Intune for Education

Today, Microsoft showcased a range of low-cost Windows 10 PCs designed for the education sector, priced as low as $189. These devices, it said, "offer the power, performance and security schools need at the same price as Chromebooks, with none of the compromises."

But if schools, colleges and universities around the world are going to be buying these affordable PCs for hundreds, or even thousands, of their students, they'll need the tools to manage those devices at scale. Microsoft is now introducing Intune for Education, a spin-off from its device and software management suite for businesses, to help them do so.

"Specially designed for schools who want to put devices in classrooms and not touch them again for the rest of the school year," Microsoft explained, "Intune for Education makes it easy for either IT admins, or teachers playing the role of IT in the classroom, to get up-and-running in minutes on Windows 10 devices and easily manage shared devices."

Intune for Education promises "simple Windows 10 management", with the ability to quickly establish policies, settings and software installations for devices and groups of users "in a matter of minutes".

"Schools can customize over 150 granular settings, assign them to a student and apply them to hardware, apps, browsers, the start menu, Windows Defender and more," Microsoft added. "These settings follow the user to any device when they sign in."

Intune for Education supports the Windows Store for Business to deploy apps to managed devices, and the management suite also integrates with Microsoft cloud services like Office 365 Education, as well as other products:

Intune for Education is perfectly suited for schools of any size that want a cloud-based solution to manage their Windows 10 devices. Because Intune for Education is based on Microsoft Intune, larger school districts or schools with large, full-time IT departments can take advantage of cross-platform support to manage iOS and Android devices and integration with System Center Configuration Manager, if they choose.

Microsoft will launch a preview of Intune for Education "in the coming weeks", with general availability scheduled for this spring, priced at $30 per device, or through volume licensing agreements.

Want to learn more about Micosoft products in Ireland or managing devices for your business? Get in contact with us via email at info@worksmart.ie or by phone at 01 253 0480.

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Rise in cyber fraud

Fraud has seen a rise over the last year according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), with a reported 5.6 million incidents of fraud and cybercrime in the UK last year. Of that number, two million incidents related to computer misuse offences.

According to the ONS’ latest annual Crime Survey of England and Wales (CSEW), which included statistics for fraud and cybercrime for the first time, there was an annual rise of 3% in fraud offences in the year ending September 2016.

“In the past, burglary and theft of vehicles were the high volume crimes driving trends”

“Today’s figures demonstrate how crime has changed, with fraud now the most commonly experienced offence”.

A 39% increase was reported in fraud on UK-issued bank and credit cards, the survey showed.

This comes after a spike in card fraud was identified in 2016, resulting in losses worth approximately $118 million.

The ONS stated that headline figures reported “an estimated 6.2 million incidents of crime” in the year ending in September 2016, notably showing no significant change from the year before.

Commenting on the data, chief constable Jeff Farrar, from the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said that “the vast majority of these (offenses) are not reported to the police, who have only seen a 3% increase in fraud offences”.

“The ability to commit crime online demonstrates the need for policing to adapt and transform to tackle these cyber challenges”

“Working with the Home Office, Association of Police and Crime Commissioners and industry colleagues, chief constable Stephen Kavanagh is leading on the digital policing programme to develop new tactics and capabilities to catch these offenders and help protect people online.”

Last year, a report from Europol put the “relentless growth” in cybercrime down to “an increase in the number of cybercriminals and the highly profitable opportunities they are looking to exploit.”

This rise could be attribted to the rise in phishing scams. We talked about phishing in a previous blog post here.

For more information about how you can ensure that you have enterprise quality IT security in Ireland get in contact with us via email at info@worksmart.ie or by phone at 01 253 0480.

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Lenovo Initiatives Recognized By White House

During his time in office, President Barack Obama has called upon leaders in education, business, and nonprofits to give every student access to computer science and STEM education to ensure they’re equipped with the tools needed to be innovators and problem solvers. During the sixth and final White House Science Fair on April 13, 2016, Lenovo was among a number of companies and organizations recognized for answering this call.

STEM is a curriculum based on the idea of educating students in four specific disciplines — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — in an interdisciplinary and applied approach. Rather than teach the four disciplines as separate and discrete subjects, STEM integrates them into a cohesive learning paradigm based on real-world applications.

