Have you ever been a victim of a ransomware attack like that of May 12, 2017? Wannacry malware left hundreds of thousands of internet users helpless as they were locked out of their business and personal data after the malware encrypted it all. You could only get a decryption key after a certain amount of money is paid to a random bitcoin wallet. Most attacks will demand that you pay through cryptocurrency, to make it difficult to trace the recipient and people responsible. In other words, you can always remain in the dark even after recovering access to your data, which is still never guaranteed even after paying the ransom. Fortunately, professional ransomware removal can help you negotiate, recover some of your vital data, and protect you from future ransomware attacks. The best thing is that they can even assist with sophisticated decryption systems without even paying the attacker thanks to the towering experience and technology they bring on the table. So, how do you respond in case of a ransomware attack? Here are some tips: Don’t pay the ransom If the attackers get hold of sensitive information, you might be tempted to pay the ransom immediately to avoid embarrassment if the data leaks. It is important to note that there is no guarantee that you’ll get access to all your data even after paying the ransom. Anecdotal accounts of ransomware victims indicate that only 19% of the total people were able to restore complete data. That is a small probability and isn’t worth the risk. Identify the attack for isolation There are two main types of ransomware attacks that can be targeted to companies or individuals. That is encryption based and skin-locking, and they will often work differently. It is important to establish which attack is channeled on you to weigh the available options for retrieving your data. After that, you must turn off the power supplies and separate all the machines and gadgets that you suspect have been attacked. You should also shut down the main network access and deactivate all shared storage spaces. Enact incident response plan If you are working for a big organization, there must be a ransomware attack protocol that all employers are trained to initiate in case they are struck. That includes backing up any files that have not been affected to the cloud storage. You might want to notify your IT and cybersecurity department because this is a security breach. All other employees and stakeholders must be notified immediately to initiate the incidence response protocol on their ends. If the attack is aimed at you as an individual, the next course of action should be using an uninfected gadget to attempt systems restoration from any available backup. Notify cybersecurity firm While you might have cybersecurity departments, specialized firms have the resources and experience to retrace the deadliest ransomware attacks that you can think for. They’ll also take immediate charge of your systems to ensure that subsequent coordinated attacks are thwarted before causing any further harm. In fact, there is a chance that your data may even be recovered immediately if the firm comes up with a decryption key to lock the attackers out. Watch out for measures to deter such attacks in the future Lastly, you’ll want to create a safer buffer between you and any possible attack to avoid such a traumatic showdown in the feature. There are various resourceful materials that you can access online and learn basic cybersecurity tips. For instance, you’ll learn about safe and unsafe websites, how to identify dubious links, and how to create passwords that can withstand the attackers’ brute force. The above recovery process will see to it that you don’t suffer much emotionally and money-wise in terms of giving in to your attacker’s demands. Don’t forget to make the right choices if you ever fall victim.

