We have recently heard that the supplier of the BT PC Backup service have gone into administration, affecting 3 of BT’s online backup services, which include BT PC Backup, BT Business Protect and PC Business Protect Multi. BT have emailed all their PC Backup customers explaining what actions are needed to protect their data.

The PC Backup services are currently running normally, and customers are being informed to retrieve their data as soon as possible. Full information may be found on their website http://business.bt.com/it-support-and-security/pc-backup/

What you need to do if you use the following backup services:

• BT PC Backup
• BT Business Protect
• BT Business Protect Multi

All customers are advised to backup their data to an external hard disk, USB drive or move to another online data backup service. Feel free to check our Data Backup Services web page, or telephone 0843 2893818 to speak to one of the team.

With prices starting at £5+VAT per month for 10GB of secure online data storage, our data backup service provides:

• UK Data Centres
• All files encrypted
• Backups only the data that has changed
• Stored in bunker conditions

According to research data recently published by Symantec Shows that almost a quarter of any businesses data is stored in the cloud.

The IT security firm claims 23% of all business information globally is held in a mixture of public, private and hybrid cloud infrastructure.

The IT security firm said it expected IT departments to shift workloads from on premise to off premise clouds in order to reap the benefits such as cost saving,  better data protection than on site data and easily accessible data while on the move or from home.

Get ahead of the curve by allowing Mad Computer Solutions Ltd to meet all your cloud storage and online business needs.

Microsoft Office 365

Office 365 is a cloud based service which is hosted by Microsoft. Office 365 is designed so that once you are signed up you will be able to work online from any device and from any location. Office 365 includes the standard Office applications, including Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint all provided as a simple monthly payment .

There are several different packages to choose from for your Office 365 subscription. These packages are designed to fit any size of business, whether you are a one man band, small business or corporate organisation. MAD Computers are able to help with advice to companies in Birmingham and the west Midlands, including choosing the correct package, configuration and training.

Starting from as little as £2.60 per user .

Secure Online Data Backup

Whatever the size of your company, imagine the cost of a loss of some or even all of your data. According to the Department of Trade and Industry, 70% of businesses that suffer a major data loss are out of business within 18 months. Offsite backup protects your vital information from all eventualities. A hosted backup solution removes these risks and brings your business complete peace of mind. Your business data is safe, secure and accessible, whenever you need it.

Your data is stored in UK based Data Centres which are geographically dispersed, to store your business information securely. The Data Centres replicate the services provided, holding identical copies of your data backups. Our backup solution uses advanced technology to replicate company data, ensuring that only new files and the changes made to old files are replicated, making your backup process incredibly efficient. The frequency is up to you.

With prices starting at £5 per month for 10GB of secure UK based storage could you afford not to?

A quarter of a million Twitter users have had their accounts compromised in the latest of a string of high-profile internet security breaches.

Twitter said in a blog post that the passwords were encrypted and that it had already reset them as a “precautionary measure,” and that it was in the process of notifying affected users.

The blog post noted recent revelations of large-scale cyber attacks against the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, but unlike the two news organizations, Twitter did not provide any detail on the origin or methodology of the attacks.

“This attack was not the work of amateurs, and we do not believe it was an isolated incident,” Twitter said. “The attackers were extremely sophisticated, and we believe other companies and organizations have also been recently similarly attacked.”

Privately held Twitter, which has 200 million active monthly users, said it was working with government and federal law enforcement officials to track down the attackers.

The company did not specifically link the attacks to China in the blog post, in contrast to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, which both said the hackers originated in China.

Twitter, the social network known for its 140-character messages, could not speculate on the origin of the attacks as its investigation was ongoing, said spokesman Jim Prosser.

“There is no evidence right now that would indicate that passwords were compromised,” said Prosser.

The attack is not the first time that hackers have breached Twitter’s systems and gained access to Twitter user information. Twitter signed a consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission in 2010, subjecting the company to 10 years of independent privacy reviews, for failing to safeguard users’ personal information.

We highly recommend changing your password on a regular bases, and when such an event does occur that you change your password immediately.

German federal police are warning about a computer virus that accuses victims of viewing “juvenile pornography”.

It also displays an image that it claims reveals images of child sexual abuse have been viewed on a computer.

The Windows virus locks a computer and only returns control to its owner on payment of a 100 euro (£86) fine.

It purports to be collecting cash on behalf of German copyright authorities and the country’s national computer security agency.

The virus amounted to “digital extortion” and victims should not pay up, said German police.

The warning about the novel strain of ransomware was issued by Germany’s Federal Criminal police office (the Bundeskriminalamt or BKA).

The ransomware version found by the BKA uses a pop-up window that says the machine has been locked down due to “unauthorised network activity”. The window is crafted to look like it has been put together by Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security (BKI) and its society for prosecution of copyright infringement (GVU).

‘Emotional blackmail’

Text in the window claims that images of child sexual abuse as well as pirated content have been found on the machine. Also displayed is an picture of a child which it claims reveals illegal images have been viewed.

Rik Ferguson, director of security research at Trend Micro, said it was the first time he had heard of ransomware displaying images that users were accused of harbouring.

“It seems that they are attempting to increase the pressure of this kind of emotional blackmail,” he told the BBC.

Germany’s BKA said users should not pay the fine “under any circumstances” and added that neither the BKI or GVU collected cash in this way from those suspected of viewing illegal images or pirating content. Instead, users should use anti-virus and other security software to clean up their PC and deal with the virus.

“This is a form of digital extortion,” said the BKA in its alert about the virus.

Ransomware, which tries to make victims pay an on-the-spot fine, is becoming more prevalent but most strains simply accuse people of pirating movies or music. Others scramble data that is only unscrambled when a fee is paid.

Security firm Symantec said it was seeing more and more strains of ransomware and said it could be “highly profitable” for its creators. It estimated that ransomware makers were already making about $5m (£3m) a year from such malicious code.