Team M2 embrace World Cup fever

By on July 21, 2014 in Blog, Company news, General, Miscellaneous

M2 Computing were delighted to fully embrace the World Cup 2014 fever on a sunny evening in Brighton last week, by entering a team in the FirmBalls Charity Football Tournament. The 5-a-side team competed with 15 other local teams from the Sussex area to raise money for Active Sussex. Active Sussex are a local organisation dedicated to promoting health and well-being in the workplace.

Team M2 entered the Group stages in high spirits with their first game against Brighton University. A disappointing result to start with, the Brighton youngsters beat the M2 team 2-0. After a team tactics re-think and some brilliant saves from the goal keeper Tim Oelkers, M2 bounced back an impressive score of 4-1 against the Amex All Stars. Unfortunately, the fast pace was too much for the M2 team to handle in the final match of the group, and they were defeated 3-0 against Domestic & General. The team were disappointed to be out in the group stages, but it was all good fun and they merrily held their glasses up in the sunshine to toast the winners of the tournament, Air Menzes.

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Cloud adoption grows by 15 per cent in ten months

By on July 16, 2014 in Blog, Cloud computing

The number of businesses that have adopted at least one cloud service has risen by 15 per cent since September, new research indicates.

The Cloud Industry Forum’s (CIF’s) annual Vanson Bourne study found that 78 per cent of British organisations have now embraced the technology to help with their operations. This also marks a staggering growth of 61.5 per cent since the report was first produced in 2010.

In terms of business size, large companies are seemingly more eager to use the cloud, with 80 per cent now relying on it in some way. This figure contrasts with an adoption rate of around 75 per cent among small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

[themecolor]Flexible working and disaster recovery[/themecolor]

New products and services from Microsoft, such as Office 365, OneDrive and Server Essentials, will continue to drive this growth. Many other vendors are following suit with the likes of Sage and Adobe offering cloud-based versions of their application software.

Companies seem to be growing more comfortable with the security aspects of cloud computing. They are attracted by the flexibility offered by hosted software and the role it can play within their business continuity and disaster recovery plans.

According to the CIF’s CEO, Alex Hilton, the future looks bright for the cloud market. He was quoted as saying: “Over the next year we can say with some confidence that first-time cloud adoption will increase by 12 points – or 15%.

“In the near term, adoption will be driven in part by the end of support for Windows Server 2003, which concludes in July 2015.”

If Mr Hilton’s predictions do come to fruition, nine out of ten businesses will have started using at least one cloud-based solution by the end of next year.

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Is your PC powered off, hibernating or just having a sleep?

By on July 16, 2014 in Blog, General, Miscellaneous

What is the opposite to on? Off, right? Well, things are not always that simple where PCs and laptops are concerned. Operating systems such as Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 actually offer four power states: mechanical off, soft off, sleep and hibernate. So what is the difference between them?

Mechanical Off is as close as your PC will get to being completely at rest, with only the battery-powered internal clock still running. To achieve this, unplug your PC at the wall.

Soft Off is what the regular shut down function gives you – just a few low power circuits checking the power button and, if they are enabled, other inputs such as the keyboard, network connection or USB ports.

Hibernation mode can be described as a compromise between the shut down and sleep modes. It memorises the applications and windows currently open on your desktop, before shutting down your computer. When you restart the machine, you should find all applications as you last saw them, ready to continue using, and the restart can take less than a minute in some cases.

Sleep is a medium-low power standby state that does not actually switch your machine off. Instead, open documents and applications are stored in the computer’s RAM memory and your system can be ‘woken up’ ready to use again in just a few seconds. However, it is worth remembering that, unlike the hibernation function, sleep does continue to slowly drain your battery. So if you’re using it on a laptop with low power, this mode could eventually result in your laptop shutting itself down.

[themecolor]When to use these functions?[/themecolor]

Of course, the choice is yours but here are a few pointers.

Hibernation is generally recommended for longer periods of inactivity – a few days, for example. Sleep mode is more commonly used for shorter breaks – several minutes to a few hours. Neither mode carries any real risk, although it is possible to lose data in sleep mode in the event of a power cut. You can often configure power settings to ensure that your laptop automatically saves work to the hard drive and enters hibernation mode when battery levels become low.

If you do regularly use hibernation mode, it is recommended that you shut down and restart your Windows devices on a weekly basis. This is not essential but it does allow the operating system to clear its cache and refresh the system registry.

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Users don’t know their worms from their bots

By on July 16, 2014 in Blog, Security

With a never-ending torrent of advice on IT security floating around the web, users might become confused by the vast array of threats. From bots to botnets and Trojans to worms, the sea of terminology can leave the uninitiated feeling overwhelmed.

[themecolor]Trojans[/themecolor]

Trojans are named after the Trojan horse, which was famously used to infiltrate Troy. A Trojan is a piece of software that hides on a PC, often in plain sight. While this software looks legitimate, it is in fact opening a back door to the machine, letting hackers in.

“Trojans can achieve any number of attacks on the host, from irritating the user (popping up windows or changing desktops) to damaging the host,” Cisco.com explains.

