Shared Hosting
You may have heard about the term ‘Shared Hosting’ but you’re perhaps not sure if it is a viable option for your business, or maybe you have not had the opportunity to consider the pros and cons of shared hosting.
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8 Ways to Protect your Business from a Cyber Attack
Now more than ever, businesses need to be more aware of the dangers of cyber-attacks. Attackers are doing it for profit and are organised! Criminals are now more likely to be sitting in a plush office behind a powerful computer than physically breaking into your business premises.
The damages of a cyber-attack to businesses can be huge! From loss of crucial, confidential or sensitive data, to reputational damage and even GDPR fines if your client’s data is compromised. Ensuring you are vigilant is essential!
Sadly, there is no silver bullet to make your business secure from attack, however, here are some techniques to prevent a cyber-attack:
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5 of the biggest Advantages of Office 365
Research shows that when it comes to productivity suites in the cloud, Office 365 is at least twice as popular as Google’s G Suite.
Implementing Office 365 can bring many benefits to any organisation. In this article, Bean IT looks into the biggest benefits of using Office 365.
Enjoy!
1. SECURITY
A very common misconception is that the cloud isn’t safe but with Office 365, Microsoft takes responsibility for security and reliability of hardware and storage.
Office 365 eliminates the cost of purchasing and maintaining expensive servers by offering:
- Encrypted Email – Cloud based end-to-end encrypted email, accessible from anywhere in the world with an internet connection.
- Data Loss Prevention – Your data is stored in the cloud meaning you aren’t storing data on devices such as memory sticks and USB drives which are liable to get lost, corrupt or damaged.
- Mobile Device Management – Remotely monitor and access your Microsoft devices. If you lose a device, you can remotely log in and erase data to ensure your sensitive information doesn’t get into the wrong hands.
- Advanced Threat Analytics – Live monitoring software that follows suspicious activity and makes you aware of ransomware, phishing and spam etc.
These are just a few security benefits.
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Getting the most from your virtual meetings
Although some businesses are starting to plan to go back to the office, many of our clients are still working remotely and some are even reconsidering working from home as a business model going forward. We thought it may be of interest to read on some tips for getting the most out of your Virtual Meetings:
- Lighting: Avoid windows or other major sources of light behind you as this causes your image to silhouette and darken so that you cannot be seen. Instead, use lighting from a window or lamp positioned behind your webcam and facing towards you. This will help avoid shadows on your face.
- Camera position: Centre yourself in the webcam frame, leaving just a bit of room free above your head. Have the webcam adjusted to your eye-level to provide a straight-on view of your face. You may need to prop your laptop or webcam up on books or other means in order to achieve the best result.
Tips and Tricks for Working from Home
Many of us have been working from home under lockdown/self-isolation for a good few weeks now. What was initially unique, and maybe even fun for a while may have already got ‘tired’.
Here are a few ideas and tips that have been shared with us and we hope they are helpful to you:
Arrange the day around normal working hours
It’s only your commute that has changed. Start and end work at the same time as normal. Use what would have been your commuting time for arranging your working space, or perhaps for scheduling in some exercise. Make sure you keep coffee breaks.
Designate a working area. Make sure everyone in your house understands what your working area is. It’s not easy of course, especially with everyone in the family now having to do it together in a confined space. Try changing something; rearrange a table, a chair, something, even minor, just to create that mental separation that “this area is now for work”.
Don’t go to work in your underpants! Keep things as normal as possible. You don’t need to wear high heels or a suite, but you should still make sure you get up and dressed and ready for work as you would any other day.
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Working from home during Covid-19
Bean IT are here to support you and keep your business working, however, we are sure you appreciate that the safety of our technicians is very important to us. All of our team are setup to work from home and calls and emails are being attended to as fast as possible. We have been deluged with calls and emails to support many of you who are now having to work from home and we are working through the requests as quickly as possible, but we do ask for your patience at this time.
Aside from setting up and assisting with home working environments, we’re aware that companies and individuals are seeing a large increase in attempts to breach security and privacy during this pandemic. With so many people now working from home, hackers have stepped up their attacks and we are seeing an increase in breaches.
Password Security
Protecting your personal content is essential in today’s age. Hackers are becoming smarter and there are increasing reports on systems and accounts being hacked. Ensuring you have a strong password is essential. We’ve created a quick guide to follow to help you keep safe online: Read more
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Bean IT are celebrating 10 years of trading this year and have seen growth year on year since we started – thank you for your business that has made this possible. Most of our growth has come from referrals and we are very grateful to all our loyal customers for passing on our details and singing our praises. Read more
Cyber Essentials Accredited
Cyber Essentials aims to help organisations implement basic levels of protection against cyber attack, demonstrating to their customers that they take cyber security seriously. The scheme is available at two levels:
- Cyber Essentials – an independently verified self assessment. Organisations assess themselves against five basic security controls and a qualified assessor verifies the information provided.
- Cyber Essentials PLUS – a higher level of assurance. A qualified and independent assessor examines the same five controls, testing that they work in practice by simulating basic hacking and phishing attacks.
Five Basic Controls
The five basic controls within Cyber Essentials were chosen because, when properly implemented, they will help to protect against unskilled internet-based attackers using commodity capabilities – which are freely available on the internet.
Organisations that undertake Cyber Essentials are encouraged to recertify at least once a year and, where appropriate, progress their security.
Since 1 October 2014, Cyber Essentials became a minimum requirement for bidding for some government contracts (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-0914-cyber-essentials-scheme-certification
For further information, email info@beanit.co.uk or call us on 0121 667 8977
How Backups Can Save your Business in a Ransomware Attack
To prevent ransomware infecting your system you need a multilayered security approach. From comprehensive and regular staff training, to machine learning antivirus software, to cloud storage/backups with version control, you need all of this to prevent viruses such as WannaCry taking hold.
What happens, however, when the virus finds a way through? This is when the trusty offline backup can save your business. Read more
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