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Cyber Essentials 101: Why Cyber Essentials December 3, 2024 – Posted in: Cyber Security, IT Support

Cyber Essentials is a government-backed program that helps you protect your company from common cyberattacks. The IASME is the company that provides the certifications and assessments. For basic Cyber Essentials you will need to fill in a questionnaire, for Cyber Essentials Plus you will need to meet higher standards and an assessor will investigate your network directly. Cyber Essentials is a great way to show your comers that you’re working to keep their data secure,…

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What’s New Wednesday: A Summary of November 2024’s Patch Tuesday November 13, 2024 – Posted in: Cyber Security, IT Support, News, What's New Wednesdays

The Microsoft monthly security update release is published on the second Tuesday of each month. It’s a good idea to restart your PC on the following Wednesday – today. We may well restart some of your servers overnight this week if a patch requires it. NEW THIS WEDNESDAY This month’s Patch Tuesday included security updates for 91 flaws including 4 zero-day vulnerabilities. Overall Microsoft patched: 26 Elevation of Privilege Vulnerabilities 2 Security Feature Bypass Vulnerabilities…

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Cyber Essentials in 2025 October 31, 2024 – Posted in: Cyber Security, News

What changes are coming to Cyber Essentials in April 2025? The good news is there are no major updates to what you’ll need to do to meet for next year. The IASME are: Introducing passwordless authentication options. Requiring stricter vulnerability management protocols. Making changes to how they describe things. Passwordless Authentication From 2025 IASME will recognise passwordless authentication as a secure access method in the same way it does multi-factor authentication. Passwordless authentication methods include:…

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Insider Threats – What You Don’t Want to Think About October 22, 2024 – Posted in: Cyber Security, IT Support

You have done all the right things to secure your data. You’ve implemented all the recommendations to protect your perimeter and keep the bad actors out, you’ve made sure everything is up to date, you’ve paid for the AntiVirus software that’ll protect you in case something slips past the outer defences. There is one more threat though. One that no-one wants to think about. The insider. The Insider Threat Your staff are your greatest asset.…

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What’s New Wednesday: A Summary of October 2024’s Patch Tuesday October 9, 2024 – Posted in: Cyber Security, IT Support, News, What's New Wednesdays

The Microsoft monthly security update release is published on the second Tuesday of each month. It’s a good idea to restart your PC on the following Wednesday – today. We may well restart some of your servers overnight this week if a patch requires it. NEW THIS WEDNESDAY This month’s Patch Tuesday included security updates for 118 flaws including 5 actively exploited zero-day vulnerabilities. Overall Microsoft patched: 28 Elevation of Privilege Vulnerabilities 7 Security Feature…

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I’ve Updated My PC – What Else Do I Need to Update? October 4, 2024 – Posted in: Cyber Security, IT Support

We’ve covered updating your laptop or computer a fair bit but the operating and software on your computer aren’t the only things you need to keep up to date to secure your data and your business. One obvious system that needs to be kept up to date is your server. Your IT team should be managing that, but it is worth checking in with them to be sure. Mobile Phones Your mobile phone needs updating…

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IT Tips & Tricks: Check How Long It’ll Be Supported September 20, 2024 – Posted in: Cyber Security, IT Support, IT Tips & Tricks

When you’re buying a new piece of software or hardware you should always check how long it will receive support and updates for. We’ve explained before why out of support software is dangerous on PCs, but the same applies to mobile phones, routers, smart TVs, even smart locks or cookers – anything that can run code, especially if it connects to the internet. Any device that is out of support is at risk of being…

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Cloud 101: Securing Your Assets in the Cloud July 5, 2024 – Posted in: Cloud Computing, Cyber Security, IT Support

There are often security concerns when moving to the cloud. Keeping everything physically in your office feels safer. But remember – your server is connected to the internet, which means it’s accessible. It’s also networked to all your PCs, if one of them were infected a virus could spread to the server. Factors in Getting Breached There are two major factors in calculating the likelihood of getting breached: Likelihood of being attacked. Mitigation in place…

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What’s New Wednesday: A Summary of February 2024’s Patch Tuesday February 14, 2024 – Posted in: Cyber Security, IT Support, News, What's New Wednesdays

The Microsoft monthly security update release is published on the second Tuesday of each month. It’s a good idea to restart your PC on the following Wednesday – today. We may well restart some of your servers overnight this week if a patch requires it. NEW THIS WEDNESDAY Yesterday’s Patch Tuesday included security updates includes fixes for security updates for 73 flaws and two actively exploited zero-days. Overall Microsoft patched: 16 Elevation of Privilege Vulnerabilities…

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Cybersecurity Incident: Passwords, Cookies and Login Tokens Stolen in Exploited Windows Bug January 26, 2024 – Posted in: Cyber Security, IT Support

If you’re here to find out if you’re at risk there is one simple question to answer to find out – is your computer fully updated? If the answer is yes, you’re fine. If the answer is no, you could be vulnerably. Run the updates now. The vulnerability is CVE-2023-36025 which was patched by Microsoft in November. It is a flaw in Windows Defender SmartScreen which allows criminals and malicious actors to infect PCs with…