Category: Cybersecurity

Never use your browser’s password manager

Home / Never use your browser’s password manager

Never use your browser’s password manager

Post author By admin
Post date April 28, 2022

Microsoft is always introducing new features and services to keep your people safe online, and your data secure.

As a business owner or manager, you should already know that weak or reused passwords are one of the biggest risks to data security.

A new update coming soon to Microsoft Edge will give you access to a new and improved password management feature. This will allow you to store all your passwords within your browser automatically, giving you a cost-effective way to avoid password-based cyber-attacks.

However. Although this new feature is more secure than using the same login details across multiple applications, our advice would be to avoid browser-based password managers in your business.

Why?

Because they’re not flexible enough and don’t give enough control to you the boss – especially when a member of staff leaves.

When you use a dedicated password manager, you can remove someone’s access to all their applications at the push of a button. You can also access their login details if you need to.

You still benefit from secure encryption, but it also works across all devices, including different browsers.

A separate password manager is also a lot more secure, which is really important when you have multiple people using your applications, each with their own login details.

And as a bonus, your password manager will generate strong random passwords for you; remember them; and auto complete the login boxes.

That means you’ll have even better protection from brute force attacks, where cyber criminals try to guess your passwords.

If you don’t already use a password manager in your business, it’s about time you did. It’s an extra layer of data security that you really shouldn’t be without.

There are lots of password managers about. Would you like to know which one we currently recommend? Get in touch and we’ll tell you.

Is your team still working at 10 at night?

Home / Is your team still working at 10 at night?

Is your team still working at 10 at night?

Post author By admin
Post date April 15, 2022

If you have people working remotely in your business, you’re probably used to emails flying around at all hours of the day or night.

Working from home has been life-changing for some. Your people are able to be more flexible with their time during the day, fitting in time for school pick-ups and appointments where perhaps they couldn’t before.

And in return, it means that more work is being done in the evenings.

Microsoft recently did an internal survey on how working from home affects collaboration. It’s so they can make more improvements to Teams.

It found that there are two main spikes in productivity in a typical day: One before lunch and one after lunch.

For a third of its workers, there was a third productivity spike, at around 10 at night. That’s people replying to emails before bed.

Where employees have removed commuting time, their working time and availability has increased.

Within Microsoft, employees actually increased their working time by 46 minutes – or 13% each day – with a huge 28% increase in after-hours work.

And although it sounds like it could be good for business, it demonstrates just how blurred the lines between work and home life have become, post-pandemic.

Because this third peak of activity actually has the potential to cause a LOSS of productivity. Employees are feeling more pressured to respond to emails quickly, which increases their stress levels in the evenings, affecting morale and overall well-being.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said businesses need to place more emphasis on soft skills and good management practices so that employee well-being is taken care of properly.

He advises that business owners and managers set very clear expectations on after-hours work, so that employees don’t feel any undue pressure to always be available. One of these expectations should involve not feeling the need to respond to emails at the weekend, even if it’s from a manager.

Are you setting the right expectations for your people, and providing them with the tools they need to increase productivity without increasing their working hours?

Here’s a quick win you can personally drive. Instead of sending emails at night, schedule them to be sent the following morning.

When your team see the boss doing this, it could quickly become the accepted culture of the whole business. Give it a try.

Published with permission from Your Tech Updates.

You need this feature if your browser looks like this

Home / You need this feature if your browser looks like this

You need this feature if your browser looks like this

Post author By admin
Post date April 8, 2022

We all have different ways of working. Some of us prefer to have a minimal number of things displayed on our screens. Others thrive when everything is open and in sight.

But we can all agree that having 20 tabs open in your browser at any one time has a negative effect on productivity.

Just because it takes so much more time to find the web pages and services you need when you’re looking for them.

This might not be a problem for much longer.

If you’re a fan of Microsoft browser Edge, you’ll be interested in a new feature that’s going to debut soon.

Workspaces was originally revealed a year ago, back in April 2021. But since then, Microsoft has gone quiet about it. We assumed it was dead in the water.

But a preview build of Edge that’s just come out for developers includes an option to create new Workspaces. So, it looks like we could all be seeing the feature rolled out in the months ahead.

Workspaces allows you to group together browser tabs, and open or close groups with a click.

There are a number of ways you might use this. Perhaps to keep work-related and personal information separate. Or even grouping together information relating to different projects.

These groups can be named and color coded, so it’s easy to find the right information at the right time.

