If you prefer, you can view this online at our newsletter page
February Newsletter
Dear Newsletter Subscriber
Welcome to this month's newsletter.
This month’s newsletter takes a look at the emerging platform of mobile Internet and asks if you’ve thought about your mobile security. We’re also looking at the benefits of taking corporate social responsibility seriously.
Network developments have kept our technical team busy this month and our senior operations team have been forging stronger relations with key technology partners but more of this in February@UKFast.
Our spotlight this month falls on Square-Enix literally days after the launch of Final Fantasy XII. We discover exactly how much bandwidth they intend to use!
Feel free to contact me with any comments on this month’s newsletter.
In this months issue
February@UKFast
I caught up with our technical director Neil Lathwood this week to find out about both February’s network developments and the stronger links that we are forging with our technology partners including Cisco and Microsoft. The developments fall into three areas, support, power and traffic management.
Our recruitment drive is shifting up a gear as we begin taking on the first of 22 new staff to support you better as both your requirements and our network continue to grow. Over the next few months this staff boost is set to double our support environment.
At the data centre we are putting in place power feeds from separate PDUs (Power Distribution Units) across all racks. Historically, this extra redundancy was reserved for our enterprise clients. However, we feel that putting in this supplementary layer will significantly reduce the possibility of failure. In our opinion the financial implications of deploying this upgrade are shadowed by the desire to look at every area we can optimise across the network.
As you’ll know, if you’ve been receiving our maintenance alerts, we are currently in the process of upgrading many of our routers and switches, increasing their capacity and the network’s reliability. Due to successful talks with Cisco, the schedule for this work has been brought forward and Neil Lathwood is placing serious emphasis on completing the upgrade in the very near future.
We are installing Cisco’s best of breed switches, which will vastly enhance both speed and reliability. With comprehensive IDS (Intrusion Detection Systems) management and traffic flow analysis included, they offer another layer of security for the network. This coupled with the news that we have just increased our network bandwidth by 233% leads Neil to be very confident about our infrastructure.
Winning the ISPA award again this year has helped our leverage with both Cisco and Microsoft and we are now close to completing our Gold Certification with Microsoft and working with them on our environmentally friendly server platforms. More news will follow on this in months to come.
You may also know that we have been working towards our Investors in People status over the last 5 months or so. Last week, a large selection of the UKFast team was interviewed by IIP officials and afterwards we were informed that we have achieved status. The IIP spokesman was particularly struck by the loyalty, commitment and motivation of our workforce.
And finally, guests of honour at the Sale Sharks last weekend were our Internet Innovator’s envirofone.com. Collecting the award at Edgeley Park were chief executive Pete Petrondas and web development manager Martin Dann. Despite the weather, the sport and hospitality went down a treat. With only a handful of tickets left now, please contact me soon if you would like join us before the end of the season.
Virtual private networks
I was amazed this week to discover that many of our dedicated server clients are not using virtual private networks when transferring data onto servers.
Neil Lathwood and the technical team strongly recommend using a VPN, especially if you are accessing and/or inputting sensitive information. The VPN allows you to encrypt data so that it is secure while it is being transferred.
This is made all the more important by data protection laws which encourage web businesses that store customer data to use every possible level of protection.
As ever Wikipedia has a berth of information on VPNs. If you are not implementing already, please have a read and consider incorporating one as part of your best practice policy.
If you would like to speak to someone about this, feel free to give your account manager a call. Log in to the client area to find their details on your Overview Page.
Responsible businesses
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is about how a business takes account of its economic, social and environmental impacts through the way it operates – maximising the benefits and minimising the downsides. CSR is important as it enhances corporate value and builds positive relationships with stakeholders.
Here are our five action points to enhance your image within the community:
Implement an environmental management system (EMS)
Control and minimise the impact of products, services and activities on the environment. Systems such as the global standard ISO14001 and the European Union’s Eco-Management and Audit Scheme, help you to demonstrate that you are committed to continuously improve your environmental performance.
Promote equal opportunities
Place an emphasis on measures to support a diverse range of working styles, such as the balancing of career and family, to enable employees to fully express their talents and creativity. Alternatively you can become a workplace of choice by incorporating best practices such as achieving investors in people status.
Raise money for charity
Charity donations enhance the reputation of your company and can be a platform upon which to promote your brand, values and vision to key stakeholders.
Contribute to the local community
Visit schools and other institutions to raise awareness of relevant issues and play a positive role in the community. This increases trust, builds goodwill and enhances your company image.
