Blog - Page 2 of 2 - IT Solutions & Small Business North Sydney

ProofPoint Essentials selection

We carefully assess and thoroughly test products and services before we make our final selection to ensure they are the best solution for our clients. The current anti-SPAM solution, at the time of deployment, offered the best mix of features with ease of use.Subsequently the platform was bought by another company and little development has gone into the product over the last year. This concerned us because it wasn't staying current with the late...

Microsoft 365 Business

Whether you call them SMEs (Small or Medium Enterprises) or SMBs (Small or Medium Businesses), the facts show that, as a group, these organisations suffer the most cyberattacks. Small businesses endured 55% of all attacks last year.Where breaches do occur resulting from such attacks, 52% are down to user error. These are just some of the stats outlined by Brad Anderson, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft 365 in his article earlier this ...

Windows 10 version 1909

Microsoft quietly released its 9 th version of Windows 10 on 12 th November 2019. We refer to it as Windows 10 1909 or build 18363. The IT Agency has been running this version since the day of release to ensure that it doesn't create any unexpected issues. If you are running the previous release Windows 10 1903 build 18362, then your machine will receive the new version as a cumulative update, like Microsoft's standard monthly updates. Micr...

Edge Chromium is coming

Microsoft, after years of doing their own thing in terms of browser development, are joining the existing stable of Chrome-based browsers (e.g. Google Chrome, Opera, Vivaldi etc.) with the release of their new Edge Chromium browser on January 15 th , 2020. Edge Chromium's initial deployment will be as part of a Microsoft standard update and the new browser will work on all Windows platforms from 7 onwards – Windows 7, 8 and 10, and macOS. The Bet...

RIP – Windows 7

Are any of your computers running Windows 7? If the answer is yes, then January 14 th , 2020 should be looming large in your mind. Microsoft will end support for Windows 7 on that date – a development which could have a significant negative impact on your business IT environment. After January 14 th your operating system will receive: No Security No Updates No Support No Compliance End of Support quite literally means no further security fixes or...

Multi-Factor Authentication

Multi-factor Authentication as a security measure protected user accounts in 99.9% of attempted identity attacks, according to Microsoft . This encouraging statistic was released as the tech giant revealed that 44 million of it's Microsoft Azure Active Directory and Microsoft Services accounts were themselves vulnerable to being breached through compromised passwords. If Microsoft are prepared to admit to such vulnerability, what about other...

Security warning about Smart TVs

We've all survived the Black Friday and Cyber Monday super sales where some of the big-ticket items are Smart TVs. The FBI just released a warning that your new toy may be a cyber criminal's best friend. Smart TVs typically include internet streaming, cameras, microphones and other advanced technologies allowing the manufacturer or app developers to snoop on you. Malicious cyber actors may be able to take control of your unsecured TV. Low risk ac..

Cyber Monday Survival Guide

As night follows day, so Cyber Monday follows Black Friday in another US retailer-inspired sales push hanging on the coat-tails of Thanksgiving. Any excuse, eh? Of course, online retailers around the world have seized the opportunity to jump on the bandwagon - and where merchants lead, scammers are sure to "follow the money". For every reputable organisation coaxing you to part with cash for their unmissable, never to be repeated (this week!) bar...

International Computer Security Day

International Computer Security Day for 2019 falls on Saturday 30 th November – why not use it as a prompt to review the current state of your computer security. There are lots of things you can and should do to make sure you are protected from crippling and expensive data loss, system corruption, blackmail or loss of business. We've put together a brief outline of some of the positive actions you can take to improve the security of your computer...

Black Friday Scams

Black Friday sales may have originated in the United States as a way of kick-starting their Christmas trading push the day after the Thanksgiving holiday, but the global online shopping phenomenon has ensured that Black Friday sales have quickly spread to become standard worldwide. No doubt your social media, televisions and news outlets are full of adverts for Black Friday sales at this very moment. Retail outlets rely on everyone wanting to gra...

