Just Computers

Exciting News from Just Computers! 🔧 3-Year Extended Warranty on New Custom Builds for Only £60! 🔧 Transform your computing experience with a custom-built PC from Just Computers. Now, enjoy peace of mind with our unbeatable offer: a 3-year extended warranty on parts for just £60 when you purchase a new custom-built PC. 💪💻 Why Choose Just Computers? Custom Builds: Tailored to meet your unique needs. Dependability: Quality you can trust, backed by our extended warranty. Local Support: We're here to help whenever you need us. 📍 Visit us today to start building your perfect PC and take advantage of this incredible offer! 🌐 Website: https://lnkd.in/dh9H4Xz8 📞 Call Us: 01234 300 099 🏬 Visit US: 7 High Street, Kempston, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK42 7BT #JustComputers #CustomPC #ExtendedWarranty #TechDeals #PCGaming #ITSupport #EffortlessTech

🚨 Is Your Business Ready for the Unforeseen? 🚨 The recent chaos caused by a faulty CrowdStrike software update, impacting 8.5 million Microsoft devices, serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities in our digital age. This incident disrupted operations across various sectors, including airlines, healthcare, and financial services, highlighting the interconnected nature of modern business. What Does This Mean for Your Business? 🔍 Enhanced Monitoring and Testing: Ensure all software updates undergo rigorous testing and validation to prevent unexpected failures. Regularly monitor systems for vulnerabilities. 🛡️ Robust Contingency Plans: Develop comprehensive plans to maintain operational continuity in the face of system disruptions. Prepare for swift crisis management. 🔄 Scrutinize Service Providers: Closely manage and evaluate the cybersecurity protocols of your service providers to minimize risks from third-party solutions. 💼 Legal and Financial Safeguards: Enhance insurance coverage and legal strategies to mitigate potential risks from operational disruptions and customer claims. 📚 Employee Vigilance: Educate employees on the latest cyber threats, including phishing scams, to strengthen your first line of defense against cybercriminals. This incident underscores the need for businesses to adopt a proactive cybersecurity strategy. Learn more about protecting your business from such vulnerabilities in our full blog post. Read the full article on our blog now! https://lnkd.in/djDnB_te

🔍 Uncovering the Hidden Risks of Shadow SaaS and Shadow AI 🔍 A recent survey by Next DLP at the RSA Conference 2024 and Infosecurity Europe 2024 has highlighted a growing concern for businesses: the rise of Shadow SaaS and Shadow AI. These unapproved tools can lead to data loss, lack of visibility, and data breaches, posing significant risks to organizations. Key Findings: - Data Loss: 65% of respondents flagged data loss as a major risk. - Lack of Visibility: 62% are worried about the absence of oversight. - Data Breaches: Over half of the respondents see this as a critical threat. What Can You Do? 1. Enhance Monitoring: Detect and manage unauthorized applications. 2. Educate Employees: Raise awareness about the risks of unapproved tools. 3. Implement Robust Policies: Establish clear IT policies for SaaS and AI tools. 4. Promote Approved Alternatives: Encourage the use of secure, approved applications. 5. Conduct Regular Audits: Identify and mitigate instances of shadow technology. Read the full article on our blog to learn more about safeguarding your business against these hidden threats. https://lnkd.in/dUiaUdkv

