Why you should clean your computer and how often
Next to our mobile phones our computers are the tools that we rely on most in our lives. Most of us feel naked if we spend more than five minutes without our mobile phones, but its when our computers aren’t working properly is when our world starts to crumble. Keeping your computer working effectively will ensure that you never have to swear at your IT just by it. By regular cleaning, your computer will continue to operate at maximum capacity, blow we will discuss why you should clean your computer and how often. Netlogyx are experts in all forms of computer support on The Gold Coast and are happy to help with any questions you might have about cleaning your computer. Dust the destroyer! There are many things that can go wrong with your computer, but one of the most common is dust. Computers generate heat as they run and this makes it necessary to have some type of cooling system in place. This usually means a fan at either end or on both sides of the case where air can be pulled into the machine to reduce its temperature without sacrificing power output by using fans inside each component. As we don’t live in bubbles outside elements such as nature, animals and humans create an amazing amount of dust that your computer fan will inadvertently be sucked into your computer. Signs that your computer needs a clean • It’s Noisy – The incessant whir of the PC’s internal fan is a constant reminder that it needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. It may not seem like much, but over time dust and other debris can cause your computer’s interior components to wear down with heavy use or simply from age. One way you can ensure this doesn’t happen is by using compressed air cans on those pesky nooks and crannies inside the device so they don’t collect excessive amounts of junk in them. • It’s Hot – Dust can cause your laptop to overheat. In this case, dust particles are interfering with the computer’s ability to release heat from its casing. If you’re not sure whether or not it is running hot, then download a program that measures the core temperature of your computer and alerts you when its above normal! • It looks dirty – We all know how we feel when our computer starts to slow down. It’s frustrating, but if you can see visible grime on your monitor or the surface of your laptop it means that dirt is also lurking inside and should be removed as soon as possible. How often should you clean your computer? In order to keep your computer running to its full capacity you should look to be cleaning it very three to six months. This is a job that can be done yourself if you feel confident enough but if you are unsure about then the team at Netlogyx are here to help with the cleaning but also all your computer support on The Gold Coast.
Read MoreWhat Is A Cyber Security Audit Checklist?
As we become more reliant on digital technologies the risk of cyber attacks increase. The ever changing online network creates holes that cyber criminals are continually looking to exploit. If you aren’t vigilant then you leave you business open to cyber attacks and risk losing vital information or worst case scenario is that you lose control of your own business. Administering regular cybersecurity audits is a crucial step in the development and maintenance of an organization’s security posture. Audits can be used to evaluate compliance with various regulations, identify gaps in infrastructures or otherwise reveal potential threats that may affect operations. The Cyber security Audit Cyber security audits are a crucial tool for small to medium businesses that don’t have an IT security team. Cyber attacks on SMBs have been steadily increasing, and many succeeded when organizations were still figuring out how to handle them. The good news is now they know what’s needed – cyber security audits! Audits act as both a checklist of all policies and procedures within your organization as well any regulations you need to stay compliant with, ensuring your business is protected by and IT shield of steel. And since it only takes hours or days versus weeks or months like hiring someone new would take, this service has become one of the most sought-after services the team at Netlogyx has on offer. Below we will talk about the checklist required for a successful cyber security audit. Review your data security policy Data security has become an increasingly important concern in today’s digital world. Make sure to review your organization’s information security policy before the audit begins with regard for data confidentiality, integrity and availability. Data confidentiality should be handled professionally with employees who have access to different data and how they share this information. Data integrity must maintain accurate data, but also warns against any IT systems that could shut down if there was a security breach. Lastly, users will need the best conditions for accessing their own personal files as possible so availability is key in order to keep up productivity when these document’s are needed most. When it comes to your data, you should always be aware of the security risks. For example, if an auditor asks about how often your employees back up their files and what kind of encryption they use for those backups–you’ll want to know this information so that when asked by a potential employer or client-the answer is at the ready! Centralized Policies Consolidating your cybersecurity policies is a great way to make sure that the auditors have all of their bases covered while reviewing your company. Auditing efficiency will increase, and they’ll be able to figure out new ways you can improve security practices with more ease! These are some of the important policies to consider: • Disaster Recovery and Continuity plans – In case of worst case scenario what policies will allow your business to recover quickly and continue functioning. • Remote Work Policy – How is your workforce secure when working remotely • Acceptable Use – when employees are using IT assets what terms do they agree to? Detail your network structure One goal of cyber-security assessments is to identify any vulnerabilities in an organization’s computer systems by providing them with as much detail about how it operates internally so that its external environment will not be compromised. To make sure you have given ample details, create a top down layout where all assets are laid out including outlining their function inside the company. Review compliance standards Before your even begin your audit you should check the relevant compliance standards that apply to your business. Once these have been confirmed you can pass these details onto your auditor when the time comes. Ensuring that your business is compliant is an important part of your cybersecurity plan for a couple reasons • The standards are there for a reasons and by being compliant you are going a long way to being cyber safe • Streamlines the auditing process Have a master list of security personal and their roles Being interviewed by a security auditor can be tough. You don’t know what they are looking for and if you have all the answers, then it would make your job easier. To help minimize this stress one way is to compile a list of different responsibilities that each member has in order to give auditors access right away with less time needed spent on interviews. The team at Netlogyx are experts in the field of Cyber Security and can help your business with a plan to ensure that any cyber security audits that are required are an easy process.
