Are You Ready for an IT Failure?

A total 1,750 IT bosses were questioned in a report by IT group EMC that suggests almost three-quarters of firms and public sector organisations across nine European countries may not fully recover their computer systems or data after an IT failure.

The survey that covered Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Russia as well as the UK claimed 74% were "not very confident" they could fully restore their networks.  Furthermore, 54% admitted they had lost data or suffered systems downtime in the past 12 months.

Its report found that the most common cause of data loss and downtime was hardware failure, followed by power outage and software malfunction. 

EMC said firms needed to put more focus on backup and recovery systems.  Adodo wholeheartedly concurs!  Find out more about Adodo's Disaster Recovery Solutions.

Welsh ‘notspots’ Prevent Competitive Business

Tourism chiefs claim that a lack of fast broadband is preventing companies based in Wales from being able to compete.

The Wales Tourism Alliance said "tech-savvy" visitors expected make to bookings online and then to stay connected during their trip.  One Pembrokeshire hotelier even spent £8,000 putting in wireless broadband to solve the ‘notspot’ problem faced by so many in Wales. 

However, Bristol-based firm, Avonline believe they have a solution.  They claim that their service uses a powerful satellite over Europe launched earlier this year to bring a guaranteed minimum 6mbps service.  Avonline said it was starting its UK promotion in Wales due to Ofcom's assessment of the poor broadband provision.

A spokeswoman said the Welsh government did not promote or endorse any individual company, system or technology within the broadband support scheme.  According to the Welsh government said there were more than 100 active applications from Pembrokeshire for its broadband support scheme, including five community schemes.

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Hackers Hit Italian Soil

Data hacks so far this year have been rife, and it seems that hackers are not tiring, as attention moves towards Italian shores. 

Hackers have started to release the 8Gbs worth of secret files stolen from an Italian cybercrime unit.  The documents were allegedly taken from the network of the Italian CNAIPIC which oversees the country's critical IT infrastructure.  The attack is thought to be in retaliation for arrests of Italian members of Anonymous.

Among the documents taken, there is information about a number of Government offices from Australia and the US.  Preview images also shared by Anonymous reveal the management structure of CNAIPIC, pictures of staff, and a long list of all the documents that have been taken.  CNAIPIC are yet to comment on the matter.

The importance of rigid data security is becoming a pressing issue for all sorts of business, and rightly so.  If you have any questions regarding your data network, contact the experts for a free evaluation.

If you use your smartphone in the same way that you use your laptop or PC, ensure that you have sufficient security on it.  A common misconception is that it comes with the phone.  This is not the case.  Take advantage of our free trial to see what your missing.

84% of Businesses in UK have had Security Breach in last year

In our upcoming June podcast, we highlight the recent press focus surrounding major data security breaches.  The sort of news that has raised questions like; if a 19year old can hack the CIA’s network, what chance do the rest of us have?

It seems concerns are well founded, according to a report sponsored by networking firm Juniper Networks. 1,406 IT and IT security practitioners were surveyed by independent research firm Ponemon Institute.

From which, the research states, a considerable 84 % of businesses in the UK, France and Germany have suffered at least one security breach in the last year.

In addition:

31 % of respondents said that there had been a significant rise in the frequency of cyber attacks in the same period.

76 % added that the attacks themselves had become more severe, or harder to detect and prevent.

The survey also revealed that mobile devices like laptops and smartphones were most at risk.

34 % of respondents said that security breaches occurred as a result of insecure laptops.

29 % said that mobile devices were to blame.

Take advantage of our FREE 30 day trial – and comprehensively protect your smartphone from Spam, Virus and Theft. Call us now 0115 9701471 or click here for more information.

Two Major Security Breaches

In the US, thousands of Citibank customers have had their Data stolen by hackers. Citigroup is the latest in a string of high profile companies to be targeted by cyber criminals, with the latest domestic threat being to the NHS.

Lulz Security, a notorious hacker group, that claims to be behind the recent hack on Sony, have warned the NHS that its computer networks are vulnerable to cyber attack.

They sent an email to NHS administrators revealing it had found a way to breach the service's network stating that "We mean you no harm and only want to help you fix your tech issues". The Department of Health was quick to deny that any patient information was at risk.

• If you are concerned with data security,then speak to our specialist team now.

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AVG Survey suggests that we are too lazy about Smartphone Security

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Malvertising - Is No April Fool

On Monday, the government launched StartUp Britain with a website designed to champion the UK's start-up businesses, unfortunately it has also inadvertently linked users to malware.

The government-backed website has been linked to a page hosting fake anti-virus programs according to security firm Sophos.  Whilst it has caused some embarrassment to the widely promoted government scheme, the link was removed shortly after launch, according to StartUp Britain.

However, the glitch has highlighted a growing problem for businesses called “malvertising”. 

In this case users were taken to a third party website, redirected to a fake anti-virus page and were given a prompt saying their computer had been infected and thus encouraged them to download a fix.  The fix, in fact contained malware.

Last month, the London Stock Exchange hosted booby-trapped adverts that asked visitors to download similar fake security software.   This week, music streaming service Spotify was forced to apologise after 'malverts' were served to some of its users.