Do you know if your organisation is leaking data? If not here is how you find out.

The Problem:

Most organisations in the UK over the last view years have taken a fairly relaxed approach to consumer-grade sync solutions. Consumer grade sync solutions like Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, Skydrive and iCloud to name the top ones.

Unfortunately a lot of IT support companies are only just ‘switching on’ to the fact that this is a huge risk and actually a security breach on your business… here’s why.

If a user using Dropbox or Google Drive, etc. on their work machine and is then syncing their files to their iPhone, tablet or laptop, it doesn’t take more than this to seriously put your company data in a vulnerable state.

Consider this, small common mishaps happen, such as an employee losing their iPhone for example, there is no lock enabled (which is very common), the password on Dropbox is saved (again very common). If picked up by someone else other than the relative employee at your company would potentially put large amounts and often critical pieces of corporate data in a compromised state. 

Another example, Employee departures, voluntary or not again put your data at risk if these consumer-grade sync solutions are being used. There are loads of stories of organisations who have sacked an employee and seized their devices only to find out that user was syncing their entire work folder to a home PC with Dropbox or the like. This poses a massive problem as sacked employees don’t often return phone calls or emails, etc. And taking legal action to reclaim your compromised data is expensive. 

What can you do?

Begin to weed out data leakage risk. This can be done in conjunction with your local IT services company or managed services provider or if you have internal IT staff they can begin to take measures to do this. 

What we recommend?

We don’t recommend taking a hard-core ‘lock down’ methodology as this often creates an unwanted culture in the office place. What you can do is start by weeding out the most risky applications and data leakage risks. If you block such applications like Dropbox, Google Drive, Box and Skydrive at the firewall users will not return to using them. 

Application management at the network level, like access controls and content filtering, should be a standard component in any managed security offering by your IT services provider. 

Once these dangerous consumer-grade sync solutions are blocked at the firewall than you can begin to replace them with business-grade sync solutions that have the additional security and control features you must have. 

 

Thanks

The soFileIT Team

The Managed Services Education & Collaboration Road Show 2012

Come and see us at The Managed Services Education & Collaboration Road Show 2012, where Chris Thompson & Joe Marsden will be on the Panel. http://events.techtarget.com/Level_Platforms_Roadshow_2012/index.html

Declare Freedom from Expensive Software, Hardware and Network Upgrades by Going to the Cloud

Just recently, Microsoft announced the official release of Office 365, which is the cloud computing alternative to purchasing, installing and maintaining Office on your own in-house server. Now, instead of paying up to £422 per license, you can get access to all the applications via the Internet for £4 to £16 per month (like paying for a utility) through this new cloud computing service.

What Is “Cloud Computing”


Cloud computing or “going to the cloud” is very similar to the concept of paying for electricity as a utility rather than purchasing and running your own generator to power your home or office.


Public utilities shoulder the burden of generating and delivering electricity and can provide a cheap, reliable, “pay as you go” service to anyone wanting water or power. Similarly, with cloud computing, the cost of hosting, securing and delivering network services (like Office) are owned by the utility company (in this case, Microsoft).


Is This A Smart Move?


The cost savings with Office 365 are hard to ignore; however, there are a number of things to consider before you jump ship to cloud computing. You need to consider the reliability of your Internet connection, what type of help desk support you want, security, what other applications (accounting, CRM, line of business applications, etc.) you need and which devices (scanners, printers, iPads) you need to use.


Free “Cloud Readiness” Consultation Will Give You The Facts

If you want to know if cloud computing is right for you, call us or click on soVision Bristol Cloud Computing for a free, no-pressure, no-obligation cloud readiness assessment. We’ll evaluate your current situation and provide insights and options for moving to the cloud. We’ll also answer any questions you have and tell you the unvarnished pros and cons of choosing this option.

Plus, if you call us during the month of July to schedule this assessment, we’ll send you a FREE copy of the best-selling book, “The Big Switch” by Nicholas Carr. This book talks about the massive technological revolution that is happening right now and what it means to businesses like yours.

Please call us now for more details – 0845 450 3669

or click on soVision Bristol Cloud Computing

soVision - Complete IT Services Provider

Professional and friendly IT Support Services to businesses across Bristol, Bath and throughout the South West responding quickly to fix all your IT problems.

IT SERVICES | BUSINESS IT SUPPORT | BESPOKE WEBSITE DESIGN | CLOUD COMPUTING

What Every Business Must Know About The Effect Of Social Media On Security And Staff Productivity

If you are a business owner or director that is concerned about your staff surfing online using web sites like Twitter and Facebook– OR WORSE, using company resources to access pornography, gambling sites, blogs and more – then read on.