Read MoreHow Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Are Related
Hoping for the best but preparing for the worst is never more relevant than in your business IT solution. If you have done some research into worst case scenarios then you would have heard the terms, business continuity and disaster recovery and although it may seem like they are the same thing, they are not. They are however related, and your business most definitely needs to have both plans in place. What is Business Continuity In laymans terms Business Continuity is a plan that your business will have in place to ensure that if anything were to go wrong that you would be able to function as normal. It would mean that if there was a disruption you would still be able to have continuity of production and service that you provide. A checklist of important things to consider for your inclusion in your business continuity plan are – • Locations of Backups on and offsite • Key Personnel • Case Studies (War Stories) • Plan for maintaining operations Your business continuity plan should incorporate all relevant important information so that staff can return operations to your business as soon as possible. What is Disaster Recovery Your businesses data is your single most important asset and if you lose it for good, it will take a long time to recover from that. A Disaster Recovery Plan is an essential part of your Business Continuity Plan and ne that will ensure that your business recovers quickly and successfully. Backing up your data is a major part of your road to recovery; you should be thinking of these things – • Back up everything • Implement an implemental backup solution • Constant testing of back ups • Protection for your back ups So, as you can see that whilst both Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery are not the same thing, they are related to each other and definitely are both required for your business. Getting the right advice regarding these solutions will go a long way to making what would already be a stressful situation a little easier to deal with. There are many software solutions available in this area and the team at Netlogyx are more than happy to help your business develop a solid Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plan for your business. It is smart business to put plans and procedures in place that plan for worst case scenarios, think of this as an insurance premium for your businesses data. You take out the insurance hoping that you will never have to use it but when disaster strikes you are so happy that you implemented it. Netlogyx are experts in their field and with local face to face and also online service options they are the perfect choice for your business. No problem is too small for the team at Netlogyx and there isn’t a problem so far that they haven’t been able to find a solution for.
Read MoreTop Reasons Cyber Security Is More Important Now Than Ever
With every passing day we are becoming more reliant on technology and almost everything we do has some sort of online presence about it. Essentially, we can do all of our daily personal administration online, we never really have to leave the house, shopping, banking, communication, entertainment is all done by the stroke of a key. As easy and quick as that may seem this all comes at a price. We were always in control of our own personal security and if you were lucky, you’ve never had your wallet or handbag stolen. Unfortunately, now Cyber Crime is on the rise and as such we need to be ahead of the game to ensure that all our personal information is safe. What is cyber security? Cyber Security is a group of practices, processes and technologies that protects all your devices, networks and data from malicious attack and unauthorized access from cyber criminals. It is becoming increasing difficult to implement effective cyber security measures as we are more many different devices, so much so that the devices are now outnumbering the people. Why is Cyber Security Important? It is now a fact of life that we can’t go a day without the need for a computer and with that we are now storing much more data than ever before. Due to the increase of the data, cloud-based storage solutions are increasing, again taking the security of our own data out of our hands. We are constantly on mobile devices and using Wi-Fi networks, leaving us open to attack from very clever cyber criminals. We are now storing more personal information on our computers and devices; bank account and credit card details are now more available for theft. Ensuring that you have the best available cyber security solution for all your devices is more important now than ever. We must be vigilant and always be at the cutting edge of cyber security in the Northern Rivers. Cyber Security Threats • Phishing – fraudulent emails that seem like they are from known sources and companies to you. • Ransomware – Blocks your system from accessing important information until a ransom is paid. • Malware – used to gain access and cause severe damage to your computer. Whilst these three types of Cyber threats are not the only ways that cyber criminals can wreak havoc with your life, they are three of the most popular. There is very little that cyber security in the Northern Rivers is extremely important now and the need for it is on the rise. The team at Netlogyx are experts in this field and know what it takes to stay a step ahead if the cyber crims. If you have any questions about cyber security in the Northern Rivers or would like Netlogyx to audit your current set up then don’t waste anytime now, there are already very bad people plotting to steal your information, Neylogyx will help you stop them.
