According to a new report from Ofcom the Uk's average home download speed is on the rise. November's average broadband speed was 7.6Mbps up from 6.8Mbps, the average reported last May.

Upgrades offered by both Virgin Media & BT have helped boost the figure.

These average download speed figures are contained in Ofcom's sixth study into residential fixed-line broadband performance. It is also the first report published since internet service providers were told they would only be able to claim a maximum speed if it was available to 10% of their customers.

The new rules come into effect from April and Ofcom have provided the following guidance.

6Mbps was the average speed for services advertised as 'up to' 8Mbps.

14Mbps was the average speed for connections 'up to' 20/24 Mbps.

However much work is still required in out of town connections. Rural areas have an average download speed of 3.3Mbps as opposed to the urban average of 8.8Mbps.

By 2016 the web economy could have grown to £2.7tn. The study by Boston Consulting Group and commissioned by Google, assumes that in four years 3bn people will be using the internet, around 50% of the world's population.

About 200 million people are going online for the first time every year.

In 2010 the internet economy in the G20 group of leading nations was worth £1.5tn - larger than the economies of Italy or Brazil, but a mere 4.1% of the total size of all G20 economies.

The researchers speak of a new internet where:

Web access will not be a luxury

The majority of web users will live in emerging markets, for example China is expected to have 800 million users by 2016.

80% of all internet users will access the web from a mobile device.

The internet will go social allowing customers & companies to engage with each other.

Technology giant IBM estimates that by 2015 , one trillion devices will be internet connected.

Shopping comparison website Kelkoo has reported that online retail sales grew by 14% in 2011 to top £50bn & are predicting a similar sized growth in 2012.

UK Online shoppers spent around £1500 each on 39 items. The online retail trade accounted for 12% of total spending, this was the highest in Europe.

Other European countries with high retail market shares include Germany (9%), Switzerland (8.7%) and Norway (8.1%). The lowest were Italy (1.3%) and Poland (3.1%).

Internet retailing has continued to improve with affordable internet connections, secure payment systems and the increasing popularity of mobile devices coupled with the growth of mobile based retail sites.

While online retail spending looks likely to continue its upward trend, Kelkoo reports that this growth will probably come at the expense of the High Street, where many big name retailers continue to struggle.

Digital marketing company iCrossing has claimed in a recently published report that Facebook will reach one billion members by August of this year helped by accelerated growth in developing countries.

Facebook announced last year that it had reached 800 million users but growth has dramatically slowed or even stopped in countries such as the USA and the UK.

However in countries such as India & Brazil growth continues to be strong. At the moment only 3% of India's population & 16% of Brazil's population have signed up, compared to figures in the USA and UK of 49% & 47% respectively.

Rival social networking service Google+ still has a lot of catching up to do, with unofficial estimates putting it's membership at around the 400 million mark.

Facebook continues to make money by selling advertising that reaches all of it's members.

According to recently released research by Futuresource Consulting, a quarter of all school children will be using a mobile computing device in the classroom by 2015.

Last year around 411,00 mobile computing devices were sold to schools in the UK. That figure is expected to rise to one million by 2016.

The research highlights big moves from technology providers towards the field of education. Apple are pushing harder with iPad platforms such as iTunes for education.

According to the research forty million computing devices will be sold to the education sector globally by 2014.

With around 1.4 billion enrolled students and teachers across the world this clearly represents  a massive business opportunity.

In vehicle internet access is becoming a reality. according to the world's top car bosses. The survey by KPMG looking at future trends shows speech recognition and internet connection with wi-fi and 3G will become the norm.

More than a third (37%) of the 200 car executives questioned believe 'infotainment' in cars is nearly as important as car safety.

Over the next five years car buyers will see in car gadgets provided by firms like Google, Apple, Microsoft & LG among others.

Intel claims that the connected car is the third fastest growing technological device, following smartphones and tablets.

Hybrid cars will also get the most investment over the next five years according to 53% of those surveyed. But 61% also believe developments in normal petrol & diesel engines will still be attractive offering consumers greater efficiency and CO2 reduction.

A book published in 1962 has recently been unearthed, entitled '1975: And the changes to come.' In the book the author made a number of technology predictions.

Among the predictions were toasted bacon wrapped in tin trays, sonic dish washers and fridges that appear from under the kitchen floor - all devices that shold have been common palce by 1975 according to the book.

The author Arnold Barach also predicted that computers would increasingly be used in education and that all foreign publications would be automatically translated with the use of a translation machine.

He also predicted that pupils would be set multiple choice questions on push button machines and have their score printed out for the teacher. He also saw the advent of pacemakers.

He also predicted a device that would cook pre-prepared meals, but rather than a microwave, it was to be called 'the housewife saver'.

According to an IT Consultant contractor, Peopleperhour, the demand for IT consultants has risen by 61% in the month of December compared to last month.

The biggest increase, over 100%, was for e-commerce experts, however demand also increased for IT support consultants & web programmers.

The figures show that IT consultants are in high demand during the run-up to Christmas The use of contractors allows businesses to temporarily increase resources for peak business periods. Businesses are able to increase their margins using freelancers and make the most of the extra income to be made over the festive season.

A report by education regulator Ofsted has painted a bleak picture of ICT teaching in schools.

Ofcom figures show that the numbers of students taking the subject at GCSE level has slumped by 64% in four years.

According to Ofsted, this year only 31,800 students attempted the examination compared with 81,100 in 2007.

The report stated that teaching standards were inadequate in nearly a fifth of the 167 schools that were inspected in the previous 3 years.

At the heart of the problem, Ofsted said, were poor curricula being used in many schools which consistently failed to meet the students needs.

In the latest annual Password survey produced by Lieberman Software over a quarter of the 300 IT professionals questioned admitted they could not resist peeking at redundancy lists, payroll information and other sensitive data.

The survey also showed that some 42% of those questioned said that IT staff within their organisation were sharing passwords or access to systems or applications, 26% said they were aware of an IT staff member abusing a privileged login to access sensitive information, and 48% said their companies were still not changing passwords within 90 days.