You Need to Be Concerned

It’s not unusual for workers to waste a bit of work time on relatively un-related activities, such as shopping or visiting a favorite sports site, times have changed; companies are learning the hard way that members of staff that use or abuse of a company’s Internet system can lead to substantial liability and time wasted if not monitored.

For example, one business owner (who will remain nameless) shared that they received a shocking phone call from the office while away on leave. The police had shown up and arrested one of their employees for soliciting a minor online. Since he was doing this during work hours from the office, that’s where the authorities arrived to arrest him – clearly a company reputation nightmare. Stories like this are occurring EVERYWHERE.

Then there’s the misused time. Social media sites like Twitter and Facebook are addictive. If your employees are continuously “plugged in” to those sites, they won’t be nearly as productive at the workplace as they should be.

The Solution To This Problem

Step 1) have a written company policy that details what employees can and can’t do with company resources or during company hours.

Step 2) have a content filtering system in place that will enforce your policy by automatically “managing” your company e-mail and Internet usage, blocking sites and content you don’t want your employees to access without hampering their ability to work online.

Free Productivity And Security Assessment

Mark Twain once said, “Supposing is good, but knowing is better.” If you want to know for sure how much time your employees are spending on non-work related surfing and what web sites they are accessing, call us for a free trial of our content filtering solution.

Call 0845 450 3669 or click here for more information: IT Support Bristol and Bath

At no cost, we will install our monitoring solution for a week and then provide you with an accurate report of what your employees are doing online while at work.

How To Instantly Get Your Employees
To Stop Wasting Time Online

Our FREE Productivity and Security assessment will reveal:

• What web sites employees visit and how much time they spend there
• If your firewall, anti-virus and other security settings are set up properly to protect you from a hacker or malware attacks
• How you can put simple, automated tools in place to “watch” over your company’s e-mail and Internet connection

To learn more about us, go online: soVision Business IT Support

soVision - Complete IT Services Provider

Professional and friendly IT Support Services to businesses across Bristol, Bath and throughout the UK responding quickly to fix all your IT problems.

IT SERVICES | BUSINESS IT SUPPORT | BESPOKE WEBSITE DESIGN | CLOUD COMPUTING

A brand new website with no upfront cost

It sounds too good to be true, but soVision’s new soCMS website offering gives you a brand new website with no upfront cost. Our monthly payment model includes everything you need to get your new website up and running and includes a whole host of additional extras and benefits.

So what is included?

• No contract.

• No upfront cost.

• A bespoke website built and managed within our Microsoft Certified soCMS content management system.

• Your current site migrated to our soCMS platform or a  brand new bespoke design created – the choice is 

yours.

• The first 5 pages of content populated by soVision, including provision of an online contact form.

• The ability to create as many pages as you wish within our soCMS solution, all managed through a secure online control panel.

• A search engine friendly content management system producing optimised page URLs and pages linked to Google through a Google sitemap which automatically recognises changes to content and improves search engine rankings.

• Our exclusive Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) guide to enable you to optimise your website content.

• An initial SEO report and recommendations from an SEO professional to help you optimise your site’s contents and keywords to improve search engine rankings.

• Web Hosting included.

• Google Analytics Included.

• One domain name included. e.g. http://www.mysite.com/

• 5 Email accounts with multiple Email addresses. e.g. me@mysite.com

• Unlimited Telephone and Email website support during website testing and 1st month after launch.

• Unlimited Email website support for the life of the website.

In addition to this fully featured solution we have additional ‘bolt-on’ solutions which will enhance your website's functionality:

E-commerce bolt on

soVision’s E-commerce solution is a fantastic way to sell your products and services online. As an integrated addition to your soCMS control panel, the E-commerce solution is simple for you to manage and designed to match the distinct look and feel of your website. Integration with the PayPal, Secure Trading and Cardsave is included and our solution supports multiple VAT and carriage rates.

Online booking bolt on

soVision’s online booking solution is a powerful yet flexible booking engine which soVision has developed and implemented for clients in many different fields who have an online booking requirement. Integration into the soCMS control panel means this solution is easy to manage and use on a day to day basis.

With no contract terms and no upfront costs a soCMS website from soVision is risk free way to get the online presence you want at a price you can afford.

To find out more simply call us on 0845 450 3669 or Email info@sovision.com now.

soVision - Complete IT Services Provider

Professional and friendly IT Support Services to businesses across Bristol, Bath and throughout the South West responding quickly to fix all your IT problems.