Sponsor local events or sports teams
Sponsorship allows you to build lasting relationships within the local community and associates your company with events which match your core values and strengths.
The pursuit of consistent and effective CSR secures your longer term viability, boosts overall performance and increases return on investment. So if you haven't already got a CSR policy - now's the time to put it in place.
Preparing for the greatest adventure
This month it's my pleasure to announce that UKFast Internet Awards winner Square Enix is leading the way in the online gaming boom. If you're not familiar with Square Enix, the Japanese video game company is best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and Kingdom Hearts.
When I found out that Square Enix had signed up for a huge amount of premium grade bandwidth I knew it meant something major in the gaming community. Now, with the epic Final Fantasy XII on sale across the UK everything is in place for a massive influx of online gamers.
Final Fantasy XII is the next instalment in the award-winning franchise that has sold more than 70 million units worldwide. During the first two days of release Final Fantasy XII sold a phenomenal 90,000 copies and sales are recorded at over 300,000+ throughout Europe to date.
With its cutting-edge visuals, unique worlds and intricate narrative, Final Fantasy has defined the role-playing genre and continues to be adored by fans around the globe. John Yamamoto, President and CEO of Square Enix Ltd. is excited about bringing Final Fantasy XII to Europe. “The game has been a massive success in Japan and looks set to become one of the crowning glories of PlayStation 2,” he said.
The success of the Square Enix website has lead to a vibrant online community, with up to 18,000 gamers logging on every day. In addition to this, an email campaign containing a trailer mailed out to 100,000 registered users has helped secure the number 1 spot on the formats chart in the UK.
From the sweeping landscapes to exotic creatures Square Enix has got digital entertainment content down to a fine art and we’re proud to be assisting them as they push the boundaries of creativity and innovation.
For more information visit: http://www.square-enix.com/eu/en/
Mobile defences
Mobile Internet is developing fast and we’re aware that many of you use mobile phones to log into servers on the move as well as downloading from the web. For this reason, I think it’s worth looking at mobile security in this month’s hot topic.
If you are using mobile Internet devices, do you have secure network access and a company usage procedure? This may sound like overkill but mobile malware is a growing threat. According to Sophos, the world leader in integrated threat management solutions, sixty four percent of companies have admitted they do not have any protection in place on their mobile smartphones and PDAs, yet 81 percent are concerned about the possibility of mobile intrusion.
So whose responsibility is it to secure your mobile devices? John Pescatore of Gartner, a company that offers technology-related insight to its clients, believes the responsibility ultimately lies with the mobile carriers. I decided to call some of the UK’s major players to see what security provisions they had for mobile Internet.
Orange informs me that there is nothing on its mobile network that will protect my phone from malware. However, to soften this blow, the rep put to me the idea that 98 percent of all mobile viruses are caused by Bluetooth and as Orange’s Smartphones don’t use this it isn’t a problem. He suggested that I speak to phone manufacturers rather than networks if I want to look into it further.
Pescatore also says that in the first instance we need to make sure users are well educated about the threats and this view is echoed by T-Mobile. The contact here said he would send me some information about their mobile security policies but instead forwarded me three links to websites that informed me how to be vigilant whilst using mobile Internet devices. Valuable information but not quite what I was after.
Shane Coursen, senior technology consultant at Kaspersky Lab also believes we should be more proactive as users and download both firewall technology and anti-virus software to our mobile phones. But should manufacturers be doing this for us?
Carphone Warehouse informed me that none of the Internet enabled phones it sells have any protection as standard – furthermore, none of the manufacturers plan to add such a facility. It did however say that Smartphones will support downloaded software if I can find any that is suitable.
So right now, at the advent of the mobile Internet we cannot rely on either our mobile network or our phone manufacturer for the security support we need. We must look for downloadable packages and encourage safe usage policies. My research leads me to encourage you to take your mobile security as seriously as for your PCs and Laptops. Once prices come down and technology improves we could all find ourselves with another device to defend from cyber crime.
More information on security for mobile devices: http://www.firewallguide.com/pda.htm
That’s it for February. If there’s anything that you feel would benefit you, please email me and I’ll find ways to incorporate it in our monthly Insight.
Until next month, I look forward to speaking to many of you and continuing to build a prosperous 2007 for us all.
Best wishes,
Jonathan
For more information on the range of UKFast products and services go to http://www.ukfast.net
UKFast.Net Ltd, Abbey House, 32 Booth Street, Manchester, M2 4AB Registered in England. Number 384 5616
