Email Security

A Better Approach to Business Email Encryption

May 16th, 2013 by Millie Smith

Email EncryptionWhen it comes to business e-mail security, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Over the years there have been countless stories about security breaches worldwide, with sensitive data having leaked from the computers of businesses large and small with dire consequences. Unfortunately, regardless of these stories, people still lack vigilance and caution towards the information that they send online. E-mail security is of the utmost importance to not only individuals but businesses too, and if businesses fail to implement the toughest standards when it comes to the messages that are sent and received in their name, the results can be extremely damaging.

Adhere to the Right Practices

Investing in reputable e-mail encryption software, can make your network a much safer place. Most businesses today rely on the ability to communicate through e-mail, yet threats are being posed all the time, with malware slowing operations down to a halt and hackers finding it all too easy to get their hands on information that they can use to their own advantage. If data security standards are breached, sensitive data such as bank details and business strategies can fall into the wrong hands. Many businesses have faced legal action after personal information has been accidentally divulged in this way.

The Benefits of Auditing

Since the advent of e-mail, new threats have constantly come to the fore. From Trojans to viruses, spam to hacking, there are always dangers that businesses need to defend themselves against. It can be advantageous for some businesses to perform a full IT security audit from time to time to eliminate any vulnerability in IT frameworks, and one of the first areas that an IT specialist might tackle is a business’ e-mail infrastructure. Both incoming and outgoing e-mail can lead to headaches, but filtering systems are of great use and stop unwanted, dangerous e-mails from even having a chance to enter into a network.

Remain Vigilant

Of course, there’s always a chance that malicious e-mails might slip through the net, so it’s also important to ensure that your staff are constantly being kept updated with any new risks that might be faced. By keeping them informed and vigilant you can greatly reduce the chance of any problems being thrown up by the way that you deal with your e-mails. When education is used in tandem with high-end, trusted and respected software, you can feel confident about focussing on your core business aims, knowing that your network is being protected in the background.

If you are looking for a simple email encryption product, Egress Software Technologies comes highly recommended. Egress large file transfer software could also be of interest if you need to send large files securely.

 

 This is a guest article, submitted by Paul Simms at Reflect Digital. 

 

 We can source any software for you! Please email us for more information or call us at +44 (0)1962 659168. Quotations submitted within an hour!

UK’s Software Paradise appointed as a Gold SpectorSoft Reseller

May 10th, 2013 by Millie Smith

The UK’s #1 software reseller, Software Paradise, has been appointed GOLD Spectorsoft reseller, adding a number of new products to its constantly growing portfolio – SpectorSoft Spector 360, Spector CNE Investigator, Spector Pro and eBlaster.

Software Paradise Gold SpectorSoft ResellerSpectorSoft is a leading supplier of ‘Insider Threat’ monitoring software for computers and smartphones. Founded in 1998 and currently with over 60,000 enterprise customers worldwide, SpectorSoft helps organisations from all industry sectors to: monitor and protect against leakage of their valuable data & intellectual property, reduce bandwidth consumption, discourage illegal or inappropriate usage of IT resources and increase employee productivity. With constantly evolving threats to security, both internally and externally, existing prevention measures often fail and provide too many false positives. SpectorSoft monitoring software improves security by providing event driven security alerts plus screen recording to forensically prove staff misuse.

Software Paradise is UK’s sole GOLD SpectorSoft reseller and as such is able to provide demos, pre and post-sales support, as well as technical support 9×5 – Monday through Friday from 09:00 to 17:00. To contact our certified SpectorSoft representatives, please email spectorsoft@softwareparadise.co.uk or call +44 (0)1962 659168 .

We can source any software for you! Please email us for more information or call us at +44 (0)1962 659168. Quotations submitted within an hour!

Employee Monitoring: Save Money in Lost Productivity

May 10th, 2013 by Millie Smith

Monitor Employees“The workplace of the future will foster creativity, be inspiring and encourage collaboration by enabling people to work from wherever, whenever and on whatever device, so that work becomes something people do, not a place people go”, the Citrix Workplace of the Future report states.

This sounds great, but let’s face it – even in this day and age, the abundance of Internet connectivity provides a multitude of distractions to workers. According to a survey among 3200 respondents, conducted by Salary.com,  64% of employees visit non-work related websites every day during work hours.

At the workplace, time is money

A recent Gallup poll found that the average employee spends over 75 minutes a day using office computers for non-business related activity. Based on the average salary in the UK for 2012 – £26 500 a year – this means that the average employee costs £576.78 in lost productivity to their employer on an annual basis. Just answering a few personal emails, reading the news headlines, a Facebook update here and a tweet there, can easily waste an hour of time each day. Wasting time through Internet activities is a huge hidden cost to business.

