With home working on the rise (and likely here to stay), many organisations have enhanced the digital solutions utilised to manage daily business remotely. With the use of cloud-based applications, personal devices and collaboration tools increasing, cybersecurity is now all the more important for you and your employees.

In this article, we aim to provide you with our five top tips to better manage cybersecurity amongst multi-location teams.

01. Risk
Develop a risk treatment plan and continue to review it.
As businesses and their environments change, so do their risk profiles. It’s important to continuously review your risks and refine actions in light of changes to your organisation. For some companies, remote working might be entirely new, if this is the case, you must reflect on recent incidents and highlight any new hazards that you may not have previously considered.

Now might be the time to invest in implementing ISO27001, the internationally recognised standard for the management of information security. As the standard is risk-based and requires the development of a risk treatment plan, businesses can take a broad, commercially focused view on what they need to do to manage cybersecurity.

Once you’ve identified any potential threats, it’s important to prioritise as you cannot eliminate them all at once. Developing a prioritised roadmap allows you to reduce the biggest security dangers immediately and helps make risk reduction commercially feasible.

02. Educate 
Provide employees with training to avoid phishing scams.
Many cybercriminals took advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic by sending phishing emails intended to lure users to click on malicious links or download files and allowing hackers to steal sensitive data or even take control of a user’s device. Action Fraud estimated that Britons lost around £3.5 million during March and April 2020 due to cyber fraud.

Furthermore, when furloughed employees begin to return to work, many will face an enormous backlog of emails. Rather than carefully sieving through hundreds of emails, employees are likely to rush through their emails to clear out their inboxes. This means that they are more prone to accidentally click on malicious links and give away confidential information.

You must educate and communicate clearly with your employees to ensure they are aware of the dangers of phishing messages and what actions to take if they receive any suspicious emails.

03. Authenticate
Utilise multi-factor authentication across the board.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a great way to reduce cybersecurity risk as it provides additional protection, making it less likely for hackers to gain access to critical systems.

Two-step verification has become a standard for most leading software services, including Microsoft and Google. Once you input your password, you may have to answer a question using your personal, memorable information or sometimes you might be sent a verification code to your preferred contact number that's programmed into the software. Microsoft has reported that 99% of those who have their account hacked do not have two-step verification in place.

MFA is a quick, simple way to improve cybersecurity and reduce risk, yet according to statistics, just 10% of Google users take advantage of this security function. To support our customers deploy effective MFA procedures which do not hinder user productivity, Central offers a range of products that can be simply implemented.

04. Encrypt
Use encrypted video conferencing at all times.
Throughout the lockdown, there have been many stories about hackers targeting video conferences to gain access to sensitive information. You must choose a video conferencing software that is encrypted to help protect against this.

MS Teams incorporates built-in security features, as well as customisation options that allow its users to set their own protocols. It includes various authentication procedures to make it harder for unauthorised users to gain access such as organisation-wide, two-factor authentication or a single sign-on through Active Directory. This provides its users with the confidence that their conversations are private and secure.

05. Report
Put effective monitoring and management of cyber security processes in place.
Investing in cutting-edge technology is only part of the solution to managing cybersecurity. Companies also need to make sure they can continuously monitor and manage systems in a controlled environment. This preventative measure allows organisations to ensure that their IT systems are working correctly and that they are able to proactively identify any potential issues.

Traditional cyber security protection is based upon known threats, and readily made solutions to prevent them. But, what can an organisation do when it is continually faced with novel attacks? 

Security teams often end up overwhelmed and unable to keep up. They are also simply outpaced when it comes to machine-speed attacks, such as ransomware, where they are unable to respond quickly enough due to a lack of resource.

Where can AI play a part?
This is where artificial intelligence — i.e. machine self-learning — comes into play. Deploying systems that span entire organisations, with the ability to learn what is normal and what is abnormal, means that the solution is not based on assumptions of what malicious is. 

In this way, AI can mimic the human immune system, and just as immunity is unique to individuals, the technology becomes exclusive to each organisation. It can quickly identify unusual behaviour and identify potential threats as they emerge.

Continuing in this vein, firewalls act like the skin – a protective barrier against known threats – but it is not infallible and things can get past it, and that is where artificial intelligence plays a crucial role. 

Often, these AI systems are left unsupervised to build up a ‘pattern of life’ at a very granular level – monitoring every user, piece of technology, and system within an organisation. Once this detailed picture is built, it can then very quickly identify when something deviates from this pattern, signalling threatening activity.

This is impossible for security analysts to do alone, but is designed to work in tandem with them to prevent malicious attacks. 

How can AI save time and costs?
Taking this even further, current technology is able to investigate and triage potential threats, helping to make quick decisions to create incident reports. Research by Darktrace estimates a 92% reduction in the time taken to triage incidents when using this type of platform – meaning that security teams are able to focus their time on higher priority tasks. 

Can AI fight back?
Autonomous response by self-learning systems is now entirely possible. Systems in place can generate a surgical and proportionate reaction to interrupt emerging threats, without impacting on day-to-day business operations.

