entrustIT Insights | Cyber Security (13)

Windows 10 for all your staff with WVD!

Since its release in 2009, Windows 7 has proved to be an incredibly popular operating system. Much like Windows XP, Windows 7 has been the default choice for consumers and businesses alike for many years. Users praised its simplicity, the range of software that worked for it, and its speed. Even today, a decade after its release and with three major releases of Windows being released after it, a study from Kaspersky lab reports that 38% of consumers and 47% of businesses still use Windows 7.

Why data backup is paramount for your business!

With the rate of cyber-crime showing no sign of slowing down, we should all know how essential it is to have backup for your data. Nonetheless, many businesses still have inadequate, or even non-existent backup practises according to new figures. In a study of 514 UK business leaders, 17% do not backup their business data at all. Almost 50% of these respondents said their backups were kept on a separate system within the same office, indicating a concerning lack of disaster recovery plans.

Online banking against tablets and smartphone

The worst passwords of 2019...have we learned nothing?

Those that follow this blog will remember that we wrote about the worst passwords of 2018 at the beginning of the year. This blog proved to be popular, with many surprised at the sheer prevalence of weak passwords.

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A round up of our top blogs from 2019

It’s that time of year again… 2019 is nearly over and the new year will soon be upon us, bringing its own set of opportunities and challenges. Throughout the year we have covered many topics in the entrustIT blog from cyber security to employee engagement tips to the latest tech trends and much more.

Remote Monitoring: The Managed Service you NEED.

If your business is like the majority, your IT infrastructure will play a significant role in your daily operations. However, managing it is a full time 24/7 job, and as most businesses don’t operate in this way, they can struggle to keep on-top of monitoring it for issues and threats.

Cyber Security Concept. The Word of Red Color Located over Text of White Color.

6 facts about passwords that will make you THINK.

We say it a lot and we mean it; cyber security is vital in the online world. Passwords are a huge part of that. However, while many know we should use unique usernames and complex password combinations, we don’t. Even the reports of cyber attacks and breaches over the years haven’t made a huge difference, with bad password habits being far more common than you might think.

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Finally! Bring your Legacy apps into the modern world!

If you are an Office 365 user, then no doubt you are enjoying the great new features in a modern IT environment. Indeed, Office 365 has been something of a revelation since its launch in 2011 and the service now has over 180 million active monthly users. Are you looking to give your business a productivity boost? Learn how Windows Virtual Desktop solves common business problems >>

How you can ALWAYS have the latest and greatest from Microsoft

For a business in the present day, the productivity of its workforce revolves around a basic office suite. However, this is not enough for the modern workforce, as they come with a new desire for a different way of working… a way that is more mobile. Microsoft recognised this and updated Office 365 to enable users to conduct work from almost anywhere, on a wide variety of devices, from computers to smartphones and tablets. Are you interested in learning more about Office 365? Read more about the commonly-held business problems that it solves here >>

Can your IT provider do that?

In the modern workplace, we rely on technology whether that be cloud or traditional environments, in order to function. If something breaks or fails, it can have a direct impact on your bottom line and ongoing business operations. Interested in learning more about how Managed Services can free up resource and reduce stress in your business? Learn more about the problems they solve here >>

the network went down when someone stepped on a crack in the sidewalk

How would your Independent School cope with 22 hours of ICT Downtime?

Originally posted on 12 June 2017 In the wake of British Airways catastrophic IT Failure which left so many passengers stranded at airports at the start of half term, I thought it would be timely today to talk about disaster recovery. As anyone who has ever experienced network downtime will know, it is amazing how crippling an ICT system failure is to a school, and how far reaching the consequences can be. Not only does an outage create classroom and administrative operational chaos, it can also have serious consequences for the school’s reputation, particularly where there is loss of critical data such as pupils’ coursework, or a breach of security around confidential pupil data. Interested in finding out how educateIT could help improve your schools disaster recovery? Download our FREE White Paper >> Whilst many schools I talk to tend to associate ICT downtime with large events such as fires or floods, the reality is that the majority of ICT downtime has much more mundane causes which can include hardware failures, loss of power, cyber security breaches (such as ransomware attacks) and software failures. And in many cases the downtime is considerable, with the EMC Global Data Protection Index 2016 study showing that the average length of unplanned downtime was 22 hours. Indeed the situation seems to be worsening this year, with ICT downtime caused by ransomware attacks in particular often running into a week or more. And while many of us can work around a short system outage, when such outages are extending into days or even weeks there can be a serious impact on the school’s operations and reputation. As such, it is critical that the senior leadership team have a thorough understanding of their risk management processes and contingency procedures around network resilience, backups and disaster recovery. So is it enough to have a disaster recovery plan? Sadly I fear not. I’m sure BA had a disaster recovery plan, but how well did it work when it was used in anger? For many schools, I find the disaster recovery plan that was put together some years ago and has sat in the fireproof safe ever since, without testing or updating. My experience is that this document needs to be constantly evolving, as our use of technology in education has moved on apace, and what was an acceptable recovery plan a couple of years ago may now be totally inadequate. In addition, our systems are constantly changing, with software updates and security fixes being installed on a regular basis, all of which can impact on the technical success of a recovery. In order to ensure ongoing relevance, I always recommend that schools continually re-assess and test their plans around resilience, backup and disaster recovery, against the operational needs of their school and their changing use of technology. Some points to consider would include:-

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Windows 10 for all your staff with WVD!

Why data backup is paramount for your business!

The worst passwords of 2019...have we learned nothing?

A round up of our top blogs from 2019

Remote Monitoring: The Managed Service you NEED.

6 facts about passwords that will make you THINK.

Finally! Bring your Legacy apps into the modern world!

How you can ALWAYS have the latest and greatest from Microsoft

Can your IT provider do that?

How would your Independent School cope with 22 hours of ICT Downtime?

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Posts by tag

Windows 10 for all your staff with WVD!

Why data backup is paramount for your business!

The worst passwords of 2019...have we learned nothing?

A round up of our top blogs from 2019

Remote Monitoring: The Managed Service you NEED.

6 facts about passwords that will make you THINK.

Finally! Bring your Legacy apps into the modern world!

How you can ALWAYS have the latest and greatest from Microsoft

Can your IT provider do that?

How would your Independent School cope with 22 hours of ICT Downtime?

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