The conclusion the survey comes to presents quite a stark warning, the fundamentally carleless  practices and procedures highlighed could cost companies dearly in 2012.

A recently released 'State of the Internet' report highlighted that thirty percent of UK internet traffic is now at speeds above 5Mbps, an increase of 70% compared to last year.

However 9% of UK internet users are still running less than the minimum bandwidth of 2Mbps, the target set by the Goverment  for UK broadband.

Within Europe, the Netherlands had the highest average connection speed in the period covered by the report, reaching 8.5Mbps. Of the remaining listed countries in the report, sixteen had average connection speeds in excess of 5Mbps, the remaining six all had average connection speeds in excess of the 2Mbps.

In a recently released report, Ofcom has taken a high level look at the state of the UK's digital communications.

The report reveals which regions within the UK are rich in broadband, local TV, mobile base stations and digital radio coverage as well as highlighting those areas that continue to lag behind.

The report then divides the UK into 200 areas which are then graded on a scale of 1 - 5 depending on how the different technologies fare within that location.

On fixed broadband speeds only a few of the 200 areas are ranked as 1 with the ranking calculated on high take up of broadband, higher than average wire speed, and availability of superfast broadband.

The report goes on to estimate that 900,000 premises cannot get 2G signals from all the UK's providers and 7.7 million UK places do not have 3G signals .

It appears that of all the UK's major cities, Birmingham comes out on top when considering all the technologies within the report, whilst hilly, sparsely populated areas such as mid Wales & the Scottish highlands rank among the lowest.

Ofcom says the data collected will be used to work out how to spend £150 million of government money to address mobile 'not-spots'.

A BT survey of 2103 people has shown that 20% of adults are yet to send an email. Unfortunately the survey doesn't continue on to reveal how many of the electronic mail virgins actually knew how to or what an email was. 

The survey was carried out over the phone, because if it was an email survey then apparently the pool would have only been 1682.4 people. That's my mandatory annual maths based statement right there.

Anyway, the whole point of this survey is to help promote the Telecom giant's new campaign, wittingly entitled 'Get IT Out'.' 

Basically BT, and the delightful Gabby Logan, want us, the public, to spend more time helping the less computer-savvy in their daily struggle against simple tasks such as printing, setting up Wi-Fi access and checking email. 

If, 18 years ago, I'd have known that in exchange for teaching me how to ride a bike, I'd have to spend hour upon frustrating hour sat trying to teach my Dad how to use Gmail properly, I'd just have stuck with the stabilisers. 

A fundamental lack of IT security awareness in enterprises is potentially paving the way for a further wave of data breaches in 2011, a survey of 300 international IT professionals has shown. 

Nearly half of those polled said they have worked for organisations where computer networks have been breached by a hacker.

Just over half of the respondents said they had 10 or more passwords to remember for use in their work, 42% said that IT staff are sharing passwords or access to systems or applications, and 26% said that they were aware of an IT staff member abusing a privileged login to access sensitive information.

Nearly half said they worked at companies that are still not changing their privileged passwords within 90 days.

For many organisations these weaknesses are the back doors by which hackers access the enterprise's most sensitive data, and if almost 50% of passwords remain unchanged, then fundamental and basic IT security practices are being ignored by staff and management.

Story Source: Computer Weekly.

 Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Queen Mary, University of London took nearly 400 samples from mobile phones and hands in 12 British cities.

They found 16% of phones and 16% of hands harboured E. coli (Escherichia coli), bacteria which inhabit the human intestines.

The largest proportion of contaminated phones was in Birmingham (41%) while Londoners were caught with the highest proportion of E. coli present on hands (28%).

But the sample size in each city was small, so the variations between them could be a statistical anomaly.

However Dr Val Curtis, from the London School of Hygiene says the study showed clear differences between north and south.

'We found the further north we went the more hands and phones were likely to be contaminated. It could be the bugs survive better in colder and wetter conditions or it might be that people wash their hands less.'

I explained to Dr Curtis that such comments were unlikely to win her friends in Glasgow and Liverpool - two of the cities where samples were taken.

But she brushed this aside explaining that after a similar survey three years ago she was advised not to hang around Newcastle.

Story Source: BBC Technology News

Motorist caught multi-tasking whilst on the move

Police in Hampshire recently caught a motorist driving while using a laptop, writing down the answers to a radio quiz and sipping coffee, all at the same time.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the behaviour was observed during Operation Tramline, a crackdown on distracted drivers in which the force used a number of vehicles, including an unmarked HGV cab. 

The HGV cab allowed officers to observe and video offenders from an improved viewpoint.

The fact that the coffeee-drinking, laptop-using, radio quiz-participating driver is referred to, simply, as a 'motorist' - whereas another offender, caught eating a pear with a knife, was revealed to be a man - suggests the motorist in question was at least more naturally disposed to multi-tasking. Ahem.

Story Source: Computer Weekly

The Timeline is a significant departure from the traditional Facebook Profile page, and the information on it may influence your ability to get a job.

The concept seems to have tremendous potential to help you actually be more social with your social network. The problem is that prospective employers will be checking out your Facebook Timeline as well, so you need to devote some effort to making sure it paints the portrait of you that you want others to see.

When your current profile is converted to a Timeline it might reveal pictures, events, and status updates from your past that you forgot about--and perhaps some you wish you could forget. Facebook will be automagically going through your Facebook existence to extract relevant bits to populate your Timeline.

If you've been using Facebook for a while, there's no telling what sorts of smoking guns and skeletons in the closet might be revealed. Thankfully, Facebook gives you an opportunity to identify the information you want to promote on the Timeline, and to hide or delete entries you'd rather not have exposed to the world.

The information displayed on the Timeline will have the same privacy controls and restrictions as the same information currently has on your Facebook Profile and Wall. You can choose to allow some elements to be viewable by the general public, while limiting other entries to just family and close friends.

Employers routinely check the social networks of applicants as part of due diligence during the hiring process. If you are using the Facebook security and privacy controls effectively, prospective hiring managers won't be able to see much--if anything--unless you actually add them to your Facebook social network. But, if you're not careful you might expose facts and events that could influence whether or not you get the job.

