How proactive monitoring will help your business weather any storm

You’re the captain of your own ship. You have an excellent crew behind you. You’re prepared for anything!

Or so you thought.

Then one day, out of the blue, a massive digital kraken tentacled its way into your ship’s systems, causing havoc.

Your lookout was using the crow’s nest as a cosy place to nap. What you really needed was a vigilant lookout, alert for any small sign of danger.

This is the difference between being proactive about monitoring your business’s systems, or reactive. And we all know that prevention is better than cure, right?

Our latest guide explains everything you need to know about proactive monitoring for your business.

Download your free copy now.

Watch out for that digital storm!

When you’re sailing along smoothly in business it really does feel like you’re living the dream.

But what happens when things get a little choppy?

Are you able to spot potential issues and stop them in their tracks? Or do you wait for the storm and then remember your umbrella?

When it comes to your business’s technology, you should be able to spot a digital storm a mile off. And if you can’t, it’s time to make a change.

Our latest video explains it all.

Why outsourced IT always beats DIY

When you’re running a successful business, you just can’t do everything yourself.

You need to protect your time to focus on the bigger picture: Growing the business. Which means the things that you and only you can do.

Your IT is one of those things you need to trust someone else with. Once you do, there will be countless benefits to you, your team, and your business.

Season’s Greetings from tKnowIT 2023

Season’s Greetings to one and all,

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

As in previous years, be caution from calls or emails claiming to be from BT or Microsoft suggesting that your computer has been hacked. If your computer pops up a message to say you are infected and to call a number, or it even talks to you, turn it off and call me for advice, it’s usually a browser ‘pop-up’ trying to scare you into thinking your computer is infected.

Microsoft 365: Are you paying for productivity apps you’re not using?

You know about Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, but there are countless hidden gems included with your Microsoft 365 subscription that you might be missing out on. And they could provide a huge productivity boost for the whole team.

The Metaverse explained: How it could affect your business

The Metaverse is a term that’s been buzzing around the tech world for some time now, and it could revolutionise the way we live, work, and play.

As a business owner, it’s important that you know what the Metaverse is so that you don’t fall behind your competition.

Our latest free guide explains:

• What the Metaverse is
• How it works
• How it could impact your business operations
• And how it could totally change the way you look after your customers

The benefits of the PSTN switch-off

Remember 2012, when the analogue TV signal was switched off and we all went digital?

Well now it’s your phone’s turn, and in December 2025, the last old analogue phone service – the PSTN – is due to be switched off forever.

So if any devices in your business currently use the analogue phone system, you’re going to need to make some changes. That doesn’t just mean your landline phone – you may have alarms, lift emergency phones, some card machines (and you don’t still use a fax, do you?)

You have a bit of time to plan, but it’s important not to leave everything to the last minute on this. As we get nearer to the deadline, suppliers will be stretched and you’ll want to allow time to transition to a new system.

Charging in public places? Watch out for “juice jacking”

Airports, hotels, cafés, even shopping centres, offer public charging points where you can boost your phone or laptop battery on the go.

They’ve been in the news after the FBI recently tweeted advice to stop using them. Crooks have figured out how to hijack USB ports to install malware and monitoring software onto devices as they charge.

The security risk of “juice jacking” was long thought to be more theoretical than real, but the tech needed to carry out an attack has got smaller and cheaper and easier to use. This means less sophisticated criminals are now turning their hand to it.

So how does it work?

The big switch-off affects everyone. You need to be ready

You might already have heard that the UK’s Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN) is being switched off in December 2025.

This affects everyone.

The old, analogue PSTN can’t keep up with the demands of modern communication, so the switch to fully digital will mark a big step forward.

Put simply, everything will use the internet.

But it’s not just our phone lines that will be affected by the PSTN switch-off. Any equipment that also uses PSTN will stop working too. That could be your alarm systems, cameras, fax machines (yes some are still in use!), even door entry systems and EPOS machines.

You may also need to update your broadband and some of your other hardware.

LinkedIn takes action to tackle fake accounts

LinkedIn is introducing new verification features over the coming months to help tackle fake accounts.

The business-focused social platform is a fantastic place to connect with like-minded businesspeople, and to find new employees, jobs and opportunities.

But thanks to this popularity, we’re seeing an increase in fake profiles, created by scammers for more sinister purposes.

Bot-like accounts have been cropping up all over the platform. They’ve been spamming people, tricking genuine profiles into downloading malware, and scamming them into giving away personal data.

LinkedIn holds a huge amount of information on each of its members, including their job history, contact details, professional interests and places of work – all valuable data that a determined criminal could put to use.