Web apps allow users to work faster and more flexibly. They also contain vulnerabilities hackers can – and do – exploit.
To give you some context, in 2023, web applications were the main means of breach hackers used. They featuring in 80% of incidents and 60% of breaches.
Why web applications are a top target for attack
First, many web applications carry vulnerabilities or configuration errors. Second, many contain extremely valuable information, such as personal and financial data. A successful breach will give attackers direct access to that data. Barracuda research shows that 40% of IT professionals who’ve been involved in ethical hacking believe web application attacks are among the most lucrative for cyber-attackers, and 55% say the same for APIs.
How to close vulnerabilities
This e-book takes an in-depth look at three critical attack vectors — API vulnerabilities, bot attacks, and client-side attacks — as well as how organisations can fill the gaps in their application security and protect against these evolving threats.
Want to learn more?
Complete IT Systems have a team of Barracuda specialists on hand to demo the solution, discuss business benefits and help you understand how the technology works for your organisation.
To get in touch or request a demo please contact us.
Brother are offering some great printer cashback deals on colour laser, mono laser, inkjet, scanners and labellers this March
Your business can now claim up to £100 cashback or free 3 year warranty on selected devices! This special offer is only available until 31st March, so don’t delay!
Contact us today to learn more about the promotion, what your business can earn, and how we can help you to claim your cashback.
Find out more
Get in touch to find out how Brother solutions can help you improve your business’s resilience.
We generate around 40 million tons of electronic waste around the world every year. That’s like throwing 800 laptops every second.*
Approximately 160,000 laptops are disposed of every day in the EU alone and around 70% of these could be re-used. No matter the number, the percentage of e-waste that end up in landfill is too great – a huge amount of the e-waste is shipped to South America, Africa, China and India despite laws in place to forbid this.
So what can we do to change this on Digital Cleanup Day?
First, what is Digital Cleanup Day? It’s an annual event to raise global awareness about the environmental impact of the digital industry. This initiative encourages people to take concrete action by cleaning up their digital data and/or giving a second life to their unused computer equipment. It takes place every third Saturday in March. Read more about it on the link below.
The need for laptops and technology is clear. But it is not sustainable to continue throwing away perfectly functional laptops simply because it is a few years old and the warranty has run out.
Sustainable IT, also known as Green IT, covers the manufacturing, use, management and disposal of information technology in a way that minimises its impact on the environment. You can do small things such as joining Complete IT Systems as signatories of the Techies Go Green initiative to drive decarbonisation in UK businesses.
Our friends at Circular Computing provide a sustainable alternative to buying brand new devices. They save money, reduce carbon, and help the earth.
Here are some of the key benefits of sustainable laptops:
Enterprise-grade performance laptops from HP, Dell & Lenovo meets the needs of most office users. Elitebook, Thinkpad & Latitudes with standard specs of Ci5 8/256/14/W10P.
A premium user experience equivalent to new. Each laptop is remanufactured & compliant (to ISO8887) which guarantees quality, performance, and consistency.
Significant savings on the cost of new devices.
Backed by 1-3 year warranty options.
Each laptop is certified carbon neutral and you can claim 316kgs of CO2 avoided in your Scope 3 CSR report.
Aligns with your corporate values. Sustainability, social value ambitions and business needs are met when purchasing carbon neutral remanufactured laptops.
Find out more in this short video
Want to learn more?
As Circular Computing Partners, Complete IT Systems have a team of specialists on hand to demo the solution. We can discuss business benefits, provide demonstration models, and offer special monthly pricing.
To get in touch or request a demo please contact us.
Hot on the heels of our successful recent webinars, by popular demand we’re running another!
Copilot aims to boost productivity and streamline work by providing AI-generated suggestions and content within Microsoft 365 apps. Join us to learn what it is, key use cases, and perhaps most importantly, some of the latest updates from Microsoft that are coming thick and fast!
Do you have your flight plan ready?
Join one of our Microsoft Copilot basics webinars, and our Copilot expert Scott Brunton, solution engineer from our partners Arrow ECS UK will outline the following:
An overview of what Copilot is
How to build an effective information management strategy
Securing your data and applications ready for Copilot
Last but by no means least, we’ll have a Copilot Q&A session
These links take you to our Microsoft Teams registration forms. Thank you for your interest, and we look forward to welcoming you to an enjoyable and productive session. You can connect with Scott on LinkedIn in advance of the session, or let us know any questions in the meantime.