If done right, the Facebook Timeline can be a glowing tribute to your life and accomplishments. It can be a sort of living résumé that lets prospective employers learn about the type of person you are. If done wrong, your Facebook Timeline could be a minefield of embarrassing bombshells that reflect poorly on you as a candidate for employment.

Story Source: IT News

The UK's slowest broadband connections are more than 50 times slower than the national average, a speed survey has shown.

According to website uSwitch's research - based on speed tests in 1.5m homes in the UK - a residential area called Mount Pleasant in Halesworth in Suffolk suffers download speeds of only 0.128Mbits/seconds, 53 times slower than the UK average of 6.8Mbits/sec.

By contrast, users in Leamington Spa enjoyed speeds of 18.86Mbits/sec in the research, which drilled down to individual street levels where the data provided a sample size of no fewer than 10 houses per postcode.

'While many areas of the country are already benefiting from the considerable investment into super-fast fibre optic networks, our research highlights the plight of households at the other end of the spectrum, struggling with download speeds so poor that in some cases it can hardly be considered a broadband service at all,' said uSwitch's technology expert Ernest Doku.

Many of the streets that feature in the list aren't in the far-flung countryside, but rather in more urban areas

The report noted it would take Mount Pleasant residents as long as 48 hours to download a single movie.

Joining Mount Pleasant at the slow end of the broadband Hall of Pain were Forestfield, Horsham, West Sussex (0.134Mbits/sec), Inchkeith Drive, Dunfermline, Fife (0.169Mbits/sec), Faraday Avenue, Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire (0.182Mbits/sec), Baird Avenue, Kilwinning, Ayrshire (0.225Mbits/sec) and Wheatears Drive, Romsey, Hampshire (0.242Mbits/sec).

The research highlighted that slow broadband isn't only a problem in isolated rural areas such as Cumbria and the wilds of Scotland, as West Sussex and Hampshire accounted for a quarter of the UK's 20 slowest streets by broadband speed.

'What is particularly interesting is that many of the streets that feature in the list aren't in the far-flung countryside, but rather in more urban areas, nearer to exchanges and where we would expect to see higher download speeds across the board,' Doku said.

The situation shows how difficult it will be for the Government to ensure the universal service commitment of 2Mbits/sec promised by 2015, with individual addresses, rather than entire regions, needing attention to meet the requirement.

Story Source: PC Pro

A Norwich-based IT company is making remote online backups available to businesses in East Anglia with data held in Norfolk. Blue256 Ltd can drastically cut the amount of time it takes to recover lost data, firstly by offering a more efficient way of backing up, and secondly by giving a choice of data transfer methods in the event of large data restore operations.

Many companies currently offering remote online backup services are either based in other counties or overseas, so recovering large amounts of data, even over a fast connection, can be a lengthy process.

Businesses that backup their data using tape drives can sometimes forget to change tapes or fail to take them offsite at the end of the day. Even if tapes are kept onsite in a secure fireproof safe, would you really want to risk them being in the building during a severe fire or flood?

Businesses in East Anglia need never think about backups again, as Blue256 offers a fully managed service. Engineers install, configure and monitor the remote online backups, ensuring the data is in safe and secure hands. The data is encrypted on transfer and storage, and can only be accessed using a private encryption key, which Blue256 does not store.

Blue256's highly secure backup environment is hosted at its data centre in Norfolk. The facilities are air-conditioned to a constant temperature, with IT equipment that is replaced every 3 years to ensure extremely high reliability. Physical security is assured with fire suppression, smoke detection and theft prevention systems, including intruder alarms, motion sensors, and 24/7 video camera surveillance.

As East Anglia's fastest growing IT support consultancy, Blue256 offers a whole package of IT solutions to complement its remote online backups, from help desk support through to wireless network technology, server installation and computer network support.

Find out more about how remote online backups can help your business by calling Blue256 Ltd on 01603 424500 or emailing sales@blue256.co.uk

The UK IT profession is as big as it has ever been, according to the latest research from E-skills UK, but fewer IT professionals are receiving training.

In the last three months of 2010 there were just over one million IT professionals in the UK, accounting for 4% of the nation's total workforce.

Although the figure, which is the highest ever recorded, is positive, the IT skills council expressed fears that the IT sector is not investing enough in skills. E-skills revealed that only 23% of IT staff had received education or training in the past 13 weeks, compared with an average of 27% across all sectors. IT professionals at small companies were worst hit by reductions in skills and training investment, with only 15% having received training in the past 13 weeks.

Karen Price, CEO of E-skills UK, welcomed the news that the IT sector continues to make a major contribution to employment growth in the UK, but said more investment in training and skills is needed. 'More needs to be done to make fit-for-purpose and affordable training available to employers, and particularly to small businesses,' she said.

Story Source: Computer Weekly

Come and meet us in person at the B2B Autumn Exhibition on Thursday 20th October at Norwich City Football Club 11am - 5pm in the Advice & Finance zone.

Find out a bit more about who we are and how we can help you. Put a face to the name.

For more information on the event visit www.b2b11.co.uk  

The global cost of cybercrime is greater than the combined effect on the global economy of trafficking in marijuana, heroin and cocaine, which is estimated at $388bn, a new headline-grabbing study reported.

The Norton Cybercrime Report puts the straight-up financial costs of cyberattacks worldwide at $114bn, with time lost dealing with the crime adding the remaining $274bn, while the global black market in the three drugs costs $288bn.

Every second, 14 adults become the victim of some sort of cybercaper, adding up to over a million victims every day, the report from Norton-maker Symantec said, with young men who access the web on their mobiles the most likely victims.

But despite the large number of victims, people aren't doing enough to stop it for themselves. Although 74 per cent of people say they're aware of cybercrime, 41 per cent of them don't have up-to-date security software and 61 per cent don't use complex, regularly-changing passwords

'There is a serious disconnect in how people view the threat of cybercrime,' said Adam Palmer, Norton's lead cybersecurity advisor. 'Over the past 12 months, three times as many adults surveyed have suffered from online crime versus offline crime, yet less than a third of respondents think they are more likely to become a victim of cybercrime than physical world crime in the next year.'