At Lenovo, we’re not just committed to creating technology for classrooms but also empowering students and teachers with technology skills needed to succeed in the future. Two of our STEM initiatives were highlighted by the White House, including the company’s partnership with NAF as part of the Lenovo Scholar Network and Lenovo in the Classroom Day volunteer initiative. Both represent our continued commitment to bringing STEM learning opportunities and technology and human capital resources to students.

Bringing a mobile app development curriculum and delivery program to NAF (formerly known as National Academy Foundation) academies-- small learning communities within traditional high schools-- the Lenovo Scholar Network offers both the curriculum and laptop and tablet devices needed to provide exposure and encourage interest in STEM learning and careers. The Lenovo Scholar Network mobile app development program is tailored to reach high schools students from urban, underrepresented communities and children of military families.

Lenovo have also partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to give participating Lenovo Scholar Network academies access to the MIT Media Lab’s App Inventor development tool to build and test student apps. They also get access to tech support during the school year.  As of the 2015-2016 academic year, the program now includes 30 NAF academy classrooms, providing more than 1,200 students with a rich application development curriculum and STEM education. Planning is underway with NAF to add 20 more high school classrooms for the 2016-2017 academic year.

In addition to these efforts, Lenovo supports a number of other STEM initiatives. Lenovo have sponsored the Kramden Institute since 2006, helping students refurbish thousands of computers while learning STEM skills.  Additionally, Lenovo are currently sponsoring the Fabfinder talent search for up-and-coming reporters to appear in FabLab, a multi-media initiative featuring STEM opportunities for teens, especially girls. The talent search gives young people a chance to showcase their interest in STEM and connect with the next generation of STEM leaders and auditions will close on May 4, 2016.

We are honored that the White House has recognized Lenovo’s efforts to promote STEM learning and skill development in communities across the United States. We are excited to continue to support these programs and help inspire the next generations of STEM innovators.

Want to learn more about Lenovo and their products in Ireland? Get in contact with us via email at info@worksmart.ie or by phone at 01 253 0480.

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ESET - Simply the best!

In the latest AV-TEST product review and certification report ESET Internet Security received 6 out of 6 points in protection and a 100% rating, compared to the industry average of 98% on protection against 0-day malware attacks, inclusive of web and e-mail threats.

AV-TEST is an independent organization which evaluates and rates antivirus and security suite software for Microsoft Windows and Android operating systems, according to a variety of criteria.

ESET Internet Security version 10 received 6 out of 6 points on protection (against malware infections), 4.5 out of 6 on performance (average influence of the product on computer speed in daily usage), and 6 out of 6 on usability (the impact of the security software on the usability of the whole computer).

Check out the results here

You can never be too sure about your businesses security, for more information about professional IT consultancy in Ireland get in contact with us via email at info@worksmart.ie or by phone at 01 253 0480.

Contact Info can be found here.

Fishing for Phish

Phishing scams have become quite popular in recent times, tricking users into unknowingly providing sensitive information to hackers. Users can quickly find that they have lost access to accounts or that there has been authorized use of credit card details.

Phishing is the attempt to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details by disguising as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.

Phising is most common with emails, where the sender can disguise themselves as a particular person by either setting the senders name or by using a compomised email account of a trustworthy person. However phishing can come in many forms such as SMS or instant messaging.

A hacker could pretend to be a online shop retailer asking the user to update their bank details or a website asking for the user to update their password.

Here are few guidelines to help employees be smart about phishing e-mails:

1. Training - Train employees to be suspicious of any e-mail that asks for personal information – whether their own or that of others.
2. Update - Make sure employees don’t delay updating your browser and antivirus.
3. Protection - Make sure your antivirus suite involves phishing protection.
4. Caution - Don’t provide personal information via e-mail. If you must and it appears from a boss or co-worker, check the source and make sure the origin is correct. An employee can always pick up the phone and double-check that their boss or co-worker really sent the message. Remember not to get mad at an employee for calling to check – they’re being responsible!
5. Secure - If you do have to enter personal information from work (things happen and life doesn’t always wait until you’re home), make sure that the URL begins with “https://” (Hyper Text Transfer ProtocolSecure) and that the URL is spelled correctly. Make sure a lock icon appears beside the URL. You can click on this to see the website’s security certificate.
6. Report - Report suspicious messages as phishing scams. If they’re related to your company, make sure they’re collected by IT. If your IT department sees a pattern of phishing attempts, they may be able to identify the beginnings of a targeted hack against your company.

For more information about how you can ensure that you have enterprise quality IT security in Ireland get in contact with us via email at info@worksmart.ie or by phone at 01 253 0480.

