According to a report released by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) earlier this year, criminal or malicious attacks were the leading cause of data breaches in Australia over the first half of 2020. The health sector reported 22 per cent of all breaches, followed by the finance sector with 14 per cent, and the most common type of information involved was contact information. So how much could a data breach cost your business? 

What is a data breach?  

A data breach occurs when personal information is lost, disclosed or accessed without authorisation. If organisations are covered by the Privacy Act 1988, then they must notify the affected individuals and the OAIC. This is particularly the case when a data breach involving personal information is likely to result in serious harm. 

How could it affect my business?

Cyber attacks in Australia can have a range of detrimental effects on businesses including: 

• Financial loss – due to the theft of information and/or money or the disruption to business
• Business loss – due to damage to an organisation’s reputation, or those of other companies you do business with
• Cost outlay – due to getting affected systems up and running again
• Investment loss – due to the time taken to notifying the relevant authorities of the incident

How much could a breach cost?

According to IBM’s 2020 Cost of a Data Breach Report, the average data breach cost in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region is $2.62 million, and in Australia, $2.13 million. APAC organisations have faced the theft or loss of over 11.7 billion records in the past three years, and it was also one of the worst global locations in terms of damages. ‘Damages’ refers to:

• The average size of a data breach (number of records lost or stolen)
• The average total cost of a data breach and per record cost
• Abnormal customer turnover (the greater-than-expected loss of customers since the breach occurred)

These figures were an increase of nearly five per cent year-on-year at a regional level, up from $2.53 million in 2018. In the region, 22,500 records are breached in an average attack. The cost per lost record is around $176, with the process of containing a data breach being around 69 days.

Attacks posed in the APAC region were mainly Denial of Service attacks (DoS attacks), which are massive assaults on a website, and web application attacks. The latter are attacks on computer programs that allow website visitors to submit and retrieve data to/from a database using their preferred web browser.

Businesses surveyed estimated that the total average cost of DoS attacks in APAC region was $1.1 million and the total average cost of web application attacks in APAC over the past 12 months was $2.4 million per company.

Although inadvertent breaches from system glitches and human error were still the cause of nearly half the data breaches in the report, malicious breaches are the most common and the most expensive attacks. These cost companies $4.45 million on average. These breaches are a growing threat, with criminal attacks being the root cause of data breaches. These have increased from 42 per cent to 51 per cent over the past six years of the study.

The misconfiguration of cloud servers also contributed to the exposure of 990 million records in 2018, representing 43 per cent of all lost records for the year.

The report showed that in order to recover from data breaches in Australia, companies were required to invest vast amounts of resources over a long period of time. Only 67 per cent of data breach costs were realised within the first year after a breach, 22 per cent added in the second year and another 11 per cent accumulated more than two years after a breach.

What’s involved in data breach prevention?

Malicious or criminal attacks are a leading cause of data breaches reported to the OAIC, so data privacy and security need to be top of mind as part of an organisation’s overall cyber risk assessment strategy. To mitigate data breaches or spills, the Australian Cyber Security Centre recommends: 

• Researching, formulating and initiating a robust data breach response plan.
• Improving employee awareness of cyber security threats and issues, including phishing and spear phishing.
• Enabling prevention techniques including training employees in cyber security plans and systems.
• Ensuring employees periodically reset passwords, and increase password length and complexity.
• Discouraging employees from reusing the same password across critical services like banking sites.
• Encouraging employees to think carefully before entering credentials.
• Ensuring employees use multi-factor authentication when performing privileged actions or accessing important data. 
• Ensuring businesses use multi-factor authentication for all remote access to business systems.
• Keeping browsers, plugins and operating systems up-to-date with patches and fixes.
• Enabling anti-virus protection to help guard against malware that steals credentials.
• Engaging with professional services that offer email security, endpoint protection, multi cloud security and integration, and Next Generation Firewall technology.

Business networks are constantly under threat and often contend with multiple attacks per day. A breach detection system (BDS) is a defensive tool designed to detect the activity of malware inside a network after a breach has occurred. A key component of a robust BDS network security infrastructure is the firewall (FW). 

Because of the changing threat landscape, and with increasingly malicious cyber threats now compromising networks, next generation firewalls (NGFWs) are recommended as part of robust security architecture. But how do NGFWs differ from FWs and why do you need them?

What’s the definition of a Next-Generation Firewall?  

A NGFW is a firewall that moves beyond blocking and protocol/port inspection to add intrusion prevention and application-level inspection by being able to bring intelligence from outside the firewall.