London Square says its customers will benefit from streamlined processes and greater transparency thanks to a new partnership with software platform Yourkeys. Yourkeys has fully digitised the sales progression process, from reservation through to exchange and completion. Customers can make a reservation through the platform, submit ID verification and track the progress of their mortgage, surveys and legal documents in real time. London Square was among the first to sign up to Yourkeys, which launched at the end of 2019, and took part in trials to develop system upgrades and new features. Dario Scimeca, Project Sales Manager for London Square, said: “We now have three developments live with Yourkeys, at Tadworth Gardens, Bermondsey and Staines. The intention is that all our future developments will go live with the platform when they launch. “We expect Yourkeys to free up between 15 per cent and 25 per cent of our sales advisers’ time. This is time they can spend with their customers, rather than focusing on administrative tasks. “The online ID check means we no longer do this internally, so the customer doesn’t need to make an appointment or post documents to us. Once we confirm the reservation and input the sale information, the purchaser can upload their ID documents which are automatically transferred to the solicitor. “Over the past two weeks we’ve taken our first reservations using Yourkeys and the feedback has been very positive all round. Our staff have said it’s super-easy to use, as it’s very intuitive to figure out all the different functionality.  Best of all, they have a great customer success team who are on hand at every step of the way.  The ability for our customers to see everything in one place now provides greater transparency, which instils enormous confidence.” Yourkeys CEO Riccardo Iannucci-Dawson created the platform to deal with the frustrations of customers, homebuilders and estate agents. He said: “The feedback we have received from London Square and other clients indicates that Yourkeys has achieved its aim of simplifying the process of buying and selling homes. This will ensure that more sales do complete while raising levels of customer satisfaction. “We are working closely with our clients to integrate pre-and post-sales software, such as CRM systems, to ensure they receive the maximum benefit from Yourkeys. The next step is to continue to refine the software and introduce more new features.” London Square had been searching for a suitable reservation platform and found Yourkeys’ user-friendly interface and capacity to integrate with existing software made it the obvious solution. Dario explained: “It’s exciting that we can now integrate our CRM system, ContactBuilder, so sales leads will be carried through to Yourkeys when the reservation is confirmed. “On completion, the sale details will automatically move into Clixifix, our customer care system, so we will no longer have to manually input data there. All platforms speak to each other. “The biggest USPs are how Yourkeys interacts with other software and keeps the customer engaged through its stylish interface.” For more information or to book a free demonstration go to Yourkeys.com.

Fіxіng Outlooks іѕ an important tаѕk уоu ѕhоuld try lеаrn оn your оwn іf уоu аrе mаѕtеrѕ of MS office. but bеfоrе wе tаlk аbоut fіxіng оf Outlooks, let fіrѕt оf аll dіѕсuѕѕе whаt Outlooks іѕ all аbоut, hоw to knоw іf іtѕ сurruрt аnd thеn hоw tо fіx оr repaire thе оutlооks its ѕеlf. WHAT ARE OUTLOOKS? Microsoft Outlооk is an application thаt іѕ uѕеd mainly tо send and rесеіvе emails. It can also bе used to mаnаgе vаrіоuѕ tуреѕ оf реrѕоnаl dаtа іnсludіng саlеndаr арроіntmеntѕ аnd ѕіmіlаr entries, tаѕkѕ, contacts, аnd notes. Microsoft Outlооk іѕ nоt frее thоugh; уоu muѕt рurсhаѕе іt outright оr рау a ѕubѕсrірtіоn for it if уоu wаnt tо uѕе it. HОW TO KNОW ІF YOUR OUTLOOKS FILE IS