A Quick Guide to the Internet of Things

Internet of things, IOT, Office IT, Office Network, Ophtek, user friendly, , , , ,
30
Apr 2019

You have may have heard the Internet of Things (IoT) mentioned several times in the media and by colleagues, but what exactly is it?

Thankfully, the good news is that the IoT is a relatively simple concept and, more importantly, it can make a huge difference to your organization’s IT operations. It’s likely that you’re rapidly becoming interested in the IoT the more you hear about it, so wouldn’t it be amazing if you had a quick guide to the ins and outs of the IoT? Well, you’re in luck as that’s exactly what we’ve put together for you.

What is the Internet of Things?

Any business, no matter the size of its operations, needs to use a wide variety of IT devices on a daily basis. Traditionally, the majority of these devices have been connected by cables and controlled directly by the end user or through an onsite IT team with access to the network. The IoT, however, brings a whole new level of accessibility with its revolutionary use of internet connections.

Put simply, the IoT allows users to connect devices to other devices and networks that can accept an internet connection. Sure, it may sound as though this is merely using wireless capabilities and nothing new, but the IoT is significantly different. Connecting to central servers through an internet connection means that your organization’s networks and smart devices can be remotely controlled from any location in the world.

What Can You Do with the Internet of Things?

The accessibility on offer from the IoT is clearly an interesting proposition, but what exactly can your organization use it for? To be honest, it’s a more a case of what you can’t use it for. Let’s take a look at some of the IoT most popular uses:

  • Remote Working: As long as your employees have an internet connection, they can connect to your organization’s networks and access email, databases and files just as easily as if they were sat in the office at their workstation. This is highly beneficial for employees who are working away on business, but it also opens up a whole new world of remote working which, with studies showing it’s highly beneficial for staff, could seriously increase productivity. 
  • Collecting and Sharing Data: The amount of data in use by businesses is getting bigger and bigger, but monitoring this is becoming more difficult with traditional IT setups. However, IoT devices are so varied and widespread that it’s now possible to collect data on almost any element of business you want. Tracking vehicle data, for example, through the use of IoT trackers can allow you to make use of your vehicles more efficiently. 
  • Enhance the Customer’s Experience: The lifeblood of any organization is the customer base and thanks to the IoT you can understand their needs better than ever before. IoT sensors installed in products such as, for example, refrigeration units can remotely monitory temperature fluctuations and, if necessary, send alerts when temperature thresholds are breached. 

The IoT Is Here to Stay.

With over 26 billion IoT devices due to be in use by the end of 2019, the IoT is clearly making a massive impact on the IT landscape. With a number of benefits that can make a significant difference to the way your organization works, it’s time to start embracing the power of the IoT.

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

Read More

Why Do You Need to Backup Your Data?

Backup and Recovery, Office Network, Security, , ,
31
Oct 2017

 

Backup_festival

A good business needs good data and they need even better access to it. However, not all businesses understand just how crucial access to their data is.

One of the best ways to protect your data is by carrying out regular backups of your data to ensure that copies are kept in secure storage. This ensures that no matter what happens on individual PCs or individual sets of data, there should still be a copy of the lost data ready to fill in the gap. This form of pre-emptive action can really help your organization run smoothly without the need for laborious data duplication.

So, we’re agreed that data loss is bad, but how can your data go missing? And what can the knock on effects be? Let’s take a look at why you need to backup your data.

Systems Can and Do Get Hacked

Due to a combination of human error and the devious tactics of hackers, PCs can easily fall victim to malicious software which compromises entire networks and all the data on them. And, in the case of ransomware, this data can be encrypted and only released once a ransom has been paid. However, if your organization completes regular backups then the amount of data which can’t be retrieved will be significantly reduced. This leaves you in the enviable position of not having to give in and pay an extortionate amount of money for your data to be decrypted.

PCs Are Prone to Failure

When you consider the huge number of components that make up a PC, it’s no surprise that they’re prone to failure. Sometimes this can be due to age, sometimes it can be down to someone spilling their cup of coffee over the hard drive. And when components fail or become damaged, they’re sometimes left beyond repair and all the data on that PC is unable to be salvaged. With a backup to hand, the threat of permanent data loss is minimized. Even with a backup to hand, though, we still recommend keeping coffee away from your hard drive!

Data Transfer Hard Drive Backup Connection

Your Business Needs Data

If you suffer a catastrophic data loss event then your business is going to seriously struggle. Just imagine that all your customers and providers details had been accidentally deleted or compromised – operating in this scenario would be an absolute nightmare. And if you want to get a feel for the financial damage this can cause, this report estimates that around $1.7 trillion is lost in downtime every year thanks to data loss. Hopefully this should underline exactly why a regular backup is in your organization’s best interest. 

Your Network Needs Data

While your business certainly needs data to operate, your PC network cannot operate without data. So, for example, if a network driver suddenly becomes corrupted or accidentally deleted then that can spell the end of any PC activity within your organization. And, due to our reliance on PCs in almost every imaginable industry, this is the last thing your organization needs. However, by backing up your data you’re providing a safety net that could serve to be crucial in keeping your business trading.

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

Read More

How does OpenDNS Work?