What’s the difference between a FW and a NGFW?

A NGFW is essentially a more advanced version of a FW. Both use VPN support and dynamic and static packet filtering to ensure all connections between the internet, network and firewall are secure and valid. Both should also be able to translate port and network addresses in order to map IPs. However, there are some fundamental differences between them.

The most obvious difference is that NGFWs are able to deep-filter packets based on applications using analysis and signature matching, and they have extensive visibility and control over applications. They are also able to use signature-based IPs and whitelists to distinguish between safe and unwanted applications, irrespective of encryption, evasive tactics or protocols, which are then identified using SSL decryption. 

Another one of the next generation firewall features is that they can protect a network against a variety of threats — both known and unknown. These include malware, spyware, vulnerability exploits, malicious URLs and more Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs).

Why do I need a Next-Generation Firewall? 

User behaviour, network infrastructure and fundamental shifts in the application landscape have steadily eroded the security that traditional firewalls once provided. This is because users are accessing a range of applications on a variety of devices as part of their working life. Virtualisation, mobility, data centre expansion and cloud-based initiatives are also affecting network security.

Traditional responses to threats have included either attempting to ‘lock down’ all application traffic (which can hinder business processes) or allowing all applications to function (which can increase security and business risks).

In order to strike a balance between denying everything and allowing everything, applications need to be safely enabled by considering business-related elements including the application identity, the type of content and who is using it as part of an overall firewall security policy criteria.

What types of attacks can occur?

A BDS defends enterprises from a myriad of malicious attacks, from single independent threats to multiple threats that overwhelm and breach networks and their security mechanisms. A common type of attack is the Denial of Service (DoS) attack, and its off-shoot, the Distributed DoS (DDoS) attack. 

A DoS will shut down machines or networks making them inaccessible to users. A DDoS is more robust, and in its simplest form, it works by storming a network with a large amount of traffic, which overextends and overloads its resources. 


DDoS attacks are increasing due to the rise in Internet of Things (IoT) solutions that are being used for botnets, which is a number of internet-connected devices, each of which is running one or more bots. Botnets can be used to steal data, send spam, perform DDoS attacks and allow the attacker to access the device and its connections. This stretching of resources leaves defences overwhelmed, which allows malware to attack.

What to look for in a NGFW

According to the Australian government’s Cyber Security Strategy review last year, cyber crimes affected almost one in three Australian adults in 2018. Cyber crimes are also costing Australian businesses an estimated $29 billion per year, regardless of their size. One of the best ways to protect your organisation’s security infrastructure is to install a virtual private network (VPN). But how do they work and what are some of the advantages of a VPN for business?

What is a VPN? 

In simple terms, virtual private networks are a group of computers or discrete networks connected together over a public network — namely, the internet. VPNs secure all of your computers’ internet connections making it harder for others to monitor your presence. In other words, all the data your business is receiving and sending is encrypted and can’t be intercepted and decoded. They do this by creating what is called a secure ‘digital tunnel’ between you and your online destinations. Others can’t see what’s going on in the tunnel, so they can’t monitor your web browsing. 

VPNs also route your information through various services so that it can’t be traced back to you. As far as websites can tell, you’re at one of many worldwide servers that your encrypted data passes through. To them, it looks like you’re based at the location of the nearest server used by your VPN service. 

How Does a VPN Work?

In order to access the internet, you need an IP address. This is how other computers find you to send information when you use the net for web browsing, email or any other online activity. 

In the past, an IT team would implement VPNs using tools that generally combined software and hardware. If your business used a VPN, then the IT team would typically purchase an edge router or firewall that supported VPN tunnelling at the hardware level. They would then purchase the necessary number of VPN software licenses to service the required number of sites or users. This would mean your business would pay for every incoming VPN connection and every tunnel would originate at the user’s device and end at your organisation’s router.

These days, personal VPNs are being sold as services. Companies sell the software portion of the VPN equation to customers, which is basically a VPN application. Once installed, the app will establish the encrypted tunnel but via a server which is operated by the VPN vendor (rather than your company’s router). Then when employees start engaging with cyberspace, it appears as though they are surfing from the vendor’s server rather than their own business device/s.

When you connect to a VPN, you launch a VPN client on your computer (or click a link on a particular website), log in with your personal details, and your computer exchanges trusted keys with a remote server. When both computers have verified each other’s identity, all of your internet communication is encrypted and secured. 

