All posts by Paul Stradling

News

Tech News : Millions Struggling To Pay Broadband Bills

A recent Citizens Advice survey has revealed that 2.5 million people are behind on their broadband bills, with 700,000 of these falling into the red during the Covid pandemic.

Young, With Children Under 18, Or Receiving Universal Credit Most Affected

The survey of 6,001 adults living in the UK revealed that 18 to 34-year-olds and those with children under 18 are three times as likely to be behind on their broadband bills as older groups and households without children.  This may be due to people becoming more reliant on broadband to work and help their children with schoolwork during the pandemic, with UK adults spending an average of 22 hours online each week.  The survey also found that Households on Universal Credit are nine times as likely to be behind on their broadband bill compared to those not on the benefit.

Another Hurdle In The Hunt For Jobs

Citizens Advice points out that being without broadband in today’s society simply creates yet another hurdle in the hunt for jobs, or in being able to help children with their schoolwork, and in being able to access help, information and completing forms online.

Broadband Is An Essential Utility

Dame Clare Moriarty, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, argues that “Broadband is not a luxury, it’s an essential, like gas and electricity” and has called on Ofcom and the government to ensure that everyone is able to afford their broadband, no matter which provider they are with. The Citizens Advice CE also stressed that “people shouldn’t be penalised simply because their provider isn’t one of the few firms that offers a cheaper tariff.”

February Survey

Back in February, a similar survey by Citizens Advice also revealed one in six people were struggling to afford their broadband during the third lockdown and that poorer people were being locked out altogether. It was already known from previous surveys that groups struggling most with their broadband bills were people with children, disabled people, people from Black, Asian or ethnic minority backgrounds, those who were shielding, young people, and those in receipt of low-income benefits (e.g. Universal Credit) were found to be almost twice as likely to struggle to pay their bill as other customers.

Only Two Offer Cheaper Tariffs

Ofcom urged all providers back in December 2020 to consider offering cheaper broadband tariffs for those on a low income or who are struggling financially.  At the time, Ofcom found that if households were paying the average £37 a month for landline and broadband, this would take around four times the proportion of a low-income household’s budget, compared to an average household.

Only two nationwide and two local providers now offer these tariffs to those on Universal Credit.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

The pandemic lockdowns have highlighted just how essential having a broadband connection has now become in society for everything from working online (remotely), study for young people and children, communication, online shopping, job applications or job interviews and more. In fact, broadband is now essential to allow people to participate fully in society and, as Citizens Advice has pointed out, not having a broadband connection (due to being unable to afford it) can put people and their children at a considerable disadvantage going forward. This also highlights another inequality in society based on income. Although broadband companies are businesses, the service they provide is now essential and has a major influence on society and the life chances and opportunities of UK citizens. Despite being urged by the regulator to offer lower tariffs for low-income groups, the lack of action by broadband companies may now mean that, under the European Electronic Communications Code, which is now part of UK law, broadband providers may be forced into offering affordable tariffs to people on low-income benefits.

News

Tech Tip – Exporting/Importing Google Chrome Bookmarks

If you’re switching devices or need to re-install Google Chrome from scratch but don’t want to lose your collection of bookmarks, here’s how to export and import them.

Export

– From Chrome’s ‘More’ menu (the three dots, top right) select ‘Bookmarks’ > ‘Bookmark manager’.

– Go to the three-dot menu (top right) and select ‘Export bookmarks’.

– Save the bookmarks as a html file.

Import

– Follow the same process, but from the menu in ‘Bookmark manager’ select ‘Import bookmarks’ and upload your saved html file.

News

Tech News : Conservative Party Gets £10,000 Data Protection Fine

The ICO has fined the Conservative Party £10,000 for sending unlawful marketing emails to people who did not want to receive them.

Breach

The ICO has decided that after an investigation into emails sent from the Conservative Party, in the name of Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP, during the eight days in July 2019 after he was elected Prime Minister, the Conservative Party breached the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) of 2003.

