| November edition of the Reliance Web Newsletter.
In this issue, we take a look at a new feature that Instagram will be rolling out soon. We find out what Google has been doing with reCAPTCHA to make your webforms/website secure and how we can prevent spam from landing in your inbox. And finally, we take a look at the current design trends for this month on the web. As always, if you have any questions feel free to send an email to support@relianceit.com.au or give us a call. We'd be happy to hear from you. Until next time, |
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| October edition of the Reliance Web Newsletter.
In this issue we take a look at some best practises when it comes to writing content for your website. We hear about a new partnership with Litmus and Microsoft with the intention of improving email compatibility in Outlook. And finally we take a look at some statistics to do with usage of social media networks and answer questions like which are the most popular networks. As always, if you have any questions feel free to send an email to support@relianceit.com.au or give us a call. We'd be happy to hear from you. Until next time, |
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Quick Tech Tip
A sharp rise in the number of "brute force attacks" is causing widespread data and productivity losses to businesses and organisations all over Australia. A brute force attack is an attempt to gain access to a network by attempting as many username and password combinations against a system until one is found to work. This makes users with simplistic passwords such as Password1 very susceptible to being compromised. Test the strength of your current password by going to: https://howsecureismypassword.net/ and see how long it would take for your password to be cracked. |
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| ATT: PASSWORD INTEGRITY AND DISASTER RECOVERY PLANNING
As a follow up on last week's email on brute force attacks using Crysis ransomware which hopefully explained the dangers of using simplistic passwords. I'd like to go further and encourage everyone to test the strength of their current network password by test it at : https://howsecureismypassword.net/ The above site will not capture your password and is a safe and secure utility that will give you the estimated time it would take hackers to brute force crack your password. More often than not, network security is only as strong as the weakest password used on the system. In the ACCC's annual Small Business in Focus report is states it has received 7,600 enquiries and complaints from small businesses in the first half of 2016. The report shows Ransomware is one of the biggest problems faced by small businesses with a reported loss of $1.6 million in scam activities recorded in the past six months. The best security strategy is to avoid Ransomware altogether, however this requires planning, work and for there to be no such thing as human error, before it hits your network. To that end our strategy for SLA clients is to ensure a best practice disaster recovery plan is in place.
If backups and restore testing are done regularly, a ransomware infection won’t have a devastating impact; you’ll have a safe, recent and clean restore point. As always, if you have any questions feel free to send an email to support@relianceit.com.au or give us a call. We'd be happy to hear from you. Until next time, |
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| ATT: Ransomware 'Crysis' and "Brute Force Attacks" on the rise
A sharp rise in the number of "brute force attacks" and instances of a new variant of ransomware called Crysis is combining to cause widespread data and productivity losses to businesses and organisations all over Australia. A brute force attack is an attempt to gain access to a network by attempting as many username and password combinations against a system until one is found to work. This makes users with simplistic passwords such as ABC123, or Password1 or 123345 very susceptible to being compromised. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brute-force_attack Once an account is compromised using a brute force attack, the third party is then able to deploy malware such as 'Crysis' to encrypt data that the compromised account has access to on the network thereby denying legitimate users from being able to access their files and software. Holding the organisation ransom to unlock their data or forcing them to restore from their backup system. The Crysis ransomware has quickly become the scourge of cyber security experts everywhere. The way in which it can quickly destroy network data makes it a frightening threat. It's only a threat however if an account is compromised, or if a user is duped into downloading it from the internet and executing it. http://blog.trendmicro.com/the-ransomware-crysis-continues-a-new-strain-is-on-the-rise/ Our recommendation to protect our clients against brute force attacks from compromising user accounts on their network is to implement a minimum password complexity policy and to lockout users for a short period of time after a number of consecutive unsuccessful login attempts. Wherever a ransomware attack has been successfully initiated, the only safeguard is a robust disaster recovery plan that includes on premises backup sets that are replicated offsite, for example to the cloud. As always, if you have any questions feel free to send an email to support@relianceit.com.au or give us a call. We'd be happy to hear from you. Until next time, |
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| This month we look at what is "Millennial Branding" and how simplicity is key. In social media news Instagram has begun rolling out their new
business profiles. Find out how the toolkit can assist to market your business. And we also take a look at how Facebook have made changes
to their social media sharing tools to bring them inline with modern design.