Why Use VPNs?

A secure VPN for business is valuable for a range of reasons including: 

• Maintaining personal privacy by preventing others having access to your employees’ location, identity and online activities. The potentially darker side to this information gathering includes highly targeted fraud, online scams and identity theft.
• Protecting the privacy of your entire business and adding additional protection against hacking and surveillance via a dedicated IP address with a dedicated server. This includes ensuring employees that travel for work can access secure resources on the corporate network, including at airports and accommodation venues.
• Allowing you to access content only available in other countries due to geo-blocking. The term is commonly associated with restricting access to multimedia content (like films and TV shows) for licensing and copyright reasons. However, other uses of geo-blocking include enforcing price discrimination, fraud prevention and location-aware authentication.

• Avoiding bandwidth throttling, which is when your internet service provider (ISP) detects and de-prioritises specific types of internet traffic (like streaming video or torrent downloads), to alleviate congestion which leads to slower internet speeds. Using a VPN prevents your ISP from detecting the type of information being transferred, so your service functions at an optimal speed.

What To Look For in a VPN Solution

If you are looking for VPN solutions for business to secure your IoT privacy, offer remote access for your employees, or protect networking cloud data centres, you should look for providers that offer: 

Robust security 

Will protect your organisation against viruses and malware by constructing walls against cyber threats and ensuring that devices that have access to the company’s network are compliant and registered. 

Comprehensive protection 

Will ensure you prevent non-compliant devices from accessing your network, gain secure remote access by verifying user identities, and extend protection when users are off the VPN.

Access from anywhere 

Will give any user secure access to your enterprise network from any device in any location at any time, including from a desktop, mobile device or Mac, Windows or Linux computer.

Greater visibility 

Will allow you to improve network operations and defend more effectively by giving you 360-degree insights into user and endpoint behaviour.

Simplified usability 

Will provide a consistent user experience across devices — on and off premises — via a single agent, which will simplify its management. 

Need a robust VPN solution to protect your business from cyber crime? Contact the team at Deployus today! 

A recent survey conducted by a multinational technology firm has indicated that almost two-thirds of the Australian companies surveyed experienced some form of data loss during the last 12 months. The majority of those surveyed were also not fully confident in their ability to recover from a data disruption in the future. 

While instigating a robust data protection strategy can be complicated, not doing so can have a disastrous impact on the success and longevity of your business. So what causes data loss and how can you ensure you have the right data recovery strategy in place to maintain business continuity if a loss occurs?

What Causes Data Loss? 

Critical data loss can be as a result of a variety of different failures including:

• Loss or theft of devices
• Power failures which can corrupt data and hard drives
• Property damage and arson 
• Data breaches and cyber crime
• Virus and malware data corruption

What Sort Of Data Can Be Lost?

Businesses often have unique data and system assets they are dependent on. When data loss occurs, key data assets are at stake and these include: 

• Financial and customer records
• Communication history like emails
• Private or important documents on computers and devices
• Contact information of partners, suppliers and/or customers
• Programs used to perform and record work

How Do I Avoid Data Loss?

In terms of business data recovery, there are a range of key metrics you need to consider, and two of the most crucial are Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO). 

Both help to determine how often data backups should occur, the maximum tolerable hours for data recovery, and what your data recovery process should look like. However, they are both quite different, so let’s look at their definitions and what makes them unique.

Recovery Time Objective (RTO)

Analysing your RTO is also a great first step in terms of establishing a disaster recovery plan — and one that’s absolutely necessary. A RTO helps to calculate how quickly you need to recover your IT services following a disaster before operations are restored. This can dictate the preparations you need to implement and the budget you’ll assign. For example, if your RTO is only five hours, you may need to ensure a higher level of preparation and a bigger budget to ensure systems can be recovered quickly.

However, you need to keep a couple of things in mind. Firstly, you’ll need to base these time measurements on an application-by-application basis, not on a server-by-server basis. Secondly, the timing starts when the application goes offline and doesn’t restart again until end users can effectively access and use the system again. 

Determining a time measurement may sound simple – just ask the users right? But the reality is, even those using the simplest of systems will declare they can’t do without them for more than a few minutes! However, once all users do decide on a reasonable time, you’ll need to combine the individual time estimates for each set of applications on a single server.

In the world of Windows, there may be only one large application on a server, so it’s relatively easy. However, with other systems, there could be dozens of applications on each server. If this is the case with your organisation, you’ll first need to determine if any applications take precedence over others on the same server. If yes, use that application’s RTO as it will no doubt have the smallest RTO threshold. 