The most common cybercrime issues are malware and viruses, which have affected 54 percent of those surveyed, with online scams second (11 per cent), and phishing catching 10 per cent of adults out. Cyber-villainy is also on the up on phones, with 10 per cent of adults having been victims of an attack on their mobile, according to the study. The study surveyed almost 20,000 people in 24 countries.

Story Source: The Register

Graphene, the thinnest material in the world, has the potential to bring about huge advances in high-speed internet and other optical communications, according to scientific research.

A team of scientists who have been working with graphene - a form of carbon only one atom thick yet 100 times stronger than steel - said in a study published in the journal Nature Communication that their research shows graphene's special optical and electronic properties could be fully exploited to advance IT communications.

When combined with tiny metallic structures called plasmonic nanostructures, graphene could potentially be hundreds of times faster than communication rates in the fastest internet cables currently in use. Nobel Prize winning scientist Kostya Novoselov said: 'Many leading electronics companies consider graphene for the next-generation of devices. This work certainly boosts graphene's chances even further.'

Andrea Ferrari from Cambridge University's engineering department, who worked alongside the team of scientists, said the findings show graphene has great potential in photonics and developing electronic devices that channel and control light.

Story Source: Computer Weekly

Did social media and mobile telecommunications fuel this weekend's violence in London?

A number of politicians, media commentators and members of the police force have suggested that Twitter and BlackBerry Messenger, in particular, had a role to play.

Undoubtedly, some of those involved chose to chronicle their exploits live - from the midst of the action - using mobile phones.

A few were apparently even foolish enough to upload pictures of themselves posing proudly with their looted haul.

Others offered suggestions for where might be good to attack next, leading the Met's deputy assistant commissioner, Steve Kavanagh to say he would consider arresting Twitter users who appeared to incite violence.

But some experts fear the extent to which technology is to blame may have been overstated.

Freddie Benjamin, a research manager at Mobile Youth, believes that much of the online noise is just that.

'Once someone starts posting on a BBM group or Twitter, a lot of young people try to follow the trend,' he told BBC News.

'They might not join the actual event, but they might talk about it or use the same hashtag which makes it sound like there is a lot more volume.'

Such postings build what Mr Benjamin refers to as 'social currency', elevating the messenger's sense of belonging to a group.

Following Saturday's trouble in Tottenham, a number of BlackBerry users reported receiving instant messages that suggested future riot locations.

BlackBerry's BBM system is known to be the preferred means of communication among many younger people.

Users are invited to join each other's contacts list using a unique PIN, although once they have done so, messages can be distributed to large groups.

BBM is both private and secure, partly due to the phones' roots as business communication devices.

For that reason it is hard to evaluate how much information was coming out of the riots or how many people were suggesting alternative targets.

But despite the closed nature of BlackBerry Messenger, police may still have a chance to examine some of the communications that took place.

Research in Motion, which makes Blackberry phones, issued a statement in which it promised to work with the authorities.

It pointed out that, like other telecoms companies, it complies with the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) which allows law enforcement to gain access to private messages when they relate to the commission of a crime.

It may turn out, after a more careful examination of the various messages being pinged around, that this was indeed a social networking crime spree.

The Met has indicated it is ready to act on any information it finds.

But that will take time and a more methodical study.

The extent to which investigators are able to sift out genuine rioters from the internet 'echo chamber' and then bring real world prosecutions will provide valuable lessons, both about the use and abuse of technology, and also law enforcement's capacity to deal with it.

Story Source: www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology

China said it saw close to 480,000 Trojan horse attacks in 2010, with almost half originating from outside the country, according to a government security agency.

China's National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team (CNCERT) released some of the figures on Tuesday from an upcoming annual report. Of the 221,000 attacks that originated outside of China, 14.7 percent came from the U.S., while another 8.8 percent came from India.

The figures have gained media attention after security vendor McAfee reported a massive cyber attack that stole sensitive information from 72 companies and organizations. While McAfee did not name the group behind the hacking attempts, analysts suspect China is behind the attack because of the targets involved.

The Chinese government, however, has previously denied being involved with hacking attempts and said the country is also a victim of such attacks.

The nature of the 480,000 Trojan horse attacks is unclear as well as what kind of systems were targeted. CNCERT did not explain the methodology it used to calculate the figures, and an official at the agency said he could not answer more questions.

The official did point to a report the group released in April, which said that more than 10 million PCs in China had been controlled by Trojans in 2010. This represents a 274.9 percent jump from the previous year.

Trojans, which masquerade as applications, can be used to steal data from a PC. They can also be used to make a PC a part of a botnet, which is a network of infected computers that can be remotely controlled for denial-of-service attacks or to send spam.

Story Source: IT News

UK student Rebecca Rickwood has won a global competition to find the best user of Microsoft's spreadsheet software, Excel 2007. Rebecca, who is 15, was one of 228,000 competitors from 57 countries. She beat 78 students in the final round. 

Competitors were required to perform timed tests to demonstrate their skill at making spreadsheets. Rebecca was presented with her $5000 prize yesterday at a ceremony in San Diego, California.

'I heard my name read out in first place and I just couldn't believe it. I'm ecstatic, I just can't believe I won and now I'm world champion. It's a day I'll never forget,' she said.

Rebecca is a pupil at Sawtry Community College, a specialist maths and computing secondary school in Cambridgeshire.

Rebecca's instructor Pam Kitchen, a Microsoft trainer at the school, was ecstatic to hear of her success: 'Her father phoned me to tell me the news. I don't know who was more excited, him or me!'

Sawtry Community College runs extra-curricular classes for students in Microsoft software. Rebecca initially entered an online competition for Microsoft Excel 2007.

'She scored 1000 out of 1000,' Mrs Kitchen told BBC News. Rebecca was then invited to enter the global competition.

'She got a hundred percent in the World Championship too.'

The annual contest involves regional heats across the globe, with winners progressing to a shortlist of ten finalists. Rebecca won out in a list dominated by pupils from Asia.