Why Microsoft 365 Backup is Essential for Your Business As reliance on cloud services like Microsoft 365 grows, dedicated backup solutions become necessary to protect your business from potential data loss. The Misconception – Microsoft 365 Backup Myths Many businesses believe Microsoft 365 provides comprehensive data backup, but its built-in protections focus on data retention and compliance, not complete backup and recovery. Email, for example, isn't fully backed up by Microsoft 365, and default settings only protect data for 30-90 days. Microsoft 365 offers several data handling protections but they are not substitutes for a dedicated backup solution: - Data Resilience: Maintains multiple data copies to recover from disk failures, but not from accidental deletions or malicious activity. - Retention Policies: Specifies how long emails are kept. - Litigation Hold: Prevents deletion or modification of emails for legal purposes. - Email Archiving: Moves older emails to an archive mailbox. - Recoverable Items Folder: Retains deleted emails for an additional 14 days. Data Loss Risks in Microsoft 365 Understanding Microsoft 365’s limitations and potential data loss risks is crucial. Data loss can occur due to: - Accidental Deletion - Malicious Deletion: Disgruntled employees or cyber-attacks can lead to intentional data deletion. - Internal and External Security Threats: Phishing attacks, ransomware, and other cyber threats compromise data integrity. - Legal and Compliance Issues: Non-compliance with regulations like GDPR can result in hefty fines.  The Benefits of a Dedicated Microsoft 365 Backup Solution Investing in a dedicated Microsoft 365 backup solution offers: - Comprehensive Data Protection: Regularly backs up all data. - Quick and Reliable Recovery: Enables faster data restoration. - Enhanced Security: Offers advanced encryption and security measures. - Compliance Support: Helps meet regulatory requirements. - Microsoft Recommendation: Even Microsoft advises deploying a third-party backup solution.  Implementing Microsoft 365 Backup – Best Practices Adopt an effective Microsoft 365 backup strategy with these best practices: - Selecting the Right Backup Solution: Choose a provider offering comprehensive coverage, reliability, and security. - Setting Up and Managing Backups: Configure and monitor the backup system regularly. - Conducting Periodic Tests and Audits: Regularly test and audit backups to ensure functionality.  What Does This Mean for Your Business and how can we help? At Just Computers, we understand the importance of reliable data backup solutions. Our commitment to simplifying technology, offering adaptable and dependable support, and providing a seamless IT experience ensures your data is secure and accessible. Please contact us today to learn more about our Microsoft 365 backup solutions and how we can support your business continuity and growth.

With the world facing challenges like tackling overfishing while trying to support those in local communities who rely on fishing for a living, a South Africa-based company has developed apps to address both issues and more. What Are The Issues?  Today’s ocean and coastal communities are now threatened by rising temperatures, overfishing and biodiversity loss. Add to this a huge rise in global demand for fish supply and you get overfishing. In fact, with 30 per cent of fisheries are currently overexploited and 60 per cent are fully utilised, the scale and nature of some serious issues around fishing soon become painfully clear.  However, to fully understand the scope of the problem so that it can be effectively tackled, governments and marine scientists first need access to current, accurate, critical data about the origin of fish catches. To help tackle the overfishing problem and restore fish populations, they also require the support of local communities who depend on fishing for their livelihoods. ABALOBI  ABALOBI is a hybrid social enterprise, public non-profit technology initiative with ideas and technology to tackle these issues. ABALOBI’s technology is designed specifically to support sustainable fishing practices, empower small-scale fishers, and ensure traceability and transparency within the seafood supply chain. Its platform (designed around 3 apps) has been developed to benefit coastal communities by enhancing their livelihoods for social, economic, and ecological sustainability as well as preserving marine ecosystems (from the threat of overfishing). The apps also help ensure traceability and transparency within the seafood supply chain.  What Are The Three Apps & How Do They Help?  The 3 apps that feed into the ABALOBI’s fishing sustainability platform are:  1. ABALOBI Fisher. This app has been designed to enhance sustainability through accurate data logging, empower fishermen with better management tools, and to improves safety at sea.  2. ABALOBI Marketplace. Among its many features, this app essentially enables direct sales of seafood between fishermen and buyers. 3. ABALOBI Monitor. This app provides a means for data collection by researchers and fisheries managers. For example, it collects data on fish stocks and socio-economic conditions, conducts surveys, and offers analytical tools for generating reports.  Being able to access this valuable and accurate data could help support sustainable resource management, inform research and policy decisions, and engage communities to address their needs and promote resilience.  Collectively therefore, these apps and the platform can empower small-scale fishermen, promote sustainable practices, and ensure supply chain transparency. What Does This Mean For Your Organisation?  Find out more here: https://lnkd.in/dHV2CqBX

New research from the International Energy Agency (IEA) has revealed that even though Europe may outspend the US on clean energy this year, China’s clean energy spending plans will massively surpass that of Europe and the US combined. China In First Place  The ‘World Energy Investment 2024’ report from the IEA, which tracks capital flows in the energy sector, shows that clean energy investments are set to be up by more than 50 per cent from 2020.  The report shows that whereas Europe is expected to be spending an estimated $370 billion on clean energy, while the United States spends $315 billion (about $970 per person), China is expected to lead in clean energy investment this year with approximately $675 billion (about $2,100 per person) – nearly twice as much as the combined investments of Europe and the US! Investment In What And Why?  The report shows that the focus of China’s investment is primarily on solar photovoltaic (PV) technology, driven by falling module prices and strong domestic manufacturing capabilities. Solar PV investments alone are projected to exceed $500 billion globally, with China contributing a substantial portion.   Also, China’s investments are being bolstered by rapid growth in three new clean energy industries – solar cells, lithium battery production, and EV manufacturing. Why Are Europe and The US Not Investing As Much? Read more about it on our blog: https://lnkd.in/dMNpmNZr