Once you’ve determined the RTO, it should be combined with other factors like Recovery Point Objectives (RPO’s) to determine which software and hardware solutions offer the closest match for your organisation’s data protection strategy needs.

Recovery Point Objective (RPO)

This metric is a measurement of the loss tolerance of your data, and it is determined by the time between your data backups and the amount of data that could be lost in between those backups due to a disaster. It can also refer to how much data can be lost before your business is significantly harmed, which is also known as your business’ ‘loss tolerance’. 

Because data use has fewer variables and is largely consistent, RPO’s are generally easier to implement than RTO’s. However, because restore times are calculated on your entire organisation and not just your data, the opposite is also true. 

RPO is significant because in most cases, you’re likely to lose some data — even if it’s backed up in real-time. For example, if you back up data every day at midnight and a disaster occurs at 8am, you would lose eight hour’s worth. If your RPO is 24 hours or longer, your data recovery strategy is in good shape. But if your RPO is eight hours, you’re not! 

If you can negotiate a flexible RPO there are a variety of options, including hardware-based mirroring, software-based replication systems and other snapshot tools. These can often be mixed and matched to create a solution that meets RPO’s from a few minutes to several hours. They can also be applied to individual data systems giving them the ability to handle different systems with different RPO estimates.

What Are The Main Differences Between Them?

The major difference between the two metrics is their purpose. RTO is usually large-scale and involves your whole business and the systems involved. RPO focuses solely on data and your company’s overall resilience to the loss of it. 

The costs associated with maintaining a demanding RTO may be greater than those of a granular RPO, because RTO involves your entire organisation’s infrastructure, not just data.

In today’s competitive business world, companies are constantly looking for ways to improve the efficiency and availability of their operations and resources. However, when it comes to IT, many organisations are deploying servers that are running at a fraction of their capacity. This leads to an excess that is not being consumed, which can lead to higher operating costs. 

Virtualising infrastructure enables you to decrease IT expenses while increasing the productivity, adaptability and performance of your existing resources. But what is virtualisation technology? 

IT virtualisation is basically the foundation of cloud computing. It uses software to create an abstraction layer between software and hardware – in other words, between the storage, computing and network infrastructure and the operating systems and applications that use them. This creates a virtual system comprised of virtual machines (VM’s), which allow organisations to safely run several operating systems and applications on the same computer at the same time.

According to a study done by business technology news company ZDNet, over 49 per cent of Australian and New Zealand (ANZ) organisations have taken advantage of virtualisation technology’s multiple benefits. But is it right for your business? Here are the top 5 benefits of virtualisation that may help you decide. 

As the number of COVID-19 infections continues to increase with the World Health Organisation’s declaration of a pandemic, many organisations and their employees have had to adjust to a completely different mode of working. This is proving challenging from both an operational and technology infrastructure perspective. And we’re here to help! Here are our tops tips for working remotely during COVID-19.

Have The Right Hardware 

When working remotely, the process obviously needs to be as streamlined as possible – which means you need the right tech! In terms of hardware, you basically have two options – a desktop computer or a laptop. And depending on your job, other valuable hardware can include a decent keyboard and noise-cancelling headphones.

Desktops

Desktops come in all shapes and sizes and one of their benefits is that they can be upgraded fairly easily. Most modern desktops will handle general office work as a minimum, and come in one of two types. The first are towers to which you add a keyboard, mouse and monitor. If this is your preference, a 24-inch screen is ideal with at least 1080p in terms of resolution, which is basically full high definition (HD).

The second type of desktop is an ‘all-in-one’, where the computer is built into the back of the screen. These include Apple’s iMac and Windows PC equivalents. Basic specs you should look for include a decent processor, a minimum of 8GB of RAM, and a machine with a solid-state drive with a minimum of 256GB of storage.  

Laptops

The main advantage of laptops is their portability, however one of their downsides is that they are not ergonomically ideal. If you are choose to work from home during COVID-19 with a laptop, you should try to alleviate hunching over your computer by varying your working position – from sitting at a desk to standing while you work if you can. A riser can also help bring your laptop up to eye level, or you can connect to an external monitor, keyboard and mouse to improve your posture.

Broadly speaking, traditional hinged laptops are cheaper than convertibles (where the screen detaches from the keyboard) and 2-in-1’s (where the keyboard folds around the back). Regardless, it should have at least 8GB of RAM and 256GB of solid-stage drive storage. In terms of screens, 13 inches should be fine for most uses with a resolution of at least 1080p for readability.