Unsolicited Emails

The breach of PECR occurred because, as the ICO concluded, the Conservative Party did not have the necessary valid consent in cases where marketing emails were received by complainants. Although 51 emails were found to be conclusively in breach of the regulations, the Conservative Party sent out 1,190,280 marketing emails between 24 July and 31 July 2019, and the ICO accepts it is likely that some of those emails would have been validly sent, but that it is not possible to identify what that proportion is. This is because, as stated by the ICO, “the Conservative Party failed to retain clear records of the basis upon which people had consented to receive marketing emails, as required by law.”

More Marketing Emails Sent During The Investigation

The ICO expressed concern that while the investigation into the initial breach was underway before the Conservative Party had addressed the original compliance issues, it “engaged in an industrial-scale marketing email exercise during the December 2019 General Election campaign, sending nearly 23 million emails” which “generated a further 95 complaints”.

Stephen Eckersley, ICO Director of Investigations, said “It’s really concerning that such large-scale processing occurred during the ICO’s ongoing investigation and before the Conservative Party had taken all the steps necessary to ensure that its processing, and database of people who would receive emails, was fully compliant with the data protection and electronic marketing regulations”.

The Fine

There has been criticism from some online commentators that the £10,000 fine may not be enough, when considering that according to newspaper reports, one luxury hamper of organic food delivered to 10 Downing Street recently cost £27,000.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

It is disappointing and concerning that such a big political party (the party now in government) would not check or know about and/or failed to comply with well-publicised data protection laws. As those at the heart of UK law-making, this does not reflect well.

For businesses, this story is a reminder that there are clear laws pertaining to direct marketing (i.e. any communication of advertising or marketing material directed at particular individuals). It is a reminder that consent is vital, and it is important to keep clear records of the basis upon which people consent.  Ignoring the regulations can result in a hefty fine and could prove very damaging to the reputation of a business.

News

Tech News : Hybrid Working Could See Half of UK Businesses Cut Office Space

A recent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) survey has found that half of UK businesses expect to reduce the size of their office space, and one-third expect to reduce it by 30 percent.

Reduce Size of Real Estate Portfolio

The Occupier Survey of 258 of the UK’s largest companies found that half of the organisations surveyed expect to reduce the size of their real estate portfolio and one third believe they will reduce their office footprint by more than 30 percent, while only 10 percent agree that the level of employees working from the office will return to pre-pandemic levels.

Reduction of Nine Million Square Feet

The survey found that major UK employers could reduce their office portfolio by up to nine million square feet, which is equivalent to 14 Walkie Talkie buildings (the 37-floor high rise on London’s Fenchurch Street).

Hybrid Working

The survey concludes that the shift to hybrid working, whereby employees work part of their time at home and part in the office, is now a pattern that is (after the pandemic) embedded in the working culture of many organisations and is the driver for the need to reduce office space.

Increased Productivity?

Results from the Occupier Survey across all sectors showed that just over half of all respondents said that virtual working has had a positive impact on productivity in their organisation.

PwC Post-Pandemic

PwC, who conducted the survey, is one of the ‘big four’ accountancy firms and recently went public with its post-pandemic working arrangements for its employees.  PwC’s accountants and consultants in the UK will now be able to spend an average of just two to three days a week in the office.  This means that staff will typically be spending 40 to 60 percent of their time at its 20 UK offices or at client sites, while the rest of their working week can be spent working remotely. Also, PwC’s staff will now have greater flexibility to decide their working hours, can log on at times that suit them, and many employees will be given a half-day on Fridays in July and August (just for 2021 as an experiment).

Other businesses that have announced a change from the traditional 9 to 5 office working practices include the Nationwide building society (where many staff have the choice of office or remote working) and oil company BP whose staff can spend two days a week working from home.

