According to a survey conducted by Gartner at the end of 2020, nearly one in five workers consider themselves to be digital technology ‘experts’ since COVID-19 – and over half consider themselves proficient.

Researchers suggest the increase in confidence (or overconfidence) is perhaps due to the increased reliance on collaboration tools such as Teams and Zoom and a lack of in-person IT support while working remotely – but found more than half (55%) of those surveyed were using personal devices for access to work systems/data, or privately obtained ‘shadow IT’ applications not sanctioned by their employer, at least some of the time.

The sample group, spread across US, Europe and Asia-Pacific regions among around 10,000 full-time employees at organisations with 100 or more employees in November and December 2020, analysed workers’ technological and workplace experiences.

Whit Andrews, distinguished research vice president at Gartner, argued: “Workers seized on the crisis” adopting “a wide range of technologies and applications in the space of a few months.”

Workers Shift Device Preferences

The Gartner survey found that digital workers increased their reliance on portable devices during 2020. Workers reported an 11% increase in the proportion of their work time spent on laptops, smartphones or tablets. The proportion of their time spent on desktops declined by 8%.

The findings also showed a rise in the number of workers using personal technology for work purposes. Over half of respondents reported that they use applications or web services that they personally obtained – most of which are not employer-sanctioned – for collaborating with other workers. The same proportion (55%) are using personally owned devices for their work at least some of the time.

“When organisations were forced to go remote in early 2020, workers started to rely on their own devices or programs they discovered themselves to make up for their employers’ technology shortcomings,” said Mr. Andrews. “In 2021, organisations can embrace this trend by expanding the choice of devices and software programs that workers can use with little or no friction.”

Flexible Work Supports Increased Productivity

One of the main questions lingering among executives regarding the impacts of the last year is remote work’s effect on productivity.

According to the Gartner survey, among employees whose work-from-home time increased since January 2020, 36% reported an increase in productivity, while 35% reported no change. Flexibility in working hours was the most cited factor enabling greater productivity, selected by 43% of respondents.

A quarter of workers surveyed did report that their productivity fell. Connectivity issues and technology changes were among the top reasons cited for decreased productivity.

“Digital proficiency becomes even more essential for productivity when working remotely,” said Mr. Andrews. “CIOs should extend worker-to-worker lateral mentoring and training to ensure that no employees are left behind as technology mastery becomes the expectation.”

For IT Support expertise, please contact Lineal today.

AI lent a helping hand to one of our technical support teams last week to help Lineal save a local business from an email hack.

At 07:40 GMT on a seemingly normal week day, Barracuda Sentinel issued an alert to Lineal to say an account had been accessed from a suspicious location.  It seemed a malicious actor, appearing to be from Nigeria, compromised one of a client’s finance department email accounts, and created a forwarding/delete rule in the inbox.

Barracuda Sentinel’s AI email protection caught the account takeover attempt, and as a result, we were able to mitigate and resolve a significant threat to one of our customers. Barracuda Sentinel detects both account takeover attempts and attacks launched from compromised accounts.

Corporate account takeover presents a significant new threat to business. Hackers gain access to email accounts and use them as tools to launch subsequent targeted attacks, internally and against external targets – who themselves fall victim.

Account takeover or attacks that originate from these accounts are almost impossible to detect as they don’t use the usual impersonation techniques—they come from a legitimate account and appear to be from a trusted source, allowing the attacker to initiate sophisticated financial scams.

Lineal automatically picked up the alert & create an incident in Barracuda Sentinel.  Sentinel remediated the issue with an immediate password reset, disconnecting all active logon sessions for the user and deletion of any rules created during the incident time.  Within 40 minutes this potentially disastrous event was avoided.

macOS 11.0 Big Sur, unveiled in June 2020 at WWDC, is the newest version of macOS, set to be released this Autumn.

macOS Big Sur elevates the most advanced desktop operating system in the world to a new level of power and beauty.   Delivering their biggest design upgrade since the introduction of Mac OS X. Experience and enjoy Mac to the fullest, with a refined new design and the biggest Safari update ever.  Discover new features for Maps and Messages and get even more transparent around your privacy.

Mac OS X is finally finished, with Apple confirming that it’s officially moving to macOS 11 after almost 20 years of OS X (or macOS 10).  This fall, users will finally be upgrading from the 10.X versions that Apple has been using for nearly two decades to version 11.0.  It’s ‘MacOS’ from now on, much like ‘iOS’ and ‘iPadOS’.

