Icon IT Limited

This question, “How often should I replace my laptop?”, is very common. People seem to have different views on the answer, and often that answer is based on hearsay or something someone once told the person, and it’s stuck.

How often should I replace my laptop? This question, “How often should I replace my laptop?”, is a very common. People seem to have different views on the answer, and often that answer is based

Icon IT is celebrating Cyber Security Week in New Zealand by pushing aside the myth that Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is too hard. We’ve heard lots of the reasons that clients don’t want to move to MFA. None of them are true.

Cyber Security Week: Multi-Factor Authentication is too hard Icon IT is celebrating Cyber Security Week in New Zealand by pushing aside the myth that Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is too hard. We’ve heard lots of th

There is no doubt that an independent audit of your IT systems is Best Practice. It means you get that fresh pair of eyes, and not knowing your systems from the outset is a positive; it means that we can ask those questions because we don’t know the answers, and often those questions will find holes or issues in your IT systems.

Why Should I Get An Independent IT Review? Let’s say you feel that your IT systems aren’t working as well as they should be. Are our backups safe from ransomware? Do we have the correct security meas

A nice referral from one of our clients!
“I highly recommend ICON IT if you are looking to have an IT Review completed for your company. ICON IT through our systems, interviewing our staff and the various IT-based support companies that we use, and at the end of this process provided us with a detailed report that included recommendations on what we should do to improve our services, decrease our costs and improve how staff access and understand the technology we use to do our jobs. Implementing their recommendations has resulted in a significant decrease in expenditure, a change to new IT providers with improved service, better access to our technology, much-improved cyber-security, and many other benefits.

Steve Williams, Business Services Manager, Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of NZ
https://www.forestandbird.org.nz/

Forest & Bird is Aotearoa/New Zealand's leading independent conservation organisation. | Forest and Bird Forest & Bird is Aotearoa/New Zealand's leading independent conservation organisation. We focus on bringing positive change to New Zealand's Land, Fresh water, Oceans and Climate. We can't do it without you and your support!

Were your IT systems ready for this lockdown? How to avoid the IT lolly scramble

Were your IT systems ready for this lock down? How to avoid the IT lolly scramble By now, most company’s IT team or IT provider should have been all set for this latest lockdown, with little or no disruption to your staff. If this didn’t

On visiting three separate clients lately (to carry out IT Reviews) we have noticed a growing trend of users not keeping their Windows up to date. There are always lots of common excuses, but it does make you wonder: why should I keep my Windows up to date?

Upgrades vs. Updates

In this blog post, we aren’t talking about a Window upgrade.

Why should I keep my Windows up to date? On visiting three separate clients lately (to carry out IT Reviews) we have noticed a growing trend of users not keeping their Windows up to date. There are alw

Let's be careful out there, folks. This scam using a real Google doc could fool a lot of people...
https://threatpost.com/google-docs-host-attack/166998/

Threat Actors Use Google Docs to Host Phishing Attacks Exploit in the widely used document service leveraged to send malicious links that appear legitimate but actually steal victims credentials.

In the aftermath of this major IT event, is there something everyone can take from this? What can we learn from Waikato DHB, and the pain they are still going through as they restore their systems and their services?

For Icon IT, there is one simple answer to this: people click on things they shouldn’t. They always have, and they always will.

What can we learn from Waikato DHB? In the aftermath of this major IT event, is there something everyone can take from this? What can we learn from Waikato DHB, and the pain they are still going t

Do you need any more reasons than this to take up our Phishing Education service? Contact us for details.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/125175283/email-attachment-believed-to-have-opened-door-to-cyber-attack-on-waikato-hospitals

Email attachment believed to have opened door to cyber attack on Waikato hospitals Someone who opened a message and clicked on a link thought to have caused the "absolute chaos" at Waikato hospitals.

I hate to think how many times I’ve been in an organisation, and you can work out how long someone has been working there by the number at the end of their password. Generally, in a larger company, passwords are required to be changed every 3 months, and so Joe over in Accounts is now up to ‘Brook12’ as his password. Brook is his daughter’s name and 12 is the amount of times he’s changed his password.

How do I make a decent password? During our Phishing Education and Training sessions, we cover off passwords. Far too many people have simple passwords, or just change the number at the end of

Most small business owners that have a server (or more than one) onsite understand the costs of this, and often internally ask themselves: Do I really need a server at my office?

It isn’t just the physical cost of purchasing a new server every 3-5 years, there’s the ongoing maintenance, updates and patching, potential hardware failures, and more.

Do I really need a server at my office? Most small business owners that have a server (or more than one) onsite understand the costs of this, and often internally ask themselves: Do I really need a se

No one wants this to happen, but it happens. Somehow, a hacker has got your password and has got control of your email account. It's a terrible position to be in - especially so if it's a business or corporate account - but you need to know what to do next. This post comes from a client who had exactly this happen, and called to ask, "My email has been hacked, what do I do now?"

So

Case study: My email has been hacked, what do I do now? No one wants this to happen, but it happens. Somehow, a hacker has got your password and has got control of your email account. It's a terrible position to be i

Classic IT mistakes of Non-Profit Organisations

Everyone makes mistakes, but for a non-profit organsation, that can divert funds or donations away from what they were intended for, and that's something everyone wants to avoid.

Not-for-profits (NFP) and charities or charitable organisations have a yoyo position when it comes to IT and IT systems.

Classic IT mistakes that Non-Profit Organisations make Classic IT mistakes of Non-Profit Organisations Everyone makes mistakes, but for a non-profit organsation, that can divert funds or donations away from what

One of Icon IT’s clients was having an issue with phishing emails. Some of these suspicious emails were getting through their email systems without being blocked, and multiple times in one year, staff members would click on a link in an email when they shouldn’t have, and then supplied their login name and password to the network.

Case Study: Overcoming phishing with 2FA or MFA One of Icon IT’s clients was having an issue with phishing emails. Some of these suspicious emails were getting through their email systems without being bloc

In the world of IT, complicated=money, end of story.

This applies to all sorts of projects and systems, and we especially see it with CRM (Customer Relationship Management) applications, where, instead of buying something off the shelf that will meet 80% of your CRM requirements, one of the IT staff "has a go" at a custom and bespoke system, that only they know how to fix/change/update, and then

Keeping IT simple In the world of IT, complicated=money, end of story. This applies to all sorts of projects and systems, and we especially see it with CRM (Customer Relations

A client has come to us asking about desk phones and their PABX system. Most of their staff have a phone on the desk, but are they necessary? They wanted to look at options of removing the phones to let up some desk real estate, but also to enable easier remote working.

Case Study: What is Teams for Calling? A client has come to us asking about desk phones and their PABX system. Most of their staff have a phone on the desk, but are they necessary? They wanted to loo

A client received the below email, and since she had done our Phishing Education session, she didn't click - thankfully. This is the sort of tone in an email that screams 'SCAM!'.

Here is the actual text - We've replaced the client's website name and changed the scammer's email address so no one accidentally clicks on it and sends an email.

Name: MelPhone: 12124302084Email: Mnikon8@aol.

Case study: Business owner gets demanding scam email – Icon IT - independent, unbiased IT advice Icon IT - independent, unbiased IT advice Case study: Business owner gets demanding scam email copyright photos