Members of organisations inevitably change over time for various reasons, perhaps to relocate to another job and move away, or they may be asked to leave, or for many other reasons. However, when employees or contractors/third parties leave a business and there is no effective ‘offboarding’ plan or system in place, they are likely to still have access to your organisation’s systems and data through old passwords and access rights. Like it or not, this makes them a potential threat to your business.  Creating an effective offboarding plan and process that can be actioned (immediately) as the employee leaves, therefore, can protect you and your clients, maintain the security plus help ensure safe continuity of the business, whilst help to fulfill legal and stakeholder responsibilities.  Such a plan and process can start with a simple checklist, although you may find it ends up being longer than you first thought. Examples of the kinds of potential threats that an organisation may need to guard against upon employee exit include: – Damage, theft, and disruption. Departing employees can cause significant harm by stealing data, attacking company systems, or disrupting network operations due to lack of proper security measures.  – Insider threat. Ex-employees with active access rights can leak sensitive information, engage in industrial espionage, extort the company, or steal customer data. Insider threats account for a significant portion of data breaches.  – Data exfiltration. Departing employees might take sensitive information like client lists or intellectual property with them (intentionally or unintentionally), leading to competitive disadvantages and legal issues.  – Social engineering. Ex-employees may manipulate current employees using their insider knowledge to gain unauthorised access, often through phishing attacks.  – Sabotage. Disgruntled former employees might delete important files, corrupt data, or disrupt services, causing operational and financial damage.  – Legal and compliance risks. Failing to revoke access can lead to breaches of data protection regulations, resulting in legal penalties and reputational damage.  – Continuity of business operations. Inadequate access control can disrupt business processes, especially if the ex-employee held key roles or knowledge, leading to operational bottlenecks.  – Financial fraud. Ex-employees with access to financial systems may commit fraud, manipulate accounts, or process unauthorised transactions, impacting the company financially.  – Loss of customer trust. Compromised customer data due to inadequate offboarding can erode trust, damage the company’s reputation, and lead to business losses and legal actions. How Big Is The Problem and what must you have on your checklist? Find out here: https://lnkd.in/dHR6gQpm

The new AI-powered Windows ‘Recall’ feature that takes 5-second screenshots to generate a searchable timeline of everything a user has interacted with has prompted security and privacy concerns. What Is Recall?  The Recall feature for Windows (currently in preview status) is a new feature that’s exclusive to Microsoft’s forthcoming Copilot+ PCs. Recall takes snapshots of whatever is on your screen every five seconds (e.g. emails, and photos), while content on the screen is different from the previous snapshot. These snapshots are then stored (encrypted) and analysed using optical character recognition (OCR), which uses AI, locally on the user’s PC. The collection of snapshots is designed to give users not only a timeline of everything they’ve done and seen, but they can use voice commands to search through it for what they need, e.g. for any content (text and images) they may have been working on or seen. Microsoft says the functionality will be improved “over time” to enable users to open the actual source document, website, or email in a screenshot. When Recall opens the snapshot a user has requested, it enables ‘screenray’. This runs at the top of the snapshot and allows the user to interact with any of the elements in the snapshot, so for instance, the user can copy text from the snapshot or send pictures from the snapshot (to an app that supports jpeg files). Why Use Recall?  According to Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s executive vice president and consumer chief marketing officer, with Recall, Microsoft “set out to solve one of the most frustrating problems we encounter daily — finding something we know we have seen before on our PC”.  Broadly speaking therefore, Recall is essentially a productivity and user experience-enhancing feature. Microsoft hopes that Recall will transform how users interact with their digital content by providing powerful, AI-driven tools for retrieving and managing past activities while maintaining a high level of control and (hopefully) privacy too. Privacy Concerns  While on the face of it, it’s possible to see how useful this feature could be, Recall has set privacy alarm bells ringing for some users. For example, it’s been reported that the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is contacting Microsoft for more information on the safety of the product and that Recall has been described as a “privacy nightmare” by some privacy watchdogs. Examples of some of the key concerns about the potential privacy issues of Recall include: https://lnkd.in/d8-87rqJ