Due to the self-learning capabilities, where the technology can identify what is normal and what isn’t, it can then detect, triage and neutralise cyber-attacks across cloud, network, and email – allowing teams to concentrate on the long-term security strategy.

So, what’s next?
With cyber threats continuing to progress at pace, organisations must look to artificial intelligence to protect their IT infrastructure and, ultimately, their business.

Loss of control of data or systems can often be a corporate death sentence for firms that are not properly equipped to deal with such incidents.

Central offers the most effective email protection solution to prevent targeted social-engineering attacks by adopting a multi-layered approach that combines a secure email gateway, AI-powered fraud protection and advanced security awareness training.

In partnership with Barracuda, we are able to provide a complete email protection portfolio in a single bundle that is easy to buy, implement, and use. This offers comprehensive security against business email compromise, account takeover and other advanced developing email threats, all delivered as a cloud-based solution with direct integration to Office 365.

Features
• API-based integration with Office 365
• Includes cloud-based backup and archiving
• Real-time AI-powered anti-phishing protection
• Brand protection using DMARC reporting and enforcement
• Tamper-proof email archiving for compliance and e-discovery
• Advanced, automated security awareness training
• Simple setup and management, with zero impact on network performance

Benefits
• Complete multi-level defence that combines AI-based email security, compliance, business continuity, and user security training
• AI learns your communication patterns to detect personalised fraud in real time
• Unique API-based architecture stops threats inside your mailbox that traditional gateways cannot
• Uses vast, real-time global threat information network to optimise detection

What's included in the bundle:
Forensics & Incident Response
Limit damage and accelerate remediation.
Slow, inefficient, manual response processes give attacks time to spread further in your network. Forensics and Incident Response automates incident response and provides remediation options to quickly and efficiently address attacks. Easily send alerts, remove malicious emails and use threat insights to stop the spread of malicious threats. 

Security Awareness
Fight phishing with continuous training and simulation.
Some attacks will land in users' inboxes. What happens next depends how well they've been trained. Our solution uses customised simulations with daily0updated content to transform your users into a powerful layer of defence, by dramatically boosting their ability to identify social-engineering attacks and respond appropriately. 

Inbox Defence
Defeat spear phishing and account takeover with AI.
Losses from socially engineered email attacks are in the billions of pounds and growing. They typically impersonate a trusted third party, to trick users into giving away credentials, data or money. Our solution detects and stops these costly attacks. It uses artificial intelligence to learn each user's unique communication pattern, to identify malicious intent and flag fraud attempts.

Resilience
Keep your data safe and ensure business continuity. 
You need data protection that boots resiliency, minimises downtime and simplifies recovery from ransomware and accidental data loss. We ensure data protection and business continuity with advanced email continuity and backup services, protecting against accidental or malicious deletion of emails and data.

Secure Gateway
Protect your business from email-borne cyber threats.
Modern attacks are rapidly growing in volume and sophistication - and 91% start with a targeted email attack. Our cloud-based security solution is designed to protect against spam, phishing, malware, ransomware and other targeted email threats. It combines heuristic, behavioural and sandboxing technologies to detect advanced, zero-day attacks.

IT solutions provider, Central Networks and Technologies (Central), has partnered with Horton Housing to deliver free internet access to people in supported accommodation, including the most vulnerable.

Heywood-based Central completed the pilot project in September, implementing WiFi points in a North Yorkshire location managed by the not-for-profit housing association, with a view to roll out the initiative to more sites. 

While Horton Housing is managing the cost of the internet connection, Central has donated the WiFi hardware required for the implementation and carried out the installation free of charge, as well as volunteering ongoing support and maintenance of the access points.

Restrictions across the UK during the pandemic have resulted in the disenfranchisement of vulnerable people — including the homeless, disabled, young people, pensioners, and those affected with addiction — due to local services such as libraries and Jobcentres being closed or severely cut back.  

As the government continues to move towards a digital-first approach, the management of welfare services, job applications, healthcare, finances, and more will all be online — evidencing the critical need of internet access for those most at risk in society.

Providing tenants with online connectivity means that they now have a vital support line during one of the most difficult periods in living memory.

Nicola Brown, sales director at Central, commented: “As an IT business, we feel we have a corporate social responsibility to ensure that everyone, regardless of where they are in life, has an internet connection to access crucial online services during this difficult year.

“We are extremely happy to partner with our client, Horton Housing, to deliver this service to their tenants, and our system engineers are dedicated to the ongoing maintenance and support of the networks.”

Tenants at the selected sites will continue to have free WiFi access post-pandemic.

Women in Social Housing (WISH) has strengthened its existing IT infrastructure, thanks to its partnership agreement with IT-services provider, Central Networks and Technologies (Central).

The IT company – which has decades of experience working within the housing sector – has donated implementation and project time to the not-for-profit organisation, to deploy Office 365 software for WISH’s geographically diverse workforce and team of volunteers, as well as support and bolster new internal IT policies surrounding data protection, retention, and acceptable use.

Commenting on the partnership, WISH’s managing director, Helen Greig said: “We’re really excited to be working with Central on our digital transformation programme. It’s wonderful to partner with an organisation that not only has the IT knowledge but one that understands the social housing sector, and whose values are so closely aligned with our own.”

