Tech News

It’s not a matter of if anymore For a long time, cyber crime was seen as a problem for big enterprises with big budgets and big headlines. Unfortunately, that thinking is now dangerously outdated. Today, small and medium‑sized businesses, along with individuals are just as likely to be targeted. Cyber criminals don’t need sophisticated zero‑day…

As a keen cyclist in my teenage years I accumulated a lot of tools which were specific to the smooth running and maintenance of my bike. Over the years, my toolkit requirements changed and grew; power tools for home maintenance, specialist tools for technology hardware, etc. In much the same way, the VCI toolkit has…

How many people were familiar with Teams or Zoom before 2020? As the world changed dramatically in late March 2020, a significant portion of our communications and meetings suddenly shifted to a completely digital format, overtaking traditional phone calls and conference calls. The convenience of the format has lasted well beyond the lock-down years. Although…

It’s so easy to be tricked into doing things you really shouldn’t do when on-line, especially when you’re very busy. Fraud can cause serious financial loss, mental stress and reputation damage. Cyber criminals don’t care about company size – they look for an easy target and often exploit small businesses.      Let’s take a look…

Keeping your IT running properly so you stay productive is our top priority. Many of VCI’s customers are benefiting from our Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) Service to keep them safe, continuously optimising their IT system’s performance. RMM delivers premier monitoring and management services of your technology assets, with proactive support that greatly reduces any…

With Microsoft 365 growing in popularity, this short brief explains the importance of backing-up its data and how you can minimise disruption risk to your business. The Importance of Backing-Up Microsoft 365 Like any other data storage repository, Microsoft 365 can be vulnerable to data loss or corruption and is not automatically protected.  Back-up is…

IT security has often taken the form of a boxed product, either an appliance on a network or software on a device, which could be purchased and installed. With the increasing complexity of modern IT environments, this is no longer enough and the security requirements dictate the need for a more flexible service approach. Big…

Technology has seen prices fluctuate significantly over the last three years. As the world rushed to work from home we saw hardware shortages combine with the wider silicon chip shortage leaving costs rising. 2022 saw Microsoft introduce their first significant price changes in their subscription model in a number of years and they are set…

At a time when we all seek out good news, I take no pleasure in finding sufficient material to warrant writing this particular article. It remains, however, very much a part of my job to warn clients and our wider audience of the current scams and threats. Sadly, at a time when decent people are…

Security analysts have discovered a vulnerability with Chrome running on Windows 7 machines. Anyone using the Chrome browser should ensure that he or she is using the latest version of Chrome. More information on the vulnerability can be found here The Chrome browser can be updated by clicking the three-dot button to the right of…

We are here to support you with any ad hoc IT issues whenever you need us – on the phone or on-site. We also provide behind-the-scenes support in order to ensure all IT systems are running smoothly and resolve any issues as they occur. In early 2017 we took on a new client who was unhappy with both the reliability of their network and…

I’m not quite old enough to have worked with spools of half inch tape but magnetic tape was certainly the go-to medium for data backup on the first networks I managed. Backup solutions have changed considerably over the years – where we once talked about data backups we now talk about disaster recovery and business…

CCTV systems have been available for a long time whether providing monitoring, safety or security. In keeping with other areas of technology (telephony, audio-visual, etc.) selecting camera solutions which integrate with the network broadens the functionality with multiple points of access on site or remotely, email notification of activity, etc. VCI is able to help…

The trouble with learning from experience is that the lesson is delivered just after the knowledge is required. This, of course, is one of the reasons we turn to others to benefit from the broader, collective experiences whether that be friends and colleagues or suppliers and consultants to a business. It is far from unusual…

Following on from our recent articles ‘Don’t be Spooked by GDPR!’ and ‘Ensure GDPR compliance with VCI Systems’, in which we encouraged you to 1. Be Aware, 2. Prepare and 3. Protect your data, here we tell you about the final two steps in the process of becoming GDPR compliant. 4. Detect a Data Breach…

Although the scene from my window currently tells a different story we’re but a few short days away from the longer evenings and, as from today, officially into spring. Whilst this year spring has brought with it a dusting of snow it more traditionally welcomes the eponymous spring clean. If you’re stuck inside waiting on…

For any business, saving money and improving communications are both good goals to have – and VoIP allows you to combine the two. VCI persevered with a ‘traditional’ phone system fed by 4 ISDN channels for many years mainly because we needed to retain the ISDN connection as a dial out option for a client…

Following on from our recent article ‘Don’t be Spooked by GDPR!’, in which we encouraged you to 1. Be Aware and 2. Prepare for GDPR, here we tell you about the next step in the process of becoming GDPR compliant. 3. Protect Once you know where you hold personal data, you need to be sure…

Back in late 2013 I wrote a series of articles regarding passwords which covered why we need them (amazingly still a question I was having to answer on occasions), how one can arrive at a good password, and how to keep it memorable without using the same password everywhere. One of my less fashionable statements…

With the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) coming into force on 25th May 2018, we take a look at the initial strides you can take in ensuring your data and IT systems will be fully compliant. The changes in regulations may seem a little daunting but hopefully, as with everything, breaking them down into more…

As technology continues to advance at a sometimes terrifying pace, keeping up-to-date with what our children are doing online can be a daunting prospect, especially as some of us parents feel that our children know more about the internet than we do! Whatever the age of your children, here are a few technical hints and…

Does your PC take an age to start up in the morning? Do you dread rebooting your PC knowing you’ll have about half an hour or so of sluggish behaviour to sit through? If it has got to the stage where you’re considering a replacement, and a fast start-up time is important, it may be…

Lucky enough to have taken your holiday this year or are you still searching for a last minute bargain? Did you know your browsing habits could affect the price you pay? Every time you visit a site Cookies are created to track and monitor your movement around the web. You will all be familiar with…