Pop quiz – it’s the year of the Suez Crisis, the start of the transatlantic cable service, and Japan’s ascension to the UN. What year is it?
To avoid an immediate spoiler, the answer is at the bottom of this page! But to bring us back into the present day, the mystery year is also the year that the field of computer science began seeking to create intelligent machines that can replicate or exceed human intelligence. In other words, it was the year that AI as we now describe it was conceived.
Historical segways aside, today’s digital landscape is evolving at an unprecedented pace, and the rapid emergence of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) marks a distinct shift in how we perceive and use the capabilities of AI. That’s great, but it’s also causing some concerns in terms of cyber security.
This e-book from Barracuda is specifically tailored to senior IT security and risk professionals seeking to navigate the complex landscape of cybersecurity and shed light on how AI is shaping the future of cyber defence. It covers:
The evolution of AI
How AI is changing the threat landscape
The ways cybercriminals are using AI
How AI is being used to improve security
Want to learn more?
Complete IT Systems have a team of Barracuda specialists on hand to demo the solution, discuss business benefits and help you understand how the technology works for your organisation.
To get in touch or request a demo please contact us.
❓ Drumroll – if you guessed the year 1956, well done to you! There’s no prize, but there is more fascinating reading in the guide.
Procuring and managing multiple OEM maintenance contracts in a complex infrastructure environment can chew up a lot of time.
What’s so painful? Searching for information on OEM maintenance support, waiting endlessly on customer service lines only to discover that your issue cannot be resolved, and being transferred to different departments are not productive ways to spend a day.
It’s rare to find a single solution or provider to meet all your IT asset maintenance needs, which means that managing a multi-vendor environment with different contracts and providers is commonplace.
So here’s 10 ways to rethink your maintenance contract management.
Cost savings: Streamlined agreements reduce administrative overhead and legal fees.
Clarity: Clear terms enhance understanding and prevent disputes.
Efficiency: Faster contract negotiations and approvals.
Risk mitigation: Fewer ambiguities mean fewer disagreements.
Need some help launching Copilot in your business, or understanding and managing the potential risks?
In the ever-evolving landscape of technology, Microsoft Copilot emerges as a game-changer. This webinar, hosted by Chris Charlesworth of Complete IT Systems and Scott Brunton of Arrow ECS, delves into the intricacies of Copilot’s capabilities within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.
🚀 Key takeaways:
Generative AI demystified: See how it creates content, whether it’s text, images, or music.
Large Language Models (LLM): The brains behind Copilot. These models, like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Copilot, are the driving force behind generative AI.
Prompt engineering: Explore how prompt engineering influences Copilot’s responses.
Vector search: Discover the relevance of vector search in Copilot’s capabilities.
Responsible AI: Delve into ethical considerations and responsible usage of AI.
If you would like to speak to a member of our team, please contact your account manager or call the office on 01274 396 213 and we will be able to help you.
Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs) were first introduced in 1998, and digital technology has made requesting them easier over time. Why should IT care about them?
In short, companies and organisations of all sizes need to know what they are, and what to do if you receive one.
The problem is that incoming DSARs can become a hot potato and bounce around HR, legal, IT, data protection, compliance and even marketing departments without clear accountability or ownership.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) publishes a useful guide on preparing for subject access requests, with one of the requirements being that you carry out a “reasonable search for the requested information”. On top of that, the timeline to respond is one month.
So even if the Data Protection Officer (DPO) is ultimately accountable for the request, without the right processes or tools in place, finding the requested information can be a minefield. No prizes for guessing the first point of call to get that information!
Enter IT!
And that’s usually where IT teams become involved in order to locate the personal data, while ensuring that other legal obligations are not infringed in doing so.
According to Kingsley Napley, “technical support is frequently required to identify and review data, and legal input may be needed.” For example, if an ex-employee asks to see all emails and correspondence they were copied on over a two year period, this could be hundreds of thousands of emails, not to mention direct chats and team collaborations in platforms such as Microsoft Teams or Google Workspaces.