Rebecca honed her skills by studying at lunch-time and in the evenings at the school. 'The other students are so thrilled for her,' said Mrs Kitchen.

The instructor believes that her prodigy has a bright future.

'She can do anything - and she's such a lovely girl.'

Story Source: BBC News Website

Six in 10 workers are demanding access to cloud services, but only one in 10 companies are deploying cloud technology, a survey has revealed.

More than two thirds of respondents to a survey of 1,000 office workers by Virgin Media Business said they would like to access all the software they use in the office, through a web browser from any location on any device.

Office workers are confident their businesses can meet these expectations, with 78% believing that in 10 years they will be able to access all their applications over the web, which would equate to over 9.3 million office workers using virtual working technologies by 2021.

But despite the demand and expectations of workers, the research found many businesses are slow to adopt cloud-based services because of concerns over connectivity.

In a separate survey of 5,000 business owners, 88% have yet to deploy cloud-based applications within their company. The key concern is whether their network infrastructure is up to the task, with 22% of business owners saying they are not comfortable with using applications via the internet, 20% saying they are worried about the reliability of their internet connection and 21% concerned about how much bandwidth cloud-based applications will use.

Research firm Gartner estimates that, by 2016, all of the Global 2000 companies will be using public cloud services. Gartner said businesses that ignore these technologies risk being left behind.

With cloud computing freeing businesses via remote working, they could make huge productivity gains.

Story Source: Computer Weekly

A new survey claims that a glass of wine and the internet is the ideal night in for many, with computers becoming increasingly important as fashion statements.

One in four Britons says that their computer is 'the most irreplaceable thing in their life', according to new research. A third say they use a PC for more than two hours every evening, even if they've also used one throughout their working day. One in seven claimed that their ideal evening now involves surfing the internet while enjoying a glass of wine.

The study of 2,000 users indicates that 14 percent, however, regard their computer as a fashion accessory. A quarter of respondents say their computer says more about them than their clothes.

Futurologist Dr Rachel Lawes said that the PC 'is the essential piece of kit that defines what it means to be alive at this moment in history'. She said that research , funded by Microsoft, indicated that 'The PC is to consumers what the car used to be in the 20th Century.' She also claimed it vindicated Microsoft's strategy of increasingly emphasising the range of colours and styles available across different computers, via its 'Collection' brand.

Most users - 68 percent overall and 78 percent of 18 to 24 year olds - also said that they would rather have a PC than a TV. Six out of ten also said they would be replacing their hifi with something computer based in the next three years.

Story Source: Daily Telegraph

Ofcom has launched the UK's first interactive map of fixed line broadband. Around 68% of UK premises have a fixed broadband connection with the average maximum speed of 7.5 Mbps, while 14% of customers who have fixed broadband connections currently receive speeds of under 2Mbps, found the data.

The government has allocated £530m to assist in providing the UK with the best superfast broadband network in Europe by 2015. Superfast broadband services are generally considered to be those that run at over 24Mbps.

The City of Brighton & Hove has the highest take-up of fixed broadband services with 80%, while Edinburgh has the fastest average maximum speeds with 10.1Mbps followed by Bristol at 9.9Mbps.

Around 97% of addresses in Northern Ireland were served by superfast broadband due to the completion of major investment by the Department of Enterprise Trade & Investment in Northern Ireland, in conjunction with BT.

Not surprisingly, rural areas tend to have lower speeds and a greater proportion of customers receiving less than 2Mbps. This is primarily because copper telephone lines tend to be longer in these areas areas and broadband speeds delivered over these lines reduce with increasing line length. In addition, the low housing density also makes it more expensive to build new superfast cable and fibre based networks in these areas.

The latest published figures from Virgin Media and BT suggest there are fewer than just 500,000 subscribers to superfast broadband across the UK, equating to fewer than 3% of broadband homes, said Ofcom.

Story Source: Computer Weekly

The increased use of mobile and tablet devices in businesses will fail to topple PC dominance over the next three years, according to research.

A survey of 664 IT and business professionals by analyst Freedom Dynamics reveals the majority believe PC price, power and performance improvements will drive an increase in PC adoption by 2014.

Recent Gartner and IDC figures showed a decline in PC sales due to delays in refresh cycles and increased purchases of tablet devices.

But, in the report titled Mobile Computing Checkpoint: The present and future of flexible working, Dale Vile, CEO at Freeform Dynamics, and Andrew Buss, service director at Freeform Dynamics, wrote, 'Full-function PCs are the most important client device for business computing today and the view is that this importance will actually increase, not decrease, in the context of mobile working over the coming three years.'

Vile and Buss believe smartphones and tablets will continue to be used as complementary devices to PCs for mobile working. However, IT infrastructure and security policies to support and manage other mobile devices are yet to catch up with the greater use of consumer devices within businesses.

'Without solutions to keep all devices in synch with each other and with network resident data stored in a datacentre or cloud, problems will arise around information fragmentation, consistency and completeness that could have a real productivity and business integrity impact,' said the report.

The study says risks exist around inconsistent security policies and user authentication while technologies to support the use of devices for both personal and corporate use, such as virtualisation and storage partitioning services, are yet to fully mature.

Most UK employees have not been given clear guidance on using social media networking sites, a study has revealed. Almost 39% of over 1,000 UK employees polled by research firm ICM said their company had no policy on social networking. A further 24% are unaware of any such policies. Only 24% said there was some guidance on posting content to social media sites. A further 24% reported restrictions on the times they are allowed to access such sites. Despite the lack of policy in this area, social media usage in the workplace has grown rapidly in recent years. Some 51% of respondents say they use a social networking site at work. Almost a third of respondents use sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn on a daily basis, while more than 5% do so several times an hour. 

'We're seeing a growing number of cases where firms have vague or out-of-date social media policies that are unenforceable if inappropriate activity takes place,' said Jonathan Wyatt, managing director at consultancy Protiviti, which commissioned the survey.

'It's extremely worrying that only a quarter of workers have been provided with any real guidance regarding the use of social media sites,' he says. 

The survey found employees aged 18-24 years are the most regular users of social networking sites, with one in five claiming to use them several times an hour.