Keyboard

External keyboards will keep your home office more ergonomic over time, and if your job involves lots of typing invest in a decent one. Keyboards come in USB or wireless versions that connect via Bluetooth. Bear in mind that wireless keyboards will also normally require batteries – either AA’s or AAA’s. 

Headphones

Noise-cancelling headphones can help block out distractions and are particularly useful for phone calls and video conferencing as most have built-in microphones. Large, over-ear headphones are typically more comfortable for long-term wear than in-ear versions.

Have The Right Software

With many employers fully prepared for employees remotely working during COVID-19, you’re probably already sorted with the full range of word processing and video calling capability you need. However if not, we can help you install a wide range of basic software to suit whatever functions your job entails. These include: 

• Microsoft Office 365
• Microsoft Azure
• Microsoft Office Applications 
• G Suite
• Amazon Web Services
• Backup Applications
• Cloud and Hybrid Cloud Applications
• Database Applications

Video conferencing

In terms of video conferencing, you may end up using whatever your employer suggests, however our top picks are Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Chat. Microsoft’s Skype and Apple’s Face Time also work well and most phone-based messaging apps, including WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, also offer video chat which can be easier to use.

Have The Appropriate Broadband Speed

Broadband speed is essentially how quickly you can download or upload data using your internet connection, and it’s usually expressed in megabits per second (Mbps). In terms of what you need to work remotely during the coronavirus, it depends on the work you do and the apps you use. Here is a guide to how much speed you’ll need for a few of the more popular work-related applications.

Web Browsing

Web pages are getting more complicated, and in fact some sources say the average size has increased from an average size of 200 kilobytes (KB) in 1998 to around 1600KB today. Obtaining the ideal viewing experience usually requires a download speed of at least 3Mbps.

Video calling 

The speed you’ll need for video calling will obviously depend on the platform you’re using, however with Skype for example, a normal two-way video call that’s of a decent quality will require a download/upload speed of around 500 kilobytes per second (kbps). For a HD call, you’ll need 1.5Mbps upload/download. Bandwith requirements will also increase further depending on how many people are involved in the call. 

Cloud Computing

For high bandwidth applications, the higher speed you have the better, however, even on lower broadband speeds of 12Mbps/1Mbps users can still access a range of cloud services.

Ask For Help! 

The outbreak of COVID-19 is having significant impacts on the acceleration of tools and technologies that enable people to work remotely. Which is also why technology-centric businesses like ours are becoming more critical for business continuity. 

With our COVID-19 Management Plan, we are committed to assisting our clients with their IT requirements in whatever way we can. Whether it’s redesigning your system to facilitate the best possible remote access, or setting up video conferencing or software applications, please let us know. Our Engineers are here to offer assistance anytime during our Support Hours (Monday to Friday, 6am to 7pm) on our Freecall number (1800 227 569).

Finding it challenging to maintain productivity during the challenges of COVID-19? We offer a range of infrastructure, service, continuity and IT cloud services that will keep things running smoothly. Contact us today!  

Working remotely is on the rise like never before as organisations are pressured to sustain operations amid the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the face of these challenges, a consistent workforce is a business continuity measure, however to be successful many organisations needs assistance. 

The IT industry is in a great position to be able to offer tangible support so businesses can continue to run efficiently via technologies and other remote working productivity platforms. Here are the Top 5 ways IT professionals can help during covid19 … ie. us!

1 – They Can Help You Harness Technology

Technologies not only support but enhance remote work, and in terms of IT assistance during COVID-19, we offer a wide range of software applications that will help your remote teams thrive. These include: 

Microsoft Office

Microsoft Office is the go-to word processing software for most employers. And apart from its basic applications like Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Outlook, it has a range of other great features including:

• Microsoft Project – which can assist project manager develop schedules, assign resources, track progress, manage budgets and analyse workloads.
• Microsoft OneNote – this program is used for free-form information gathering and multi-user collaboration via drawings, notes and screen clippings etc.
• Microsoft Visio – a diagramming and vector graphics application that’s ideal for any organisations that use diagrams, flowcharts and layouts.