WISH is a membership-based network for women across every discipline of the UK housing sector and each of its regions is run by a volunteer board, which devise networking and personal and professional development events to help women share their knowledge and experiences and inspire one another in their careers.

“As a community interest company (CIC), we don’t have an unlimited amount of spend for IT,” continued Helen, “Receiving this project time free of charge is a massive help for us, as it means we can get the upgraded systems we need and use our budget to continue running our planned events and activities as cost-effectively as possible for our valued members.”

The 30-year-old IT firm already has a strong presence in the social housing sector, with more than 70% of its 2,000-strong client base being non-profit organisations in this arena – having collaborated with clients such as Bron Afon, SOHA, and Horton Housing, to name a few.

WISH has over 500 members – spanning 10 regions across the UK – and has a commitment to championing women within the UK housing sector, including attracting new talent and supporting their career progression.

We’d like to extend a warm and personal Central welcome to Nicola. You can read our press release about her appointment as sales director below.

IT support provider and cloud solutions specialist Central Networks and Technologies (Central) has appointed Nicola Brown as sales director. The hire is intended to build upon the firm’s sustained growth as it has supported its clients’ business continuity throughout the COVID-19 pandemic by bolstering IT infrastructure.

Having amassed over 20 years’ experience selling IT solutions into the social housing sector, Nicola has held a range of senior sales roles including regional director at social housing software provider Housing Partners. Her responsibilities included new business development and managing strategic accounts across the North West.

Nicola is also a director of WISH (Women In Social Housing), a community interest company that champions women working within the sector, in addition to co-chairing the North West WISH network. 

Nicola’s blend of experience in social housing and tech makes her the ideal fit for the role at Central, which has strong ties with the housing association market with clients such as Bron Afon and Horton Housing. Nicola’s appointment is also designed to drive new business streams in the SME sector, including manufacturing, where Central has already made an impact in providing IT solutions including an extended relationship with Aflex Hose.

Central Networks and Technologies offers a wide range of IT services, including public, private or hybrid cloud solutions, infrastructure services, as well as disaster and backup solutions. The company is a Microsoft Gold Partner and a Microsoft Azure specialist.

Read all about the appointment, in our press release below:

We are delighted to announce that Central has secured a three-year IT support contract with housing support services provider, Horton Housing.

The six-figure deal will see the Central team provide Horton Housing with a comprehensive, flexible support package that includes implementing and managing the move to Office 365, backup and disaster recovery and service desk support as part of Horton Housing’s three-year IT strategy that aims to make significant improvements to support its staff, clients and volunteers.

Horton Housing manages more than 30 different housing, training and support services across Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees and North Yorkshire. It provides specialist support and quality accommodation for the most vulnerable in society including people who are homeless or people suffering from mental health conditions.

As part of its strategy, Horton Housing wanted to adopt better ways of working remotely without affecting its tenants. Central recommended that Horton move to Office 365 so that it could utilise incorporated tools such as PowerApps and MS Teams to allow for effective communication and collaboration across the business.

Mark Spencer, Head of IT at Horton Housing commented: “Central outlined an approach which met the needs of our ongoing IT strategy and during the short time we have been working with them, they have delivered what was promised. As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, they helped Horton Housing to speed up the transition to remote working, deploying MS Teams across the workforce to ensure we could continue to deliver the high levels of service our clients expect. I am confident that Central’s personal and collaborative approach will enable us to deliver on our future ambitions.”

In fact, a study by CIPD predicts that remote working on a permanent basis is set to double from pre-Covid levels, which means that organisations now need to look to long-term IT strategies to help support these new operational practices.

One year on from the outbreak of the crisis, businesses are finding that the ‘kneejerk’ systems put in place to quickly allow employees to do their roles from the safety of their own homes are not sustainable going forward and are now assessing what infrastructure is needed to support a secure and effectual user experience.

Online personalised workwear supplier, Clothes2Order, has appointed IT solutions provider, Central Networks and Technologies, to provide a managed ICT service and infrastructure support. 

The contract — starting immediately and spanning 12 months — will see Central’s system engineers provide a range of services — including third line support, patch management, out of hours assistance, and further specialist activities.

Central colleagues will work remotely to assist the in-house IT team at Clothes2Order in the maintenance of top-level systems, ensuring business continuity during a time when online ordering has massively increased.

The contract win demonstrates Central’s abilities to flex into new spheres, showcasing its ability to provide technical services and support across a range of sectors — already having a strong share of the housing, manufacturing, and SME market. 

Microsoft recently announced that Office 365 currently has an estimated 225 million users worldwide, with an additional 3.5 million users joining each month as the migration to working from home continues across workforces.

It is evident why Office 365 is so popular – its ease of use is plain to see for any business that utilises the platform. The per-user subscription model and extra add-ons available mean that it can be tailored to a business’ specific needs, as well as cutting out excess oversight and, ultimately, maintenance costs.

Furthermore, Office 365 tools such as SharePoint and OneDrive facilitate and encourage collaborative working remotely – an essential factor considering the ongoing pandemic and the situation we are all trying to navigate.