Are you ready for the upcoming SSL/HTTPS changes?

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Are you ready for the upcoming SSL/HTTPS changes?

It’s been confirmed, Google has announced that in July 2018 they will begin to identify all websites that do not have SSL certificates as “not secure”. Have you checked whether your website is displaying as secure?

You can check whether your website by seeing if your website if your website address bar contains HTTPS. As per Google’s Blog posts, “A secure web is here to stay” and “Evolving Chrome’s security indicators”, Google Chrome will be identifying websites without HTTPS in their website address as “not secure” in version 68 due out in the next month. It is expected that the other browsers, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge, will also follow suit in due course.

With only a few weeks until these changes occur, we strongly suggest you ensure that your website has an SSL certificate so it will continue to be displayed as secure. If your website address doesn’t contain HTTPS then your website server will require the installation of an SSL certificate and changes will need to be made to the website itself.

CyberGuru’s newer website hosting plans can take advantage of an AutoSSL certificate at no cost, however we will need to make some changes to the internal workings of your website for it be compliant. This includes enabling the SSL certificate, updating your website’s internal links to ensure they go to the HTTPS version of the website and testing to making sure your website works as it is intended to.

We are providing a service for both CyberGuru clients and non-CyberGuru clients to perform the required changes on your behalf. In order to do this, we will require access to your website’s cPanel account as well as WordPress account. We will be aiming to complete all SSL/HTTPS website changes before July, however we will be working on a “first come, first served” basis depending on popularity of this service.

Please contact us for a quote on how we can make your website SSL/HTTPS compliant.

June 30 is coming: Is it time for an upgrade?

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June 30 is coming: Is it time for an upgrade?
June 30 is coming: Is it time for an upgrade?
Image designed by Kstudio / Freepik

It’s nearly the end of financial year! As another tax time rolls around, you may be considering tax deductions, ways to maximise your income or finalising budgets for next financial year.

Whilst buying discounted office supplies and stationary during the “end of financial year sales” may provide for some of these, it’s timely to think about whether you would like to look at giving you and your organisation a real upgrade. You may also be looking at how best to take advantage of what you already have.

Here’s three suggestions of what you might like to do:

  • Hardware and Peripherals: Purchase or upgrade existing hardware, such as desktop and laptop computers, printers or peripherals.
  • Software: Purchase a new software edition or subscription to Microsoft Office, Norton Security Premium, Acronis Backup. You may also like to subscribe to cloud-based services such Office 365.
  • Knowledge: Seek assistance to provide your business with the necessary training and skills to improve your operations.

Whether it is computer hardware, software or knowledge, there are some great investments you can make to give your business the edge. CyberGuru can assist you with making the most out of these improvement, and work on a plan going forward.

It the time you can give you a business, contact us to review your requirements and to provide some answers to your questions.

How can I protect my website from being hacked?

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How can I protect my website from being hacked?

Image of text reading "www."

Having a website is like having a virtual shop front to your business and provides the ability for your visitors to come and browse you and identify possible products and services they may like to buy. However, like a physical shop front, you should ensure you have security measures in place to protect the information that is stored on your website.

1.      Perform regular backups of your website.

Having a regular backup of your website providing you with the ability to have a copy of your website to restore if required. Whilst website hosting providers will often perform nightly backups, there is often a cost to restore these. We suggest at least taking a backup once a month to ensure you have a copy of it at a point in time to restore to if required.

2.      Remove any users no longer required and change passwords.

Depending on how your website was designed, you may have had a previous designer or developer or staff who have had access to your website to maintain it on your behalf. If these users no longer require access to do this, we suggest you remove or change the level of access to not allow them to make changes. Similarly, change your passwords on a regular basis. Passwords that have not been changed for some time may be likely to be compromised especially if they are simple.

3.      Install updates on a regular basis.

Most of the common website content management systems, including WordPress, Joomla and Drupal, all require regular updates, along with any associated third-party plugins, themes and translations. These improve the features, performance and security of the website.

4.      Disable or remove unnecessary plugins.

You may have plugins for your website that you are not using. If you have upgraded your website in the past, you may have plugins installed that were from your older website, or are no longer in use. If you are not sure if you are using them, you may decide to disable these until you determine that they are not needed. However, if you are certain you are not using them, then you could remove these.

