Data Storage

A new survey of business broadband figures across the UK has uncovered shock results, with the news that Scunthorpe is the UK’s fastest growing internet communications hub.

The Lincolnshire town has been named top e-Town as part of a Google Adwords campaign which found that the Scunthorpe’s online commercial activity has grown by almost half this year alone.

According to Google, online business activity in Scunthorpe has grown by an incredible 47% in just 12 months, no mean feat for a town at the forefront of a nationwide economic downturn and a dying steel industry.

Representatives visited Scunthorpe to present the award to local business and public figures earlier today, sparking speculation that Google’s plans to base their new UK headquarters at the silicon roundabout in London could be re-assessed, with Scunthorpe becoming the new favourite.

Scunthorpe has been badly hit by the recession, so much so that empty shop fronts and boarded-up windows are still a common site on the high street. Many store owners, unable to meet the costs of working from physical premises opted to sell from the internet instead and many succeeded.

One clothing store manager interviewed by the Telegraph found sales had increased 5-fold since opting for business broadband facilitated trading and described it as a lifeline to many business owners in the area.

To find out more about how your business can benefit from award winning business broadband services, contact Elite Telecom. We provide leading business telecoms services to thousands of firms worldwide.

Businesses and operators using fixed line and mobile telecoms systems have been urged to prepare for a boom in data volume during the Olympics which has the potential to stall or crash systems nationwide.

Speaking at the opening day of the Broadband Traffic Management conference in London this week, Sylvan Thevanot, marketing director for a leading UK mobile telecoms provider, outlined the risks posed to UK infrastructure during the events, which will see over 700,000 visitors over just a few weeks.

Commenting on the collective efforts of UK providers to prepare businesses and residential customers for the increased traffic, Mr. Thevanot said ‘“We hope that they will get their act together for the Olympics, as there will be lots of iPlayer and catch up services being used”.

The announcement comes as part of a series of worrying headlines emphasising the urgency with which British businesses and industry leaders must ready themselves for the enormous numbers of visitors.

The availability of WiFi hot spots in the capital is already a chief concern, as is the preparedness of UK business contact centres and data backup systems which will see an unprecedented rise in data volume due to hundreds of millions of pounds worth of increased revenue from tourism business likely to take place.

To guarantee the security of your business, contact Elite Telecom. We provide award winning call centre analytics and call-queuing solutions to thousands worldwide. And with our intelligent data storage and retrieval strategies, we can make sure that any disaster is one that can be amended.

Social media giant Facebook has announced that it records over 600,000 security breaches every day, prompting new discussion on the impact social media will have on online security in coming years.

The information was revealed after new updates were implemented to further user protection on the site, which now sees around 1 billion logins every 24 hours.

Security experts have expressed their concern over the possibility that thousands of memberships, all of which contain potentially sensitive information, may be used to further criminal cyber enterprises such as identity theft and credit card fraud.

The thoroughness of obligatory membership information is now such that it can act as a springboard for more elaborate schemes. Pieces of personal information can be pieced together using various techniques to create what is essentially a fully-fledged yet false identity.

Holes in Facebook’s security could also give criminals wider phishing capabilities, an activity whereby false pages, for example, may be used to trick users into entering sensitive information in a misguided attempt to rectify criminally generated problems.

Aside from investigation into social dangers, such as personal espionage, the news has also prompted a large-scale business security review surrounding client and employee authentication procedures in the workplace.

Here at Elite Telecom, we offer businesses a full analysis of their security status as well as award winning data storage and disaster recovery plans, and with our dedicated business telecoms systems, we can ensure that your call screening and authentication processes are of the utmost quality.

Contact our experts for more advice on how best to guarantee the safety of your customer information.

Small and medium sized businesses across the UK are being urged to get preparations underway for what is forecasted to be another winter of heavy disruptions to commerce.

Last year’s freezing conditions, the coldest in more than 30 years, saw businesses grind to a halt as supplies, maintenance and customer services felt the shock of paralysed transport and communication channels.

Despite many firms claiming that they were sufficiently prepared for the adverse operating conditions, up to 50% felt that their business suffered, with some subject to disastrous consequences.

Snowy and icy conditions kept staff away from work for 3 out of 4 major UK companies, however, 39% of firms claimed that this did not matter as new innovations in unified communications and cloud resources meant employees were able to work from home.

Analysis of the UK economy did however, show an average daily loss of around £1.2 billion, further emphasising the need to ensure that preparations for business continuity are taken sooner rather than later.

As well as the added risk of telecoms infrastructures temporarily shutting down, industry experts cite the potential lack of available maintenance solutions as being the biggest threat to business operation.

As such, The Forum of Private Business is warning firms to take control of their data storage and retrieval systems and to ensure that adequate disaster recovery procedures are implemented nationwide.

Contact Elite Telecom to find out more about our award winning data-storage and disaster recovery systems, custom made with businesses in mind. We provide thousands of firms worldwide with the means to operate at full capacity all year round.