Not Everyone Agrees

Not everyone is in favour of a post-pandemic hybrid, blended approach to work.  For example, in February, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, David Soloman, publicly rejected the idea of flexible/hybrid working as an “aberration” because it doesn’t fit with an ‘apprenticeship culture’.

Also, Chancellor Rishi Sunak recently highlighted the benefits of workers actually spending physical time together in the office.

Impact on City Centres and Surrounding Businesses

Reducing office space in city-centres, however, could have a negative impact on many of the surrounding (and dependent) businesses such as sandwich shops, other retailers, cleaners, transport workers, bars, restaurants, and gyms.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

This story is really about what post-pandemic working will look like for many big businesses with costly, often city-centre and/or prime location office spaces that have traditionally relied upon everyone coming to work at the office.  The pandemic forced many businesses to look again at their model for the working week and their costs and the signs are that there will be a clear move to hybrid working and a blended approach. This means a reduction of office portfolios for many big business and perhaps other ideas for office space such as flexible space, ‘subleasing’ models and partnerships for shared office space.

News

Tech Insight – What Is A VPN?

In this article, we take a brief look at what a VPN is, how it works, its advantages, plus its disadvantages.

What Is A VPN?

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a service that allows you to create a secure connection to another network over the Internet, thereby creating a secure, protected, encrypted ‘tunnel’. A VPN is a private, secure, way to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if your computing devices are directly connected to the private network.

How Does a VPN Work?

A VPN works by routing your device’s internet connection through your VPN provider’s private server rather than your internet service provider (ISP). This creates an encrypted virtual tunnel. Also, the fact that your traffic is exiting the VPN provider’s server means that your true IP address is hidden, thereby hiding your identity and location.

Why Use A VPN?

There are many reasons why people use VPNs including:

– A general wish to keep data secure, keep online activity private, and feel safer.

– Protection from the risks of using public Wi-Fi networks (e.g. while out and about).

– Maintaining security when working remotely/from home (as many have done during the pandemic).

– As a good way to protect all devices in one go (for example, most paid-for VPNs provide multiple simultaneous connections).

– To escape bandwidth throttling.

– For those living in countries where there are repressive regimes, VPNs can help users stay in touch with the outside without being detected. However, VPNs and proxies have been banned in Russia for several years now, and China has regulated Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) through the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and required developers to seek a license from the government before creating VPNs.

Choosing a VPN

Things to consider when choosing a VPN service include:

– A service with no logging (no keeping of logs) can provide greater privacy.

– Find out where the VPN operator is geographically based.  For example, a VPN company in some countries may be subject to control and interference (enabling logging and adding tracking) by the state.  Many VPN services, for example are based in China.

– Google the VPN service to see if there has been any history of incidents and problems with the service.

– Read reviews about different VPN services (however, you should appreciate that that some may be unreliable, paid-for reviews).

– Make sure that the VPN service you choose has enough ‘exit nodes’ in the location you want to connect from in order to get better speed and service.

– Check whether the service disallows certain protocols e.g., P2P traffic, thereby potentially negatively affecting the service levels at certain times.

Advantages

Some advantages of VPNs include:

– Getting around geo-locking of content.  For example, a VPN can make a user look like they are in a region where content is available, thereby giving the user access to their favourite content wherever they are.

– VPNs provide safety, security, and anonymity e.g., they hide details such as location.

– VPNs are a good way to provide a secure connection for remote workers.

– Convenience. Having a VPN that can easily switched on (e.g., while using a device in public place such as a café) offers a very convenient mobile security and privacy solution.

– If shopping online, using a VPN can help save money by getting around different prices for services based on region.

– VPNs can represent a very cost-effective security measure when compared to the costs of some security software (licensing fees) and firewalls.

Disadvantages

Some of the disadvantages of VPNs include:

– Since a VPN is a virtual connection inside a physical network, slow connection speeds can sometimes be the result. VPN service providers are, however working on ways to minimise this problem.

– VPN blockers can be used by companies looking to charge users based on their geographic location.

