Week Commencing 8th May
April was an extremely busy period for me, and unfortunately I didn’t have much opportunity to write my BizTech Brief so this article is highlighting the biggest news over the past month.
Microsoft warns Ransomware cyber-attack is a wake-up call
Early on the morning of 12th May the world experienced the year’s latest cyberattack, starting in the UK and Spain the malicious ‘WannaCrypt’ software spread globally, blocking users from accessing their data unless they paid the ransom in Bitcoins.
A month prior, on March 14, Microsoft had released a security update to patch this vulnerability and protect our customers. While this protected newer Windows systems and computers that had enabled Windows Update to apply this latest update, many computers remained unpatched globally.
In England alone, 48 National Health Service (NHS) trusts reported problems at hospitals, doctor surgeries or pharmacies, and 13 NHS organisations in Scotland were also affected.
This attack provides another example of how companies aren’t taking cyber-security seriously enough and the vulnerabilities that are a problem.
Our Operations Director, Barry Coombs recorded a video over the weekend talking about the recent attack on the NHS and the measures this organisation and you should take to ensure your business is safe to prevent this from happening again.
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We are seeing lots of news today about the NHS cyber-attack, this video is aimed at IT users to help you understand more about the attack in non-tech terms and what you can do to safe at home and work from cyber-attack.
Read more from Microsoft about the attack
Microsoft unveils new Surface laptop
On 2nd May, Microsoft has unveiled a new Surface laptop to compete with the Macbook Air.
The device will go on sale on 15 June with a starting price of $999 (£770). It has a 34cm (13.5 inch) screen and 14 hours of battery life, the firm said.The tech giant also revealed a new edition of its Windows 10 operating system aimed at schools and designed to run on low-cost computers.
Windows 10S promises stronger virus protection and better battery life, and will be available on third party PCs with a starting price of $189.
See the launch video from Microsoft:
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Microsoft Surface Laptop is performance made personal. Featuring the best of Windows and Office, all-day battery life, a stunning screen that responds to your touch, and a choice of four rich tone-on-tone colors, it delivers the perfect balance of portability and performance. Learn more: http://bit.ly/2pBW6jb
Google, VMware Announce ‘extended partnership’ to boost Chrome OS in enterprise.
Google and VMware have announced an “extended partnership” to accelerate the adoption of Chrome OS devices in the enterprise market. New software will extend security to virtualized apps, while deeper integration is in the works.
The two companies are also working on more collaboration with VMware senior vice president Sumit Dhawan noting that, “This is just the first step in our collaboration on this platform with more to come.” Future advancements will “unify native Android applications.” In an interview with TechCrunch, Google notes that deeper integrations will come in the future:
“We’ve started a virtualization stack. We’ve worked with VMware to optimize applications on Chrome OS, both the Android and virtualized apps. We’re working with them on deeper integrations. It’s just the beginning of the process.”
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