Microsoft Azure - IT Services & IT Consultant based in Johannesburg | Unitec Africa

Microsoft Azure - IT Services & IT Consultant based in Johannesburg | Unitec Africa: Due to rapid technological advancements and the widespread adoption of high speed internet services more and more businesses are moving their operations towards “the cloud”.

Disaster Recovery by Unitec Africa in South Africa

Disaster Recovery by Unitec Africa in South Africa: Choice is always a positive when dealing with an emergency, Unitec backup and disaster recovery solutions offer various restoration options whether on premise or in the cloud, virtualisation or physical, restoration is simplified.

Networking - Unitec Africa

Networking - Unitec Africa: Networking is the backbone to any organisation’s connectivity, Unitec have vast experience in enterprise class network design, deployment and maintenance that not only addresses the the core function of connectivity but also by design our methodology addresses unavoidable network security concerns

Onsite Resources - Unitec Africa

Onsite Resources - Unitec Africa: Unitec’s managed IT services extends its expertise to the field with onsite permanent, part-time or scheduled IT resources visits. Whether your existing IT department requires additional resources for project related works

IT infrastructure Management by United Africa

IT infrastructure Management by United Africa: Since 2009, Unitec has been perfecting its infrastructure management offering. Today, Unitec Centralised Services provides our clients with access to 24/7 monitoring and alerting by some of the best skilled professionals in the industry.

The team at Unitec have been extra busy the last few weeks

 We have recently witnessed drastic measures implemented by governments globally in response to the COVID-19 crisis and we are now all effectively experiencing a new normal with of lockdown measures. Working from home where possible, social distancing and good hygiene all contribute positively to containing the virus, and it is important that we all take the necessary precautions required.

The team at Unitec have been extra busy the last few weeks, ensuring all our clients are fully equipped to work remotely. Our capacity to deliver the best in class service may be tested over the coming period as we and the country deal with the effects of COVID-19.

Our objectives, however, remain the same as always and we are on hand to offer advice and provide you with the best service and workable solutions. We are uniquely positioned – with teams and locations on two continents – we will continue to offer full support desk services during these difficult times.

We are fully committed to ensuring that your business remains operational during this unprecedented period. Many businesses are currently operating from homes, and the Unitec team will continue to support you with your IT requirements during this transition.

Please bear in mind, working from home will cause unforeseen challenges as there are aspects of home networks that are outside of any scope. Some important factors to consider in a remote working environment are:

• broadband speeds – especially in rural areas
• lack of access to the internet
• failing / non corporate hardware

Another point to note is that laptop stocks are extremely depleted across the globe. If you are in urgent need of any equipment, please do not hesitate to contact your Unitec Account Manager.

We ask you all to have patience with us while we continue to deliver levels of customer care consistent with our usual operations. We welcome your feedback, questions and ideas on how we can better serve you in a remote working environment.

If you require any assistance whilst working from home, please contact us on 087 551 7689 or email servicedesk@unitecafrica.co.za

Thank you for your continued support and cooperation during this time. Stay safe and keep yourselves well.

Thanks, and stay safe!

Unitec Service Team

How are phishing attacks carried out?

 Have you heard of phishing? In this post, we’ll talk about what it is, how phishing attacks are carried out and the dangers to your business. We’ll give you some examples of phishing attacks and, most importantly, share how you can keep your business protected.

What is phishing?

Phishing is the act of fraudulently obtaining sensitive information (such as usernames, passwords or credit card information) or fraudulently instigating a financial transaction by impersonating a legitimate entity.

How are phishing attacks carried out?

While often thought about as an “online crime”, phishing attacks are carried out in a variety of ways – via emails, fake websites and even by phone call. Phishing attempts are often are very convincing and will include elements of social engineering.

What are the dangers to an organisation?

The end game for a criminal attempting a phishing scam is, of course, money. Businesses can suffer financial losses due to misdirected payments, be held to ransom when their data is encrypted, and suffer damage to their reputation due to these data breaches.

Some examples of phishing attacks.

Some phishing attaches are very easy to spot, but more and more the emails and websites used are highly sophisticated. At first glance, they can appear to be very legitimate. A few examples of where organisations have fallen victim to a successful phishing attack:

“Imagine your payables administrator has a large payment to a regular vendor coming up – the criminals would know the exact details from the email communications between the two businesses. Just before the legitimate transfer is due to be processed, the criminals get in touch, under the guise of the legitimate vendor, and request an update to the banking info. With so much valid information, they’re often not questioned.”

How can you protect your organisation from falling victim to phishing attacks?

Education is the best defence against phishing attacks. Phishing is an ongoing threat, and the risk is even larger for staff working in the financial areas of your business. We’ve compiled some useful tips and listed them below.

Watch out for generic greetings – Many phishing campaigns are carried out in bulk, meaning the cybercriminals will use greetings similar to “Dear Sir/Madam” or “Dear Customer” rather than your name. If your name isn’t listed, be immediately suspicious. However, having your name listed is not a guarantee of legitimacy.

Examine the sender information – Carefully examine the sender information, particularly the email address. Sophisticated phishing attacks will make a subtle change to a legitimate email address in the hopes it won’t be noticed by the receiver. For example, it might be a little difficult to notice the discrepancy in and address like info@sa.absa.com (did you see the “sa” the first time?).

Examine links before clicking – If an email asks you to click on a link, ensure that you ensure it’s pointing exactly where you expect. Hover over the link to view the actual destination. If it’s different to the link text, don’t click. You can always access the legitimate website by typing the usual address into your browser’s address bar and going from there. If there’s any doubt – don’t click.

Be wary of urgency – It’s in the criminals’ best interest to have you act as soon as possible. Often phishing emails will try to create a sense of urgency in the hopes that the receiver will react without taking the precautions we’re mentioning here. An email from your “bank” might inform you that your accounts will be seized if you don’t log in within the hour, for example.

Pick up the phone – Have procedures in place for when certain changes are requested. The staff member processing these changes can easily verify the legitimacy of a request by simply picking up the phone for confirmation. It’s one quick, simple way you can protect your organisation from becoming a victim

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If you’d like to review any of these items, or discover other ways to protect your organisation from cyber threats, please get in touch by calling 087 551 7689 or emailing hello@unitecafrica.co.za