Trojans can be binded to any file type and then sent as an attachment, a fact which highlights the importance of only opening emails from trusted senders.

[themecolor]Bots[/themecolor]

‘Bots’ stem from the word ‘robots’ and are essentially automated processes that attempt to scrape information from individual users.

Bots can scrape anything from passwords to financial information. Hackers can also combine the efforts of infiltrated computers to create a network of bots, known as a ‘botnet’. These are often then used to launch denial-of-service (DoS) attacks.

[themecolor]Worms[/themecolor]

Worms are much like viruses, but rather than relying on the spreading of an infected file, they exploit vulnerabilities in systems and therefore can travel unaided.

Many worms have been designed simply to spread rather than changing the systems they pass through. However, as was proved by the Morris and Mydoom worms, even these “payload free” worms can lead to major side effects such as increasing network bandwidth usage.

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M2 attend Let’s Do Business

By on June 23, 2014 in Blog, Company news

The M2 team were out and about last month, down in sunny Brighton attending the annual Let’s Do Business Exhibition. The Let’s Do Business Group were formed over 20 years ago as a not-for-profit organisation leading the way in providing business advice, training and events for organisations based in the South East.

The Lets’s Do Business event in Brighton attracts over 1,000 visitors every year, so it provided a great opportunity to meet with local businesses, talk about the latest technology developments and provide hands-on demonstrations. We also ran a competition on the day to win an i-Pad, which was snapped up by Nicole Humphreys from Acumen Business Law.

We are due to attend the next Let’s Do Business event at the Winter Garden in Eastbourne on Thursday 26th June, so if you are in the area, please do come along to stand 18 and pay us a visit.

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Government could profit from better use of IT

By on June 23, 2014 in Blog, General, New technology

Every day we speak to customers about new ways in which IT can help save them money and boost efficiency. Well, now it seems the government may be taking a leaf from our book too.

A new study by independent think tank, Policy Exchange, says that Westminster could save up to £24 billion a year by 2020, simply by using technology more effectively.

The report urged the cabinet-designate to make technology a priority after the upcoming general election. It sets out a series of goals that it said the government should aspire to – creating a digitally skilled and connected society, making Britain an attractive proposition for technology entrepreneurs, and to make the government one of the ‘smartest’ in the world.

Policy Exchange did recognise many of the achievements so far, pointing to .gov.uk and G-Cloud as examples of success, but said that there was still much to be done.

[themecolor]Better use of public data could eliminate tax fraud[/themecolor]

It was also recommended that an ‘information marketplace’ be created, enabling public data to be better utilised.

James Petter, senior vice president and managing director for EMC UK and Ireland, which co-authored the report, said that by putting technology at the heart of its operations, the government could save in excess of £24 billion per year.

“For example real-time data analytics could almost eliminate tax fraud, which in itself is estimated by the HMRC to be in the tens of billions and predictive analytics will easily facilitate early and rapid diagnosis of illnesses, a cost saving that is well beyond that of tax fraud,” Petter told telegraph.co.uk.

While the government is unlikely to action all the recommendations, the report provides a framework for future investment and focuses attention on the potential benefits that technology has to offer.

[themecolor]What’s the potential for your business to work smarter with IT?[/themecolor]

If it’s good enough for the government, it’s good enough for your business. Why not speak to us today about working smarter with IT to help reduce costs and increase productivity.

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How to remain safe in the face of a ‘powerful computer attack’

By on June 23, 2014 in Blog, General, Topical

In early June, reports began to circulate in the media, warning of a huge cyber attack, which would attempt to capture users’ financial data including bank account information.

British investigators had been working with the FBI in an attempt to track the perpetrators of a series of on-going attacks and had succeeded in temporarily disrupting the botnets responsible for spreading the malware. However, the UK National Crime Agency (NCA) then announced the system could be back up and functioning within a fortnight, urging users to prepare for a ‘powerful computer attack’.

[themecolor]Behind the headlines[/themecolor]

This was certainly the stuff of headlines: a two-week countdown to a potential doomsday scenario, public warnings from national crime agencies and details beginning to emerge of the suspected mastermind behind the attack – Evgeniy Bogachev, a Russian hacker whose profile reads like that of a Bond villain.

But despite the steady stream of security experts popping up to be interviewed on Sky News, the BBC and other news channels, how different was the threat posed by this attack from others we have witnessed in recent months?

[themecolor]The nature of the threat[/themecolor]

Two pieces of malware were allegedly responsible for the attack, GOZeus and CryptoLocker, and both typically infiltrate a computer via an infected attachment or link within an email. Users were warned to remain vigilant, since these emails may appear to come from known contacts.

The NCA warned: “[The links or attachments] may look like they have been sent by genuine contacts and may purport to carry invoices, voicemail messages, or any file made to look innocuous.”

If activated, GOZeus sits silently on a PC, monitoring user activity and attempting to steal bank login credentials. Meanwhile, CryptoLocker is a ransomware Trojan that has been doing the rounds since the end of 2013. This software effectively hijacks a user’s data by encrypting files and redirecting to a payment portal where a fee can be paid to decrypt one’s documents.

