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IT-Apprenticeships

Can apprenticeships solve the IT skills shortage?

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There has been a serious shortage of suitable skilled IT professionals for some time and it is only likely to get worse as fewer people come from the EU to work in the UK because of uncertainty about their status after Brexit.

Surveys have found that 50% of respondents see the skills shortage as a serious problem, and 25% said recruitment was a major challenge.

Certainly, there is evidence that schools need to do more to encourage students and improve their IT skills.  This is something businesses can help with by getting involved in in-school workshops and activities and by publicising the range of their activities in the workplace that need IT skills.

The apprenticeship levy imposed by the Government on larger businesses was supposed to generate money to increase the number of apprenticeships but the results have so far been disappointing in terms of the numbers of apprenticeships that have been created since it was introduced last year.

However, many smaller businesses do not realise that they can get financial help to take on apprentices themselves.

If your business is below the level where it has to pay the apprenticeship levy, you pay just 10% towards the cost of training and assessing an apprentice aged 19-plus.

If your business qualifies it needs to agree a payment schedule with the training organisation and pay it directly, while the Government pays the remaining 90%. For apprentices aged 16-18 the Government will pay the full 100%.

However, your business also must show that any apprenticeship scheme involves the apprentice working with experienced staff, learns job-specific skills and carries out formal study, such as at a college or other training centre, during their working week.

If you are considering setting up an apprenticeship scheme, you will need to find an organisation that offers training for the type of scheme you are considering.

Given the likelihood that there will continue to be a shortage of qualified IT professionals for some time it is worth small businesses considering taking on apprentices.

There is a lot of information about both setting up and funding an apprenticeship here

micosoft-surface-pro-care

Tips to take care of your Surface touchscreen

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We have recently been receiving several Surface Pro touchscreen tablets for repair most often because of cracked screens.
These are expensive machines to buy and to fix, and often we’re told when they have been brought to us that children have been using them.
We have some tips for taking care of your Surface Pro, and high on the list, therefore, is to ensure that children are taught that they only need a light touch but also that they must take care not to drop them!
Screens need to be kept clean and grease free. Scratches, finger grease, dust, chemicals, and ultraviolet light can affect their performance, so they should be gently wiped using a lint-free cloth dampened with a little bit of mild soap and water, or with screen wipes. You should never apply liquids directly onto the screen.
Keep your screen out of direct sunlight as prolonged exposure to ultraviolet light or excessive heat can damage the display. You should also always close the cover when the machine is not in use.
It is also important to look after your machine’s battery. While all rechargeable batteries do eventually wear out you can prolong their life with these tips:
• Once a month, let your battery drain below half way before charging it.
• Avoid having your Surface plugged in 24/7.
• Store your Surface in a cool, dry room when you’re not using it.
If you are not going to be using your Surface Pro for an extended period, it is a good idea to charge it to 50% every six months to help make sure it stays chargeable.
Power cables can also be vulnerable. They can be weakened or damaged if repeatedly twisted or bent in the same spot.
So you should avoid pinching or twisting the power cord or wrapping it tightly. It’s better to wrap it in loose coils.

GDPR-Compliant

GDPR is looming – is your business ready?

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It is reported that many small businesses are still either unaware of or unready for the new data protection regime, GDPR, that comes into force in May this year.

Businesses will have to ensure that any information they keep on their customers is stored securely, and this applies to both online and paper-based records.

They must also be able to remove any personal information if the customer requests it.

If any services are outsourced to another provider, they too must be GDPR compliant, and both will need to appoint a data operations manager to be responsible for security and compliance.

The new regulations will apply to even the smallest businesses if they keep customer records and there is plenty of advice on what they need to do on the ICO (Information Commissioners Office) website.  This is the best source for information as the ICO will be regulating compliance and has the power to issue fines for non-compliance.

Two particularly helpful guides are the 12 steps to take now downloadable PDF and the checklists on the website, one for data controllers and the other for data processors, available here

At Colchester IT, we can assure our customers that we have already put systems in place to ensure everything is secure.

All websites are stored on third party software to ensure security and all data is now held on a separate server, not accessible to outsiders nor wifi enabled. Everything is also password protected.

In any event we only hold on to data for a maximum of 30 days.

We have also taken steps to ensure that any third party suppliers we use are GDPR compliant and of course, we ask for permission before we send customers any e-newsletters and updates.

We also ensure paper-based records are regularly shredded.

End-of-TomTom

Time to ditch the TomTom?

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We have quickly come to rely on sat-navs, rather than physical maps, to help us get from place to place and nowadays we can use direction finders on our mobile phones instead of buying a special gadget.

But how many people have, and still use, that first well-known sat-nav, the TomTom?

Well that may not be an option for much longer, especially if you still have one of the older versions.

In late January this year TomTom announced that it was no longer be providing updated maps for some of the devices.

