The Dark Truth of IoT: Internet of Things
A staggering statistic reveals by 2025 there will be over 75 billion connected IoT devices worldwide! The Internet of Things (IoT) has ushered in an era of unprecedented connectivity, where countless devices are seamlessly integrated into our lives. However, as this vast network expands, so does the dark side of this interconnected world. With each new device connected to the internet, the risks and challenges associated with IoT intensify.
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Why is My Business's Internet Slow?
According to a survey from Open Gear, 31% of businesses stated that internet outages cost them more than £1.2 million We live in a world that gives us access to a seemingly endless amount of information at the touch of a button. Whilst this is great, it makes it all the more frustrating when our internet runs slow or not at all. For the average person, this is merely an inconvenience, but internet downtime can be detrimental to a business. Staff are unable to work, data can be lost, security cameras stop working and hybrid teams are unable to collaborate.
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Why Cyber-Security and Company Reputation Go Hand in Hand
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and a few minutes of cyber-incident to ruin it” – Stephane Nappo ‘Global chief Information Security Officer’. Building a good reputation takes a lot of time and effort for both large and small businesses. With more and more companies offering the same services you need to be unique. Your brand is one of the things that can help you stand out from the sea of mediocrity. Building a positive brand is important and protecting it even more so, but with more cyber-attacks than ever, your business's reputation could be at risk.
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6 Ways to Avoid Getting Caught Out by Phishing
Cyber-criminals use email and text messages to trick you into giving them your personal information. These cyber-criminals are looking to steal your passwords, account numbers and other important data. Obtaining this information means criminals could gain access to banks, emails, or other accounts in turn causing a data breach, and with a study by IBM finding the average recovery cost of a data breach to be approximately £3.1 million, allowing this to happen would be catastrophic.
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The Worst Data Breaches Of All Time
In the digital era, our online information is more vulnerable than ever. Data breaches are happening daily, and whilst some are minor and go unnoticed, others are so major they can put a whole company at risk. In January 2019 alone, exactly, 1,769,185,063 user records were leaked!
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5 Ways To Prepare Your Staff For A Cyber Attack
A new report by BSI's Cybersecurity and Information Resilience division stated that 73% of organisations are worried about security. However, one in six have no plan in place, and a third conduct no type of security testing. We hear about cyber-attacks almost every day in the news. With the rate of cybercrime increasing, businesses are now asking the question of ‘WHEN’ not ‘IF’ a cyber-attack will occur.
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Cloud Computing in Independent Schools
It's true, the network does seem to get the blame for many things!
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The EU's Article 13 - What is it and why are people so angry?
After years of debates and negotiations followed by 3 days of talks in France, the final version of the controversial EU copyright law has been agreed. We can expect to see a huge change across the EU when it comes to online copyright.
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Embedding technology into prep school life
It never ceases to amaze me how much the use of technology in Independent Schools has changed over just a few years.
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When it comes to your network, expect the unexpected!
With Independent Schools becoming increasingly reliant on technology for delivering lessons and running the administrative side of the school, network reliability and resilience is one of the hot topics that I often get asked about by the schools we work with. Interested in finding out about ICT in the education sector? Take a look at our FREE White Paper >> While many Independent Schools enjoy stunning countryside locations, there can be some pitfalls in terms of technology! Over the years, most schools have bitten the bullet with the "excess construction charges" that BT and similar organisations levy to connect these locations to the Internet. But many schools still suffer from Internet reliability issues. I noticed in the press just this week that Myddelton School which has just opened in North Wales enjoyed a challenging first few days when their Internet circuit was severed, and I know many other schools have been in the same boat over the years, when something as simple as a bad storm took down overhead cables, resulting in a lengthy Internet outage. And when it's not the great British weather causing havoc, it can be the local wildlife creating chaos, as one school I spoke to recently had found to their detriment. They first became aware of a problem when one building could no longer connect to the network. After much troubleshooting, it was discovered that a local rodent had nibbled through the fibre-optic cable that ran between two buildings! And of course power problems have been a common cause of downtime for many schools over the years. Coming from a business background, where there has been a reliance on 'always on' ICT for some years now, I am well versed in ways to overcome these challenges, so I thought it would be useful to share a few pointers:-
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