Have you ever tried to buy tickets for a huge event and found that the seller’s website has collapsed under the weight of thousands of people all trying to do the same thing at the same time?

The ticket site falls over – usually temporarily – because the server is overloaded with traffic it doesn’t have the capacity for.

Criminal Distributed Denial of Service attacks – DDoS, for short – exploit the same principle. When a DDoS attack targets a business, it floods it with internet traffic in an attempt to overwhelm the system and force it to fail. This results in the business and its customers being unable to access services. That may trigger a temporary failure, or it could be more serious.

AI chatbots have become a dominant force in recent times, but beware, their rise has given cyber criminals the tools to create even more frightening scams. These malicious actors have discovered how AI can make their phishing attacks more insidious and terrifyingly effective.

Ironically, the phishing emails generated by a chatbot feel more human than ever before – which puts you and your people at greater risk of falling for a scam. So we all need to be even more careful.

The typical red flags that people are used to looking out for in suspicious emails, such as spelling and grammar errors, are now being eliminated by AI-powered phishing emails. The technology can even construct entire email threads that appear legitimate and trustworthy, making it even more difficult to distinguish between what's genuine and what's not.

To protect your home from an intruder you make sure your doors and windows are all locked and secured. You might go further: build a fence around the perimeter, perhaps even get an angry-looking dog to stand guard.

But there’s no point going to all that effort if someone’s already broken in and set up camp in the basement. Yet that’s the security policy of thousands of big businesses trying to protect their data from cyber criminals. They do many of the right things. They invest in security software. They take a strong, multi-layered approach to security – including all the things we recommend, like multi-factor authentication, encryption, reliable backup systems and staff training.

But they don’t pay enough attention to detection and response. That involves constantly scanning systems for any sign that a crook may have gained entry somewhere, and having a process to stop an attack in its tracks. A new study shows that only a third of businesses place detection as their main priority, while two thirds say prevention is their primary focus.

If you employ anyone aged between 16 and 19, you need to pay special attention to the cyber security training you’re giving your team. A new study has revealed that a host of worrying online behavior has become almost normalized among many young people. And much of this activity is illegal.

We’re not talking serious cyber crime such as ransomware attacks or stealing data; but one in three 16 to 19-year-olds have admitted to digital piracy; and a quarter have tracked or trolled someone online. Most of these behaviors may not directly affect your business. But some are so commonplace that too many young people view them as a part of everyday life.

That’s not something you want them bringing to work.

Another day, another scam. And this is a sneaky one. Cyber criminals are getting smarter. This recent malware threat is unusually smart. It impersonates a highly trusted brand name to get a foot in the door.

Targets receive a convincing looking email that appears to come from a widely used e-signature platform. Attached to the email is a blank image that’s loaded with empty svg files, which are carefully encoded inside an HTML file attachment (stay with us here).

In short, it’s very clever and it’s tricking its way past a lot of security software.

That puts businesses like yours at risk. Because code within the image sends people to a malicious URL.

With its huge dominance in the workplace, Microsoft’s Windows has become the prime target for cyber criminals. They’re looking to access your information, disrupt your business, or hold your data to ransom.

Tens of millions of attempted malware attacks were discovered throughout this year, and a massive 95% of those threats were targeted at Windows. The vast majority of attacks are unsuccessful, but those that do succeed can create havoc for the affected businesses. So you need to be sure that you’re taking all possible precautions to protect your business and your data.

Almost half of people with social media accounts have admitted to falling for shopping scams. So if members of your team are doing a little last minute Christmas shopping from work, how can you be sure your business is protected? New research shows that a massive 47% of people have clicked on links hoping to get a great deal, and instead ended up giving financial and personal details to cyber criminals.

That could mean they’re not only putting their own data and money at risk, but your device – and even your network – could be exposed, too. It’s not just shopping scams that are fooling people online. Phishing links have tricked 36% of people into revealing personal data. Phishing is where you get an email that seems to be from a person or brand you trust, but it’s not.

The same number have fallen for gift card scams – that’s where criminals gain victims’ trust and persuade them to buy gift cards or online vouchers. If an employee clicks a malicious link or downloads an infected file using their work device, the results for a business can be devastating. The risks go beyond the loss of data and reputation. The cost of downtime while you get going again is enough to put many people out of business for good.

Passkeys are set to take over

Passkeys are set to take over from traditional passwords to give us a safer, more secure way of logging into our online accounts.

That will be a major step forward for online security, and it’s gathering pace quickly with more and more big names adopting the technology. So how long will it be before we finally wave goodbye to the password?

This new tech has long been supported by the FIDO alliance – an organization of big tech companies including Apple, Google, and Microsoft – in the hope that it could eventually kill off passwords completely. These megabrands are already rolling out passkeys on some of their applications. But now some of the big names in password management software are getting in on the act, too, which is likely to speed things up even further.

You could be losing a full-time working week for every member of your team, thanks to the hassle of setting up video calls.

Video conferencing has revolutionized team meetings, and saves a huge amount of travel time. But we’re still not getting the full benefit from the new technology, according to new research.

Employees aged between 18 and 24 take up to 10 minutes to get set up for each remote meeting.

Times that by a typical five meetings a week, and it’s suddenly lost you 40 hours every year. That’s a whole working week of wasted time – a figure that gets even higher when you look at older age brackets.

It isn’t necessarily a result of differing technological know-how. The research shows that employees blame the tech itself for the loss of productivity.