A spokesman for the company said: “It has become clear that some of our older generation navigation devices do not have sufficient resources to run the newest maps and software.”

TomTom will still be updating some models – “for their useful life”, and owners are warned that they should not assume map updates will continue indefinitely. It said active subscriptions to map updates will continue until subscriptions run out, but customers will not be able to renew maps or receive new software updates.

There is a list of those devices which will no longer receive updates on the TomTom website.

Apple-losing-its-edge

Is Apple losing its edge?

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Apple laptops and desktops are often the favourite hardware for businesses, partly for quality and partly because they have always been seen as largely hack-proof.

But a recent problem has caused some technical writers to question whether the “big A” is beginning to lose its edge.

A flaw was discovered in the most recent version of MacOS High Sierra, that enabled anyone to enter the machine without a password.

The bug was discovered in late November by a Turkish developer, who discovered that entering the username “root” and leaving the password field blank, hitting “enter” a few times, he could gain access to the machine.

The vulnerability, which fortunately could not be used remotely, could give someone with root access more powers than a normal user, for example to read and write files to other accounts.

More seriously a superuser with root access and with malicious intent could have deleted crucial system files, rendering the computer useless – or install malware that might be undetectable to typical security software.

Apple issued a temporary workaround by allowing users to set a root password while it fixed the problem.

The instructions are here

However, according to the tech publication WIRED, there were more problems when Apple rushed out a patch, within 18 hours, and users discovered that the “root” bug returned if they updated to the 10.13.1, version.  The machine had to be re-booted for the patch to work, but Apple had not included this in the instructions.

Slow-Broadband

Broadband speeds are not what they’re claimed to be?

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Broadband speeds are not what they’re claimed to be

A new survey by Which? has found that more than half of internet users are getting broadband speeds that are up to 62% slower than their providers claim.

The Which? figures taken from more than 700,000 consumer speed checker tests and compared with information collected in 2016 by Ofcom, found that in in 52% of local authority areas, people are recording median speeds that are at least 10 per cent slower than the median speeds estimated by providers.

Moreover in 35% of areas speeds are up to 20% slower.

The list of regions with broadband slower than the recommended 10Mpbs includes Ryedale, Purbeck, West Devon and Powys. While, along with Tamworth, Reading, Luton and Enfield get some of the quickest speeds.

Which? MD of home services said that in some locations “there can be a big gap between what people may expect versus what they actually experience in their homes”.

He questioned whether customers were really getting the service they were paying for.

It is timely, then, that Ofcom has recently announced that customers are to be automatically compensated by providers for delays in fixing problems with landlines and broadband, including for slow repairs, missed appointments and delayed installations.

Under its new scheme, to be introduced in 2019, customers will automatically get £8 for every calendar day on which the service is not repaired, after two full working days. They will also get £25 for an engineer missing an appointment or cancelling with less than 24 hours’ notice, and £5 for each calendar day without service after the day they were promised a provider would start that service.

Although the compensation does not cover slow broadband speeds, the Ofcom ruling is a welcome step in getting providers to improve their services to customers.

High Sierra before you update

Before updating to High Sierra, what to know

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Apple’s new OS system

Many businesses will use Apple computers believing that the technology is far superior and less vulnerable to hacking and viruses.

However, reviewers of the latest version of the operating system, MacOS High Sierra, warn Mac users to wait a while before installing it and to make sure they do an external back-up before they begin.

According to The Independent tech reviewer Andrew Griffin, in late September, there are two main reasons to wait a few days before installing: “the risks are much higher and the rewards are much less interesting.”

The danger is that in installation, he says, cherished pictures and other data could be lost, and this will be a catastrophe if the installation is on the owner’s main computer.

The High Sierra system has completely revamped the way files are stored with the intention of speeding up some computer tasks. But the question is whether the new system is quite glitch-free.

MacWorld’s Dominic Preston has compared the High Sierra Version with the previous Sierra version and concluded that it isn’t “the most exciting” MacOS upgrade.

On the subject of the revamped file system MacWorld’s review says:

“First of all, copying files and finding the size of files and folders should now be near-instantaneous, the sort of small improvement that will add up over long-term use.

It also helps keep files safe thanks to built-in encryption, data protection for power outages and system crashes, and simplified data backup. It’s also compatible with HFS drives and data so you shouldn’t lost anything during the upgrade – though we’d still always recommend a backup first.”

There have been tweaks to Safari to prevent auto-playing videos and include tracking prevention. There have also been tweaks to mail and messages.

Preston’s conclusion is that there is little reason to not upgrade to High Sierra, but he, too recommends a back-up just in case.

Faster-broadband

Do you need faster broadband?

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How crucial to your business is a faster download speed?

It may be in the interests of Internet service providers to increase their revenue by encouraging you to upgrade to a service that gives you faster connectivity and download speeds, but it is wise to do the research before committing.

Firstly, it’s about bandwidth, expressed as Megabits per second (Mbps).  The larger the bandwidth, the more and faster data can be moved.