[themecolor]How to protect yourself[/themecolor]

Whilst the threat posed by this month’s cyber attack is certainly serious, our advice to users on how to best protect themselves does not differ substantially from the general recommendations we issue regarding internet security.

The three main areas are:

BACKUP YOUR DATA – Make sure your data is being backed up an a nightly basis. An online backup for business-critical data is also strongly advised.

CHECK ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE – Ensure your antivirus software is being updated on a regular basis and that scanning is enabled on all devices. If you have any questions, please consult our support team.

UPDATE YOUR OPERATING SYSTEM – It is recommended that Windows updates be applied to all desktop operating systems. If you are unsure how to check, please ask. If you are still running XP, please upgrade!

Please remain vigilant and do not hesitate to contact us on the numbers below should you have any questions relating to the above threat.

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Windows XP update hack could cause problems

By on June 23, 2014 in Blog, Microsoft

Do not be tempted. Users of Microsoft’s now defunct Windows XP operating system could face problems if they try to access new, unauthorised security patches, the company claims.

Microsoft officially ended support for XP in April 2014, but some users who are yet to migrate to a newer release have started to perform “simple registry tweaks” in an attempt to keep their computers secure. This adjustment is said to give users access to the updates Microsoft is still releasing for the embedded versions of the operating system.

[themecolor]Risk of functionality issues[/themecolor]

In a statement, the company explained that those who are making the adjustments may not be benefiting in the way they expect. Reported in Computer Weekly, the Microsoft said: “The security updates that could be installed are intended for Windows Embedded and Windows Server 2003 customers and do not fully protect Windows XP customers.

“Windows XP customers also run a significant risk of functionality issues with their machines if they install these updates, as they are not tested against Windows XP.”

[themecolor]Time to move on[/themecolor]

The issue has highlighted just how difficult many people are finding it to move on from the hugely popular platform, which is now 13 years old. As well as having a huge presence in the home computer market, Windows XP has played a significant part in the business world over the past decade. Many cash machines in the UK, for example, still rely on it.

Some governments have even struck deals with the Redmond technology firm to extend their own support, allowing more time to migrate to newer alternatives. The UK government, for instance, paid £5.5 million to add an extra year to its own agreement.

Of course, if you do not have that kind of budget readily available, upgrading to a modern operating system presents a far cheaper alternative. Please call us to discuss the advantages that Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 could offer your business.

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Google grants ‘right to be forgotten’

By on June 23, 2014 in Blog, Internet

People across Europe can now ask Google to remove their personal details from its search results after new legislation was introduced giving internet users the “right to be forgotten” online.

Those seeking the removal of certain information must first complete and submit a form to a Google panel which then decides whether the data is “irrelevant” enough to be erased.

[themecolor]A ‘case by case’ approach[/themecolor]

In a statement, the company said it planned to approach each case carefully and would look to balance the individual’s privacy rights with the rights of the public to freely access and distribute information on the internet. It will also consider any information relating to the applicant regarding criminal convictions, professional malpractice and financial scams while formulating its decisions.

While it is being forced to comply with the ruling, which was agreed at the end of May, Google has expressed scepticism over the long-term impact of the changes. In an interview with ft.com, the firm’s CEO, Larry Page, suggested that innovation could suffer as a result.

[themecolor]‘Everyday people’ to be given priority[/themecolor]

Mr Page went on to say that any celebrities and politicians hoping to have embarrassing information removed via the new system may be left disappointed as he feels that “everyday people” should be the company’s priority.

The firm is also said to be concerned about the system being used improperly and is asking applicants to support their requests with photographic proof of identity. A spokesperson explained in a statement: “Google often receives fraudulent removal requests from people impersonating others, trying to harm competitors, or improperly seeking to suppress legal information. To prevent this kind of abuse, we need to verify identity.”

According to bbc.co.uk, the search giant confirmed that it would begin removing information at some point in June and that all decisions would be made by human teams, not algorithms like those used by the majority of Google’s other services.

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How to freeze panes in Microsoft Excel

By on June 23, 2014 in Blog, Tips & tricks

If you use a lot of long Excel spreadsheets, such as yearly records of purchases, then you may find yourself continually scrolling up to the top of the screen to remind yourself which column is which.

Did you know that you can simply use the freeze panes function to keep the first row (or more) on constant display at the top of the screen even as you scroll down through your spreadsheet? This feature can be incredibly handy for power users of mega spreadsheets, so here is how you enable it.

[themecolor]Activating freeze panes[/themecolor]

As shown in the screenshot above, it is a simple task to activate the Freeze Panes in the View section of the top ribbon.

  • First go to the tabs at the top of the page.
  • Then go to “View”
  • Lastly go to “Freeze Panes”

Now, from here you have 3 options to choose from.

The first is to ‘Freeze Panes’ which will simple freeze whatever panes are highlighted at the time of selection. This is useful if you have very specific areas of the spreadsheet that you need to freeze.

The second option is to freeze the top row which is ideal for a spreadsheet whose top row provides a description of the contents of each column. This function keeps the top row in place no matter how far down the spreadsheet you scroll.

The third option is to freeze the first column, which will be useful for spreadsheets whose first column contains key information about the contents of each row.

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