-
-
-
-
26
-
-
-
Donna Aplin
In today’s world, technology is ubiquitous, and connectivity is a must. Securing your home network has become more critical than ever. A secure home network is essential for protecting your personal data from hackers.
From phishing to smishing (SMS phishing), it’s getting harder to avoid a breach. Individuals often have fewer safeguards in place at home than at work. Yet many are working from home, which puts both personal and company data at risk.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
26
-
-
-
Donna Aplin
Online shopping has become a common activity for many people. It’s convenient, easy, and allows us to buy items from the comfort of our homes. But with the rise of online shopping, there are concerns about privacy and security.
Not all shopping apps are created equally. Often people get excited and install an app without checking privacy practices. Apps can collect more data from your smartphone than you realise. Whether you use your phone for personal use, business use, or both, your data can be at risk. So can your privacy.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
26
-
-
-
Donna Aplin
As cyber threats continue to increase, businesses must take proactive steps. They need to protect their sensitive data and assets from cybercriminals. Threats to data security are persistent and they come from many different places.
Today’s offices are digitally sophisticated. Just about every activity relies on some type of technology and data sharing. Hackers can breach these systems from several entry points. This includes computers, smartphones, cloud applications, and network infrastructure.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
26
-
-
-
Donna Aplin
In recent years, electronic mail (email for short) has become an essential part of our daily lives. Many people use it for various purposes, including business transactions. With the increasing dependence on digital technology, cybercrime has grown. A significant cyber threat facing businesses today is Business Email Compromise (BEC).
Why is it important to pay particular attention to BEC attacks? Because they’ve been on the rise. BEC attacks jumped 81% in 2022, and as many as 98% of employees fail to report the threat.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
26
-
-
-
Donna Aplin
Imagine you’re going about your day when suddenly you receive a text from the CEO. The head of the company is asking for your help. They’re out doing customer visits and someone else dropped the ball in providing gift cards. The CEO needs you to buy six £200 gift cards and text the information right away.
The message sender promises to reimburse you before the end of the day. Oh, and by the way, you won’t be able to reach them by phone for the next two hours because they’ll be in meetings. One last thing, this is a high priority. They need those gift cards urgently.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
26
-
-
-
Donna Aplin
Microsoft released the Windows 11 operating system (OS) over a year ago. It was largely well-received as stable and user-friendly. The OS is not a large departure from the Windows 10 experience. But it does offer a lot of enhancements over the older environment.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
0
-
-
-
Donna Aplin
The new buzzword around town is “metaverse.” But what does that actually mean for businesses? Is it just something that social media companies need to be concerned about?
According to people like Apple’s CEO Tim Cook, the metaverse is coming. He stated that “Life without AR will soon be unthinkable.” Whether that’s a short-term or long-off prediction, companies need to be ready.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
0
-
-
-
Donna Aplin
It’s hard to turn around online these days without running into ChatGPT. Both Bing and Google are levering this advanced artificial intelligence language model. And you can expect it to show up in more business and personal tools that you use every day.
ChatGPT has revolutionised the way businesses interact with their customers. It has also affected how they get things done. Teams are using it for everything from emails to generating ideas for product names.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
52
-
-
-
Donna Aplin
Since the pandemic, employers around the world have needed to change. They’ve had to shift how their employees operate. Remote work is very much here to stay. Organisations and employees can both benefit from the work-from-home and hybrid work revolution.
Cost savings is a driver for supporting remote work. Employee morale and productivity also can be higher when employers grant this flexibility.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
26
-
-
-
Donna Aplin
Cloud account takeover has become a major problem for organisations. Think about how much work your company does that requires a username and password. Employees end up having to log into many different systems or cloud apps.
