Easter Eggstra - IT Services Open Day

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Open Day - Thursday 7 April 11am - 3pm

We are inviting clients into the our Acutec office on Thursday 7 April from 11am  to 3pm.

Visit us to

• Meet the team if you haven’t been here before
• Collect an Easter egg
• Find out about Facebook or Linkedin for business as a social media expert will show you how companies can use Facebook / LinkedIn to generate business. These mini masterclasses will take place at

o   11.15am – 12 noon

o   12.15pm – 1pm

o   1.30pm – 2.15pm

To book your place call or email Carole or Sue on 01675 469020 info@acutec.co.uk

Winning Websites

We love websites and in fact we are pleased to showcase our winning websites.

The presentation below showcases some of the websites we've created recently. If we can help your company improve its website, let us know.

Acutec websites 2011

View more presentations from Acutec Limited.

If you need help with your website, you can read our whitepaper on tips to make your website a winning website.

The Daily iPad

We are always reporting n new tech developments and although we’re mainly PC users, many of us have iPhones and there is at least one iPad in the building! We were pleased to see the introduction of a dedicated newspaper for the iPad – The Daily.


The difference with The Daily isn’t a traditional newspaper that’s been adapted for the iPad, but one that’s been designed around it. We’ve just downloaded our version and love the photography and how it’s so easy to use. An intuitive app but it’s dependent on WiFi for downloading.

We’d like to see more free WiFi access across the UK so it could be downloaded anywhere, any time.

All we need now is more news from the UK ;)

IT Security Threats

Acutec protecting networks across the UK

Security threats increasing

Over the last decade, security has become a bigger issue for IT admins. It’s hard work staying up to date with real attacks and the occasional hoax. Whether you’re running windows or on a MAC OS, the threats are out there.

What does this mean to our business?
The key issues are resources. Time to manage the threats, time to sort out issues after viruses and malware have accidently been downloaded, time to recover lost data, time to do the day job and time to ensure the organisation is productive. Financially companies can struggle if key files or folders are corrupted, damaged or destroyed.


Remember downloading the Christmas e-Card that contained a Trojan horse and sent out masses of spam from your PC which meant the internet service providers blocked your email address which mean that you could no longer send emails to clients?

And what about the emails offering discounts on medications that looked like you sent them but were as a result of a colleague accidently launching an executable link in their email?

And did you find the critical files that you haven’t needed for 2 years that had become corrupted?




We have all heard different stories about how IT security has an impact on our businesses. Hacking was seen by some as fun but today these threats have become more sophisticated. It’s no longer just spyware, Trojans, worms, rootkits, bots and polymorphic viruses, but phishing scams seeking your personal and financial information, and the increased appearance of rogue malware protection (real people are paying real money for anti-virus and malware protection that does nothing) making programmers work harder on their code to evade security defences.


Chris Roche, Managing Director at Acutec Limited commented “it’s all very well ensuring the senior team are aware of the implications, in business today, all staff use a computer, all staff use email and the internet and all staff can download items that can critically damage the business.”


“The average cost in repairing a cyber attack is £5,000. Time is needed to identify the damage, repair the systems, reinstall uncorrupted software, reinstate the users and identify whether critical data has been leaked.”


Endpoint security
To protect your systems, Endpoint security has developed. This is software that includes

• Firewall
• Anti-virus
• Anti-spam
• Anti-spyware
• Anti-phishing
• Network Access Control

Many companies economise by selecting one element of endpoint security rather than a multilayered defence system which offers real protection. When selecting endpoint security systems, IT admins need to consider

• Holistic solution that protects the organisation against the very latest attacks
• System that performs and doesn’t slow the organisation down when managing issues
• Accurate catch rates so that any attacks are correctly and promptly managed
• Real time reporting to enable instant responses
• Solutions that integrate into your existing systems
• Easy to use system that requires minimal input from IT admins

In the last 31 days alone the Acutec virus system detected hundreds of viruses across all systems. Added to which, malware (malicious software) is a new tool used by organised crime worldwide. If you do one thing today, make sure your endpoint security is switched on and is protecting your organisation.

Acutec provides Endpoint Security Solutions that protect over 5,000 users from viruses, spam, spyware, phishing and Network Access Control. We help companies stay better protected from unwanted attacks.

Top 5 IT Predictions for 2011

This New Year, we are making the following IT predictions:


1. Websites will evolve.
As sales improve for businesses we predict they will look at ways to ensure costs are kept down as well as seeking new channels. We’re gaining more and more evidence of websites saving companies time and generating sales and see 2011 as they year when brochure-only websites finally disappeared.

2. iPads for Business.
As the new iPad arrives towards the end of the first quarter in 2011, it is rumoured to have added a camera and tougher glass. We predict that businesses will start using these devices for presentations. What we really need is a USB port, but that may not happen for another year.

3. Security on Clouds will get tougher. 

 More companies are moving towards club computing, there are downsides such as losing the internet connection and all work stops. We predict that hacking into clouds will continue to increase and security will tighten up much more.>

4. Social Media still growing.   

 As social media moves into the work environment it will become the first place for companies to check out other companies. The key issues are having a good social media policy in place and ensuring staff understand its purpose at work.

5. Greater integration.    

More companies will seek greater links between different computer programmes to save time and improve reporting. There will be more investment in software to connect different programmes and enable businesses to become more effective.  

 What are your IT predictions? Do tell.

VIRUS ALERT – THIS IS NOT A HOAX - 'POSTCARD FROM HALLMARK'

We rarely comment on virus alerts as they are often hoaxes. This particular virus did concern us and toward Christmas the number of viruses increases, as does the number of eCards sent to friends and family.

We have verified the 'POSTCARD FROM HALLMARK’ virus with Norton Anti-Virus and Snopes, and they are gearing up for this. This is the worst virus announced by CNN. It has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever.

This virus was discovered by McAfee yesterday, and there is no repair yet for this kind of virus.

What does it do?

This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, where the vital information is kept.

What action can I take?
Do not open any message with an attachment entitled 'POSTCARD FROM HALLMARK,' regardless of who sent it to you. It is a virus which opens A POSTCARD IMAGE, which 'burns' the whole hard disc C of your computer.

If you receive a mail called' POSTCARD,' even though sent to you by a friend, do not open it! Shut down your computer immediately.

Be alert

This virus will be received from someone who has your e-mail address in his/her contact list. This is the reason why you need to share or forward this post with all your contacts.

Please share and forward this posting.

AWARD WINNING ACUTEC

Acutec is delighted to announce that we won an award for Best Business Value at the ICT Excellent Awards in Birmingham last night.

Hugh Pearson who managed the project said “we were delighted to win this award. It is great to get recognition after the all hard work and effort that went in to delivering a complex system, on time and on budget.”

Acutec created a Fund Management and Monitoring System for a team in Africa. The technical team in Coleshill worked closely with a team in North Africa to develop the software.

The ICT Awards were announced at the National Motorcycle Museum last night at a gala dinner. There were over 350 people attending and the event was organised by AWM. Acutec’s award was a result of its service delivery, functionality and agility.

Apple iPhone 4 case - deadline coming to an end

We mentioned in an earlier blog article that anyone experiencing issues with reception on their iPhone 4 could get a free case.

The case is to prevent the 'death grip' which is when the user holds the phone and it covers the antennae causing the signal to drop.

The free cases will stop for all phones purchased after 30 September 2010, however if you are experiencing antennae issues you can call AppleCare.