And unless you delete a Workspace, when you close and reopen Edge all your tabs will be there waiting for you.

There’s no release date for this yet. But if you can’t wait to get stuck in, more good news – Google’s Chrome browser already offers a similar feature called tab groups.

A simple right-click lets you group together tabs, label them and color code them too. You can even reorder them on your tab strip to organise them further.

Need more productivity boosting tools for your business? We’d love to help, just get in touch.

Published with permission from Your Tech Updates.

Russian cyber-attack threat: How to protect your business

Home / Russian cyber-attack threat: How to protect your business

Russian cyber-attack threat: How to protect your business

Post author By admin
Post date April 1, 2022

The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to a sharp rise in cyber-attacks.

And while many of the attacks are between these two countries, there is very real potential for other countries to fall victim to cyber-attacks by Russia, thanks to the sanctions placed upon it.

President Joe Biden’s declared the government has been improving national cyber security defenses for some time now.

They’re focusing on the infrastructure to make sure that water, electricity, and oil pipeline services aren’t at increased risk of attack.

The White House has also issued a warning and some very good cyber security advice to all businesses.

There are a series of actions that businesses should be taking immediately to protect themselves against cyber-attacks, and other data security risks.

To start with look at implementing multi-factor authentication. This is where you generate a login code on another device, to prove it’s really you logging in.

Data backups should also be checked on a regular basis. Ideally there should be a copy of data that cannot be changed during a cyber-attack.

All data should also be encrypted, meaning it would have no value and be unusable if anyone did manage to access it.

It’s also a good idea to have an emergency plan ready to go that will help mitigate any attack quickly and effectively.

Businesses are also being advised to give their staff training to help them spot and avoid the common tactics used by cyber criminals.

These include phishing attacks where they send an email pretending to be someone else. And spoof login web pages, where they hope you will enter real login details in error.

If you have an IT support partner already, speak with them to make sure all of your systems are fully up-to-date and patched as necessary.

They can also help you to audit how well you’re performing with the items above, and get a plan in place to help you respond to an attack or attempted attack.

If you don’t have an IT support partner – or you feel your current one isn’t able to help you with your data security, we can help. Call us.

Published with permission from Your Tech Updates.

Two thirds of remote workers use a faulty device, so they don’t get into trouble

Home / Two thirds of remote workers use a faulty device, so they don’t get into trouble

Two thirds of remote workers use a faulty device, so they don’t get into trouble

Post author By admin
Post date March 24, 2022

A new report has discovered that 67% of remote workers are using faulty tech when they work remotely.

And often that’s because they’ve accidentally damaged the tech themselves… they don’t want to admit it to their boss in case they get into trouble.

A company that sells refurbished technology surveyed 2,500 employees.

It found that laptops were most likely to be broken, followed by keyboards, monitors, and PCs.

Most of the time the damage was done by spilled food and drink. Other causes of damage included other people in the house – such as a partner or housemates – and of course, pets.

We’ve all watched in horror as a cat brushes up against a full glass of water next to a laptop…

While more than half of people try to fix the damage, and 81% of people continue to use their faulty device with limited features, a third of workers switch to their personal devices instead.

As well as this causing a loss of productivity, it could also be a huge data security risk for your business.

Because it’s possible their personal laptop doesn’t have as much security protection as their work laptop does, such as:

Security software
Data encryption
Enhanced password protection such as multi-factor authentication

Their personal devices also aren’t being monitored by your IT support partner.

When an attacker gains access to an unmanaged device, if it’s connected to your network, it’s possible they can get access to the wider network, and all of your business’s data.

This can result in your data being stolen and sold. Or worse, your data being encrypted so it’s useless to you – and you must pay for its return. This is called a ransomware attack and it’s the greatest cyber security threat to your business right now.

It’s not just access to your data that’s the problem. After a ransomware attack, there is a huge time and financial cost involved in making sure your network is clean, protected and secured.

Our advice is to make sure that everyone in your business understands the risks involved with using personal devices for work purposes, whether they work remotely or not.

You might want to make a golden rule that all work must only be done on business devices.

You could also create a culture where it’s OK if a device gets damaged, so long as it’s reported quickly.

If you need any help choosing the right technology or cyber security approach for your team, or creating new policies to help your staff choose to do the right thing, give us a call.

Published with permission from Your Tech Updates.

Tags Faulty Devices, WFH, Working from Home

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