– Setting up some VPNs can be complicated, and poor configuration from poor setup could lead to information leaks.

– Dropped connections can be a problem with VPNs. This can mean that a user’s true network information is displayed and can also lead to problems with a user’s ISP if sites have been visited that violate the ISP’s terms of service.

– VPNs may make it more challenging for activities that require bandwidth (e.g. gaming), however this can be easily enabled and disabled.

Popular VPNs

Popular VPN services promoted in the UK include ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark, IPVanish, CyberGhost, Hotspot Shield, ProtonVPN, and Private Internet Access.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

A VPN is a convenient and effective security and privacy tool that has become particularly relevant for remote workers over the last year. Choosing a trusted, paid-for VPN solution with a good reputation is advisable for maximum peace of mind and VPNs offer benefits beyond just security (e.g. getting around geo-locking of content). It should always be remembered, however, that a VPN is one of many different tools and tactics that businesses can use as part of a much broader business and cyber security strategy.

News

Featured Article : How Secure Is Your Software/Digital Supply Chain?

It is easy to think that cyber-attacks are likely to come from outsiders unconnected to the business, but how much do you know about the security of your digital supply chain?

Software Supply Chain Risks

Businesses use many different third-party software tools as part of their day-to-day transactions and for organisations in the public sector, for example, the software, systems, and networks used may be closely tied to main suppliers with bespoke software solutions. Software supply chains are part of the wider information and communications technology (ICT) supply chain framework of an organisation which, in itself, is a network of retailers, distributors, and suppliers, all of whom are links in a chain of sale, delivery and production of software and managed services (and hardware), all of which are at risk.  As highlighted in a recent NIST (US) white paper, software is at risk of malicious or inadvertent introduction of vulnerabilities at each of the design, development and production, distribution, acquisition and deployment, maintenance, and disposal phases of the ICT Supply Chain Lifecycle.  Privileged access (such as accepting third-party software defaults without investigating further), allowing additional accessibility vectors, and third-party software that requires frequent communication with the vendor to update it can represent real threats to business/organisational security.

As defences have improved against the more common areas that are known to be susceptible to cyber-attacks (and therefore have become well-defended by organisations), cyber-criminals have turned their attention to more vulnerable areas with easier access – the software supply chain.  This is a difficult area for businesses to monitor and defend against as much of it appears to be based mostly on the trust of vendors and the more third-party software a business uses (from different sources) and the more links in the chain there are, the more risks there are.

How?

An example of how a supply chain could exploited is that of hackers writing malicious code or introducing a malicious component into a company’s trusted software (or hardware), which in turn can enable them to hijack a whole system and turn any updates that the company sends out into trojan horses (malware).  This, in turn, can allow the criminals to have complete control over a supplier’s customer networks, which could ultimately affect thousands of victims.

Survey

Some of the challenges that companies face in tackling the issue are highlighted in a BlueVoyant survey from 2020 which showed that 80 percent of Chief Information Officers and Information Security Officers (CIOs and CISOs) said they had experienced a breach originating with a third-party vendor in the past year.  Also, the survey revealed that four out of five organisations had experienced a cyber-security breach precipitated by a third-party vendor, almost one-third of security professionals (29%) said they had no way of knowing if a cyber risk emerged in a third-party vendor, fewer than a quarter (22.5%) said they actively monitor their entire supply chain, and almost one third (32%) said they only typically reassess and report a vendor’s cybersecurity risk position twice a year or less frequently.

Examples

High profile examples of supply chain attacks include:

– SolarWinds. In 2020, US-based IT management company SolarWinds Corp was infiltrated by a foreign threat actor who compromised the company’s build servers and used its update process to infiltrate customer networks. The attacker added malicious code into the company’s software system. This led to SolarWinds unwittingly sending out software updates to its customers that included hacked code. This was one of the biggest and most sophisticated hacks ever, thought to have compromised up to 18,000 SolarWinds customers that used the company’s Orion network monitoring software.