Safari Updates

Safari is packed with new features, including a customisable start page, elegantly designed and more powerful tabs, quick and easy translation, and a new Privacy Report.  A new weekly Privacy Report on your start page shows how Safari protects your browsing across all the websites you visit.  Users can choose when and which websites a Safari extension can work with, and tools like data breach password monitoring never reveal your password information — not even to Apple.

In the biggest update to Safari since its original launch in 2003, the world’s fastest browser is even faster, providing industry-leading speed and battery life.  Tabs have been entirely redesigned to make navigating with Safari faster and more powerful by showing more tabs onscreen.  Displaying favicons by default to easily identify open tabs, and giving users a quick preview of a page by simply hovering over the tab.

Other newly Updated features

The updated Messages app lets Mac users send and receive more personal and expressive messages, and easily keep track of and interact within group messages. Maps also offers an all-new experience with immersive features for exploring and navigating the world.

macOS Big Sur delivers a spacious new design that makes navigation easier, while putting more controls at users’ fingertips.  Overhauling everything from the curvature of window corners to colours and dock icon designs.   A refreshed Dock displays thoughtfully designed icons that are both uniform and consistent in shape to match others in the Apple ecosystem.  Buttons and controls for apps appear when needed, and disappear when not in use.  The entire experience feels more focused, fresh, and familiar, reducing visual complexity and bringing users’ content front and centre.

The customisable menu bar features a new Control Centre, delivering instant access to the controls used most, from the desktop.  And a new design for core apps brings more organisation to multiple open windows and makes interacting with apps even easier.

macOS Big Sur is available to developers, with Apple planning to make a public beta available to public beta testers next month. When it launches in the fall, macOS Big Sur will be a free update for all compatible Mac models.

For Apple device expertise and IT Support, please contact our team today.

The world is on lockdown, but not all is doom and gloom – as people unite during a period that can only be described as one of the most challenging times we have faced in decades. Our ways of life have been put on pause, travel and holidays are no more; our freedom of movement halted.

But this is only temporary and there will be an end to this crisis. There is a global rise of togetherness and tough times don’t last – but tough companies do.

What good can come out of this chaos and uncertainty? There is hope: here’s some good news stories you might have missed:

• Air pollution and Nitrogen dioxide levels fall rapidly over some cities and regions: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/science-environment-51944780
• Without the pollution and movement from boats in Venice, the water has become clearer than it has been for many years – while fish and wildlife are thrive: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/20/nature-is-taking-back-venice-wildlife-returns-to-tourist-free-city
• Acts of kindness – communities are coming together, singing from balconies in Italy, support groups and volunteers all over the country helping those more vulnerable: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/uk-coronavirus-brit-heroes-who-21698077
• Hundreds of thousands volunteer to help NHS and the Prime Minister thanks those who have signed up as responders: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/coronavirus-boris-johnson-nhs-volunteers-sign-up-how-to-today-a9425916.html
• Everyone gathered on door steps, in their gardens, on their balconies each Thursday. There have been so many positive reviews, news stories and comments – but this one stood out with the videos really displaying a united Britain https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/03/27/thank-nhs-clap-carers/
• Food and gifts sent to our hospitals to support our frontline workers, or given to food banks, and hotels and B&Bs offering beds to NHS and key workers, to name a few.
• Social media users sharing details of home schooling ideas, new hobbies, fitness programmes, baking tips, and virtual tours streaming of galleries, museums, and zoos.
• Remote working, although daunting and perhaps challenging at first isn’t too bad after all, no travelling, productivity levels high with less distractions, contact is still possible and chat on Microsoft Teams or Zoom is the new normal.
• Covid-19 responses across Asia have begun ending flu season early and reducing the spread of other illnesses: https://www.ft.com/content/ad7ae6b4-5eab-11ea-b0ab-339c2307bcd4

Time is the greatest healer and as we have the time to reflect, appreciate the smaller things in life. Spend time with your children, your pets, your significant other – you may be with just them, for a little while. Take some time out to look out the window, if you go for a walk notice how spring is arriving.

One thing we don’t know is how long this will all last, all we do know is there will be an end – we’ll get through this and Lineal’s team are here for you when you need us.

As more and more of us are starting to accept remote working as the new norm, it may still feel unnatural and difficult for those who have not experienced this before. Keep calm and carry on – Lineal are here to help.

Remote working out of the office or from home has increased by nearly a quarter of a million over a decade, according to the office of National Statistics.