Almost a third of people said they didn’t have the right tools for the job, and 23% even said they felt excluded from remote meetings thanks to inadequate tech.

A huge number of small and medium-sized businesses would consider using pirated software to try and save money. A new study has revealed a surprising number of businesses willing to break the law to save costs. Our advice? Think twice before you walk the plank.

Right now, the most popular types of pirated software are project management tools, and marketing and sales software. But a huge 56% of business owners said they’d even think about using illegal cyber security software in an effort to cut costs.

Don’t do it.

Not only is pirated software unsupported – so if you have a problem with it (which you probably will) there’s no help available to rectify the issue – but it can open your business up to bigger problems too.

Happy Halloween, ever since we were kids, we've celebrated this holiday that gives you a chance to be in public as something completely different than your look every other day of the year. With that in mind, let's talk about our appearance in our day to day work.

Do you inwardly (or outwardly) groan at the thought of yet another video call? Like it or not, they’re now a normal part of our working lives, but it doesn’t make them any more exciting.

Good news: Microsoft is introducing Metaverse-style avatars, called Mesh avatars, to Teams. You’ll be able to design your own avatar, personalizing its appearance, accessories, and even choosing its reaction gestures.

While Windows 11 is only just celebrating its first birthday, we’re already hearing our first rumors about what Windows 12 will have in store. There’s no rush for the time being – we won’t see this new operating system until the back end of 2024 – but we love to be ready for what’s coming next, so here’s what we know so far...

Details are sketchy and as usual; Microsoft is being coy about what it’s planning. But we’ve been digging into how it could look. And it’s… different! If our research is correct, we’ll see a floating taskbar dock and a search bar taking top-center position. The widgets panel and Action Centre will move to the top of the screen instead of the bottom.

Microsoft Teams has fast become one of THE most useful business tools for the way we work today. No matter where your people work from, they can communicate and collaborate quickly and reliably. But this remote way of working can also open the door to some major security issues.

New research shows that nearly half of employees frequently share confidential and sensitive files via Teams. That can be a big problem if employees are using personal equipment rather than company issued kit… it's simply not as secure as work devices.

More than half of people surveyed say they’ve shared ‘business critical’ information using personal devices. Worse still, 48% admitted they’ve accidentally sent files they shouldn’t have – possibly to the wrong person!

So how can you be sure that your people are using Teams in the safest, most secure way?

When you think about tools for remote working and chatting online, one of the first names in your mind is Zoom. But its popularity has opened the door for cyber criminals. They’re using its name to steal sensitive data.

Researchers have discovered at least six convincing-looking download sites. They’re not the real thing. They’re designed to tempt you into downloading FAKE Zoom software, containing ‘info stealers’ and other forms of malware (malicious software).

Accidentally use one of these sites thinking that you’re downloading a Zoom update… and you risk having sensitive data stolen. Possibly your banking info, passwords, or browser history. Some can even steal your multi-factor authentication details. That could give cyber criminals access to your most sensitive data.

How productive do you feel your people are when they work from home? Shockingly, 4 in 5 bosses believe people get more done in the office. Microsoft has become the leader of productivity over many decades. Can you imagine doing your day to day work without their software?

So, it’s no surprise the tech giant recently conducted a major new survey into productivity in the workplace – and some of the results might surprise you.

Researchers surveyed 20,000 people working for businesses in 11 different countries. They discovered the majority of bosses don’t believe their employees are as productive when working from home.

In fact, four out of five employers said they thought their people got less done when working remotely. On the other hand, a massive 87% of staff felt they were MORE productive when working from home.

Cybersecurity Awareness Month is Your Chance to Improve Your Company’s Cybersecurity Posture

Hopefully, you don’t need to hear how important it is that you have sufficient cybersecurity protections in place. Recent and current events have made these kinds of needs crystal clear. However, it may not be quite as clear what needs to be done to maintain these protections—although this is the most pertinent information for you to understand.

There is no question that a small business can benefit from technology, as has been proven time and time again. However, an issue can arise if a business bites off more than it can chew, so to speak, and ultimately creates a spike in costs. A responsible business owner will resist this temptation and prioritize the solutions they need over the ones they want - building profitability and generating capital needed to make other improvements.

In this blog, we’ll examine some of the implementations that can deliver a good return on investment to a small business.

The cloud has proven to be an extremely useful tool for the modern business. Not only does it provide anywhere-anytime access to applications, processing, storage, et al; it also delivers those products as a service, allowing you to budget for recurring costs rather than major upfront ones. This provides your organization with functional, supported, and secure computing environments that eliminate a lot of the support costs that traditional computing environments require. It sounds like a perfect scenario for small and large businesses alike, but things aren’t always what they seem, as a lot of cloud users have found that they have incurred several hidden costs by using cloud platforms. Today, we take a look at these hidden costs.

Data security isn’t a matter to be taken lightly, as too many businesses have found out the hard way. Unfortunately, there are far too many simple ways to correct common security issues - enough that it’s foolish not to do so. We’ll review a few ways to fix security issues, after discussing one of, if not the, most egregious security failings in modern history.

The password isn’t nearly as secure as it used to be. Hackers have begun to take advantage of extremely powerful solutions designed to brute force their way into accounts by using software to rapidly guessing thousands of passwords per second, making it extraordinarily difficult to prepare yourself for them.

What’s the best way to guarantee that passwords aren’t going to be the downfall of your company? A great start is by taking a close look at password best practices and two-factor authentication.