I also have an ulterior motive this month. I’ve been nominated for the Service with a Smile award in this years’ Rhino Awards. Voting is nearing a close and I’d love your support by voting here: https://polldaddy.com/poll/9486353/ As always, if you have any questions feel free to send an email to support@relianceit.com.au or give us a call. We'd be happy to hear from you. Until next time, |
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| Microsoft have been busy recently with multiple updates to their flagship products: Windows and Office 365. Below we have a look at some of
the changes that Microsoft have rolled out over the last few months including a large update to Windows just last week.
As always, if you have any questions feel free to send an email to support@relianceit.com.au or give us a call. We'd be happy to hear from you. Until next time, |
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| ATT: EMAIL SCAM: copies AGL Energy Bills.
A destructive scam email that infects computers and holds them hostage has successfully targeted at least 10,000 Australians since it was detected this week, a smh.com.au article reports. The email, purporting to be from energy company AGL, sends a fake bill and prompts the recipient to click on a link to download a copy. It then saves a .zip file on the computer which, when extracted, locks the machine down using malware known as "ransomware". The recipient is prompted to pay $US640 ($A880) to unlock it. We have seen a sharp increase in this type of scam affecting our clients, not only purporting to be from AGL but other large companies such as AustPost, Toll and others. If ever you receive an email from a supplier, or potential supplier in a way that you have not seen before, do not open any links or attachments. We would welcome you to forward us a copy for inspection before you take any further actions. Simply forward the email to support@relianceit.com.au and we’ll happily review and confirm if the email is legitimate. If you, or a member of staff has received a suspicious email, please contact Reliance Technology. Likewise if a computer within your organisation has been affected please contact us immediately. Read the full article at smh.com.au As always, if you have any questions feel free to send an email to support@relianceit.com.au or give us a call. We'd be happy to hear from you. Until next time, |
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| We want to talk to you about Responsive Website Design. It's a term that has been thrown around a lot in the last 12 months or so, and one that isn't going away anytime soon. But what does it actually mean? and more importantly, what does it mean for you and your business? | |||||
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| Why do I need a Responsive Website Design? | |||||
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First up, it looks good! I don't just mean it's pretty, but it's functional, and easier for users to read and interact with your site.
Google recommends Responsive Website Design. If you're wanting to maintain, or improve the visibility of your website in Google results, then it's worth knowing that Google uses a website's mobile-friendliness as a factor when ranking websites. To prove just how seriously Google takes mobile-friendliness, they even developed a tool to test your website - see how your website performs! |
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| When should I get a Responsive Website design? | |||||
I'd love to say "now", but that's not a real answer. I can however ask you a few questions that can help you decide when is the right time
to upgrade:
If you answered no to any of the above, it's time to start considering a full website redesign. Please don't hesitate to get in contact and we can discuss the range of options available. As always, if you have any questions feel free to send an email to support@relianceit.com.au or give us a call. We'd be happy to hear from you. Until next time, |
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| This month we look at how customers read their emails by analyzing over 13 billion email opens. We also take a look at Google's new Photos
App as an online solution for storing your photo library. And finally Microsoft have confirmed that they have stopped support, including
security patches, for Internet Explorer 8, 9 and 10.
As always, if you have any questions feel free to send an email to support@relianceit.com.au or give us a call. We'd be happy to hear from you. Until next time, |
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On behalf of everyone at Reliance Technology I would like to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a happy, safe and relaxing New Year.
The Reliance Technology office will be closed over Christmas and New Year. Limited staff will remain on call for emergency call outs from the afternoon of Friday 18 December, until we return to business as usual on Monday 4 January 2016.
Best wishes and a grateful thank you to our clients, suppliers and friends for all of your support during 2015 from all the team at Reliance Technology.
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