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Stay Smart Online 2019 – Reverse the Threat

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Stay Smart Online 2019 – Reverse the Threat

CyberGuru is proud to be a supporting partner of Stay Smart Online Week, a national awareness week to empower people, businesses and the community to protect themselves online. As per last year, the ‘Reverse the Threat’ campaign is designed to mobilise a movement against cybercrime with our partners and the wider community.

This is the third year which CyberGuru has partnered Stay Smart Online 2019 to support small businesses, not-for-profit organisations and individuals be protected online with a strong focus security when online.

According to research, almost one in three Australians adults were impacted by cybercrime last year. The statistics tell us that the risk of falling victim to online crime is climbing every day.

This year, in partnership with Stay Smart Online, CyberGuru seek to educate and empower our clients to take control of their online identity by:

  • reviewing privacy settings
  • knowing how to spot phishing scams
  • creating strong and unique passwords
  • turning on two-factor authentication

We will continue to do this through education and awareness campaigns on our website and social media, presentations, as well as both onsite and remote consultancy and training sessions on cyber security topics, including how to spot an online scam, setting up better passwords and conducting privacy checkups.

Together we can reverse the threat of cybercrime. To keep your business secure online and take control of your online identity by reviewing the articles on the CyberGuru website, visiting the Stay Smart Online website and by contacting us today for more information.

Tips to protect your data on mobile device from being lost or stolen

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Tips to protect your data on mobile device from being lost or stolen

Recently a family member lost their mobile phone. Unfortunately, some of the important settings on the phone were not configured, and as a result the phone could not be found. As a lesson from this exercise, we have developed these tips on how to protect the data on your mobile device from being lost or stolen.

If you do lose your device, you should report it to the police and mobile service provider. However, it is possible to find your device using “Find my iPhone” (as part of the iCloud – Find My iPhone, iPad, and Mac),“Find my Device” for Android or “Find my Device” in Windows provided you have this software setup as well as your mobile data and location services enabled.

There are several strategies for protecting your data:

  1. Record the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number of the device upon purchase. This is a unique number for each individual device and can be found inside under the battery. It can be displayed on screen by entering *#06#. If your device is lost stolen, this can be reported to your phone provider and police.
  2. Set a strong PIN or password on the device and configure encryption of data if this is available. Set this to automatically lock your phone after a set period, such as 30 seconds. This will enable your phone to be only to be unlocked by yourself or someone else who knows the PIN. You may also want a separate PIN for your voice mail.
  3. Use a reputable security product app, such as Norton Mobile Security. Mobile phones can be hacked just like any other computing device, so they need to be protected. Installing security software will enable you to use their features including app reputation (to determine if any apps are malicious or sending your data overseas) on your device, as well as wi-fi security and Web protection.
  4. Register the device with Google or Apple, and/or third-party manufacturers (eg. Samsung). As mentioned above, registering with these services to enable you to find, lock or erase your phone, in addition to finding your device in case it is lost
  5. Perform a regular backup to a cloud service. This provides you the ability to use their services to synchronise your data on a regular basis, and eases recovery if this is required. A cloud service may be available by the manufacturer on when you configure the device.

Further security tips can be found on the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association website (link opens in new window). If you need a hand to help protect your data on your smart devices, we can provide assistance to you via our Support solution.

If we can be of any assistance, please feel free to contact us.

Four ways to maximise your business and minimise your tax

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Federal government tax break

With the end of the financial year not too far away, you may be considering how best to minimise your tax whilst maximising the investment in your business. It may have been a while since you have investing in your business, and whilst the $30,000 instant tax right-off legislation passed, it’s worth getting in whilst it is still available, here are a four ways worth considering:

  1. Upgrade replacing hardware and outdated software. As noted in our earlier blog articles, Microsoft ends support for Windows 7 in early January 2020. Now is the time to consider the purchase of a new computer and upgrading the operating system and possibly your software as well. Newer hardware and software will improve the reliability of your environment.
  2. Migrate your server to the cloud. Services such Office 365 enables you the ability to take advantage of practically anytime, anywhere access to your data. We see many clients appreciate the difference having the ability to be see your email, calendar and contacts shared between devices and increase their productivity.
  3. Look at training and upskilling. With many technology changes that have occurred over the past few years, it could be worthwhile undertaking some professional development and training. If you or your staff haven’t done so already, it may be the ideal time to ensure they are prepared for the upcoming changes and raise their performance.
  4. Pre-purchase hours for next year. CyberGuru has purchase a block of ten hours to use next financial year. By doing so, you can have these available at your disposal to use on any of our solutions, whether it be consulting, design, support or training.

If you are looking at taking action before the end of financial year, be sure to speak to your accountant first to review your circumstances and see how these deductions will work for you. If now is the time to look to this, we can assist by identifying and reviewing your particularly needs and sourcing the necessary equipment, get you set up and provide ongoing support and regular maintenance going forward. For more information, please review our solutions or contact us today.

Ask CyberGuru: Do I need to upgrade to Windows 10?

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Ask CyberGuru: Do I need to upgrade to Windows 10?

Ask CyberGuru

In this month’s Ask CyberGuru, we are asked, “I am running Windows 7 and I have received a notification that Microsoft is ending updates and technical support for it. Is this legitimate and do I need to do this?”.

Yes, this is a legitimate notification which has been delivered as part of Windows Update recently. The message would look similar to this:

Windows 7 End of Life notification

As noted in the support notification, after 10 years of service, Microsoft will no longer offer security updates for computers running Windows 7 from 14 January 2020. As part of Microsoft’s Support Lifecycle, only its Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 operating systems will be supported from this date. Any computers running Windows 7 after this date will pose a significant security risk.

Given Windows 7 is used in a significant number of computers today, Microsoft is providing early notification to users to ensure that appropriate measures are undertaken to upgrade to a later operating system. Windows 10 has been on the market for almost four years and become an increasingly secure and stable operating system, making it the ideal replacement for Windows 7.

It is strongly recommended that you upgrade as soon as possible to ensure you are provided with the necessary security updates and technical support from Microsoft as required.

Depending on the age and type of computer, you may be able to upgrade to Windows 10 successfully without issues. If the computer is three or less years old, it is likely it will be able to be updated to Windows 10. Some older or custom-build computers, however, may need to be upgraded or replaced.

Unfortunately, the free upgrade offer which was available when Windows 10 was introduced is no longer available, with Windows 10 Upgrade media costing between $225 to $339 depending on the edition.

CyberGuru can assist through our Consulting solution by reviewing your computer equipment to provide the best advice for your needs, as well as providing any necessary training and support to assist you and your organisation make the change.

For more details, please see this Microsoft Support article (link opens in new window) or feel free to contact us with any questions you may have.