Read MoreWhat Are The Different Types Of Backup Servers
Choosing your form of backup storage for your business is an important decision and the team at Netlogyx are experts in this field and can also help with all your Gold Coast IT Solutions. Our working life is becoming busier every year and the amount of data that we use and need access to is increasing as well. We have grown from kilobyte to gigabyte to terabyte to petabyte and so on up to a yottabyte which can hold more than 45 trillion 25GB Blu Ray discs. It can be daunting to consider where to store all your data, below we will explore what are the different types of backup servers? 1. Why back up servers? Think of a backup server as a data safety net for your business to save all your important files. If for some reason your system should crash, then you will have a ready-made replacement of all your data. You can hold your servers on site or back up to remotely to servers off site, the ability to schedule regular backups ensures that your data will always be the most recent available. There can be many reasons that data failure can occur. • Hardware or Software failure • Data corruption • Human error • Malicious attack – virus or malware Knowing that you will have access to your backup data when required will take the panic away from any of the above situations. Speak to the team at Netlogyx for any advice on backup servers and all your Gold Coast IT Solutions. 2. Full This is most complete and basic form of backup. With a full back up you take a copy of all data on your system to your backup server. Whilst this is the most comprehensive backup and will result in a shorter time to restore your data, the downside is that it takes longer to perform, and you will require more storage. Full backups usually take place once a day but can be done more regularly is required. 3. Incremental As the name suggests when doing an incremental backup, you will only copy the data that has changed since the last backup. By using time stamps the system can compare the new data and copy that to your backup file. The incremental backup can be run as often as your business sees fit as there is less data being backed up the speeds are far greater. Less storage is required for this style of back up as well. 4. Differential This is a very similar form of backup to the Incremental backup. For the first backup it will save any changes made from the previous backup. After that it will copy data changed from the previous full back up. Whilst this will hold more stored data than an incremental backup it will be less than a full backup. It is also a slower process than an incremental and will require more space for data. There are many ways in which you can utilize the backup options with many businesses using the following. • Full Backup daily • Full Backup weekly and Incremental daily • Full Backup weekly and differential daily The backup strategy you decide will depend on protection, performance, data retention and cost. For all the options and to discuss what will work best for your business speak to the team at Netlogyx for all your Gold Coast IT solutions.
Read MoreTop Tips for choosing the best tech solutions for your company?
Choosing the best tech solutions for your company is easy when you have a trusted business providing you with your Gold Coast IT Solutions. Netlogyx has a team of experts with decades of experience in the field ready to take your company to the next level. Choosing the best tech solutions is an important step for many reasons, below we will give you our five top tips. 1. Analyse your business’s needs! This is absolutely number 1 on the list for a reason. Choose your technology and be certain that it covers all the areas you require. The old “measure twice cut once” applies here, having a thorough understanding of your requirements will save some possible costly upgrades or replacement in the future. You may need some of the following – • HR Management • Order Tracking • Database Management • Accounting Ensure the software package you decide fits your business for now and into the future, that leads us to point 2. 2. Updates and Scalability Any solution you implement needs to have scalability, being able to grow with your business without any disruptions to the workflow is important. Seamlessly adding and removing users should be an easy and quick fix. Having solutions that are constantly being reviewed and updated to ensure that are on the cutting edge of technology could be the point of difference between you and your competitors. 3. Tech Support Ok so things will go wrong, no software or solution is fool proof and believe it or not occasionally user error will occur. With the right tech support available provided problems that arise will be fixed usually before it has any chance to have any adverse effects on your business. Good Tech support won’t just be there when the chips are down, they will also train you and your staff and make your transition a smooth one. 24 hour help lines, field technicians and warranty periods are all necessities when it comes to tech support. 4. Security Protecting your company’s data must be the most important requirement of any new tech solution. Financial and employee information are sacred and having the right security in place will give you peace of mind. The digital world is a cruel mistress and unless you protect yourself it will bite you and bite hard. For every honest IT expert there is two dodgy ones just waiting for you to leave a crack in your digital door. 5. Get the right advice. Running your business is hard and you can’t be expected to be across everything all of the time. Seeking the right advice from experts in the field is a great start. Netlogyx has been providing Gold Coast IT Solutions since the birth of the Internet. Putting your trust in the team at Netlogyx will be the best decision you make for your business and will ensure its future success. Take all the guesswork out of your tech solutions and talk to the team at Netlogyx for all your IT Solutions on the Gold Coast.