How else can IT get sucked in?
As well as the normal jobs of keeping the lights on, ensuring that everyone has working devices, the network is secure, all files are safely backed up, and everything else that goes on in a day, there’s worse news for IT teams.
That’s because these kinds of data requests may not even be limited to DSAR cases. IT are increasingly being asked to help with locating data for internal complaints or enquiries such as:
One employee is accused of sexually harassing another via their organisation’s Microsoft Teams chats.
Instances in which an organisation’s emails are being sent to an unusual address.
A director suddenly starts getting lots of unsolicited calls from recruiters.
A firm’s customers start being approached by its rival’s salespeople
An industry news outlet gets hold of sensitive proprietary information about a company’s new product.
After one company acquires another, ensure employees aren’t still using old terminology from the acquired business.
Join us in Glasgow on 2nd May to find out more
Join Complete IT Systems and experts from Cryoserver for an afternoon in the centre of Glasgow for some interesting discussions on how already overstretched IT teams can get on the front foot with these kinds of issues. We’ll also play a bit of golf on the driving range and enjoy some good food and company. Find out how to quickly respond to requests and solve situations such as:
Searching through conversations for keywords or information, and provide to your Legal team to use as evidence in a tribunal.
Find out if an employee is sharing sensitive data (a breach of GDPR) with an unauthorised individual.
Discover if an employee has emailed the director’s number to multiple contacts.
See if the company’s confidential customer contact list has been attached to an employee’s email.
Find evidence of information being leaked by a particular employee.
There’s a claim of sexual harassment and you’re tasked with finding the emails in question
HR has to come to you to find emails from a specific employee
And many more cases!
These issues might not be fully IT’s responsibility, but it’s in your interest to find the services and technology elements to help when incidents do arise, and limit the organisation’s exposure in the process.
In a collaborative workshop environment, we’ll share some live examples, and encourage you to do the same to see how easy it can be to make a difficult task much simpler – and make IT look great in the process!
📅 Thursday 2nd May, 2024 ⏲ 3pm to 7:30pm 📍 Topgolf Glasgow
Lunch and refreshments will be provided, and we’ll also test our handicap at Top Golf Glasgow. See their short video below 👇
We hope you can join us for a fun and informative day! Please contact us if you have any questions about the event, or need a hand with your business case for joining,
More and more people are working ‘on the go’, and your staff are likely no different!
But productive hybrid working only works when your users have the tools – and charging facilities – they need to be able to effectively walk the walk.
Duracell Rechargeable batteries and chargers can take their mind off battery replacement so they can focus on catching their flight, finding somewhere comfortable to work, and not crouching in the corner of an airport!
So how does Duracell help?
DR6010A
Want to find out more?
As Duracell Suppliers, Complete IT Systems can offer you expert advice on the solutions and how they could be effectively deployed in your business.
To find out more please call us on 01274 396 213 or use our contact form and we’ll arrange a good time to call you back.
Email remains the most common initial attack route for cyber criminals. And with employees making more use of AI tools, the problem is about to get worse for IT teams.
Infiltrating an organisation via an email-based attack can happen at any level — phishing is not only targeted at senior directors. Once attackers have got an individual’s credentials then they can gain access. Once inside the network with one set of credentials, attackers can more easily move laterally and gain more permissions and fuller access. Even access to an employee’s mobile can be escalated into wider network access.
Early email fraud messages were often badly written and frankly unbelievable. Criminals relied on a ‘spray and pray’ approach – sending out thousands of messages in the hope that a few would stick. Traditional gateway defences are quite adept at dealing with these high-volume attacks. Barracuda’s own data shows that 16% of all email traffic is this sort of high-volume attack such as spam, malware, and other emails with a malicious payload. You still need gateway defences to stop these attacks as they remain a real danger.
This eBook from Barracuda outlines why traditional security gateways can’t cope, and how AI can keep you safe from phishing attacks.
Want to learn more?
Complete IT Systems have a team of Barracuda specialists on hand to demo the solution, discuss business benefits and help you understand how the technology works for your organisation.
To get in touch or request a demo please contact us.
