Eitex Provides Visionary IT Support



IT Support provider Eitex, have been selected by a Blackpool based charity for the visually impaired to support their computer systems.

N-Vision, who provide services and support to anyone with reduced vision living in the Blackpool, Fylde and West Lancashire area were referred to Eitex by FusionCRM, the company providing the charity’s customer relationship management solution.

“We frequently work in conjunction with FusionCRM and this referral ensured the client got the best possible service at a price that works for them,” commented Lee Hezzlewood, Eitex’s Regional Director for Lancashire.

“We even made sure the client was able to take advantage of our May Special Offer for Lancashire based customers.”

This meant that, although the initial quote and service negotiations were completed prior to the offer being announced, N-Vision was able to benefit from Eitex’s “3 Months Free IT Support” offer for new customers in the Lancashire region, saving them a considerable amount of money on their standard IT Support rates.

“At Eitex we believe in creating Win:Win relationships with our clients, and as such we were happy to ensure they received the best possible price for our fantastic IT Support service,” said Mr Hezzlewood.

For more information about N-Vision and how they support the visually impared visit their website http://www.nvision-nw.com/

Secure Thinking: Data Backup Considerations

Data is vital to modern businesses. Some say it's the life blood of a business. After all we live in the information age.

But do we all protect data and information to the best of our abilities? Do we ensure we can recover from its loss, corruption or theft?

In information security parlance are we properly protecting its CIA - Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability?

Most businesses take some steps to backup their data. This can be using traditional methods such as tape drives to newer techniques involving optical media, removable USB storage or even online backup solutions.

If you're not backing up your data then you should be. It's inexpensive and might just save your business one day.

But backing up your data is only half the story. Having a backup is meaningless if you can't recover your data in the event of an incident.

You need to test that you can restore your data on a regular and random basis. This exercises your solution and ensures it is actually doing what you expect of it.

Another consideration is the age and technology used. If your infrastructure, devices and backup software are more than a few years old you may have other problems should you experience a significant incident or disaster with your systems.

If your incident takes out your current infrastructure can you replace it to actually recover your backups?

Without compatible technology and software your data may be inaccessible without expensive and time consuming 3rd party services.

Then there are online solutions. There are many of them out there and they are fairly inexpensive but which one should you choose?

Depending on the data and the legal or regulatory requirements you may need to think very carefully. Your data may fall under one jurisdiction while it's residing on your servers and PCs in your office but whose jurisdiction is it under the control of on the backup storage? What are their data protection, privacy and security laws like?

Is the data stored encrypted where only you can access it or can the staff at the service provider actually access your data, with or without your permission?

These are all things you need to consider when selecting a backup solution. It isn't a simple choice based on price so think carefully and ask the questions above. They might just stop you going out of business.

In the meantime if you are looking for an online backup solution why not contact us on 0845 071 4690 or visit www.SecureThinking.co.uk and ask us these questions?

Secure Thinking: How's Your Business Continuity Plan?

Businesses are fragile things. They can be affected in their success by
a whole host of factors including market forces, consumer habits, and
changes in attitudes.
But many aspects of your business success are firmly held in your own
hands. You can develop an agile approach allowing you to change your
model based on market forces, you can adapt your products or services to
take into account consumer demands and you can keep track of people's
opinions to ensure you keep with current thinking and attitudes.
But how would you cope with a major incident that occurred to or in your
business?
Business continuity and disaster recovery are essential tools designed
to protect your business should the worst happen.
If you make use of technology in your business and particularly if it
forms the backbone of your operations you need to make sure you have a
Disaster Recovery Plan.
Disaster Recovery is the process of recovering your technical systems,
data and applications to a level which allows you to continue operating
your business.
Sometimes a DR solution will only recover key systems - just enough to
keep you going in the short term until a full recovery can be performed.
A technical disaster or incident can be caused by a number of internal
factors including technical faults, accidental damage caused by errors
or malicious activity.
Disasters can also be caused by external factors such as power cuts,
floods or property damage.
The key to an effective DR plan is to evaluate which systems,
applications and data are key to your operations and ensuring these are
recovered first. There is no point spending time and effort recovering
your marketing database when your customers aren't getting the products
they've ordered or the services they've bought.
Getting your DR plan right can mean the difference between having a
business in serious trouble and your customers not even knowing there
was a problem.
A Business Continuity Plan is similar in many ways to a Disaster
Recovery Plan. The main difference is that the BCP deals with more than
just technology.
Your BCP covers all aspects of your business, from offices and desk
space, communications, operations, to incident response, staff safety
and public relations.
Whether you decide your business needs a full BCP or merely a DRP you
should be aware that having one and making sure it is up to date and
tested can be the difference between your business surviving and growing
and it's complete failure.
There are many statistics out there but the general consensus is that
businesses experiencing a major incident and who don't have an effective
BCP will go out of business within 6-24 months of the incident.
You have insurance to cover you should the worst happen. A Business
Continuity Plan or at the least a Disaster Recovery Plan should help
protect you in the same way - by ensuring your business survives
whatever is thrown at it!
Our philosophy is simple - plan for the worst, hope for the best!
For more information or a free BCP/DRP consultation contact Secure
Thinking on 0845 071 4690 or visit http://www.securethinking.co.uk/