Microsoft Office 365

This software suite is a subscription only, cloud-based ‘software as a service’. An extension of Microsoft Office, it also features: 

• OneDrive for Business – which lets you store, protect and share files and access them from anywhere on all your devices.
• Teams – a video chat and conferencing application where you can chat from anywhere, and access, share, and edit Word docs, Excel files and PowerPoint slides in ‘real’ time.
• Customer Relationship Manager – which gives you a complete view of your interactions with your customers, and track tasks and deals in progress. 

G Suite

This is a suite of software, cloud computing, productivity and collaboration tools developed by Google Cloud. Apart from the much-used Gmail, Calendar, Photos and Docs, it also features: 

• Forms – which is a great way to run surveys, gather information and log jobs. 
• Slides – this program allows you to create new presentations or edit any that were created on the web or on another device.
• App Maker – lets you build a wide range of apps for your business and customize processes to help you be more efficient.

Document Management Systems

We can also help you install a range of efficient document management systems including: 

• Docushare – which allows you to manage content and develop customized and packaged software applications.
• Omnipage – this optical character recognition software helps you to import files from different source programs into one useful document. 
• Evernote – this application can be used to efficiently receive, track, manage and store documents.

#2 – They Offer Industry-Specific Solutions

If you work in a specific industry, then your organisation no doubt has certain requirements in terms of bespoke software you need to access in order to work remotely. Sectors we service include: 

• Engineering 
• Finance/Payroll 
• Accounting 
• Building and Construction 
• Architecture and Design
• Dental
• Medical Specialist
• Legal Services
• Project Management
• Real Estate
• Recruitment
• Building 
• CCTV Security
• Manufacturing
• Education
• Retail
  
  

#3 –They Can Assist With Cloud-based Services 

Even before COVID-19, many organisations were already dealing with the downsides of a continual increase in web traffic across the world. As the pandemic spreads and employees work from home, it is envisaged that cloud usage will increase in popularity. But what are the benefits? 

Having a multi-cloud infrastructure can ensure businesses are even more nimble to adjust to demands. Cloud-based services are also flexible meaning they can quickly scale up or down, and organisations can access new and innovative ways to manage their traffic and resources. Some of the services we offer include: 

• Cloud and Hybrid Cloud Applications
• Amazon Web Services – which provides on-demand cloud computing platforms and an application programming interface on a metered pay-as-you-go basis.
• Microsoft Azure – this service allows for the building, testing, deploying and managing of applications and services through Microsoft-managed data centres.
  
  

#4 – They Can Elevate Your Security

Over the past few months, the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) has observed an increase in COVID-19 related malicious activity. So it’s important that you remain vigilant about protecting your data, systems and personal information. Read how you can personally strengthen your cyber security here. We can also offer IT assistance during COVID-19 with our range of security and technical services including: 

• Cloud backups
• Storage technologies
• Power protection
• Monitoring and maintenance
• Network security
• Threat management
• Breach response
• Backup application
• Internet firewalls
• Disaster Recovery
• Multi factor authentication
• VPN software

#5 – They Can Provide Expert Advice 

Here at Deployus, our team have been providing a range of IT software, infrastructure, service, continuity and cloud-based solutions to more than 300 businesses across Australia and internationally since 1998. And along with our services, our highly experienced and certified IT engineers and specialists provide valuable advice with our quality output and client satisfaction the ultimate measures of our performance. 

So if you’re finding the challenges of COVID-19 a little overwhelming – particularly if you’re working remotely – we can help. Let’s get through this together!   

Need to get your technologies, cloud services and security up to speed during these challenging times? Contact the team at Deployus today!  

Often referred to as simply ‘the cloud’, cloud computing is the delivery of on-demand computing resources – from data centres to applications – over the internet on a pay-for-use basis. Essentially, it’s renting instead of buying your I.T.!

When a company chooses to ‘move to the cloud’, it means their IT infrastructure will be stored offsite at a data centre that’s maintained by a cloud computing provider. The provider has the responsibility of managing not just their client’s infrastructure, but their integrating applications and for developing new functionality and capabilities to keep pace with the market’s demands.

Cloud Computing Benefits

Cloud computing offers more scale, agility and flexibility for clients. Rather than investing in software, databases, equipment and resources, clients can harness their computer power via the internet. They also only pay for it when they use it, which allows them to respond quickly to a more complex and fast-paced business landscape. 

Cloud customers also automatically have access to emerging technologies and the latest innovations as their cloud provider takes on the role of developing new features and capabilities. It also allows clients to have IT security maintained for them by their cloud provider including regulatory requirements and potential threats.

Types of Cloud Computing

There are three basic types of clouds – public, private, and hybrid. All of them vary in terms of the amount of management that’s required and the level of security that is provided. 