We may have lost the face-to-face daily contact with our colleagues and friends, but this does not mean we cannot stay in touch easily and efficiently;

• Through phone calls
• Messaging
• Video calls
• Business platforms such as Teams

With the current global crisis, for most of us we may feel like we are in uncharted waters.   A lot of people have had to adapt to working from home, with no planning and little time to prepare for the change. There are many questions:

• How do you set up a space where you can focus?
• How do you stay connected when you can’t meet face-to-face?
• Why does it feel like it’s never the right moment to take a break?

It’s inevitable that some employees will have questions and may struggle adapt.

So what have we learnt so far?  

Microsoft’s article – Making the switch to remote work – is an interesting read, with 5 lessons on how they have approached working from home, and ideas of how best to overcome common hurdles.  The current situation has compelled Microsoft to take a new look at everything from scheduling meetings to the way teams are managed.

In particular, protecting your employers and employees mental health is very important:

• Check in regularly with your team members
• Colleagues
• Customers
• Suppliers

Also check out: https://www.forbes.com/sites/onemind/2020/03/17/when-home-becomes-the-workplace-mental-health-and-remote-work/ to see what some of the experts in the industry highlight could be the key concerns and how to manage them.

So how do we make the most of working from home?

Routine is Key:

• Wake up at your normal time, but enjoy a little longer to get ready.
• Have some breakfast an extra cup of coffee, as you don’t have to face the stress of the daily commute – No traffic jams, public transport or queuing, bonus!
• Then structure your day like you would if you were in the office.
• Organise meetings, speak to your colleagues, call your customers and suppliers, adapt your ways of working.

Be productive and proactive, there are many solutions available to you, and Lineal are here to help, if you need us.

There are also various positives for remote working, both for the employee and the employer:

• Increased productivity – working remotely increases productivity work that needs focus by 16 per cent
• Higher morale – a study showed that those who work from home love their job more than those who work in an office.
• Higher employee retention
• Less stress – one in five employees say that juggling their work and personal lives is the main cause of stress
• Some of us may be lucky enough to have some four-legged furry colleagues keeping us company instead on a day to day basis.

Keep calm and carry on, and if you have any IT concerns please contact the Team here at Lineal Software Solutions Ltd.

How secure is your password?… One of the biggest reasons for security breaches is weak passwords.  People often choose passwords that are too short.  Regardless of how tedious it seems, make it a point to update your passwords regularly; use upper and lower case letters along with symbols and numbers.

The key measurement of password security is entropy. This, in computer science terms, is a measurement of how unpredictable a password is, based on how long it would take an attacker to work it out by making a guess at each character.  As a standard, longer passwords are by definition more secure and harder to crack.  In the table below you can see how shorter/easier passwords, are quicker to crack.

What should a password look like

Strong, secure passwords have a lot in common; they are usually long, unique, random and involve a mixture of lowercase and uppercase letters as well as special characters and numbers.  Trying to create passwords that comprised of all of these aspects, can sometimes be challenging.

Most insecure passwords are the result of our human behaviour. People do a lot of very predictable things and in general find it difficult to be random, especially when they are actively trying to be.  For instance putting special characters only at the beginning or end rather than mixing them up in the middle, or using common phrases and keyboard patterns.  So that we can remember we often try to use memorable pieces of information but we should always, where possible, avoid clues and references to our personal lives.

Where can I go for advice

There are many articles online to help assist with what a strong password looks like.  At a recent event Lineal ran with the South West Police Regional Cyber Crime Unit, which focused on cyber security, password strength was highlighted as a high risk for many businesses and individuals.

To find out more, or if you require any help with ways to help protect your business, please contact the IT support team at Lineal.

Due out this Autumn (2019) is macOS Catalina – Apple’s latest new operating system for the Mac range.

MacOS Catalina is currently in Beta, so it’s unclear exactly how the final update will look. However it appears once again that Apple are increasingly blurring the boundary between Mac and iPad, as well as doubling-down on a rich media experience:

“…MacOS Catalina gives you more of everything you love about Mac. Experience music, TV and podcasts in three all-new Mac apps. Enjoy your favourite iPad apps now on your Mac. Extend your workspace and expand your creativity with iPad and Apple Pencil.  Discover smart new features in the apps you use every day.  You can now take everything you do above and beyond.  With macOS Catalina, the apps you love are now more beautiful and intelligent making your everyday tasks easier than ever.”

Apple’s decision to replace iTunes also receives its own sales pitch as part of the new operating system’s roll-out:

“… iTunes forever changed the way people experienced music, films, TV programmes and podcasts. It all changes again with three all-new, dedicated apps — Music, Apple TV and Apple Podcasts — each designed from the ground up to be the best way to enjoy entertainment on your Mac. And rest assured: everything you had in your iTunes library is still accessible in each app. iCloud seamlessly syncs everything across your devices — or you can back up, restore and sync by connecting the device directly to your Mac.”