Contact Info can be found here.

Being Prepared for Ransomware

Ransomware has become rampant in recent years, leaving business and ordinary users frustrated with essentially all data on the machine rendered useless.

Ransomware is a highly sophisticated type of malware that encrypts computer files, making them inaccessible to users without a decryption key. Cyber criminals then demand users pay a ransom in order to receive the key to decrypt the files.

Once your data is locked, you face a tough choice: whether or not to pay. If you pay, will you really get your data back anyway?

Law enforcement agencies generally advise against paying digital ransoms on the basis that it could encourage more attacks, but this ignores the reality of organizations confronted with ransom demands. 

Best thing you can do is to be prepared for such an occurrence as once your computer has been compromised, it is very difficult if not impossible to retrieve the lost files. In majority of cases, the scrambled HDD has to be replaced.

The best way to be prepared is by doing the following:

1. Training
2. Regular backups
3. Latest anti malware

A new feature called Ransomware Shield has been added to ESET consumer products and was released on December 12th 2016.

Ransomware malware is covered by ESET with a combination several technologies (Cloud Malware Protection System, Network Attack Protection and DNA Detections) since 2013.

The new Ransomware Shield is introducing another layer of anti-ransomware protection. When Ransomware Shield is active, all executed applications are monitored and evaluated using behavioural and reputation based heuristics. Whenever a behaviour that resembles ransomware is identified, it can be blocked, as well as when the potential malware tries to make modifications to existing files i.e. to encrypt them.

Ransomware Shield will be active by default, but user interaction will be needed in case ransomware is found (notification of suspicious activity is displayed and user needs to decide whether or not to block the malware).

As long as it’s profitable, ransomware will continue to flourish. By taking these steps, we all can help reduce the likelihood of a payout, and defund the scammers. As soon as the money stops, they will too.

You can never be too sure about your businesses security, for more information about professional IT consultancy in Ireland get in contact with us via email at info@worksmart.ie or by phone at 01 253 0480.

Contact Info can be found here.

Irish Firms not prepared for EU regulation

The Information Commissioner’s Office in the UK has released a new set of guidelines aimed at ensuring companies are adequately prepared for the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The GDPR is a regulation by which the European Parliament, the European Council and the European Commission intend to strengthen and unify data protection for individuals within the European Union . It also addresses export of personal data outside the EU. The primary objectives of the GDPR are to give citizens back the control of their personal data and to simplify the regulatory environment for international business by unifying the regulation within the EU.

The document states that decision makers and key members of organizations should make themselves aware of the upcoming changes in the law, and keep a firmer grasp on the details surrounding the information they hold.

Irish firms aren’t prepared for changes to European Data Protection law, according to survey by Mazars and McCann FitzGerald.

According to the survey, many businesses have not yet addressed some of the key requirements of the GDPR. While 82% of organisations think that meeting the challenges of GDPR will be challenging to extremely challenging, only 16% of organisations have actually mobilised a project to meet those compliance requirements. 43% envisage that creating and maintaining an inventory of personal data will be the most challenging requirement to address.

For more information on how your business can be ready before the regulation comes into force on the 25 May 2018, get in contact with us via email at info@worksmart.ie or by phone at 01 253 0480. Contact Info can be found here.

Keep Calm and Stay Secure

As we have seen over the last few years, having sufficient cybersecurity is becoming more and more important. We’ve seen even the largest of corporations have to deal with unauthorized access of sensitive information, such as the case with Yahoo and the massive breach that occurred in 2014. In 2016 alone, over 3 billion customer data records were breached in several high-profile attacks globally.

A key component to ensuring you have the best security is having the latest operating system and up-to-date and tested malware protection, such as ESET. As Microsoft Windows continually improves its security, hackers attack other systems and third-party applications.

Both the growth of the internet and the unsecure Internet of Things (IoT) devices have provided hackers with the necessary tools to carry out larger Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks. In other words, if you use your unsecure toaster to play Spotify, you may also unintentionally be providing a device for hackers to wield in their malicious activities.

Microsoft obviously, with the largest percentage of the OS market, has attempted to do its part to prevent these sort of security flaws. In an effort to mitigate attacks, Microsoft has developed an automated platform, as part of Microsoft Azure, that provides a rapid response to a DDoS attack. 

In November 2015, Microsoft opened the Cyber Defense Operations Center (CDOC) to bring together the company’s cybersecurity specialists and data scientists to combat cyber adversaries.