Public Cloud

In a public cloud infrastructure, the whole computing infrastructure is located on the premises of the cloud provider, and services are delivered to the client via the internet. The client doesn’t need to purchase software, hardware or supporting infrastructure as it is owned by the provider, and they can add more users or computing power as they need. 

Private Cloud

A private cloud infrastructure is operated solely for a single organisation, and managed internally at the organisation’s location or by the cloud provider’s data centre. It provides the highest level of security and control and can be hosted either internally or externally. Private clouds take advantage of a cloud’s efficiencies, avoid multi-tenancy and provide more control over resources.

Hybrid Cloud

A hybrid cloud uses the basic elements of a private cloud combined with the strategic integration and use of public cloud services. Generally the client will host their business-critical applications on their own servers (which allows for more security and control), while their secondary applications will be stored at their cloud provider’s location.

Types of Cloud Services

Cloud services generally fall under three categories – Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). 

Software as a Service 

This is a delivery model in which the provider hosts the client’s applications at their location, which the client accesses via the internet. This type of service enables organisations to get up and running quickly with the most innovative technology available. Clients can then dynamically scale services and add more features or services as they grow. Apps and data are also accessible from any connected computer and no data is lost if computers break down as the data is in the cloud! 

Platform as a Service 

This service provides clients with a cloud-based environment with everything they need to support the complete lifecycle of building and delivering web-based applications – without the cost and complexity of buying and managing the underlying infrastructure. The provider hosts the infrastructure and many of the middleware components and the customer accesses those services via a web browser.

Infrastructure as a Service 

This cloud-based model enables clients to access infrastructure services on a pay-per-use basis via the internet including servers, storage, networking and data centre space. Benefits include flexible, innovative services that can be scaled on demand to support dynamic workloads without the cost of the client having to invest in their own hardware.

Complete Cloud Solutions

Here at Deployus, our cloud infrastructure hosting environments allow you to connect from anywhere, at any time through almost any device including tablets, PC’s, laptops and smart phones. We also offer an array of professional IT support services including a 24-hour helpdesk, and maintenance and monitoring programs that ensure continual peak network performance. 

Keen to improve your organisation’s productivity, connectivity and bottom line? Ask us about our cloud infrastructure services today – and advance your business into the 21st century!

In our time-poor world, many of us rely on a range of smart, convenient and connected devices that get things done in much less time –both personally and professionally. However, along with technical advancements and the widespread use of technology, there comes an increase in cybercrime. 

So how can we ensure devices are protected and individuals and businesses’ identities and reputations remain safe and secure? Here are our top 6 ways you can strengthen your cyber security. 

1 – Passwords

One of the simplest ways to improve cyber security is by ensuring your passwords are both strong and secure. Weak passwords should be replaced with unique and longer passwords for each of your online accounts using a mix of symbols, numbers and upper and lower case letters to make them harder to hack. There are a variety of password managing tools out there that can help, and some will even notify you if one of your accounts has been compromised.

You should also not share passwords, regularly change them and restrict your use and access of accounts with administration privileges. Two- or multi-factor authentication (MFA) should also be used wherever possible – this involves providing multiple pieces of information to authenticate that you are the account holder. MFA can include a combination of PINs, passwords and fingerprint scanning. 

For business purposes, you could also consider adopting a single-sign-on user authentication service (SSO) which use temporary tokens for logging on rather than static credentials, or a password vault where privileged credentials are checked in and out and each password automatically rotates to ensure greater randomisation. 

2 – Security

In terms of enhancing cyber security, make sure you install trusted security software on all devices to prevent infection. This should include anti-spyware and anti-virus filters. Security software should ideally update automatically, as updates often contain important security upgrades for recent attacks and viruses. Run weekly malware (malicious software) and anti-virus scans, and be aware of ransomware (a type of malware that threatens to publish the victim’s data or block access unless a ransom is paid). 

Set up a firewall (a piece of software or hardware that sits between your computer and the internet), which can protect networks and act as a gatekeeper for all incoming and outgoing traffic. Also, turn on your network encryption and encrypt data when it’s stored or sent online. Encryption converts data into a secret code before it’s sent over the internet. This reduces the risk of tampering, theft or destruction. And be vigilant when using public or complimentary wireless networks, especially when making online financial transactions!