Hackers use various methods to get those login credentials. The goal is to gain access to business data as a user. As well as launch sophisticated attacks, and send insider phishing emails.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
52
-
-
-
Donna Aplin
Data visualisation is a powerful tool for communicating complex data. It presents it in a simple, easily understandable format. But it is not enough to simply create a graph or chart and call it a day. To truly make use of information, it is important to create insightful reports. Reports that effectively communicate the story behind the data.
Insightful reports help decision-makers understand key trends and patterns. As well as identify areas of opportunity and make informed decisions. If analytics graphs and bar charts are only telling part of the story, it can lead people to wrong decisions.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
26
-
-
-
James Greaves
Ok, so lets look at security policies and the eventual demise of the password. I did something unusual (for me) the other day – I went out for a drink in Sheffield city centre. Why does that matter to you? And why would I write about it here? Well, it was while I was out mingling with actual real live people that a conversation arose about security and passwords (seriously, I’m an absolute blast when I am out on the town, honestly) and what the best policies are around passwords. It came to my attention that there are still a lot of people still following best practices from a decade ago…
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
26
-
-
-
Donna Aplin
Netflix is one of the most popular and well-known streaming services. It has nearly 231 million subscribers around the world. It has been growing steadily for almost a decade.
The platform has become an essential part of many people’s daily entertainment routines. They fire up their devices, log in, and pick right back up on their favourite shows.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
26
-
-
-
Donna Aplin
Passwords are the most used method of authentication, but they are also one of the weakest. Passwords are often easy to guess or steal. Also, many people use the same password across several accounts. This makes them vulnerable to cyber-attacks.
The sheer volume of passwords that people need to remember is large. This leads to habits that make it easier for criminals to breach passwords. Such as creating weak passwords and storing passwords in a non-secure way.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
52
-
-
-
Donna Aplin
Scheduling appointments is a common activity. Salespeople often set up virtual appointments to answer questions about a product. Software companies allow people to schedule live demos. Telehealth therapists allow clients to book video sessions.
Those are just a few examples of some groups that are going to love a new Microsoft Teams feature. Virtual Appointments was recently added to the platform. It adds a new meeting style tailored for engagements with customers.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
26
-
-
-
Donna Aplin
Many people worry about someone hacking their computer. But they’re not really thinking about their wireless printer getting breached. It’s a tool that most individuals use sporadically. For example, when you want to print out tax forms or mailing labels.
Printers tend to be out of sight, out of mind. That is until you need to print something and run out of ink. Well, they’re not out of the mind of hackers. In fact, unsecured printers are a classic way for criminals to gain access to a home network.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
26
-
-
-
Donna Aplin
The number of apps and web tools that employees use on a regular basis continues to increase. Most departments have about 40-60 different digital tools that they use. 71% of employees feel they use so many apps that it makes work more complex.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
26
-
-
-
Amar Khan
Customers look for convenience. In today’s world that means technology that makes their life easier. From webforms to POS systems, you need to keep the customer experience in mind in all you do.
When people aren’t happy with their experience interacting with a company, they leave. And their experience might not have anything to do with your products or services. Maybe they found it hard to navigate your website. They may have a question, but no one was around to answer it.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
26
-
-
-
Donna Aplin
These everyday objects can lead to identity theft…You wouldn’t think a child’s toy could lead to a breach of your personal data. But this happens all the time. What about your trash can sitting outside? Is it a treasure trove for an identity thief trolling the neighbourhood at night?
Many everyday objects can lead to identity theft. They often get overlooked because people focus on their computers and cloud accounts. It’s important to have strong passwords and use antivirus on your PC. But you also need to be wary of other ways that hackers and thieves can get to your personal data.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
26
-
-
-
Donna Aplin
There’s a reason that browsers like Edge have added breached password notifications. Data breaches are an unfortunate part of life. And can have costly consequences for individuals. Hackers can steal identities and compromise bank accounts, just to name a couple.
Cybercriminals breach about 4,800 websites every month with form jacking code. It has become all too common to hear of a large hotel chain or social media company exposing customer data.
-
-