– In 2017, there were suspicions that in the US, Kaspersky antivirus was being used by a foreign intelligence service for spying.  This led to U.S. government customers having to remove Kaspersky’s products from networks and them being disallowed from acquiring future products from that vendor.

– Also in 2017, the NotPetya (ransomware) attack saw a malicious data encryption tool inserted into a legitimate piece of software that was used by most of Ukraine’s financial and government institutions. This resulted in the malware spreading via trusted networks, rather than over the internet, thereby bypassing the processes put in place to prevent ransomware attacks.

Reducing The Risk of Software Supply Chain Attacks

Although the situation is a challenging one for many businesses and organisations, there are measures that can be taken to reduce the risk of attacks, breaches and other security and network issues caused via the software supply chain.  These include:

– Implementing a formal risk management program to assess all third-party suppliers against a set of criteria relating to whether third parties really need to access an organisation’s data or systems, and how business-critical they are to organisational processes. This can help CISOs and CIOs to identify and prioritise suppliers who pose the highest risk and need the most scrutiny and controls.

– Putting a patching policy and regime in place that ensures software updates are implemented as soon as possible to prevent criminals from exploiting old loopholes.  This could also involve testing (in a controlled environment) any updates related to security before rolling them out across the company network.

– Adopting a zero-trust approach and architecture means that rather than simply granting unrestricted access based on trust, verification is always required, thereby stopping the fast escalation of problems caused by a supply chain attack.

– Using more holistic, forward-thinking, and data-driven strategies can help businesses/organisations to be better informed about security readiness of any vendor partners.

– Sticking to proven security strategies such as investing in security programs, conducting regular risk assessments, and prioritising issues highlighted by the assessments, devising a plan, hiring the right staff, and using trusted, evidence-based tools can all help to mitigate the risks.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Previous, high-profile attacks such as SolarWinds have highlighted the interconnected vulnerabilities of business software/digital supply chains. Businesses face the challenges of being able to first get an overall view of where the potential risks/threats could come from (an audit and regular risk assessments) and of implementing an approach (e.g. zero tolerance), tools and procedures that mitigate those risks in a cost-effective and operationally friendly way. Interference by criminals that can lead to successful supply chain attacks has been shown to occur at any point from the development of software, through distribution, right through to disposal. This means that all businesses and organisations, private and public sector need to take a close interest in the security profile of their suppliers as well as their own organisations.

News

Tech News : Suspected Cannabis Farm Turns Out To Be A Bitcoin Mining Farm

Police in Sandwell in the West Midlands recently discovered a warehouse that had been converted to an operation to illegally supply large quantities of electricity for Bitcoin mining.

Same Heat & Electricity Profile as a Cannabis Farm

The warehouse was raided by police after the heat generated, which had been spotted by the heat camera on a police drone, and the excessive electricity consumption appeared to show all the hallmarks of a cannabis farm.

The find, the second of its kind in the area, showed that criminals have adapted an existing money-generating model to tap into a technological rather than a biological fast money-making scheme that essentially cuts out the middlemen and delivers direct profit with fewer risks.

Illegal Electricity Supply

The criminals were found to have made an illegal connection to the electricity supply from Western Power in order to power the 100 computer units that were discovered in the warehouse.

Bitcoin Mining

Bitcoin “mining” uses specialised Bitcoin computers that are constantly powered on and connected to the cryptocurrency network to verify transactions (sending and receiving of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency).  This verification is achieved by the computers solving puzzles to prevent fraud and to win small amounts of Bitcoin. The whole process is extremely energy hungry. In fact, Researchers from Cambridge recently highlighted how Bitcoin mining consumes 21.36 terawatt-hours (TWh) a year, meaning that if Bitcoin were a country, its energy (electricity) consumption would be ranked above Argentina and the energy could power all the kettles in the UK for 27 years.