'This generational divide in the workplace poses a threat to firms with senior managers often unaware of whether their company's HR and IT policies are adequate,' said Jonathan Wyatt.

Many senior managers assume their less experienced colleagues would not post inappropriate comments online and that they would think about the risks involved, but time and time again they are proven wrong, Wyatt said.

Story Source: Computer Weekly

According to Sophos (taken from their security threat report 2011) one of the most persistent threats of the year (2010), was fake ant-virus, also commonly known as 'scareware' or 'rogueware.' In this widespread practice, software is inveigled into a victim's computer system, closely resembling - and in some cases directly impersonating genuine security solutions. The user receives a warning that their system is infected with some nasty malware and forced to pay for a 'full' version of the software to remove the threat. In most cases there's no real danger, however Sophos report that over half a million fake anti-virus variants have been encountered.

Along with the fear/response trick of the scam itself, numerous methods are used to get malicous software onto victims' machines. Some are direct methods such as warning pop-ups activated by visiting malicous or compromised webpages, and other mehods encourage users to open emails with malicous attachments.

A good first step to combat the fake anti-virus threat is user education. Many people unthinkingly click on an email attachment or link because it comes from a friend or colleague's email address. However as more people become aware of the dangers of the web and learn to keep an eye on the latest scams and threats, we all steadily become safer.

Data loss is rampant among businesses worldwide, with the most common cause of losses being lost or stolen equipment, according to a survey.

The most common type of data stolen is customer information, according to the study by Ponemon Institute and sponsored by Check Point.

According to 'Understanding Security Complexity in 21st Century IT Environments,' 77% of the 2,426 IT professionals questioned in five countries admitted their organizations suffered a data loss in the past year.

Of those, 52% say they lost customer data and 44% say they lost consumer information, which the study says is information about targeted customers. Other intellectual property and employee information were cited as stolen by 33% and 31% respectively, the study says.

Of the IT professionals surveyed in the U.S., U.K., France, Japan and Germany, 23% say they suffered no data losses in the past year.

Story Source: ITNews.com

Joshua Kaufman, from Oakland, decided to take matters into his own hands after his local police force did little to help him retrieve the Apple MacBook which had been stolen from his home.

Remembering that he had installed a security programme called Hidden on his machine, he activated the software in a bid to find his laptop and the thief.

Hidden not only allowed Kaufman to see where the robber had taken the laptop - it also took a series of photos of the man using his machine and lying next to it on a sofa.

Armed with this information, Kaufman was able to work out the robber's job and whereabouts. But despite presenting the evidence to the police, officers again failed to take action.

Through social networking sites the US media was alerted to his mission and contacted the police on his behalf, asking them to take a second look at the case with the new information.

After two months of ignoring Kaufman's case, deeming it 'low priority', the Oakland police force were able to catch the man revealed by the software.

Story Source: Daily Telegraph

Murrells Chartered Accountants' Small Business Server was due for an upgrade, prompted by minimum software requirements set by Sage on their latest products.

Blue256 provided an HP server running the latest Microsoft Small Business Server 2011, and an engineer to migrate users and computer accounts across from the old server to the new. To keep costs down, user and computer accounts were moved across during normal office hours, disrupting employees minimally by fitting around their flexible working hours. Configuring the two Small Business Servers to be interoperable allowed a smooth unhurried transition between one and the other, and after installation of the new Sage products and configuration of nightly backups, the old server was discontinued.

 The IT outsourcing industry in the UK is the largest contributor to the UK's £207bn outsourcing sector with £41.7bn in sales in 2009.

The maturing UK IT outsourcing sector looks set to see demand increase.

According to research, about 20% of total outsourcing sales in the UK, across all industries, were made in IT- and data-related services. The report was commissioned by the Business Services Association.

Total outsourcing, including 17 different sectors such as property services, recruitment and administrative support, accounted for 8% of total UK GDP. This puts it on a par with the financial services sector, which accounted for 8.1%.

A total of 340,000 people are employed in IT outsourcing jobs in the UK.

 Peter Brudenall, outsourcing lawyer at Lawrence Graham, says there is room for the IT outsourcing industry to expand.

'These figures demonstrate the maturity of outsourcing as a business model. Eight percent of UK output is a significant number and it will continue to get bigger.'

'It will expand as companies realise that outsourcing, despite the negative aspects such as some job losses, allows companies to compete better because they can invest more in their core business. This will create more jobs,' added Peter Brudenall.

The report revealed a massive £35bn was spent on outsourced IT in the private sector, while the public sector accounted for £6.7bn.

Brudenall says IT outsourcing in the public sector will increase. 'Whether its shared services or joint ventures outsourcing in the public sector, particularly local government will increase.'

 The outsourcing sector, and in particular IT outsourcing, is often viewed as a negative force in the UK economy because of large-scale offshoring of work. But the research demonstrates its valuable contribution.

Bindi Bhullar, director of global IT services provider HCL Technologies, said the research comes as welcome news to the outsourcing industry, which has been in the spotlight recently as a result of the government's drive to cut costs and reshape public services.

'It is great to finally see credible research highlighting the significance of IT and IT-related BPO into context. Until now, there has been a reluctance to openly discuss the core benefits outsourcing brings to the UK economy.

'The industry has clearly come a long way since the Y2K projects of the 1990s. This report shows how IT outsourcing has fully developed into a mature market,' said Bindi Bhullar.

IT outsourcing is on the up globally after a slowdown during the recent recession. According to the latest research, businesses spent 3.1% more on IT services globally in 2010 than in 2009. Gartner recorded IT services sales worth $793bn in 2010, compared with $769bn in 2009. In 2009 there was a 5.1% decline in spending, compared with 2008, when the effects of the global recession peaked.

For advice on outsourced Help Desk support please contact sales@blue256.co.uk

For decades, IT security has depended on users having to remember a unique password for every enterprise application. And the result has been a nightmare.

'A major problem for identity systems is the weakness of passwords,' says Bill Gates. 'Unfortunately, with the type of critical information (protected by) these systems, we aren't going to be able to rely on passwords.'

