OEM Design in Specialist, Bruce Murphy
In the digital era, cybercrime has evolved to become a global plague, slowly sucking the life out of businesses and national economies.
According to a recent report from McAfee entitled Economic Impact of Cybercrime — No Slowing Down, it is estimated that cybercrime costs the global economy nearly $600 billion (around R7.64 trillion). Out of this worldwide total, costs incurred because of cybercrime activities during 2017 for Sub-Saharan Africa, amounted to up to $3 billion (approximately R38 billion).
Today, there are threats emanating from various sources including hackers, state-sponsored cyberterrorism, organised crime as well as hacktivism. These groups incorporate technology from the latest trends including cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and data encryption to obtain data from businesses, organisations and unsuspecting users, who mostly rely on basic protective measures such as anti-virus or internet security software to protect their data and devices.
The type of security solution needed has a complex job: It must protect users from hundreds of thousands of new threats every day – and then it must learn and grow to stay ahead of the next wave of attacks. The solution cannot just react to the latest threats; it must be able to predict and prevent malware infections.
Modern security for protecting your IP in the digital era
Microsoft’s new security solution for business comes in the form of modern devices and Windows 10 Professional. Pro packs all the features of Windows 10, plus business functionality for encryption, remote log-in, built in anti-virus and malware and recently added ransomware protection, creating virtual machines and more to protect your business data. These include enhanced encryption, as users get additional security with BitLocker to help protect their data with encryption and security management.
To best access these new features your business will need to invest in modern devices. The modern PC for the modern workplace is about more than just computing power, it’s about meeting specific design, security and performance requirements.
There are other compelling reasons to invest in a modern device including all day battery power of eight hours or more, business class processing power, high definition screens and at least 4Gb of RAM. All packaged in a secure sleek and sexy design, and offering new form factors such as sleek ultrabooks, 2-in-1 convertibles and traditional laptops. All of this combines to ensure a vastly superior experience.
Using a secure cloud storage service such as OneDrive for Business can be a great way to store, sync, and share work files. In addition to this, a USB drive and on device encrypted with Bitlocker is another handy option to securely keep files close at hand, especially when connectivity is limited.
Downloading software from sources other than the Microsoft Store on Windows 10 such as untrusted websites will compromise your security. With Windows 10 Pro companies can create their own private app section within the Windows Store for convenient access to company authorised productivity applications. Furthermore, users can securely connect to their business or school Domain or Azure Active Directory to use network files, servers, printer and more.
Working from home or the field and left critical documents on your desktop PC at the office? No problem, a handy feature of Windows 10 Pro allows users to log in with Remote Desktop to sign in and use their Pro PC, while at home or on the road.
In addition, users can create and run virtual machines with Hyper-V, enabling them to run more than one operating system at the same time, on the same PC. This is useful for developers who need to test software on multiple operating systems, or business users who run software that requires an older version.
All of this means that through Windows 10 Pro, organisations will be able to protect their IP, customer as well as employee data and devices, and keep the focus on creating business value rather than cumbersome cybersecurity administration.
By Neo Sesinye
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