Three People Suspected

Three people, who were described by a witness (on the Birmingham Live website) as looking “a bit nerdy and dodgy” had apparently been noticed visiting the warehouse unit at the Great Bridge Industrial Estate, Tipton, at odd hours over the past 8 months.  The warehouse unit was reported to have suspicious-looking wiring and ventilation ducts visible from the outside.

Bitcoin Mining Not Illegal

Although Bitcoin mining is not illegal, the way the criminals obtained the electricity for the operation, which was estimated to have used thousands of pounds worth of power does appear to have been illegal.  Also, damage to the unit through its conversion to crypto-mining farm is yet to be assessed.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Criminals, particularly in the tech world, are always looking for scams and schemes that deliver maximum profit for minimum ongoing effort, whilst maintaining their anonymity and keeping their distance (often the other side of the world) from their crimes. This scheme shows how criminals have tried to be smart (in the technical sense) by using an existing idea (taking over a building and an electricity supply) to make a fast profit with middlemen from a currency that would be very difficult to trace back to them through the online technical route. Their mistakes, however, appeared to be that they failed to take account of elements in the real-world (i.e. the heat generated that could be spotted by police surveillance). Also, although they are likely to have made money by keeping their distance online but the wiring, setting up and monitoring of the warehouse meant that they had to remain physically too close to their crime, which in this case is the theft of electricity.

This story illustrates how tech-based criminals are finding ever-more creative and sophisticated ways to exploit opportunities and make money, and businesses should, therefore, focus on making their cyber-defences as robust as possible using tried and tested methods to stop any basic breaches, however creative the methodology.

News

Tech News : Guarding Against The Rise In Router and VoIP Attacks

After a recent high profile media story highlighted how poor router security led to a police raid of the home of an innocent family, we take a look at how Wi-Fi piggybacking attacks against home and domestic targets, and VoIP hacking of businesses worldwide are growing threats.

What Happened?

It has been reported that in January this year during the lockdown, the family home of a couple and their two young children was unexpectedly raided by police. The shocked and frightened family could only look on as their desktop computer, two laptops (and a borrowed laptop), current (in-use) mobile phones and old mobile phones retrieved from drawers around the house were taken away by officers. The family found themselves with just a landline for communications, and under suspicion for a crime which, as it later transpired, they did not commit, and knew nothing about.

Work Laptop

To make matters worse, the father of the family was forced to tell his boss that the police required the decryption key to unlock his work laptop, thereby making him fear for his job.

Wi-Fi Accessed Due To Poor Router Security

When the devices, which the family were told had been taken for ‘evidence’, were finally returned two months later, it became clear that a mistake had been made because the family’s Wi-Fi connection had been used without their knowledge, and by an unknown party to upload illegal images to a chat site. 

The evidence given to the police by the National Crime Agency which led to the raid, had suggested that the illegal uploading had come from the family’s IP address. In reality, the family had simply fallen victim to criminals piggybacking their insecure wireless connection. The weakness that had allowed the attack is believed to have been a weak/poor default password on their old router.

Router Danger

A recent Which? investigation looked at the security aspects of 13 models of (commonly used) old routers from companies such as Virgin, Sky, TalkTalk, EE, and Vodafone. It was discovered that 6 million users may have router models that have not been updated since 2018 at the latest, with some not being updated since as far back as 2016! The investigation discovered issues with more than half of all routers (of those surveyed).  This suggests that as many as 7.5 million users could have routers with security risks.

The main vulnerabilities threatening the security of business and home-user routers, which are often the same thing now with remote working, include weak default passwords that can be easily guessed by hackers, meaning that the router could be accessed remotely, from anywhere in the world. Local network vulnerabilities can also allow a cybercriminal to take control of a user’s device, see what a person is browsing, or even direct a user to malicious websites. A lack of recent updates to the Firmware of a router could also negatively affect a device’s performance, thereby affecting productivity, and leave outstanding security issues.