In the year since opening, we have advanced the policies and practices that accelerate the detection, identification and resolution of cybersecurity threats.

So next time you are shopping around for your next refrigerator, be sure to ask the retailer that it has the latest security patches and malware protection.

However if you are a business looking for professional IT Consultancy in Ireland , get in contact with us via email at info@worksmart.ie or by phone at 01 253 0480. Contact Info can be found here.

Cybercriminals get into festive spirit

The group behind the CryptXXX ransomware, which covertly installs itself onto the machines of users who access compromised websites and encrypts their data, have gotten into the Christmas spirit by offering their victims a staggering 50% reduction in their asking price until December 31st.

Ransomware is a type of malicious software designed to prevent users access to a computer system or their files by encrypting it. They offer to decrypt it once a sum of money is paid.

Previously, CryptXXX asked for a payment of 1.2 Bitcoin (BTC), about €944.91. However upon visiting one of the payment sites they can be seen to be offering the decryption of data for just 0.5 BTC or roughly €393.71 at current exchange rates.

Kaspersky have offered a free tool that will decrypt the data previously inaccessible by the infected users. This is the third attempt made by the CryptXXX team to make the users data unusable, and this is now the third time that their attempts have been delt with swiftly.

“Victims may genuinely believe they are receiving a ‘good’ deal to decrypt their data, but by paying the ransom they are motivating cybercriminals to continue such malicious activities.”

It can be assumed that the group lowered the price in the hope that victims of the malware will pay up before they realize that a tool can now retrieve their data for free.

For more information about how you can ensure that you have enterprise quality IT security in Ireland get in contact with us via email at info@worksmart.ie or by phone at 01 253 0480.

Contact Info can be found here.

Ubiquiti riding high

Ubiquiti seems to still be on the rise as shares broke into a new 52-week high yesterday, hitting a peak of $58.63. Shares closed at $57.78 after opening at $57.82. The company now has a market cap of $4.75 billion.

Ubiquiti Networks Inc develops high performance networking technology for service providers & enterprises. It offers fixed wireless broadband, wireless backhaul systems, routing, wireless LAN infrastructure & video surveillance products, and among others.

Ubiquiti remains optimistic about its robust position in the wireless broadband market and improving foothold in the enterprise WLAN access point markets.

The continuing rise of the companies' status seems to be as a result of the rapidly growing and highly engaged community of service providers, distributors, value-added resellers, systems integrators and corporate IT professionals.

Want to learn more about Ubiquiti and their products in Ireland? Get in contact with us via email at info@worksmart.ie or by phone at 01 253 0480.

Contact Info can be found here.

Microsoft seeks “digital civility”

Thanks to the rise of mobile devices, we’ve never lived in a more connected world. However, while it’s easier than ever to access a wide range of Internet services, providers of popular online services such as Microsoft, Google and Facebook believe that they can ensure that users access these services in a safer way.

Microsoft already takes online safety very seriously, as the company introduced this year new resources for reporting inappropriate content and hate speech on its various consumer services. A few months ago, the company also announced it plans to release a short series of research studies about online safety ahead of the celebration of the Safer Internet Day 2017 on February 7.

First of all, the company will publish a new study called “Civility, Safety and Interaction Online – 2016,” on Safer Internet Day 2017, which was completed by polling teens and adults in 14 countries about their experiences with various online risks. “We hope these findings will serve as an evidentiary base for a global push toward “digital civility” – healthy behaviors for youth and adults alike, both online and off, grounded in respect, constructive interaction and inclusion,” added Beauchere.

Additionally, the Redmond giant will release new educational resources on Safer Internet Day 2017 to suggest some “smart practices” for teens, adults, educators, technology companies and more. However, the exec noted that she expects online safety to remain a complicated topic with evolving threats that none of us can really anticipate.

"While we’re encouraged by our new campaign for digital civility and some favorable early feedback, we don’t profess to have all the answers – not by any stretch. On the contrary, new concerns and fresh twists on age-old internet issues continue to surface regularly, with many problems presenting a delicate balancing of interests. So, as one step, we want to get back to basics and encourage civility and respect in all online interactions."

Want to learn more about Microsoft and their products in Ireland? Get in contact with us via email at info@worksmart.ie or by phone at 01 253 0480.

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Cisco Meraki looks to the hotel market with its new Wi-Fi gear

Meraki announced their latest access points, which looks to shake things up with a more personalized hotel WiFi experience. The new access points can work with Bluetooth beacons to track a guests' location on the premises, if they don’t mind the hotel tracking their location.