In addition, some of macOS Mojave’s ‘focus’ tools are being extended, in the hope of making your Mac use more productive – in addition to advanced voice control.

“… macOS Catalina brings all your favourite Screen Time features to Mac, giving you greater insight into how you’re spending your time. Monitor usage, schedule downtime, and set limits for both apps and websites across all your devices. Enhanced security features better protect macOS against tampering, helping to ensure that the apps you use are safe, giving you greater control over access to your data, and it’s even easier to find your Mac if it’s lost or stolen.”

Apple is expected to release macOS Catalina free of charge to all users, and is currently in a testing phase. We do not recommend Apple users seek to move to Catalina just yet, as final version bugs may still be identified during the public beta.

For Apple hardware, expertise and support, contact Lineal today

Google has admitted that some of its enterprise customers’ passwords have been incorrectly stored in plaintext, in a security issue dating back 14 years.

It’s been disclosed a bug has caused a portion of G Suite users to have their passwords stored in plain text.  The bug has been around since 2005, but there is no evidence that anybody’s password was improperly accessed. They’re resetting any passwords that might be affected and letting G Suite administrators know about the issue.

It’s unclear exactly how many users have been affected, Google would only say that it relates to a “subset of G Suite” customers. G Suite is the corporate version of Gmail and Google’s other apps, the bug came about in this product because of a feature designed specifically for companies.  The issue has been fixed and there is no evidence of improper access to or misuse of the affected passwords.  No consumer Google accounts were impacted.

The company typically stores passwords on its servers in a cryptographically scrambled state known as a hash. But a bug in G Suite’s password recovery feature for administrators caused unprotected passwords to be stored in the infrastructure of an admin control panel.  Google has confirmed even though the passwords were stored in plain text, they were at least stored in plain text inside Google’s servers.  This therefore would have been harder to get to, than if they were just out on the open internet.

Although Google didn’t say so explicitly, it seems they want to ensure people don’t associate this issue with other plain text password problems.

Facebook, Twitter and GitHub have all admitted storing user passwords in plaintext over the past year or so. In Facebook’s case, hundreds of millions of users are thought to have been affected.

For IT expertise and support please contact Lineal Software Solutions Ltd.

Growing our business with the youth of today, Lineal support Apprenticeship Recruitment.  Creating opportunities with one of the region’s largest privately-owned IT companies, offering the first step to a career working in IT.

Staff at Lineal attended Petroc’s annual Apprenticeship Fair last Tuesday the 7th May.  At this year’s event a small team attended, two of whom are currently employed Apprentices at Lineal Software Solutions.  Talking to students about the company and sharing their experiences of studying and working, being paid to earn as you learn.

Attending these events is vital to aid the growth of local businesses and apprenticeship recruitment, above all it allows students to meet with local companies.  Since 2014 we have been working closely with our local College Petroc to take on candidates who we feel have a talent for working within the industry.  Being an apprentice offers hands on work experience in a multi-disciplinary IT company to suit a variety of skills and expertise.

For IT expertise please contact Lineal Software Solutions Ltd

The current Mac Pro computer debuted back in June 2013 with an upgrade consequently in the winds.  Reports suggest that a fresh model may finally see the light of day in the first week of June. According to sources, Apple will be revealing its new Mac Pro at the World Wide Developers Conference. 

Given that the Pro targets demanding pro-users, like Architects and Developers, it makes sense for the new Mac to be revealed here.  With super fast processors, more maximum RAM, better GPUs, and a slew of other improvements, almost certainly make this the most powerful and capable Mac Pro Apple have ever launched.

The new design will better accommodate future upgrades and higher-end hardware. Apple says the design of the current high-end device has restricted the company’s ability to upgrade it, necessitating a total redesign.  Internal expansion and dual-processor options are key aspects on the wish list of improvements.  The actual capabilities of the most recent creation are however still a mystery.  

Aside from a revised Pro, there are rumours that Apple is developing a high-end high-throughput modular system.  This will facilitate regular upgrades to meet the needs of Apple’s pro user base. It will ship alongside an upcoming Apple-branded pro display, which rumours suggest will be 31.6 inches with a 6K resolution.  With “outstanding picture quality” enabled through a new Mini LED-like backlighting design.

For IT expertise please contact Lineal Software Solutions Ltd