Spectre Meltdown Vulnerability

Spectre. Meltdown. You may have seen these words cropping up with increasing regularity recently. What do they mean? Are they something you should be taking an interest in? YES! A resounding yes, and here's why… Spectre and Meltdown are names applied to three variants of a known hardware vulnerability inherent in almost every computer chip created over the last 20 years. It's almost a certainty that you have one of these affected chips in ...

Phishing Email – Not Suncorp-Metway

Today's Phishing experience is brought to you by 'Not from Suncorp-Metway'. Let's work through the highlighted fields to show why this is a 'fake' email and deserves nothing but the delete key: 1. Name of the sender is @suncorpgroup.com - this may be a real domain name 2. Dear 'email address' - what no Christian name but you're sending me a statement? 3. View your eStatement goes to this website ' somosamericadelsur.--- ' 4. Recipient is one of ...

Phishing Email – Not from AusPost

Today's Phishing experience is brought to you by 'Not from AusPost'. Let's work through the highlighted fields to show why this is a 'fake' email and deserves nothing but the delete key: 1. Domain Name of the sender is shown as @victorb.net 2. Subject tell us the package is ' ready for pickup ' 3. But, the email says ' bring your packet to you ' 4. The verify address points to this website ' ---.victorb.net/analyticsiqpeze/redirect/--- ' 5. The ...

Notification of Data Breach / General Data Protection Regulation

Data Protection affects us all – whether we hold personal data, or it's our personal data being held – and 2018 is bringing with it some new government legislation to improve protection for individuals whose data is held by organisations: 22 February 2018 - the Australian Government's Notifiable Data Breach ( NDB ) commences 25 May 2018 – the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation ( GDPR ) comes into effect The NDB – or Privacy Am...

Phishing Email – Not from eFax

Today's Phishing experience is brought to you by 'Not from eFax'. Let's work through the highlighted fields to show why this is a 'fake' email and deserves nothing but the delete key: Name of the sender is shown as eFax.com and the email address is shown as efax@ironrockcc.com The correct format for an efax email is your fax number then the efax domain, e.g. 0299999999@efaxsend,com Next, the email is flagged as 'Possible Spam' on ...

Phishing Email – Not the ANZ Bank

Today's Phishing experience is brought to you by 'Not the ANZ Bank'. Let's work through the highlighted fields to show why this is a 'fake' email and deserves nothing but the delete key: Name of the sender is ANZ Internet Banking and the email address at the top of the page is shown as onlinehelpdesk@anzgroup.com.au Nothing here that helps identify it as a phishing email. However, if you hover over the 'Answer your challenge question' is display...

Phishing Email – Not the Commonwealth Bank

Today's Phishing experience is brought to you by 'Not the Commonwealth Bank'. Let's work through the highlighted fields to show why this is a 'fake' email and deserves nothing but the delete key: Name of the sender is Commonwealth Bank but the email address is tah204@montana.com Possible Spam pre-fixed to the subject Outlook has added a warning ' This message was identified as a phishing scam. ' If you hover over the ' Click here to...

Computer Security Day

Computer Security Day 30th of November 2017 Christmas is just around the corner which means our concentration levels are lower than normal. It's also the time of the year when holiday fraud increases. The main source of fraud is online scams via emails that attempt to fool you into believing you have a tax refund, or an unpaid invoice. These emails can also look like they are from a bank or a utility company. When you click on the link you downlo...

Business owners dont get held to ransom this Halloween

The IT Agency has switched to daylight-saving time, a sure sign that All Hallows' Eve – or, Halloween – is around the corner. A time when pranksters, trickery and scariness abound, and the IT world has endured more than its share of all of these - some of it benign, but much of it malign. Halloween in the digital age brings out the worst in the hacking and criminally-minded fraternity who, acting with malice aforethought, have launched a variety ...