Office Network, Security, ,
04
Oct 2016

opendns_umbrella

OpenDNS not only blocks malware, botnets and phishing but also detects and contains advanced attacks before they can cause damage. But how does it work?

How does OpenDNS Umbrella work?

OpenDNS is a cloud-delivered network security service that proactively protects users from advanced malware, botnets and phishing attacks. Unlike reactive signature-based tools, OpenDNS leverages big data analytics and real-time algorithmic learning machines processing over one million events per second. This 2% cross section of the world’s Internet activity enables OpenDNS to predict and prevent attacks. It protects users on- and off-network, across any port, protocol, or app. And because Umbrella is delivered via the cloud, it is lightning-fast and easily scalable.

howitworks

Predictive intelligence to proactively protect your employees: OpenDNS is powered bypredictive intelligence, which means that we identify malicious places on the Internetand prevent your employees from visiting them, so that they don’t get infected withmalware.
Maintain acceptable use & compliance: filter up to 60 content categories and domain-specific whitelists & blacklists, so you can manage where any corporate-owned assetgoes whether on- or off-network.

For more ways to secure your business networks, contact your local IT professionals.

Read More
What is Google Fiber
What is Google Fiber

What is Google Fiber?

Office Network, ,
02
Feb 2015

What is Google Fiber

Google Fiber is a new Gigabit Internet provider that could be coming to your area. What is Google Fiber and what should you know to be ready?

Will Google have to step on anyone’s toes to roll out such service and what impact can Google Fiber have on businesses and private users? Before we delve into all of this, let’s first understand what Google Fiber is.

What is Google Fiber?

Google is expanding their service portfolio to provide fast Internet to the market and become an established Internet Service Provider (ISP), in hopes of joining the ranks of their competitors AT&T, Comcast and others.
Google is also pushing out the boat by claiming to provide 100 times faster internet speed than other ISPs, with Gigabit (1000 Mbps) download speed. Google Fiber also offers 1TB Cloud storage and TV packages, in addition to their Internet service, to make the plan more appealing and practical to their potential customers.

With Google Fiber, businesses and private users would benefit by having:

The Roadblocks for Google Fiber

Running_utility_lines_fiber

Google is looking to roll out their Google Fiber services across the United States, and have already planned to include metropolitan areas such as San Antonio, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Jose, Portland, Nashville, Atlanta, Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham.

Since this covers a wide geographic area with different topology to contend with, Google needs to be able to access the utilities infrastructure in order to install the service, which has become their main obstacle. Therefore in efforts to overcome this obstacle, Google has filed a request to reclassify ISPs under Title II of the Telecommunications Act to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). If reclassification is granted by FCC, then Google will be able to run their Fiber installation on the same poles their competitors currently use to provide broadband.

This would be a huge victory for Google, but a nightmare for Comcast, AT&T and other broadband providers as they’ll need to adapt to newer regulations and give up a share of the market.

If Google has Title II rejected by the FCC to use the already established infrastructure, this would hinder Google Fiber’s roll out across the country as they’d need to literally build around it, making it even more costly business venture for them.

Where is Google Fiber Active?

At present, you’ll find Google Fiber rolled out and live in the area of :

  • Austin,
  • Kansas City
  • Provo

Google provides a website to check if your address is serviceable by Google Fiber.

If Google is granted Title II by the FCC, that’d make the infrastructure available to move the service quickly across to other cities and areas.

For more ways to speed up your office network to ensure business continuity, contact your local IT professionals.

Read More
Is the Cloud Secure?
Is the Cloud Secure?

Is the Cloud Secure?

Internet, Network, Office IT, Office Network,
24
Oct 2014

Is the Cloud Secure?

If you own a computer, chances are you are using a cloud service that holds your data.  What exactly is the cloud and is the cloud secure?

What is the cloud?

At a high level putting your data or information on to the cloud means storing your stuff on someone else’s hardware.  What is the benefit of storing information on someone else’s computers when your computers are already storing your data?

What is the cloud

This is where the cloud business model comes in to play.  Keeping your information on someone else’s hardware, whether it’s your phone contacts, your computer backup or your business files and folders, allows you to access your information from virtually anywhere and to share it with virtually anyone.

Is the cloud secure?

The downside to having your data accessible from anywhere in the world is that it must be accessible from anywhere in the world.  Most cloud service companies will provide a website or an application on your phone or computer to get to your data.

The Cloud Service can be Accessed by Anyone

These websites and applications are accessible by anyone over the internet and are a prime target for criminals and hackers to break in to.  A recent example of this is the iCloud vulnerability which gave criminals access to private photos and videos of celebrities.

Having your cloud accounts stolen can be done by criminals either attacking the cloud website like the iCloud example above or my infecting your PC and stealing account login information.

How can you protect yourself?

Unfortunately there isn’t much an individual can do to ensure companies are fixing bugs and vulnerabilities in their internet facing cloud websites and applications.  It is important to watch for announcements from cloud services you use about whether they’ve had a recent breach.

As an end user, there are some basic steps you can take to protect yourself on a regular basis:

Onsite PC Solution managed services clients receive regular updates, patching, scanning and 24/7 monitoring against vulnerabilities which could lead to a data breach.

For more information about securing your business data and choosing a reliable cloud service for your business needs, contact your local IT professionals.

Read More
1 2 3 4