The primary Net Primates focus into 2019 continues to be security. 

That doesn’t mean that we’re not covering all the other vital aspects of business IT, but without adequate security in place even the very latest, all-singing, all-dancing IT kit can be rendered obsolete! In the words of Technical Director, Rupert Walmsley, “If I could fix just one thing to help businesses maintain continued service and efficiency, it would be security”. Threats are continuing to metamorphosise. Ransomware is being constantly developed whilst phishing & hacking becomes increasingly sophisticated.  

Our intention is not to scaremonger, but we hear about, and have witnessed, the devastation caused where inadequate IT security measures are in place. 

IT security is not about looking at one individual aspect of a company’s IT, but rather reviewing every element that could be affected, and putting effective systems in place for each, to include: 

  • Individual computers 
  • Networks 
  • Cloud services 
  • Mailboxes 
  • Remote users 
  • Data back ups 

Alongside the prolific development of nasties are an equal number of products produced and marketed offering solutions. So how do we decide which products to purchase and use on your behalf? We test! And then we test again… and then (you’ve guessed it) we test again. And once we’re completely satisfied that we have the ideal security solution for the issues of the day (which, as we’ve said before, are constantly evolving) we’ll issue them to you. 

So, what are we testing at the moment? 

The Net Primates technical team are looking closely at software that provides encryption services and other products that allow two-factor authentication. As you know we prefer to be proactive, issuing you with all the necessary software and equipment to help keep your business functioning efficiently – by protecting your data using encryption and authentication, we intend to do just that! 

If the mention of ‘encryption’ is gobbledegook to you, have no fear! Put simply, encryption is the process by which electronic messages and information (such as email or data on your servers) is protected so that only authorised personnel can see it. Getting more technical, the messages and information is ‘encoded’ using an encryption ‘algorithm’ known as a ‘cipher’ that can only be ‘decrypted’ by authorised users… making sense? If not, don’t worry. You don’t need to understand it, or worry about it – we’ll do that on your behalf. 

And as for two-factor authentication, this simply means that a process uses two methods to identify a user, rather than simply one. As an example, think of systems you have used where you already have a password but you’re then sent a separate code in order to complete a task, such as when performing certain internet banking transactions.  

As we said, we don’t mean to alarm. And we don’t want to give you sleepless nights. But we do want to help. We’ll be in touch soon with more information, but in the meantime we’re always here for you – if you have any IT security concerns please do get in touch sooner rather than later… 

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