Cyber criminals are stooping to a further low and exploiting people’s fear over coronavirus. Malware disguised as educational information about coronavirus is being spread to people who are, quite rightly, concerned about the risks and looking for ways to protect themselves. Be ever vigilant for phishing campaigns (the technique used by cyber criminals to lure you to click a link which then downloads the malware/ malicious software on to your computer).
Our advice is to never click on links purporting to offer advice, always use trustworthy sites to source information. Most importantly always keep your software up to date with the best antivirus protection. Prevention is always a better than the cure.
If you want any further advice on how to protect your IT, then our team are just a phone call away: 0113 234 1548
As of 14th January 2020, Windows 7 and Server 2008 are no longer supported by Microsoft. PC’s will continue to work, however, security updates are no longer released and with time, they will become increasingly vulnerable. GCHQ's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has warned the public not to access banking, emails or other services containing sensitive information from devices on Windows 7 due to the high risk or hackers now being able to access PCs running this operating system.
12 months ago, we alerted our clients using Windows 7 to the imminent problem and then proceeded to roll out Windows 10 across all affected PCs. Using our RMM tool: ConnectWise Automate, a cloud-based solution that enables us to proactively support our clients by tracking and managing their IT systems, we can identify vulnerabilities before they become a problem and apply the correct fixes to keep all our clients up to date and secure. All Conformedia clients running Windows 7 have been identified and moved from to Windows 10 where possible, with contingency plans in place for those not.
Our advice to anyone using Windows 7 is to update immediately otherwise you will be more susceptible to cyber-attacks. One of our team will be happy to advise you of the options available.
The recent discovery of a security bug in Windows 10 has identified a vulnerability, potentially affecting hundreds of millions of computers running the operating system. The danger is that this bug could allow attackers to run malicious software, such as ransomware, on vulnerable computers. Microsoft has classified the bug as “important” and our advice is to seek advice immediately if you have Windows 10 installed on your computers.
The good news is that within hours of Microsoft releasing security patches, all Conformedia clients had the patches applied, ensuring their computer systems are up to date and secure.
All our customers that have our RMM tool: Connectwise Automate, allowing us to identify all client operating system levels and quickly ascertain any vulnerabilities. Any vulnerabilities identified allow us to then roll out a patching schedule.
The work takes place remotely, without impacting on day to day work of our clients or indeed their users even noticing any changes. We obviously keep clients informed of all the changes, but they can carry on working, safe in the knowledge that we are keeping their IT systems, and therefore their businesses, safe and secure.
We take care of your IT so you can concentrate on your business.
https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/14/microsoft-critical-certificates-bug/
https://msrc-blog.microsoft.com/2020/01/14/january-2020-security-updates-cve-2020-0601/