Concludes Gates:'There is no doubt over time, people are going to rely less and less on passwords. In time, we will completely replace passwords.' He says that Microsoft will issue smart cards to its employees for accessing both buildings and computers.

Phil Young. head of IT at Amtrak, says, 'Passwords are hard to manage, and due to the number of passwords people need to remember together with PIN numbers, it is becoming harder for the user.'

Every user has personally experienced password frustration: the inability to remember a password for an important application, when you need it, and the difficulty and delay in getting the password reset by the IT help desk.

It has been estimated that as many as 40% of all help desk calls may be password related.

The solution to the password problem is not to eliminate passwords, but rather, to eliminate the need for users to remember passwords. This technology, known as enterprise single sign-on (ESSO), enables users to sign onto the network once with a single password.

ESSO is seen by some IT professionals as the 'holy grail' of passwords & believe it to be unattainable. However American company Passlogix believe that ESSO is no longer the unatainable 'holy grail' & have developed the first industry standard sign-on platform with a full suite of integrated solutions for single sign-on, authentication management, and provisioning.

Story source: Computer Weekly. 

There are three truisms about a tight economy that every IT manager knows: You have to support more projects with fewer people and tighter budgets; approvals for infrastructure build-outs are scarce; and it's your job to ensure employee productivity remains high.

These may seem like Herculean tasks, especially when you're dealing with ever-increasing threats to your Web and email networks, but IT executives and industry experts say success can be found by moving to a software-as-a-service (SaaS) delivery model.'Spending is going to be affected by this economic slowdown, so organizations need to rethink how they manage noncore, yet critical, tasks such as Web and email security,' says Brian Burke, program director for security products at Framingham, Mass.-based research firm IDC.

While IT budgets may be shrinking, there is definitely no shortage of attacks IT professionals face in regard to Web and email.Burke says the link between the two is becoming indistinguishable, thanks to the use of Web 2.0 technologies such as social networking, Wikis and blogs in the workplace.He adds that spam is also on the rise, accounting for more than 80% of all enterprise email, and the number one threat to email security is now embedded URL links within these messages.

These statistics make it easy to understand how vital a comprehensive Web and email security plan is to an organization.In fact, Burke predicts that Web and email security are so intertwined that in the near future IT teams will address them in a unified manner.

Webroot uses a combination of multiple best of breed antivirus and anti-spam engines as well as its own anti-spyware tool, Webroot Spy Sweeper, and an automated threat research system to keep its Webroot Web Security SaaS and Webroot E-Mail SaaS services cutting edge.

Simon Lawford, Managing Director Blue256,

'Blue256 is a Webroot reseller and I would be more than happy to discuss any requirements your company may have regarding email & internet security'. 

Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union have released a selection of statistics concerning internet security as part of a global drive to promote a safer Internet for all users.

In 2010, almost one third of individuals (31%) who used the internet in the twelve months prior to the survey reported that they caught a virus or other computer infection resulting in a loss of information or time during this period. The highest shares of internet users who caught a virus or other compuer infection were found in Bulgaria (58%), Malta (50%), Slovakia (47%), Hungary (47%) and Italy (45%). The UK reported figures of 31% for that same period.

Simon Lawford, Managing Director of Blue256

'Here at Blue256 our prefered provider of Antivirus Software Security Solutions is Sophos. Over the years we have found that Sophos Antivirus provides the best business class security solutions.

As a Sophos Silver Partner Reseller you are guaranteed the right AntiVirus Software Solution for your business, please contact us to arrange a free no obligation demonstration.'

Story Source: Eurostat News Release

Blue256 offer a number of tailored IT Support packages depending on your business needs. However if its just a case of requiring additional support at busy times, or during staff holidays, have you considered purchasing a block of pre-paid hours ?

This solution allows you to call on the expertise of the Blue256 support team without committing your company to a long term contract.

The hours can be used as and when required & can be topped up at any time.

Simon Lawford, Managing Director of Blue256

'With guaranteed response times and a single point of contact for all your IT Support issues, we can look after your day-to-day IT dilemmas - leaving you to take care of your business.

Whether you choose to use us as your IT department or as additional computer support, working alongside your existing IT team, we can remove some of the pressure and deal with users directly.'

 For more information contact sales@blue256.co.uk

Chancellor, George Osborne, has announced that a £50 million boost is to be injected into local authorities to kick start the installation of superfast broadband into 800,000 homes in the UK.

The Government's aim is to install high speed internet into every community by 2015, including those most remote.

 In a speech at Hewlett Packard last week, Mr Osborne said;

'Broadband is crucial for the country's economic future; that's why the coalition Government is investing over half a billion pounds in its infrastructure.

'We want to have the best superfast broadband network in Europe by 2015 and today's £50m will benefit up to 800,000 homes and businesses. This is very much a locally-driven process and we encourage bids from all local people with plans for improving broadband in their local area. '

Local authorities must apply for funding to the Government body, Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK).

Story Source www.itnewser.co.uk

Simon Lawford, Managing Director of Blue256

'We offer a range of internet connections, including ADSL, SDSL and Leased Line at very competitive rates.These are all fully managed by our HelpDesk Support team. So, should a fault occur, you can get straight through to an engineer.'

Thetford-based manufacturer Atkin Automation asked Blue256 for advice on how it could improve business efficiency and communications.

Atkin Automation manufactures production lines for industries that process metal strip as part of their volume production.

After a comprehensive review of the company's existing IT system, Blue256 installed a new core high-speed network switch to improve network speed, and a Hewlett Packard ML350 Server running Microsoft Windows Small Business Server (SBS) 2008. Atkin's existing CAD data, SQL data and email from its old Microsoft Windows 2000 Server was migrated to the new server as part of the installation.

The company's email transport was changed from slower legacy POP3 to industry standard SMTP and, due to the need for email and calendar access on the move, Blackberry Enterprise Server Express 5.0 was installed and Blackberry handsets were deployed.

Remote Web Workplace, a feature of SBS 2008, allows Atkin's employees to securely access their files, applications and desktop environment from any internet connected PC.