The new MR30H access point from Cisco Meraki will work with small wireless location devices that stores the guests location.

The benefits, as long as guests are willing to opt in, could include things like having an attendant walk up and offer a drink or a towel as you go out to the pool, thanks to your frequent-guest status, said Pablo Estrada, Meraki’s director of marketing.

Because some travelers might be uncomfortable giving a hotel all this information, Meraki says it gives its customers guidelines for making sure guests know what’s involved and can opt out.

Want to learn more about Cisco Meraki and their products in Ireland? Get in contact with us via email at info@worksmart.ie or by phone at 01 253 0480.

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Microsoft uses AI to predict outcome of eye surgery

Microsoft used its' Azure machine learning and Power BI services to analyze patterns among eye surgeries undertaken in India with the help of non-profit LV Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI). The study was used to predict the outcome for eye surgery patients.

India accounts for nearly 55 million of the 285 million eye disease cases worldwide.

“By using our capabilities and pioneering work in the field of machine learning over the years, Microsoft has helped accelerate digital transformation in various key sectors in India, including agriculture and education. Today, I am happy to take forward the work we have done in healthcare with an esteemed set of partners. MINE, a global collaboration, reinforces Microsoft’s belief in the combined power of data, cloud and advanced analytics to drive public good. In our shared vision to eradicate preventive blindness, MINE will help redefine eyecare by bringing together the power of technology and knowledge of global experts” -  Anil Bhansali, Managing Director, Microsoft India

Microsoft had to wade  through 1.1 million anonymized records in order to provide insight to doctors about how the blindness spreads in the country.

Microsoft says it utilized Azure machine learning service to crunch the numbers and Power BI service to visualize the numbers. These numbers helped the doctors, Microsoft says, to ascertain how much time a patient has before their eye issues extrapolate. 

Microsoft says after going through such voluminous data, its AI-platform was also able to predict how likely it is that doctors will be able to successfully perform eye surgeries. Though the company didn't share how accurate its projections have been, it said it is ready to expand the initiatives with other academic and research organizations.  

Want to learn more about Microsoft and their products in Ireland? Get in contact with us via email at info@worksmart.ie or by phone at 01 253 0480.

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Why does your business need a Managed IT Service?

This is an important question to ask when you have a business full of computers, servers and employees. "What will I get with managed services that I couldn’t get with a break-fix solution?”
                        
Information technology (IT) systems are expected to meet high standards of operation, while offering 24/7 availability, security, and performance. In today’s environment, you have to keep pace with the constant changes in IT, performance demands, and pressure to deliver competitive IT functionality. To meet these challenges, many organizations consider outsourcing their IT activities to be an attractive option.
                       

What is a Managed Services Provider?

Managed Services Provider (MSP) lets you delegate specific IT operations to them. The MSP is then responsible for monitoring, managing and/or problem resolution for your IT systems and functions as well as automate the mundane tasks that users can and should do, but often overlook. This includes virus updates software updates and patches, backups, monitoring and inventory auditing and control.

Basic services often start with a monitoring service which notifies you of problems, but you have to resolve them on your own. More intensive services cover everything from alerts through problem resolution.

What’s important to keep in mind with managed services is that it is preventative maintenance, not preventative breakage. While managed services can perform automated tasks, such as alerting when a backup as failed, pushing out patches, monitoring systems and generally optimising the working environment, no amount of preventative maintenance can avoid hardware failures, database corruption, software crashes, or some virus/spyware intrusions. Managed services is about shifting the odds against a catastrophic failure into a more favourable position, so when a catastrophe does occur, backups will be verified and current, an inventory of the systems can be referenced, and repair time and data loss can be limited.

MSPs act as an extension of your IT department, taking care of routine IT infrastructure monitoring and management around the clock and freeing up your IT staff to focus on more important projects. An MSP proactively monitors and maintains your systems in order to help you avoid problems and downtime.

Outsourcing IT is not like outsourcing other services. You maintain control. You decide what you want your provider to take care of and what you want to handle yourself. In addition, the MSP subscription model gives you more budget predictability.

MSPs have become an attractive option for many organisations and should be an integral part of your overall business strategy, involving senior executives and key IT staff. If you are interested in how you can benefit strategically, financially, and technologically by working with worksmart :

Contact worksmart today to get a no-cost, no-obligation managed services consultation for your business.