Dear Customer,

Welcome to the GSS monthly update of news, views and advice surrounding today’s top IT security issues. 

I am really pleased to be writing this introduction. This is the first monthly newsletter from the new GSS. The new improved GSS.

As part of this month’s issue we’re talking about the recent HMRC data loss highlighting the importance of data security. The public are losing confidence as these scares get greater coverage and people suffer real loss - the Information Commisioner’s Office recently reported that nine out of ten adults worry that organisations are failing to keep their personal information secure. The article below talks around what we can learn from the incident and how to minimise security breaches.

We are also talking about the dangers of the current Facebook craze.  We have recently locked down the traffic to social networking sites such as Facebook ourselves after we found around 25 per cent of our Web usage was directed to these sites.  So we are proof that it's important to discover if your organisation is being exposed to security risks and productivity issues.

We really hope you enjoy the new newsletter – we're looking to get some interesting results from our new poll to report back to you!  We value your feedback and if you have any suggestions or improvements you would like to see, please email me with your comments.

David Hobson
Managing Director

Ask David to Discuss!

Every month we'll be featuring a question sent in by one of our readers.  We value your opinion and would like to invite you to email David any questions regarding today's top security issues.  What would you like David to Discuss?  It may be threats surrounding your industry, top tips, topics for discussion or even a question about GSS!  We will publish the top question with David's answer next month.

Email David now!

If you've got a question you'd like to put to the experts, send it to emaildavid@gss.co.uk

Peapod and GSS have merged!

After months of speculation in the press, we are now one GSS.  As leading Security Integrators for over 10 years, GSS and Peapod have merged their associated businesses. Our new company, which will continue under the GSS brand, will be one of the largest security integrators and consultancy firms in the UK.

Read more

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Case Study: Flexible working solution revamps remote access for East Dunbartonshire Council

In common with all local government organisations, the introduction of flexible working practices has been top of the agenda for East Dunbartonshire Council in Scotland. 

The IT Team’s challenge was not just to find a remote access system solution to support secure mobile working but also to deliver service and performance improvements within the Council and in the community.  "We chose the AppGate technology because of its superior performance as a secure remote access system," explains Colin Mcleod, ICT Team leader at East Dunbartonshire Council, "but we quickly discovered it's wealth of features and functions."

Read more about how AppGate and GSS overcame the Council's problems

Who's using Facebook?

There has been a lot of coverage in the media recently which has highlighted the current craze for Facebook.  The site now has a UK audience of over 3.2 million. However, companies across the UK, large and small, are now concerned  that access to Facebook and other such 'social networking' web sites are exposing their organisation to loss of productivity and their networks to security risks.

Learn more about the risks of Facebook

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Minimising Security Breaches

The recent HMRC data loss highlights the importance of security. But as GSS knows, HMRC are not the first, or the last, to lose data. 

The HMRC have a massive duty of care, which has been breached, but then so do lots of organisations. Whilst it is not acceptable to be losing data of this nature, HMRC are not the only large organisation to lose client data.  There have been other high profile losses – like Nationwide Building Society and TKMax.  But what can we learn from the incident and how do we stop this data loss happening?

Read more

GTA release GB Commander 2.0

Global Technology Associates (GTA), a worldwide leader in cost-effective network security solutions, have announced the release of GB Commander 2.0.  GB Commander 2.0 is a completely redesigned and enhanced version of GTA's firewall management software application.  It has been completely revised to run on Windows and Linux servers, providing IT administrators with a firewall management product that is easy to install and use.

Read more

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AirMagnet Enterprise 8.0 announced

AirMagnet, the leader in security, performance and compliance solutions for wireless LANs, has announced a major new release of its award-winning AirMagnet Enterprise - the industry's premier solution for continuous wireless LAN security and management.  Enterprise 8.0 is packed with new capabilities that allow customers to provide better protection for their wireless environments and to do so more efficiently.

Find out more

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AppGate introduce smart, secure USB client

AppGate Network Security has developed a portable, smart and robust way to secure access to information and applications by introducing the AppGate USB client. With this new client, which runs from a USB stick, systems administrators can grant users secure access from normally insecure devices like a home computer or a borrowed personal computer. Companies can now control and secure all users access to business critical information at all times.

Read more