Senior IT Engineer for Blue256, Peter Newell, explains, 'The new system has delivered Atkin Automation major business improvements by allowing its employees to access their files and applications on their office computers from any internet connected PCs, just as if they were sitting at their own desks. Email and calendar are instantly available on employees' Blackberry handhelds, which sync wirelessly on the go enabling the same information that would have been visible from Outlook to be immediately available on the Blackberry.'

Desira uses web-based applications while talking to customers face to face and over the telephone and found that its web filtering application made browsing so slow that it delayed responses to customers. The delay was caused by the internet access of all of Desira's branches being checked by the web filtering server in Norwich. The web filtering application was also cumbersome to administer and used a lot of resources on a major server.

Blue256 was asked to source a replacement filtering solution that would speed up web access and enable staff to deal with queries more quickly. Panda Cloud Protection was the perfect solution as it is ideal for a network of disparate branch sites. No additional software or hardware is needed so the existing server can be utilised for other tasks, therefore saving money.

Senior Engineer Simon Cornish comments, 'Having trialled Panda's cloud-based solution in our own office, and found to our surprise that it actually made web browsing faster than without any web filtering in place, we had no hesitation in recommending it to Desira. Panda's cloud technology means that filtering takes place on Panda's own servers, so another benefit was no need for an installation at any of Desira's sites.'

Blue256 used Active Directory Group Policy to configure web browsing to go via Panda's servers and no other steps were needed. Desira is now finding its web browsing to be faster and Blue256 is better able to deal with occasional requests to block or unblock websites in Panda's easy to use administrator's interface.

Panda's web filtering works on a category basis, so you can choose which types of websites should be made available and which should be blocked. If, for instance, you choose to block sports websites, but one employee needs to access the Norwich City Football Club website, this can be configured very easily.

Other advantages of the Panda Cloud solution include great scalability (works for 10- 10,000 users with no need to worry about needing extra server hardware), fast implementation (using Active Directory Group Policy) and continued protection even when laptops are taken out of the office.

Kelvedon-based Lysanda, who produces the Eco-Log system for reducing fuel and CO2 for all vehicles, asked Blue256 to make improvements to its existing network and this month we have been busy installing a new server.

The new server is running Windows 2008 Small Business Server including Microsoft Exchange. The Exchange installation was complicated by the necessity to integrate it with an existing hosted solution during the migration until the hosted solution could be switched off.

Blue256 also provided a Cisco ASA Firewall and a server cabinet to hold new and existing equipment securely.

Blue256 engineers visited each employee and gave training as well as making necessary changes to PCs and laptops to suit the new SBS/Exchange environment. Blue256 also provided full help desk support during the migration and is pleased to continue this support on an ongoing basis.

Commenting on the success of the project, Blue256 Senior Engineer Alister Christman said, 'Not only does this help consolidate Lysanda's network infrastructure but also, by bringing everything back in house, it will save them money every month too'.

Blue256 recently completed an Exchange email rollout for Greshams school in Holt, to find out more please click here to read the case study - Greshams.pdf

Blue256 recently completed a project for Hethersett High School that involved the installation of new server hardware and VMWare. The brief was to provide the school with a fast and reliable server solution that also provided a high level of fault tollereance. The system was installed by Blue256 engineers with minimal down time, an immediate increase in network performance was seen. Using VMWare Vmotion the school now has one of the most reliable server platforms in the county. To read more click here http://www.blue256.co.uk/user_files/downloads/hethersett.pdf

A recent survey on IT Support, undertaken by Norwich based IT company, Blue256, demonstrates day-to-day problems with servers and desktops are the main bug bears of businesses.

The survey is based on 5103 calls, received over the past year, from organisations seeking assistance from Blue256 with their IT infrastructure.

Blue256 receives, on average, 500 calls a month for HelpDesk Support. 32% is for desktop problems, 22% server issues, 13% laptops, 7% printers and 6% network. Other areas include software, hardware and general advice.

Simon Lawford, Managing Director of Blue256 :

"Problems with desktops and servers are becoming increasingly common as companies work their IT harder and faster. Naturally, they want an immediate resolution, otherwise business suffers. This can become very frustrating for organisations who don't have access to expertise to sort these problems out quickly, plus set up the network to avoid problems occurring in the first place."

Organisations can talk to Senior IT Engineers on a whole range of IT issues from security, support, broadband connection, wireless technology and network performance.

Simon Lawford, Managing Director of Blue256 said:

"Efficient IT is the backbone of any successful business. We are at the Norfolk Show to give companies free advice to help them with their IT. All they have to do is find us!"

Come and meet us in person at B2B X-TRA - Thursday 21st May at Norwich City Football Club 11am - 5pm.

Find out a bit more about who we are and how we can help you. Put a face to the name.

Have a coffee on us. (You may already know our HelpDesk Support costs less than a cup of cappuccino!)

For more information on the event visit www.B2BXTRA.co.uk 

National Car Parks (NCP), the UK's leading car park company, and Norwich based IT Solutions company, Blue256, have agreed a new three year contract for 24/7 systems monitoring, maintainence and support for NCP's office based and mobile teams.

The new deal represents an important national contract for Blue256 and a clear demonstration of the Company's ability to handle large, complex, national commitments.

Blue256 will provide support for NCP management and support staff at 100 locations in the UK; NCP outsources IT support to allow its own Technology team to concentrate on core business systems.

Opting for a Platinum Support agreement, offering immediate response, NCP Head of IT, Martin Law, said:

"NCP needed a personalised level of IT support that would deliver against agreed targets. We have found larger companies do not meet the needs of our business, with the related downtime and cost risks. We are very pleased with the first class support offered by Blue256; they have never let us down and always reach a resolution quickly and calmly."

Simon Lawford, Managing Director from Blue256 said:

"NCP's renewal is excellent news. Blue256's knowledgeable and helpful team play an extremely important role in our client's businesses, whether they choose a full IT department service or Help Desk Support we can adapt our skills to specific needs."

Blue256 offers IT consultancy, design, installation and support. It's clients include both small independent firms and multi-site organisations. It's services range from 24/7 HelpDesk Support, wireless networks to IT security and network management.