Santa has a very important responsibility with his Christmas Lists, as they contain a lot of personal data!  This means they come under GDPR because of the personal identifiers held on the list.  So, what advice would we give Santa if he came to MJD for IT support on keeping his Christmas Lists safe and secure, let’s jump in:

• Ensure that he has them stored electronically in a location that is backed up regularly.
• Ensure that only the elves who need access to the lists have access to the lists and review permissions every year.
• Only store the data he needs to on the individuals on his Christmas List and clearly state why he is keeping the data.
• Ensure that the lists are held securely and adequate protection measures put in place.

So, for Santa to do this we’d recommend the following:

• Layered security software to protect all devices on his network (antivirus alone is no longer sufficient).
• A robust back up system, such as a Datto.
• Have permission levels and security groups setup for users on the network.
• Review the data each year and check that he still needs to keep the data and if so for how long (For Example – scrooge should be removed from the list).
• Review his processes for data requests, right to erasure requests and correcting data held (For Example – if the grinch wants his data removed then he can ask and it will be done.)

We here at MJD are always happy to help Santa with his IT support requests to ensure he can concentrate on his core business activities of delivering presents to all the lucky girls and boys.  If you would also like some advice on GDPR and cyber security please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the team here at MJD.

We all love to get the most for our money, but we want to highlight the potential dangers that lurk within “Black Friday Deal” emails.  We encourage everyone to exercise just as much caution, if not more, before you click on any link within these emails.  Our previous blog posts on phishing emails and staying safe within your emails are linked here: The silent threat in your Inbox & Gone Phishing!

We urge everyone to remember, these emails are just as likely as any other type of email to be spoofed by cyber criminals to get you to click on the link.  They may even allow you to buy a product, albeit a counterfeit product, to get your details and your money.  If you do receive an email with a deal you’d really like to purchase from a trusted shop, try typing the website straight into the web address bar in your browser and finding the product that way.  Then you don’t have to worry about clicking on a potentially malicious link.  In the past twelve months alone, the Active Cyber Defence programme has removed 113000 malicious URLs from fake online shops where consumers ended up with counterfeit goods or nothing at all.

The National Cyber Security Centre offer some great advice on keeping yourself safe while online purchasing this Black Friday here.

They offer some key top tips such as:

–              Be selective of where you shop

–              Only provide necessary information

–              Use a secure and protected payment method

–              Keep your accounts secure

If you do receive a suspicious-looking email over this festive period, forward it to report@phishing.gov.uk for the NCSC and the City of London Police to include it within their Suspicious Email Reporting Service.

As always, if you think you have fallen victim to a scam email or phishing email please don’t hesitate to contact the team here at MJD to help you get yourself or your business secure again.  And if you find any great black Friday deals let us know too!

As a Cyber Essentials accreditation body here at MJD, we always highly recommend our clients go through the process of Cyber Essentials and always encourage clients to take the next step in their security journey to Cyber Essentials Plus as well.  But, we often get asked why they should take these steps to become accredited, so today let’s explain our reasoning behind the recommendations of becoming a Cyber Essentials accredited company.

The process of achieving Cyber Essentials accreditation should be viewed as a method of checking your current work practices and identifying areas that need improvement to achieve the accreditation.  The process of becoming accredited acts as your checklist to ensure and know that your company is hitting a certain level of cyber security protection for you and your clients.  It may identify areas that you didn’t even realise were related to cyber security.  In this sense it is a valuable exercise to go through to help identify and then resolve weaknesses in your security.  This is then used every year when you reassess to know that you are still working to the same standard.

Through becoming accredited you have a standardised level that any client can recognise and immediately understand how secure your setup is.  It can greatly help when tendering for bids with potential clients as you can answer any cyber security questions with your accreditation rather than trying to explain and demonstrate the policies and technology you have in place.

Another benefit of the Cyber Essentials accreditation is that it comes with Cyber Insurance which is an added benefit, aside from all that we’ve discussed above.  We believe at MJD that this is an investment in your business that will not only benefit you now but in the future as well.  The peace of mind that going through this process will also generate is a benefit that has no monetary value but will put to rest some of the worry that comes with the threats out in the cyber world.

If you have any questions about this process or are interested in getting started on your Cyber Essentials journey please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the Team here at MJD.

Gone are the days of being able to easily identify a phishing or scam email, as these are usually caught by our spam filters or move straight into our junk folders.  More and more we need to be vigilant against every email we receive into our inbox as we see increasing threats from hackers.  Today’s blog we want to encourage you to form the habit of answering the following 3 questions for every email you receive.

