator being drawn into a deepfake scam. A video call, supposedly with another diplomat, started and was proceeding until the questions turned suspicious. Full story reported by KnowBe4, our cybersecurity awareness partner:
Read all about it on the KnowBe4 web site by clicking here
How much will AI help in the next pandemic?
Researchers in California are developing an AI-based early warning system that will examine social media posts to help predict future pandemics.
The researchers, from University of California, Irvine (UCI) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), are part of the US National Science Foundation's Predictive Intelligence for Pandemic Prevention grant programme.
Take a look at this BBC Article to find out more.
Tech Tips
Some tech tips to keep you on your toes, so you can get even more from your IT.
TIP 1
How Much Space Are You Using in Microsoft 365? To find out how much OneDrive storage space your organisation is consuming, open the Microsoft 365 Admin Centre and then click on Reports. From there, click on OneDrive, and then make sure that the Usage tab is selected. This usage report will not only tell you how much storage is being consumed, but you can also see how that storage is being used.
TIP 2
Password rules have always been a sign of increasing security provisions. Latest is a change by Microsoft where their default user account passwords are changing to be more complex. Details here.
TIP 3
How many devices can I install M365 on?
Find out here - Microsoft 365 Frequently Asked Questions.
TIP 4
Did you know that your Microsoft clipboard can sync across devices? Details of how to set this up are in this Microsoft article: About the clipboard in Windows.
In the Spotlight
Staff Member Focus - Geoff Parkins - Lord of the I.T. Dance. AKA MD
From his early years Geoff was a fairly typical techie geeky fellow. He was always into technical things and shared similar interests with his peer groups. And then he discovered dancing. In Geoff's words: "It changed my life. Who would have guessed it?"
Geoffs kind of dance is modern jive, a partner dance to modern music. It's unrehearsed, more about having a good time than technical finesse. For him it's such a change from the rigor and physical stasis of a lot of IT work, a chance to be properly creative and energetic.
Achieving Cyber Essential Plus in Record Time - A Journey of Trust
We have been working very closely with one of our clients recently, really getting involved in core aspects of their operation. Apart from achieving their CyberEssentials accreditation in record time, we have been instrumental in defining how some of their operational challenges can be overcome.
Take a look at the case study by clicking here.
See the full story here
As part of our involvement with OxCyber, we were invited to try Rapid7’s Cybersecurity-themed Escape Room. We were tasked to solve a cybersecurity scenario using Threat Intelligence. We used the clues to build up a profile and pinpoint the attackers, so prevent a breach.
Preview Time
In the next edition.
In our next edition we will include information about CoPilot for M365 and how one of our clients is using it to their advantage.
If there’s a hot topic that you’d like us to cover, we’re open to suggestions, please give us a call: 0333 101 7300