Secure Thinking: Law Firm Fined Over Data Breach

Controversial law firm ACS:Law has been fined £1,000 over the data
breach which saw personal details of 6,000 people exposed online
following a hack attack by rogue activist group Anonymous.
The Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham would have imposed a
fine more in the region of £200,000 had ACS:Law not recently ceased
trading.
He also criticised their security controls, saying "The security
measures ACS:Law had in place were barely fit for purpose in a person's
home environment, let alone a business handling such sensitive details."
The ICO has been criticised for not imposing a heftier fine but claim
their hands were tied by the fact the company was no longer in business.
It will be interesting to see in the future how the ICO will treat a
business who experience a similar incident and who don't or can't shut
down their operations ahead of a hearing.
Even decent sized law firms would struggle to pay a fine of £200,000 for
data protection security breaches. It is therefore imperative that
security controls are implemented and tested to protect your business
and any internal networks that may potentially be exposed to the Internet.
Security consultant Lee Hezzlewood of IT Security specialists Secure
Thinking said, "Businesses need to be aware of the risks. All companies
are connected to the Internet and therefore need to ensure they have
effective controls which are tested on a regular basis."
For more information on effective data security controls visit
http://www.securethinking.co.uk/

Secure Thinking: Osama bin Laden and Online Scams

So Osama bin Laden is dead eh?  Killed by US troops in Pakistan apparently.

Do you want proof?  Well we'd all like some proof.  We'd like to see video footage of the assault, we'd like to see Mr bin Laden's body and all the DNA and facial recognition evidence. 

Not because we're ghoulish, although some most definitely are, but because we're a sceptical bunch who don't always believe what we're told until we see it with our own eyes.

The problem with this in an online world is that there are many links being posted on websites and social media such as Facebook and MySpace which claim to show just such footage.  There are emails doing the rounds which you are encouraged to pass on to your friends which also claim to show proof or evidence.  But do they?

The answer is NO! NO they don't!  But they are trying to infect your computer with spyware and viruses, or get you to pay for and install bogus anti-virus software by claiming you are already infected.

These scams are designed to fool users of social networks into installing software so that they expose themselves, their user IDs and passwords and their credit card and financial details to organised criminals!

This free advice from Secure Thinking costs you nothing, but be very careful what you click on - it might cost you more than you think!