Secondly, it is about the purposes for which you use the internet – whether it is downloading movies, using VOIP to make conference calls between different parts of your business and with customers, or simple email communication and internet browsing.  Does your business have to regularly upload large files?

For example, it can be a problem if VOIP calls are constantly breaking up or interrupted when the participants are in the midst of an important discussion or negotiation.

Having defined the purposes for which your business uses the internet the next step is to check on what bandwidth your internet service provider (ISP) is offering, in theory and in practice.

Why might you want to check your bandwidth?

It may be that you think, or suspect, that you are not getting the bandwidth you’re paying for, either on purpose or because something is wrong. Signs may be web pages taking a long time to load or the VOIP example mentioned earlier.

Perhaps, also, you want to check that the internet speed is adequate for a service you are considering buying.

While there are plenty of online free services to test your download speed, it is a good idea to use the test offered by your ISP.  You should do several tests over the course of a day and take screenshots of each, identified with date and time.

This will give you the evidence you need if the service you are paying for is not as good as you have been promised and you want to challenge your ISP.

However, there are other variables that it is worth bearing in mind that can affect internet speed. This is why ISPs always promise speeds of “up to” stated Mbps. The service is being shared with other households and businesses in the neighbourhood and the factors that will affect it include how may users are online at a given time and, within a company where there will be multiple users, how many people are using the system, and for what operations, at the same time.

Only once a business has gathered all the information, defined its internet needs and done the checks will it be in a position to decide whether paying for faster speeds is going to be viable and necessary.

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How to avoid email phishing scams

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According to the security software provider Malwarebytes 33% of businesses have suffered a ransomware attack in the last 12 months.

Their research also revealed that 20% of UK businesses feel they’d have no chance in stopping a ransomware attack.

But actually, there is a lot that a business can do to protect itself, especially since the majority of approaches designed to either get the recipient to share their personal bank details or to install malicious software that locks the machine until a ransom is paid.

Emails that appear to come from a bank, from HMRC (HM Revenue and Customs) or from well-known companies, even social media accounts like Facebook, often either alert you to a problem, such as a suspended account, or to your being due a refund.  The giveaway is that invariably the message will include an invitation to click on a link in the email.

The main thing to be aware of, apart from the obvious one that you may not in fact have ever used that particular organisation’s services, is that in general neither banks nor HMRC will contact you via email with such information.

Unless you have specifically set up e-mail communication with the bank or other organisation an obvious giveaway of a fake is that it will not detail account numbers but also full names and may also contain spelling mistakes or grammar oddities.

Firstly, businesses should make sure every employee is alert to the possibility of emails being fake, regardless of how authentic the branding may look, and make sure they never click on any links contained in a suspect email.

If you have any doubts, the first thing to do is to hover the cursor over the alleged sender’s email address without clicking on or tapping it.  It should reveal the detailed address, and that will usually be enough to make you suspicious.

Your can do the same with any link in the email you are invited to open. If you are still unsure, log on to the organisation’s website from elsewhere, NOT via the email and check what it says about communications security and any specific alerts mentioned in the email.

Alternatively, if an email appears to come from an organisation with which you do have dealings it is always worth a phone call to check whether it is authentic.

Finally, report or flag the email either to your email provider or the organisation named in the email and alert them to the attempted scam.

Online-security-is-a-must-for-businesses

Online security is a must for businesses

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Businesses should be much more aware of online security after last month’s WannaCry ransomware cyber-attack attacked 200,000 computers in 150 countries, causing chaos for the UK’s NHS.

So many businesses these days rely on their IT systems for record keeping and for communications that it makes sense to do everything possible to keep them both secure and running. Ransomware attacks can take over a machine and lock the owner out until they pay a fee to the hacker.

It is estimated that such incidents have increased by 50% in the last 12 months.

The first thing to do is to ensure that the operating system is up to date, and that any security patches issued by the provider are installed promptly.

Also make sure to protect the system with a reputable anti-virus protection programme.

Remember that as Microsoft rolls out new operating systems, sooner or later it will withdraw support for older ones. This was part of the problem with the NHS meltdown, where some of its system was still using Windows XP, long after Microsoft withdrew support.

The second thing to do is to ensure that all data crucial to the business’ operation is backed up elsewhere, either in the cloud or on an external hard drive, preferably both.

Thirdly, all staff should be trained to be on the alert for suspicious e-mails and above all to never click on any links they contain.  Often such emails will appear to come from a reputable organisation, such as HMRC.

If in doubt about a link, hover the mouse over the link and the complete URL will pop up.  That is often a good indication that it is suspicious. Further checks could be done by either calling the sender or checking its website via a search engine not via any links in an email.

Remote monitoring by your IT support company is another option.  We offer remote monitoring and back-up options via AVG.  Better to be safe than sorry when your livelihood is at stake.