@Profile Summer 2017 - Safe & Secure Summer Holidays
Welcome to the Summer 2017 edition of our @Profile newsletter. As the summer months roll around a lot of our customers will be finding the time to escape the rat race and go on holiday, but sometimes leaving your work worries at home isn't as easy as hopping on a plane; with all the recent high-profile IT incidents in the press recently, the integrity of your business might be playing on your mind.
In this newsletter we'll be telling you our best tips for protecting against malware & ransomware, giving you our best solutions for firewalls and disaster recovery for peace-of-mind-holidays, and meeting one of our Profile engineers with some information about the importance of regular backups.
Keep your business safe from malware & ransomware
In May of this year hundreds of organisations, most notably the NHS, came under attack from ransomware called Wannacry and more recently businesses have been affected by another ransomware called Petya. Ransomware is a type of infection that holds your files at ransom until you pay up, but what can your business do to prevent it? Profile has 5 proven tips that you can follow right now to stay one step ahead of the hackers and keep your business and important files secure:
- Regularly install patches and updates for Windows and other software
- Routinely change your passwords
- Backup your system daily
- Don't open emails or attachments you don't recognise or are unsure about
- Ensure you have the latest protection solutions
Click here to read these tips in depth with more useful hints
The best defence is a good defence
Unlike us humans, your business's IT system doesn't come with its own immune system and, unless properly protected, you are leaving your business open to viruses, malware, ransomware and hacks. The best place to start with protecting your business is a physical firewall, by the time software firewalls that exist on your server/PC detect a threat, it's already on your system, hardware firewalls turn threats away at the door. Profile recommends WatchGuard Firebox T series, one of the highest performing UTM (unified threat management) solutions on the market.
No matter how good your defences are nobody can account for user error or accidents. Email attachments, files from the internet and even harmless looking downloads could have computer viruses and malware hidden away inside them and once they've been let through the door they can quickly spread. Having the latest and best email monitoring & antivirus software and ensuring it is up to date is imperative to keeping yourself and your business safe. Profile recommends ESET or Symantec antivirus software, and Symantec Cloud or MX Relay email monitoring, we can suggest the right protection for your business.
If you are at all worried about your current protection or have recently felt the effects of lacklustre solutions, speak to your Account Manager or call us on 01442 236311 to book a free of charge hardware audit. Our team of Profile engineers are fully equipped to identify and suggest the best ways to fix weak points in your defences.
Disaster recovery
Going on holiday is supposed to be a relaxing break from the stress and worries of work, so the last thing you want is the constant niggling feeling of 'what if there's an emergency at work?' Having a disaster recovery solution ready to go at a moment's notice alleviates any worries of lost files, downtime, and lost profit. Keeping a backup of your data and server offsite or in the cloud should anything happen means that in the event of any emergency your business continues to run without you needing to panic or end your holiday prematurely.
Disaster can strike at any time to any size company, whether the air con in your server room dies and melts your only server, or you're an international airline and all your servers are affected by a 'power surge', having a regular backup is imperative. British Airways learned the hard way, their system was down and all flights cancelled for the entire day on 27th of May, and as they scrambled to get their backups to work tens of thousands of passengers at Gatwick and Heathrow airports were stranded. No business needs to suffer like that.
If you do not already have disaster recovery in place then we can suggest the best way to implement disaster recovery for your system as part of your free of charge hardware audit.
Meet the team - Perry Quigg
Perry Quigg is one of our knowledgeable Profile Engineers and has worked at Profile for 15 years now.
What is your favourite part of the job?
The complete overhaul of a network infrastructure, installation and configuration of all components from the ground up!
What would be your dream holiday?
Vegas, baby!
So this edition of @Profile is about going away on holiday and not having to worry about the safety of your business, is there anything you can recommend?
Regular backups. I can't stress enough how important backups are, having a copy of your system accessible in case of emergencies is crucial in recovering lost data, combating malware & ransomware, and in the event of a fire, flood or other unforeseen disaster. You should be backing up your entire system daily and keeping a copy off site, whether that be with a physical tape that you take home with you or an online backup that is stored in the cloud.
Fun fact:
Perry enjoys playing virtual reality video games and owns a HTC Vive VR headset.
If you have any questions about backups, please speak to one of our engineers or your Account Manager.
Exchange Server 2007 and Windows Vista end of life
Microsoft recently announced Exchange Server 2007's end of life back in April, which means Microsoft will no longer support the 10 year old software with updates or patches. This means that anyone who's system still runs Exchange Server 2007 is using outdated and unsupported software.
Profile recommends upgrading to Office 365 to ensure your business is not at risk from the vulnerabilities that can come from using out of date software. Speak to your account manager about Office 365 and how it can benefit your business.
In another end of life announcement from Microsoft, Windows Vista is no longer being supported by Microsoft as of April 2017. Like Exchange Server 2007, without the latest security patches from Microsoft, you're putting the safety of your system in jeopardy and following the steps laid out in this newsletter will be a fruitless endeavour. It's time for an upgrade!
Windows 10 is Microsoft's current flagship operating system It's faster, better, has all the latest features and updates, futureproofs your business with the latest operating system, protects your business with the latest security updates. Speak to your Account Manager about how you can upgrade to Windows 10.
Kind Regards,
-The Profile Team