IT SERVICES | BUSINESS IT SUPPORT | BESPOKE WEBSITE DESIGN | CLOUD COMPUTING

You just found out one of your employees had their laptop stolen…

Quick, What Do You Do?

The bottom line is no matter how careful you are with your laptop, mistakes occur and losing a laptop (or having one stolen) is likely to happen to you or your employees at some point in time.

Recent figures from UK police forces show that over 34,000 laptops are reported stolen each year. This is almost 100 per day and only deals with those that are actually reported to the police.
Source: creativematch.co.uk

In the hands of a relatively unsophisticated hacker, all of your laptop information can be transferred off, often exposing an open back door into your network. This is no different in giving a thief the key to your office and the code to deactivate the alarm.


Imagine the embarrassment of having to contact all of your customers to let them know THEIR confidential information may be compromised because one of YOUR unsecured laptops is in the hands of a criminal!

Asking employees to be more careful about where they keep their laptop IS a good step in the right direction, but accidents happen and it would be naive to think that thieves aren’t always on the prowl.


For this reason measures should be taken to lock down and secure any mobile devices you and your staff use to access your company’s network.

Here are just a few things that should be looked at: 

Encrypt All Information – Drive encryption software such as BitLocker (which is included in some versions of Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows 7) can secure all the data on your hard drive. Also, check your computer to see if it has a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip which is generally more secure than those without TPM.  

Multi-Level Access Security – Don’t rely only on passwords to keep your laptop safe. Hackers can usually break most passwords in a few hours. We recommend adding a second way for people to prove that they are who they say they are BEFORE they are able to log in.


Some people use smart cards to do this, but fingerprint pads are gaining in Log / Back-Up Information – It’s critical to log and back-up all information on business laptops to ensure smooth operations in the event of loss or destruction. We can automate the backups so they are done ON SCHEDULE and in a way that won’t interfere with the useof the laptop.      

The Right Response - What happens when an employee loses a laptop? Do you have a next step action plan in place? If not, we suggest calling us immediately to report the loss (Note: clients on our 360 Managed Services plans will get after hours support for situations like this).


The sooner we know, the sooner we can take preventative actions to lock that laptop out of the network and set active monitors for any internet activity on the stolen laptop. If we pickup on any we can usually detect an IP address which we can then send to the local police authority for tracking. A blame culture where people are afraid to report losses is actually much worse for security.

77% of organisations say protecting their data is important, but only 11% prevent it from leaving the building. (Source: toshiba.co.uk/informationassurance)

Take the time NOW to secure your laptop and limit the damage to your business if it happens. soVision specializes in IT security and in securing business data like yours, and making sure it is available whenever you need it, so give us a call at 0845 450 3669 to discuss encryption options and how to make your business network more secure.

soVision - Complete IT Services Provider

Professional and friendly IT Support Services to businesses across Bristol, Bath and throughout the South West responding quickly to fix all your IT problems.

IT SERVICES | BUSINESS IT SUPPORT | BESPOKE WEBSITE DESIGN | CLOUD COMPUTING

The business behind bespoke software development

Bespoke software development - whether it is for the web or for an application - is all about you: your vision, your ideas or your needs.

The first thing to do is ask yourself the question – What do you want to be able to do?  

Once you've answered this by listing your needs and requirements then you need to find a suitable software developer.

Coming up with bespoke solutions to your problems is just as much about understanding your business requirements as well as your technological needs.

The best application and web development companies will help you with both the technological and business sides of your ideas.

You need this dual input because there's no point someone creating a wonderful piece of technology which automates your workflow or back-end systems unless it's actually going to improve the way you operate.

Too many companies will approach your specific problem from a purely technical point of view.

What you really need is someone who looks at your business first and then moulds the technology to meet your needs second rather than the other way around. 

You also need to make sure that the application you end up with is easy to use as too many systems don't take the user into account.

What's the point of having a brand new system if it takes a doorstep-sized instruction manual to work out how to use it.

Good bespoke development should produce a system which not only solves an existing problem - or set or problems - but it should also do it in an intuitive way which you and your business can understand.

To find out more about our Bespoke Software Development, Web Design or other IT Services please contact us via email at info@sovision.com or call us on 0845 450 3669.

soVision - Complete IT Services Provider

Professional and friendly IT Support Services to businesses across Bristol, Bath and throughout the UK responding quickly to fix all your IT problems.

IT SERVICES | BUSINESS IT SUPPORT | BESPOKE WEBSITE DESIGN | CLOUD COMPUTING