Read MoreTop Things To Consider When Hiring Tech Support Services
As businesses become more sophisticated and technically advanced they find they need increased levels of IT tech support services on the Gold Coast. Finding the right service for your particular company or organization is important. Below are the top things to consider when hiring tech support services for your business: • The age or maturity of tech support services There are a lot of inexperienced people offering their services as IT support specialists, young companies who as yet have not had the depth of experience needed to deal with all contingencies or advanced problems. You should seek a company with a few good years’ experience. Get a breakdown of the profiles of the techs who will be handling your account. You should be able deal directly with those who are providing your tech support on the Gold Coast and know what their particular expertise is as well as the other members of the company that will be offering support where required. Ask to see qualifications and specific certifications • How large is their client base You should ideally look for an IT support company with a large client base as they will have more experience in dealing with the more difficult areas • Do they have their own help desk? Find out if the tech support service on the Gold Coast operate their own customer service and help desk or do they use a cloud based service to handle this part of their operation. Do they monitor your IT services themselves or do they outsource this? If they are just playing middleman you may be better off looking elsewhere as it’s better to have a company who is big enough and have the resources to do everything in house • How do they resolve issues and disputes? You need to understand their policies on issues and disputes and how they go about resolving issues. Ask to view some customer reviews from clients that are contactable • Hardware and Software Does their tech support include providing software applications and suitable hardware either onsite or cloud based and what are the conditions and costs? • Service contracts You need to ask for a copy of a standard service contract that would cover your situation and study it in depth with particular regard to response time guarantees and continuity arrangements. Take the time to work out exactly what you need in the way of tech support on the Gold Coast for your particular business operation. Look at all the IT equipment you already have and the remaining expected service life they have left. Consider what your business would gain by having the latest relevant IT equipment and the cost of upgrading. Then find out about the cost of IT management and a complete tech support service for your business. You will be surprised to find just how affordable this service can be and how much it will benefit your business.
Read MoreImportance Of Network Security Audit To Avoid Business Vulnerabilities
The cyber world is full of opportunities for everyone on the planet, with equal internet access for cybercriminals, so a network security audit is vital for your protection. Cybercriminals are just as sophisticated as most search engines and take only a fraction of a second to search your network defenses to find any weaknesses and exploit them. Large companies with seemingly bottomless budgets, were up until recently cybercriminals main targets, but they are carefully guarded so the cybercriminal market have moved its attention to smaller easily penetrated areas. Because of the ever present threat of security breaches IT specialists are constantly checking monitoring and creating new ways to prevent potential threats. What a network security audit does A network audit checks your whole network security system including its hardware, software, apps, data storage and recovery as well as everyone who has access to your network and their devices looking for areas that could become security issues including: • Checking to ensure all components are configured correctly and properly working • Ensuring all components of your networking systems have the latest updates installed • They examine the data flow in and out of your business to see if your system needs modification or safety improvements • They take a very close look at the types of processes and technologies your using for anti-data theft • The audit will make an in depth and thorough analysis of your IT practices and those of everyone who has access to your network with a view to the improvement of security • They will recommend different options to leverage IT security from your existing assets and the measures you need to take and which are the right tools you need for your particular unique operation • Find any areas that need modification or replacement with new and more appropriate options An advantage of having a regular network security audit is that you have a specialist technician with an entirely fresh outlook checking your IT security system and protective measures. This often helps to locate areas that have been missed or neglected. Part of the network security audit is about testing the effectiveness of your whole system and checking for such things as any unauthorized or forgotten wireless network systems or interference that could pose a future risk. Your network security audit will provide you with a detailed report on the health of your IT security system and any measures and changes you need to implement to provide a more secure networking environment. This may mean you need to change some or all of your security polices and standards. The threat of cyber attacks, data theft and malicious attacks designed to modify your computer programs and coding, often with disastrous and damaging consequences will always be part of life on the internet. Everyone needs to take the appropriate measures to eliminate security weaknesses and possible breaches such as having a regular network audit made on your business systems to minimise the risk of cyber threats with cost effective and reliable technologies by a reliable and competent IT provider.
Read MoreWhat Is The Importance Of Network Security Audit?