5.      Install a security plugin to report security issues.

There are various security plugins available that can notify you when an administrator logs on to your website, users have been blocked (through incorrect passwords when attempting to login or malicious attacks), when files are modified, and when updates are needed.

6.      Consider a website maintenance service.

You may wish to consider a website maintenance service, such as CyberGuru’s to perform the review and maintenance for you, including backups, updates and test your website on a monthly basis. For further details, please see the Website Mainternance Service page on the CyberGuru website.

If you would like to know more how you can protect your website from being hacked, please contact us today.

CyberGuru proudly supporting 2018 Privacy Awareness Week

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CyberGuru proudly supporting 2018 Privacy Awareness Week

2018 Privacy Awareness Week

CyberGuru is proud to be again a supporter of this year’s Privacy Awareness Week (PAW). This PAW is all about promoting privacy as part of everyday business. Running from 13 to 19 May, the theme “Privacy: from principles to practice’ focuses on the need for organisations to develop and reassess systems, processes, culture, and practice to make sure the protection of customers” personal information comes first.

Your privacy and personal information is valuable to us, which is why we are a PAW 2018 supporter. To help you understand how we handle personal information, we:

  • Having our displayed privacy policy informing you how we handle your personal information, including collecting only required information necessary to provide our products and services to you and not sharing your information with third-parties unless consent is provided.
  • Ensuring our website and email communications are secure and protected using HTTPS, SSL and encryption technologies.

You can get involved in PAW by discussing privacy with your customers and staff and taking steps to handle your personal information with care. Here are a few quick tips you can use today:

  1. Review the privacy policy of any new app or website where you enter personal information.
  2. Use passwords with a combination of letters and numbers, which aren’t easy to guess that are over eight characters.
  3. Check the privacy settings on your social media profiles and change them to your preferences.
  4. Respect other people’s privacy – ask for permission to post images or videos where they are Identifiable.
  5. Check for the padlock symbol and “https” at the start of a URL – this indicates that the website is secure.

If you would like to find out more about PAW and how your organisation can protect your customers’ personal information, we encourage you visit the PAW website. If CyberGuru can assist you in implementing the suggested practices, please contact us.

Windows 10 April 2018 Update released

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Windows 10 April 2018 Update released

Last week, the Windows 10 April 2018 Update was released by Microsoft. Originally known as the Windows 10 Spring Creators Update, the latest release has brought a number of new features to benefit both seasoned Windows users and those starting with Windows.

Microsoft release feature updates twice a year which provide new functionality and a range of improvements to their flagship operating system. In the past, new versions of Windows arrived bearing a year or number but as Microsoft has been said Windows 10 was to be the “last version of Windows”, it is now more often consists of a name, and the version being the year and date (in this case 1803).

The Windows 10 April 2018 Update has provided a range of new features and improvements. A key change is the introduction of Timeline, which adds to the existing Task View feature by providing the ability of going back in time to previous apps and Windows you had running in the past month. You can go back to your desktop in the past using the scroll bar to review and work with the file or website you were using at that time. At this stage, only Microsoft apps are supported.

Microsoft has also improved on the “Quiet hours” feature and renamed this to “Focus assist”. This is effectively a do not disturb feature which allows you to turn off certain notifications except for those you choose (such as for a particular application or people who contact you). You can also set your priority list as to who can contact you, and automatic rules that apply at a certain time.

Another new feature is being able share files via Bluetooth with what is known as “Nearby sharing”. For Apple users familiar with Airdrop, this provides you to share files in File Explorer, Photos and Edge with a click of a button.

There are many other improvements and we suggest you browse the new changes further by accessing the “Tips” section from within Windows 10 to find out more of what has changed.

However, it is important to note that Microsoft removes features that it believes are no longer in use or required. One of these is Homegroup, which was introduced in Windows 7 to improve the ease of which you share files, folders and printers with others on a home network. For a full list of features removed or planned for replacement, please visit Microsoft’s website.

The Windows 10 April 2018 Update is available for download via the Windows 10 Download Assistant, will soon be automatically downloaded and installed on your computer via Windows Update. We suggest ensuring your backups are up to date before installing this onto your computer. If you are not ready to install this yet, we suggest you change your Windows Update settings to delay the installation of this. We can pause this to up to 35 days to provide you with time to evaluate and ensure as many issues are resolved prior to installing on your computer.

If we can help you in any way in transitioning to this new version, please contact us.