VoIP Systems Hacks on the Increase

Recent ‘Check Point’ research has also shown that there has been a big rise in cyber-fraud operations targeting VoIP phone systems worldwide. For example, a Gaza-based hacking group was found to be responsible targeting servers used by more than 1,200 organisations based across over 60 countries, with half of those targets being in the UK! What’s more, hackers worldwide are creating their own social media groups to share tips and know-how relating to VoIP phone system hacking and to organise and co-ordinate future attacks.

What To Do

Businesses can guard against router security threats by taking measures such as changing the username and password(s), ensuring that the router’s firmware up to date, changing the network name/SSID, stopping the Wi-Fi network name/SSID from being broadcast, enabling the router’s firewall, or simply opting for a router upgrade / a new, more secure router.

To guard against the threat of VoIP phone system hacks, businesses need to make sure that their security patch installation management systems and procedures are up to date, call billings are regularly analysed, there is clear and robust password policy in place, and that an intrusion prevention system is implemented.

News

Tech Insight – What Is Bandwidth?

In this article we take a look at what bandwidth is, ways to improve bandwidth, and we look at how bandwidth ‘throttling’ is used.

Bandwidth

Bandwidth refers to the maximum amount of data that can be transferred from one point to another over an internet connection in a given period of time. It is typically calculated and expressed in bits per second (bps) or megabits per second (Mbps).

The data that is transferred across the Internet is sent in the form of data ‘packets’, each containing a source and destination, and the content being transferred.  Networks with higher bandwidths are able to transfer larger numbers of data packets than connections with lower bandwidths.

Speed

Bandwidth is not the same as speed because while bandwidth refers to the amount of information received per second, speed refers to how fast that information is received or downloaded.

Latency

The latency/delay/ping rate is the time lag that users experience while waiting for something to load (e.g. web pages). Even if plenty of bandwidth is available, reducing latency will improve the speed at which data packets move across the network.

Not all data makes it through to its destination. Taking bandwidth as the maximum that could get through, the ‘throughput’ refers to how much actually makes it to the destination. Some data can be prevented from doing so due to factors such as packet loss caused by errors in transmission or congestion. 

Broadband

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) enable users to connect to the Internet at high speed through broadband. This is essentially a wide bandwidth data transmission carrying different types of signals through an infrastructure made of different components along the route (e.g. coaxial cable or optical fibre). Different ISPs offer different broadband speeds but, as previously mentioned, speed is not the same thing as bandwidth.

Ways To Improve Bandwidth

Some of the key ways that you can improve bandwidth are to:

– Upgrade your plan with your ISP to get higher Mbps e.g. to a Fios Gigabit Connection.  This may be helpful for those who stream large amounts of content and use many different devices.

– Update/upgrade the router or frequently reboot the router to strengthen the Internet connection.

– Use physical, Ethernet wire connections to the router. This can help to get around problems such as connection issues with other devices.

Throttling

Bandwidth throttling is a way that ISPs intentionally slow down their internet service/slow down the data transmission for reasons including regulating network traffic, saving money, minimising bandwidth congestion, or, as in most cases, due to excess use on a plan that has a data cap. Throttling is not illegal but users should be informed if the ISP is using it.

Avoiding Throttling

One way to avoid throttling is to use a virtual private network (VPN) as ISPs cannot see the encrypted traffic. Users can test whether their service is being throttled, for example, by running two speed tests, one using the normal connection and one using a VPN.  If the VPN is much faster, this could indicate that throttling is being used.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Businesses, therefore, need to assess how much bandwidth they are likely to need, e.g. by taking into account factors such as how many employees need to be accessing the network and the bandwidth requirements needed for the applications that they use. Other ways to help include getting on the right plan from the ISP, using cables to the router, organising network backups and updates, monitoring and policing the traffic, migrating apps to the cloud, using WAN optimisation tools, and more. For businesses to maximise productivity and continuity, how to maximise their bandwidth is, therefore, an important consideration.