A new report conducted by Ericsson predicts mobile data traffic to increase by as much as ten times over by 2016, prompting speculation on how business data will be securely managed in the near future.

The unprecedented rise will apparently be driven by a combination of both emerging markets gaining access to a new and more affordable generation of smartphones and more established markets becoming increasingly reliant on smartphones for their communications needs.

Mobile subscription rates are expected to rise from 900m users this year to an incredible 5 billion users by 2016. This data is based on a consistent 60% increase in mobile subscriptions, which has been occurring year on year. The total user base for smartphones this year alone has tripled.

With figures such as these, it is becoming increasingly apparent to businesses worldwide that user efficiency and security will take priority in the near future. Although increased access will no doubt increase productivity, and shared information increase business innovation, the risk of data interception and data loss will rise to an unprecedented high.

In anticipation of such large-scale growth, it is more important now than ever to prepare for a massive influx of potentially sensitive company information. Here at Elitetele.com we supply the latest in data-storage and backup solutions. Elite provides you with a full back-up and disaster recovery plan, complimented by 24 hour support from our expert analysts, to ensure your business data is always secure and always retrievable.

Contact us here to find out more about our award winning services.

Industry leading sportswear manufacturer Adidas has been forced to pull down some of its sites as a precautionary measure following evidence of a highly sophisticated criminal cyber-attack.

While there is so far no evidence to suggest that the safety and privacy of sensitive consumer information was compromised, Adidas Group released a statement on Sunday to reassure customers that they are assessing all possible breaches of their sites, which include adidas.com, reebok.com, miCoach.com, adidas-group.com as well as various other commercial sites.

Since learning of the issue, Adidas Group claim to have taken extra security and anti-data loss measures in the hope of deterring future attacks to their sites. These measures aim to ‘reflect enhancements to the high standards consumers have come to expect from the Adidas Group and its brands’.

Both the identity and the motives of the hackers remain unknown, although the fact that no data loss or site vandalism appears to have occurred points towards hacker groups potentially exposing weaknesses in the global firm to secure notoriety within certain circles.

The development comes amidst a recent spate of cyber-attacks on large corporate firms and government organisations, emphasising the importance of ensuring that adequate security measures are taken to ensure the safety and overall reputation of a company of any size.

Here at Elite Telecom we provide the latest in disaster recovery and data storage technologies to ensure that your business continuity is assumed rather than prioritised. And with our award winning customer services, available 24hrs, you can rest assured that your business telecoms are in the safest of hands.  

Contact our experts to find out more.

Intelligence senior, Iain Lobban, director for the government’s listening centre, warned UK businesses today of the need for greater vigilance after a ‘significant but unsuccessful” cyberattack was launched on the foreign office and other government departments this summer.

Writing in the report, Lobban said that sensitive data on government computers and servers had been targeted, along with defence and technology secrets and designs belonging to an engineering firm.

"I can attest to attempts to steal British ideas and designs – in the IT, technology, defence, engineering and energy sectors, as well as other industries – to gain commercial advantage or to profit from secret knowledge of contractual arrangements," said Lobban. "Such intellectual property theft doesn't just cost the companies concerned. It represents an attack on the UK's continued economic wellbeing.

The report comes just days after another senior government official warned of the massive losses cybercrime causes to UK industries every year, quoting figures of up to £27 billion lost between business, citizens and the government.

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Pending further developments, the government warned businesses to take extra care in ensuring that private and customer information is kept securely and to guard against potentially disastrous data loss.

Backup and recovery measures are to be taken in all instances as well as comprehensive data storage and security solutions to ensure that risk of cyber-vandalism and theft is kept to a minimum.

For more information, contact Elite Telecom. We offer the best in bespoke business solutions for data storage, security and retrieval for thousands of businesses worldwide.

Head of the Ministry of Defence’s Cybersecurity programme, Major General Jonathan Shaw has warned industry leaders that cyberattacks represent the biggest danger to UK firms today and could be costing the country in excess of £27 billion annually.

A MoD spokesman supported the senior Major’s claims, stating that the announcement comes after a report compiled by Detica, which was commissioned by the Cabinet Office and published back in February.

The report suggests that UK businesses’ vulnerability to industrial espionage and data loss, such as stealing designs and commercial secrets constitutes a third of the total £21 billion lost annually, while British citizens reportedly lose £3.1billion and the government £2.2 billion per year.

Around £1 billion per year is reportedly also lost through the theft of customer information and fraud.

"The biggest threat to this country by cyber is not military, it is economic," Maj Gen Shaw told The Daily Telegraph.

"The cyberthreat could affect anyone, and we all need to take measures to protect ourselves against the threat it poses."

What are the Solutions to Data Loss?

To find out more about how to assess the vulnerability of your business to cyberattack, contact Elite Telecom, the UK’s fastest growing business telecoms provider.

We offer a range of cutting-edge technologies specifically designed to keep your business and commercial secrets safe from theft or malicious use. And with our data storage and back-up and recovery facilities, we can ensure your data is always accessible and always protected.