3 – Spam Filters

Another method of protecting your cyber security is to use spam filters to reduce the amount of phishing emails and spam you receive. These types of emails are usually from a person or organisation you don’t know offering products or services that are too good to be true! They also often ask for login and password information, and contain misspelt words or questionable email addresses. 

Unfortunately, these can be embedded with malware, so try not to open them, don’t download any attachments or click on hyperlinks,  and attempt to unsubscribe or contact them by phone. Better yet, just delete them!

4 – Security Policies

When it comes to cyber security in the workplace, security policies can help employees understand what is acceptable in terms of sharing data, emails, social media posts and internet sites on computers and other devices. Employees should also be carefull about how and where they keep their devices, and how they use USB sticks and portable hard drives. Training can be an important factor in terms of educating staff about their computer rights and responsibilities, maintaining strong passwords, network access, online threats and how to report suspicious online activity. 

If you are a business owner, keep a record of all the software and computer equipment you use and make sure they are secure. And if there is software or equipment that’s no longer used or needed (particularly by former employees), get rid of them! 

For businesses that deal with customers online, it’s alo critical that you keep their information safe. You should secure any personal customer information you store, and invest in and provide a secure online transaction environment – gateway providers should be able to assist with preventing online payment fraud. It’s also worth remembering there are privacy laws around customers’ personal information, so your business should have a current and clear privacy policy available on your website. 

5 – Data Backup 

It is essential that you back up any important data and information regularly, and a typically system usually includes daily incremental back ups to cloud storage and/or a portable devices, and end-of-week, quarterly and annual server back-ups. You should store external drives separately offsite and regularly test them to make sure that you can restore data. Cloud storage solutions provided by experts (like us!) are an ideal solution here as they will use encryption when transferring and storing your data, and provide multi-factor authentication for access.

6 – Staying Informed

The Australian Government has a host of resources that provide tips on increasing your cyber security and current  updates in terms of the latest scams and security risks: 

Top Cyber Security Tips For Individuals

How To Protect Your Business from Cyber Threats 

Stay Smart Online – The Free Online Threat Alert Service 

Here at Deployus, our expert team offer IT security solutions for secure remote access, SD-WAN, and SaaS and infrastructure. We also offer the deployment of centralised logging and correlation technologies and Next Generation Firewall technologies to ensure your data and business networks are safe and secure. 

There is nothing more important to an organisation than its people. But if your employees aren’t happy, productivity can suffer along with the success and growth of your business. Small changes can often make all the difference and help your staff minimise ineffectiveness and produce quality results in a shorter period of time. Here are our top 10 tips on improving productivity in the workplace.

1 – Highlight Efficiency

Yes, it sounds obvious, but in order to increase productivity it’s worth taking a look at how your business as a whole is operating in terms of how your employees approach and complete tasks. There should be some degree of personal planning and prioritisation, however processes, operational systems and even computer software can all affect the efficiency of an organisation. 

2 – Encourage Delegation

Another one of the vital ways to improve productivity in the workplace is delegation. Allowing employees with a proven track record of success in certain areas to take charge (and trusting them with the process) can enhance operational efficiency. It also benefits not only your organisation, but gives staff the chance to gain skills, confidence and leadership experience and helps them solidify their career direction. 

3 – Reduce Distractions

The allure of social media can be a huge productivity killer, but it’s obviously not practical (or good management practice) to have a strict ‘no surfing’ policy in the workplace. Instead, keep your employees focused and engaged by allowing them time out when they need to. Regular ‘movement breaks’ are not only essential for physical and emotional health, they have been proven to help improve learning, restore motivation and enhance creativity.

4 – Optimise Conditions

A comfortable working environment can be one of the best ways to improve productivity in the workplace. Natural light, ergonomic chairs and even some oxygen-sharing plants can assist with improving mood and energy. Temperature is also important – the ideal working temperature is between 20 and 24 degrees depending on the season, so make sure your AC is set accordingly.  Take note of your digital infrastructure as well and ask yourself if an improved digital landscape could help to optimise your staff’s ability to get work done. If yes, then you might need to look at network design and infrastructure and speak with a professional about how to improve productivity through your digital systems. And of course, uncluttered, functional workspaces help as well!  

5 – Reward Employees

Most managers already have a strong sense of whether their employees are performing well or not, however are they being rewarded enough for their efforts? Clear expectations and KPI’s can help staff remain on track, and of course a pay rise is always well received! However, incentives don’t always have to be monetary. Gym memberships, free lunches or an amazing Christmas party at the end of the year can go a long way to keeping employees loyal.