1. Was I expecting an email from this individual?

Is this an email on a subject that you have been dealing with this individual previously or an ongoing piece of work you are collaborating on?  If the answer is yes, you are not completely safe yet.  Hackers can be very patient people and will sit and monitor an inbox and will try and learn the type of emails this person may send or that you may receive.  They can even spoof or gain access to this individuals mailbox to make the email look even more genuine.  If the answer is no, pick up the phone and give the individual a call.  It will take you only a few minutes to double check with the individual, but think of the hours of downtime you might save if you have avoided allowing a cyber attack to infiltrate your organisation.

2. Do I usually receive emails with attachments from this individual?

Is this something which you usually receive attached to an email?  If the answer is yes, has it come at the usual time and day?  Is the file format what you are expecting?  If not, the same solution applies to give the individual a call to check if they meant to send this to you.

3. Do I usually receive attachments like this?

What we mean by this is, if it’s an invoice do you usually work with invoices and receive them?  Or a quotation or purchase order?  Is it a document you usually receive and work with, if not then question why it’s been sent to you and give the individual in question a call.

As you can see, the same check is relevant to all three questions, just to pick up the phone and give the individual a call to double check this was meant to be sent to you.  At the end of the day, the worst that can happen is you have a chat with them and maybe even discuss what they’ve sent you or what you’re working on, and in the best case scenario, one phone call saves the whole organisation from the threat of a cyber attack.

If you have any questions about phishing or spam emails, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the team here at MJD.  No question is a stupid question when it comes to protecting your company from a cyber attack.

We all want to ensure our customers are happy with the service we provide, and if our customers are going to be waiting or carrying out daily tasks in our premises, we may want to provide them with an internet connection.  Especially in our area of Scotland, where sometimes the 4G signal may not be up to scratch.  However, are you allowing a security risk to your entire network by handing out your wireless password.

If you haven’t secured your wireless network then plain and simple, this is a massive security risk and you should stop immediately.  The best way to offer your customers a wireless option, is through separate private and public wireless networks.  This allows you to segregate and control the access the public has to your business network to avoid a damaging data breach.  This does not mean you need to have two separate broadband lines and separate access points for private and public.  There are access points on the market that allow segregation within the same access point network.  The team at MJD have fitted and maintain these systems across our clients networks and can do so remotely to reduce site visits and costs for our clients.

While security is the main concern you should have with offering customers wifi, it is also important to consider that this reflects on your business image.  If your wifi is slow and unreliable, then it may be best not to offer wifi until you are able to resolve the issue.  If this is something you and your customers are experiencing, there could be several reasons why.  The speed of your broadband connection, the hardware providing the wireless connection and the activities the wifi users are performing could all be having an affect.  If your wireless network is not setup to limit streaming/downloading one customer could spoil the wireless connection for all users.

If any of these issues seem familiar please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the team here at MJD and let’s make IT work for YOU.

Today’s blog topic may be something you have never even considered or realised exists.  So lets explore why it’s required and the benefits for your business.  It is important to remember that we now use our mobiles like laptops and computers to access and browse the internet and this means they are vulnerable and exposed to the same threats as our laptops and computers.  Like with your PC or laptop you should always keep your mobile software up to date and try not to delay installing a new update.

There are two main type of mobile OS: Android and Apple iOS.  The Apple iOS is more locked down in comparison to Android and all apps are subject to security checks prior to being released through the app store.  Now this does not mean that Android is without its own security features from Google, however, with Android devices it is recommended that an additional anti-virus software package is installed on your Android mobile device.

The mobile anti-virus software will scan your device regularly and alert you to any potential security threats and help remove these threats.  One of the key features which are important to make sure your mobile anti-virus software has is remote wipe.  This means that if a mobile device has been lost or stolen you can wipe all data on the phone and the memory card.  This way, even if the device is lost/stolen the data on the device can’t also be used to the criminals advantage.  This means you are protecting your data and the data of your clients and complying with GDPR.

Mobile anti-virus software allows you to continue your business security protection beyond the walls of your office and when unfortunately the device has left the hands of your employees.  But this is not a free ticket to let your  guard down, it is important that you are still vigilant for phishing emails, unknown senders and attachments and dodgey websites with the anti-virus software being the icing on the cake of your security mindset.

If you are interested in implementing a mobile anti-virus package across your devices please just get in touch with the team here at MJD.