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A short email send delay gives you time to cancel a message after clicking Send. It can help employees catch the wrong recipient or attachment before payroll records, contracts or customer information leave the company.

Your network diagram should show how your internet connection, firewall, switches, wireless access points, servers and important cloud services fit together. Keep it current and store a copy somewhere you can reach during an outage. Need a current diagram? Contact us.

Some free VPNs make money by letting other people send traffic through your internet connection.

Google recently took down a large network that used devices running apps advertised as free VPNs.

While the VPN worked, the app also allowed other customers' internet traffic to pass through the device.

On a work laptop, that traffic would appear to come from your company's public IP address. Your IP could get blocked because of activity nobody in the business carried out.

Google also found that some of this software could expose other devices on the same network.

Check which VPNs and browser extensions are installed on company devices. Staff should use the VPN provided by the business, not one they found online because it was free.

Want to know whether unapproved VPNs or proxy software are installed on your company devices? Reach out and we can check for you.

An FBI official said a North Korean IT worker had been working for a US government agency. The agency and the worker's access weren't disclosed. For remote hires, verify identity, work history and location before sending equipment or granting access.

North Korean remote IT staffer worked for US government agency, says FBI | TechCrunch The investigation shows that North Koreans are able to infiltrate government agencies, as well as private organizations and crypto exchanges.

Your out-of-office reply shouldn't tell strangers where you are, which clients you're working with or who is covering for you. People outside your company only need to know when you'll reply and how to contact the business if it's urgent.

Your company should control the main admin account for its accounting software, CRM and file storage. Use a company email address, give access to at least two trusted people, and keep the billing and recovery details current. Need help checking? Contact us.

Don't trust hotel Wi-Fi. It can be compromised even when you've joined the correct network.

Microsoft has found attackers taking control of the systems used for Wi-Fi login pages at hotels and conference venues.

Once the login system has been compromised, guests can be redirected to a fake Microsoft 365 sign-in page or shown a fake browser update that installs malware.

The timing makes the request believable. You've just connected, the hotel page opens and it says an update is needed before you can continue.

Checking the network name with reception won't help because the hotel's real Wi-Fi is involved.

Use your phone's hotspot for work whenever possible. If you have to use hotel Wi-Fi, never enter your work password into the hotel registration page.

And if the page asks you to download an update, certificate or security tool, disconnect. Joining Wi-Fi shouldn't require you to install anything.

If your staff travel with work laptops, send us a message before their next trip. We'll make sure the devices are properly protected.

If you want your team to work fast, don't skimp on their computers or your internet.

Everything moves quicker than it used to. Customers want fast replies, and the jobs often go to whoever gets back to them first. Your team can't be quick if their tools are slow.

A laptop that takes an age to load, internet that keeps dropping, cheap software that hangs, all of it means your people spend half the day waiting around and working out ways past the problem. It's frustrating, and good staff hate not being able to get on with the job because of the gear they've been given.

Spend a bit more here and you get it back. The work goes faster, and people are happier doing it.

You don't need top-of-the-range everything. You just need computers and a connection that are quick and reliable enough to stay out of your team's way.

Soon, some of the calls coming into your business won't be from a real person.

Google has started giving people AI assistants that ring businesses for them. The assistant will call a shop to check if something's in stock, book an appointment, or ask about a price.

For now this is mostly a consumer thing, and it's early. But if a lot of your business comes in over the phone, it's worth knowing about.

Tell your team some callers will be AI, not people. And whatever they say on a call can be recorded, so it pays to be accurate about prices, opening hours and what you've got available.

There's a good side to this too. You can use the same kind of assistant for the dull calls you'd rather not make, like chasing a supplier or waiting on hold.

By default, a Microsoft account will accept a login attempt from anywhere in the world.

Most attacks on Microsoft accounts come from overseas, from automated tools trying stolen passwords by the thousand. If your business only works in one or two countries, there's no reason to allow a login from anywhere else.

There's a setting in Microsoft 365 called Conditional Access that lets you block any login from outside the countries you operate in. Someone trying your password from the other side of the world is turned away, even if the password is right.

It won't stop everything, and a determined attacker can route through your country to get past it. But it blocks the flood of automated attempts from places you'll never deal with, and that's most of what you're up against.

You'll need the right Microsoft plan, and it's set up in the admin area, so ask your IT provider to turn it on and set the countries you work in.