It’s been reported that an employee at London-based design and engineering multinational, Arup, was duped by a deepfake video call into paying a staggering $25.6 million to fraudsters. What Happened?  According to reports published on CNN, back in January, a finance employee in Arup’s Hong Kong office received what they suspected was a phishing email, purporting to be from the company’s UK office, because it requested a secret transaction.  The employee then reportedly took part in a video call with people who looked and sounded like senior staff members (including the CFO) but who were in fact deepfakes! It’s been reported that this deepfake video call led to the employee putting aside previous doubts and subsequently agreeing to transfer 200 million Hong Kong dollars / $25.6 million via 15 separate transactions.   The fraud was reportedly only discovered following the employee making an official inquiry with the company’s headquarters, which resulted in a police investigation. Confirmed  A spokesperson from Arup (the company behind world-famous buildings such as Australia’s iconic Sydney Opera House and the Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing) has been reported as saying that whilst they can’t go into details, they “can confirm that fake voices and images were used”. Financial Stability Not Affected  Despite $25 million going astray and the initial suspected phishing email, Arup’s reported email statement said: “Our financial stability and business operations were not affected and none of our internal systems were compromised.” Many Deepfake Scams  There have been many high-profile and large-scale deepfake scams in recent years, including:  – In 2023, a deepfake video scam of consumer champion Martin Lewis was circulated on social media to trick people into investing in something called ‘Quantum AI’ (an app) which scammers claimed was Elon Musk’s new project.  – In 2022, the chief communications officer at the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, claimed that a deepfake AI hologram of him (made from video footage of interviews and TV appearances) had been used on a Zoom call to scam another business, leading to significant financial losses.  – In 2020, a branch manager of a Japanese company in Hong Kong received an AI deepfake call that sounded like the Director, but was actually from fraudsters. The call used an AI to mimic the CEO’s voice to instruct a bank manager to engage with a fictional lawyer, which then led to the authorisation and transfer of $35 million to fraudulent accounts.  – In 2019, an energy company in the UK was defrauded of €220,000 ($243,000) through a deepfake audio scam. The fraudsters used AI-generated voice technology to impersonate the CEO of the firm’s parent company, instructing a senior executive to transfer funds to a Hungarian supplier.  What Does This Mean For Your Business?  Read more on our blog: https://lnkd.in/d9m-ddYD

The world’s largest direct air capture (DAC) plant, dubbed ‘Mammoth’ (which can suck polluting carbon from the air to help tackle global warming) has started operating in Iceland. Mammoth  Started on the 28th June 2022 and now completed and operating, Mammoth was designed to remove 36,000 tons of carbon from the air per year – the equivalent of removing 7,800 cars petrol-fuelled cars from the road.   Its creators and operators, Climeworks, based in Switzerland, say it has been built for multi-megaton capacity in the 2030s, and should deliver gigaton capacity by 2050. Global Warming and Climate Change  Mammoth is designed to directly remove carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere for climate change mitigation and to meet global climate targets. The challenge, as regards to global warming and the resulting climate change, is that in order to keep the temperature at (or below) the maximum 1.5°C threshold increase, many believe that measures to reduce our carbon footprint are not enough and active removal of CO₂ already in the atmosphere is needed. Climeworks says “we need to extract billions of tons of CO₂ between now and 2050”. DAC  Mammoth, Climeworks’s second carbon capture plant (which is the largest in the world), involves using a geothermal power plant to provide the energy for the facility that vacuum-filters CO₂ from the air. The filtered CO₂ is then stored in containers (DAC+S), stacked on top of each other. Finally, the CO₂ is ‘injected’ with ‘Carbfix’ and is transported deep underground, where it mineralizes in geological formations. Climeworks says this process of storing the captured carbon underground in mineral form can keep it locked up (and out of the atmosphere) for “more than 10,000 years”. DAC+S Different From CCS?  Climeworks days whereas DAC+S removes CO₂ directly from ambient air, other technologies to remove carbon, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS), differs because it captures CO₂ from point sources of carbon dioxide (e.g., smokestacks of iron and steel factories) and then transports the captured CO₂ to a storage site, where it is sequestered. What Does This Mean For Your Organisation? Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dck-2Fxn #sustainability #cleanair #itsustainability #sustainabilityintech #technews