A network security audit is designed to find areas in your network that may be venerable to attack by hackers or cybercriminals. It’s usually offered by IT managed service providers to ensure the integrity of your network. A thorough investigation is made of your cybersecurity assets and policies as well as they way you apply them to ensure you’re not at risk of a security breach. The exact method will vary depending on your network operation and they type of website you have, but the basic steps are similar to: • Asset Identification The first thing that must be done is to identify all your network assets including the devices of all people who access to it. The operating systems of all users must be checked and analyzed • Security policy reviews Reviewing who has access to which areas of your network and accessing whether other parties are a security breach. Making sure all the relevant standards are being used and analyses the technologies, controls and uses of the various devices • Updates Ensures that all manufacturers updates of hardware, software and apps are current and working • Risk Assessment Looks at assessing the possible risks and or threats to your business and what impact they could have. Placing of safety nets in case of breaches to minimise any damage and downtimes. Then prioritise all possible threat controls from the largest threat with the simplest fix to the threat that’s the most difficult to remedy • Firewall Configuration review Your network security audit will involve reviewing your fire wall, its configured and ensure it meets the latest protocols and how it deals with remote access • Penetration testing This is a test of all your security measures, where the auditors use the latest techniques to try every possible way to break your security in order to find any weaknesses that may have been missed so they can fix these issues After your network security audit has been completed the auditors will provide you a detailed report that explains any issues they found and the remedies they used to settle these issues. This report is very important because it helps you understand the areas that you need to take particular care in for you future security management and deploy extra measures to keep those areas secure. Network security is a major issue with all businesses from sole traders with none or only one employee to multinational corporations. Cyber criminals are actively searching for website they can corrupt and invade so it’s vital you take every possible precaution to safeguard you network and business. A full network security audit should be done at least once a year for low risk businesses but if you’re dealing with a lot of sensitive information you network is a prime target and should be reviewed and audited on a much more regular basis possibly monthly. A cyberattack or security breach can destroy a business overnight and also leave you open to litigation
Read MoreHow Does Cyber Security Help With Authentic Transactions?
The whole world is now getting into internet marketing and virtual stores, so you can purchase almost anything online from any part of the world. Getting it home is another problem with today’s pandemic restrictions, but even those issues are being addressed online. The biggest issue facing everyone, is cybersecurity. Cyber Security in Northen Rivers are helping businesses, companies and individuals prepare themselves and their online presence to deal with cybersecurity What do we mean by Cybersecurity? Cybersecurity encompasses all aspects of protecting our data and personal information, health information, intellectual properties and personal information. Cybersecurity also extends to protecting anyone who has access to our network or interacts with any of or online entities • Cyber Risk Everyone’s cyber risks are increasing rapidly because they’re being driven by global connectivity and economic necessity. The covid-19 pandemic has forced many people below the poverty line, people who were thriving, but now are desperately looking for ways to make money to survive. With so many millions of people now having access to the internet, many with little internet training or awareness of how to protect themselves from cybercrime, there are many opportunities for fraud and black-market enterprises to take advantage of the unwary or uneducated • Inadequate Precautions The days of having a safe internet presence living behind and protected by firewalls and antivirus software are long gone. Cyber threats can come from anywhere, internally as well as externally from a variety of social scams like phishing to ransomware and malware designed to steal data or extort money from you. If you’re not worried about your cybersecurity then you need to be and take action now, contact cyber security northern rivers to find the best ways to safeguard yourself and property from cyber-criminals • Technology Reliant The world and everyone in it is becoming more reliant on technology and so cybercriminals now have to become more sophisticated and adapt to new strategies. At first they were mainly going after the big fish, multinational companies and corporations who had almost unlimited budgets. But now those companies are heavily protected so cyber crime has turned to small and individuals who are not so well guarded and are easy prey. • Using cyber security to authenticate transactions It’s vital that whenever you’re on the internet you are using cybersecurity measures to protect and authenticate your transactions to ensure that your data and personal information is secure from cyber attack. Cybercriminals can plant spyware into your system without your knowledge that tracks your movements and can affect third and fourth parties you interact with, gaining credit card numbers, bank account numbers and passwords, making your accounts and assets venerable as well as being able to access those you deal with. This makes vendor risk management and cyber security of vital importance Isolate your vital data It is important to ensure all your vital data is protected and not kept openly on your network as in the event of a security a breach, your sensitive data could be exposed and stolen or used without your knowledge. Today it’s important to ensure you are fully protected from cyber threats and that you use cyber security Northern Rivers to authenticate any transaction you have on the internet or using your sensitive information as without adequate protect you are wide open to cyber fraud.
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