Secure Thinking: What Victims of the Sony Hack Need to Know

If you use Sony's PSN or SOE services there are a number of risks that
you're now exposed to.
Depending on the level of access gained by the hackers and the
information they were able to glean you could be exposed to some or all
of the following:
1. Credit Card Fraud
Issue: Some credit card details have been taken by the hackers. Sony
claim this information was encrypted and that the details from the SOE
attack date back to 2007.
Risk: Your current credit card details were included in those that were
stolen and the hackers have been able to decrypt and use them or sell
them on.
Precautions: Keep an eye on your credit card statements and notify your
card issuer of any suspicious or unauthorised transactions.
Alternatively, if you're very worried you could cancel your cards and
get new ones. It's also possibly worth keeping an eye on your financial
history and credit rating via someone like Experian to make sure you
haven't been the victim of further fraud.
2. Identity Theft
Issue: It appears that an awful lot of data was harvested in the
attacks. Alongside the credit card details which may have been
compromised, Sony have admitted that users names, addresses, dates of
birth and other potentially useful ID information has been compromised.
Risk: The criminals behind this kind of attack are after exactly this
type of information which they can use themselves or sell on to other
professional ID thieves. You could become the victim of partial or full
identity theft. This could put you at risk of significant financial
loss, reputational damage and could cost you a considerable amount of
money, merely to correct the damage.
Precautions: Fairly similar to credit card fraud – you need to keep an
eye on all your credit, bank and any other financial transactions. In
addition, it's a good idea to check your history on a regular basis and
possibly even take out ID theft insurance – but check with your provider
that you're covered retrospectively, otherwise you could be paying out
for nothing.
3. Online Compromise
Issue: The hackers have gained valuable information on millions of
users, including usernames and passwords. Many users use the same
account and password credentials across many different online and
offline services. This can range from using the same username with
multiple online services such as Hotmail and Gmail to using the same
password for Facebook and you online bank account.
Risk: If you reuse the same credentials across multiple platforms and
one of them is compromised then they all are – it is only a matter of
time before your other services are accessed. This can lead to a whole
host of problems, from someone posting questionable "status updates" on
Facebook or Twitter, to them attempting to access your online banking,
or even manipulating your friends into giving out their personal details.
Precautions: Change your passwords! Don't reuse the same passwords on
multiple platforms, particularly social and financial systems. And
don't always trust that your friend is the only person using their
social networking account – it may have been compromised.
4. Social Engineering
Issue: The sheer number of people who have had some or all of their Sony
account details compromised makes it very attractive to criminals
attempting different approaches. Some will use the simple ID theft and
credit card fraud approaches. Others will attempt to gain access to
other online resources. Yet another set may attempt to "socially
engineer" the individuals concerned – which essentially means to "con"
them into giving out other details by making them believe they are being
contacted by a legitimate company (including Sony themselves!).
Risk: You might take a call or receive a letter, email or social media
contact informing you that you're the victim of Sony's hack or some
other related issue. If this happens you will be asked to prove you are
the person concerned, and so you will be asked for other "security"
details. All of this information can be used to further compromise you
financially, steal your identity or access other online resources.
Precautions: Don't take off the cuff calls or other contacts at face
value. Be suspicious. Tell the caller that you will call them back,
get their name and office details and then call the main switchboard
number of the company they claim to be from. Do the same for emails and
letters. Remember, no legitimate organisation will ask you for your
full password or PIN number for an account.

Hopefully, nobody will ultimately fall victim to the criminals who
masterminded the attack on Sony. Unfortunately that's pretty unlikely.
All anybody can do now is to defend themselves to the best of their
ability and take precautions to limit the damage that can be inflicted
upon them.
This kind of attack, where major corporates are targeted, is likely to
occur more and more as service provider's offer ever increasing online
services to an ever growing online community.

What we need to do is attempt to defend ourselves and improve the
security of the services provided online, designing them with security
in mind from the start rather than implementing security as an afterthought.

Secure Thinking: IT Security Specialists Join Burnley Bondholder Scheme

East Lancashire based Secure Thinking, a company specialising in IT and Information Security solutions today announced that it had joined the Burnley Bondholders Scheme to help promote the town as a place to do business.

The Bondholders scheme is an "innovative and powerful network of organisations who believe what is good for Burnley is good for business."  The scheme was set-up to promote Burnley and change the view of the town as being a run-down, deprived area of stereotypical empty mills, cobbled streets, flat caps and whippets.

Secure Thinking's contribution is more than just financial.  Lee Hezzlewood, the founder of the company is a Burnley lad, born and bred.  His background makes him proud and defensive of Burnley and he is keen to see the town prosper.

"Burnley and East Lancashire region is a fantastic area with amazing countryside and warm, welcoming people.  The problem is that the media typically depicts the place as run-down and deprived.  Whilst some areas are deprived, just like in any other decent sized town, there are also some truly great business leaders, innovation and opportunities in the area.  And I want to do what I can to promote them."

Secure Thinking was created to help other businesses protect themselves and their clients from loss of data, identity theft and online fraud, and Lee believes that it's hi-tec companies like his which will lead the regeneration of the region and turn it into a truly great place for business.

"Companies are becoming much more cost conscious and looking at better ways of operating.  With modern communications and technology, companies don't need to operate from City based, fixed offices with huge overheads.  Instead, they can look at reducing those overheads and allowing staff to work with more freedom and operate from locations offering better value for money.  In my view, Burnley is just such a place."