XP and Office 2003 end of life
Windows XP and MS Office 2003 are now end of life. If you are still running either of these operating systems, you are opening your network up to hackers and viruses as Microsoft have stopped providing security updates/patches or support for these operating systems. It is important that action is taken immediately to remove potential issues.
If you are still running Windows XP, the options are either to upgrade the operating system or replace the computer entirely. Considering that it is reaching the end of the financial year, it is the best time to purchase new hardware and software for your business.

Our supplier has a special on Acer laptops for $499 ex gst which is ideal for simple business work as it has a 15.6 inch screen, Core i3 processor, 750GB Hard Drive, 4GB RAM and Windows 8.
Please contact us for more information or to obtain a recommendation on a system suitable to your needs.

IT Security review
Its a good time to review your IT security and perform maintenance on your computers and servers if this hasn’t been done in a while. I created a list of a few things that should be reviewed but a must have is backups. A good backup system is extremely important even if you are operate out of the cloud. You may want to investigate cloud to cloud backups.
When was the last time you tested the backup and try to recover recent files? Or simulated a full disaster in the event your server died? Do you have a Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP)? A DRP can save the business thousands of dollars and possibly prevent the business from being crippled due to loss of data and too much downtime. Speak to us about creating a DRP for your business if you don’t have one.

We have also seen a record level increase in hacking. When the Heartbleed Bug was first disclosed on 7 April 2014, around half a million (17%) of the Internet’s secure web servers certified by trusted authorities were believed to be compromised. This potentially allowed hackers access to your saved information such as email addresses, passwords, credit card details, all accessible on websites you have subscribed to or made a purchase from.

Ebay recently advised all their customers to change their passwords as they announced that they had been hacked and leaked 145 million account details with email address & passwords. A larger problem is that most people use the same email address and password for many sites, which now the hackers can potentially log into their email accounts

Having strong and varied passwords is not enough these days. You need an extra layer of protection for your important logins to websites such as Email, Internet banking & Business Applications. We highly recommend two-step/two-factor Authentication. This requires something you have on you as an additional verification, such as an app on your mobile phone that generates an additional security number. This means hackers can get access to your usernames and passwords but they can’t login unless they have your mobile phone, which is very unlikely. (We can also remotely wipe your phone if it is lost as well).

Changes to Australian data privacy laws.
For businesses that turn over more than 3 million per year, there have been recent changes regarding Australian Privacy Laws that affect how businesses store, manage and use client data. Read this article for more information.
Google Drive may not be ideal for all businesses as data is hosted outside Australia and this can be an issue for some industries. For such businesses, we offer a practical alternative for cloud storage solution called Soonr. We partner with a provider called Manage Protect who store the data here in Melbourne and Sydney data centres so you are completely compliant with these laws. For more on this new product, please contact us.