So how can businesses ensure that their staff are putting in a full day’s work?

There is a misconception that employee monitoring is only relevant in certain industries. The fact is that any organisation can benefit from monitoring employees. Any organisation which wishes to protect its interests and gain maximum efficiency from employees and IT resources should be looking at this.

SpectorSoft is the recognised leader and pioneer in the computer and Internet monitoring software on the market today. With Spector 360 you can monitor employee desktop activity, ranging from everything they do, right down to event driven recording – be notified any time they type a keyword, or access a particular file or website.

Thanks to Spector 360’s comprehensive search functionality, you can quickly find exactly what you are looking for. For example who has been spending the most time on Facebook? Or who searched the web for ‘download mp3’? Who is sending the most webmail? Who is using IM applications most often?

 

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Software Paradise is SpectorSoft’s sole Gold certified reseller in the UK. To schedule a demo, request pricing or get presales support, please contact spectorsoft@softwareparadise.co.uk .

 

We can source any software for you! Please email us for more information or call us at +44 (0)1962 659168. Quotations submitted within an hour!

Q. What is scareware? What can you do about it?

October 4th, 2010 by Millie Smith

Millions have fallen for it, have you? Online criminals are laughing all the way to the bank.scareware

A. Scareware refers to fake sales tactics intended to scare users into thinking their PCs have critical errors/viruses that need to be secured right away. Scareware offers an immediate solution (at a price of course) as a software download. More often than not this installs some kind of spyware or malware onto your PC. This software can make you more vulnerable to fraud and identity theft.

Protect yourself and your PC:

  • Don’t click on any pop-ups or ads on websites that mention critical errors/viruses and the like. Even if they say they’re from Microsoft or other well known service providers.
  • Purchase reputable software like ZoneAlarm (info here, call Software Paradise on 0800 289 041 to purchase).
  • It takes some common sense as these cyber criminals need you to get what they want, be it credit card details, passwords etc.
  • These scams can even appear on trusted sites like Google and Twitter – so be wary of everything you click on.
  • Keep your operating system and antivirus protection up-to-date.
  • If you do receive a scareware pop-up don’t click on it to close it. Use your task manager instead.

Top in IT security headlines has been the threat of ’scareware’. Symantec released a report this week stating that over 40 million people have fallen for scareware scams in the last year. There have even been reports of cybercriminals holding your computer and data at ransom by locking your PC and demanding relatively small amounts of money to get your data and control back. Because the amounts of money are small it is believed that there are many cases out there that have gone unreported.

In the current climate people are increasingly worried about online fraud, identity theft and hackers. This is why scareware scams are on the increase – online criminals know they work.

Another Security Warning

August 27th, 2010 by Millie Smith

This time, from the ISF (Information Security Forum), a leading independent authority on information security, who have just released their predictions for IT security in 2011.

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There is a shift predicted to highly organised cyber crime and targeted attacks.
It is important that we keep data safe now and plan for the future.

Chief executive Prof. Howard A. Schmidt at the ISF, states: “Even in today’s financial climate and increased threat environment, we are better placed than ever before to meet these challenges – as long as we have the resolve to strengthen and invest in security rather than reduce it.

There is still time to put security measures in place, and they needn’t cost a fortune. Common sense, combined with first line of defence physical security and second line basic encryption will go a long way in helping to keep information safe and reduce data loss.

Think about the disgruntled employee
Criminals will be approaching employees that have been affected by the recession for sensitive company data.

Don’t be a victim of Social Engineering
Think back to the Second World War and the nostalgic posters, ‘Loose Lips Might Sink Ships’ and ‘The Walls Have Ears’, and keep information to yourself.

Here are the predicted top ten risks:

  1. Criminal attacks
  2. Weaknesses in infrastructure
  3. Tougher statutory environment
  4. Pressures on off shoring / outsourcing
  5. Eroding network boundaries
  6. Mobile malware
  7. Vulnerabilities of Web 2.0
  8. Incidents of espionage
  9. Insecure user-driven development
  10. Changing cultures.

Jason Creasey, head of research at the ISF, has stated that the recession is accelerating the changes and advancements in IT threats: “…. fuelled by increasing staff turnover and dissatisfaction; along with the increased involvement of organised criminal groups that see online crime as a lucrative and low risk alternative to other nefarious activities.