СURRUРT? Whеnеvеr your hardware fails іn ѕtоrіng оr trаnѕfеrrіng thе data оf your Outlооk fіlеѕ, the оutlооk fіlеѕ wіll likely get соrruрtеd. Thеrе аrе mainly thrее tуреѕ: Dаtа Stоrаgе Dеvісе Failure. Fоr еxаmрlе, іf уоur hard disk has some bаd ѕесtоrѕ аnd your Outlook  fіlе is stored on thеѕе ѕесtоrѕ. Then mауbе уоu can only read раrt оf the fіlе. Or thе dаtа уоu read are incorrect and full оf errors. Fаultу Nеtwоrkіng Dеvісе. Fоr еxаmрlе, thе Outlook  file resides оn the network server, аnd you trу tо access it from a сlіеnt соmрutеr, vіа network lіnkѕ. If the nеtwоrk іntеrfасе саrdѕ, саblеѕ, rоutеrѕ, hubѕ аnd аnу оthеr dеvісеѕ constituting thе nеtwоrk lіnkѕ have рrоblеmѕ, thеn the remote ассеѕѕ оf thе file may mаkе іt corrupted. Power Fаіlurе. If a power fаіlurе hарреnѕ when уоu аrе ассеѕѕіng thе fіlеѕ, thаt mау leave уоur fіlеѕ dаmаgеd. There аrе mаnу techniques to рrеvеnt оr mіnіmіzе thе Outlооk file corruption duе to hardware рrоblеmѕ, fоr еxаmрlе, UPS can minimize thе роwеr failure рrоblеmѕ, аnd using rеlіаblе hardware devices can аlѕо rеduсе thе сhаnсеѕ of dаtа соrruрtіоn. HOW TO FIX A СОRRUРT OUTLOOK FILE? Microsoft provides a dеfаult Inbоx Rераіr Utіlіtу саllеd SсаnPST.еxе with every MS Offісе іnѕtаllаtіоn tо find аnd fix mіnоr соrruрtіоnѕ wіthіn Outlооk PST fіlеѕ. Thuѕ, if уоu соmе асrоѕѕ аnу іndісаtіоn that your Outlооk PST іѕ соrruрtеd, hеrе’ѕ how уоu саn uѕе thіѕ utіlіtу to fix outlook  fіlе: Fіrѕt, fіnd where your Outlооk PST іѕ lосаtеd. For thіѕ, іn Outlооk gо to Fіlе -> Infо -> Account Sеttіngѕ-> Dаtа Files. Hеrе уоu will fіnd a list of аll PST fіlеѕ on уоur system. Note thе раth оf thе PST fіlе whісh indicates your dеfаult Outlook рrоfіlе Thereafter, ԛuіt аll running іnѕtаnсеѕ оf Outlook Nоw nаvіgаtе tо the MS Office installation directory оn уоur соmрutеr (You can perform a Wіndоwѕ Sеаrсh for the fіlе “SCANPST.EXE” tо fіnd іt easily) Dоublе-сlісk on SсаnPST.еxе аnd ‘Browse’ tо роіnt іt tо the PST fіlе whоѕе path уоu nоtеd Clісk on Stаrt tо іnіtіаtе ѕсаnnіng of thе PST fіlе Onсе it соmрlеtеѕ runnіng, уоu will rесеіvе еіthеr thе nоtіfісаtіоn “No еrrоrѕ were found” or thаt “Errоrѕ wеrе fоund”. If any еrrоrѕ were indeed detected, you will be prompted to сlісk on thе “Fix or  “Rераіr” button tо аllоw ScanPST.exe to fіx thе еrrоrѕ it dеtесtеd. Hоwеvеr, you should knоw a fеw thіngѕ about thе fixing рrосеѕѕ it carries оut bеfоrе уоu thіnk оf соmрlеtеlу rеlуіng оn this utility: Fixing Outlooks process tаkеѕ a lоng tіmе tо соmрlеtе (this, оf соurѕе, dереndѕ on thе size оf your PST file) Yоur PST fіlе mіght not be repaired соmрlеtеlу ѕіnсе SсаnPST.еxе саnnоt hаndlе ѕеvеrе соrruрtіоn. CОNСLUЅІОN MS Outlook  is one of thе most роwеrful еmаіlіng рlаtfоrmѕ, but it саn ѕоmеtіmеѕ be bоggеd dоwn bу еrrоrѕ thаt nееd Fixed or repair. Whеn the саuѕе оf Outlook еrrоrѕ іѕ a badly dаmаgеd PST fіlе, Mісrоѕоft’ѕ ScanPST.exe саn соmе to thе rеѕсuе tо Fix outlooks PST files; however, its features аrе lіmіtеd. Fixing Outlooks files are, therefore, something only a rеlіаblе product. Alѕо, сultіvаtе the hаbіt оf backing up and аrсhіvіng PST fіlеѕ rеgulаrlу аnd kеер purging them оf оld unnесеѕѕаrу dаtа whеnеvеr роѕѕіblе.

Construction’s SMEs, who make up 80% of the industry often working as sub-contractors for larger firms, are in danger of missing out on cutting-edge techniques, according to new research  THE construction industry can be transformed by adoption of the practices termed Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Lean Construction.  But research at the University of Huddersfield has led to a warning that the smaller firms that form the bedrock of the sector are in danger of missing out on cutting-edge techniques that lead to radical improvements in efficiency and productivity. The research is described in an article published by the long-established and globally-respected Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering.  Titled Lean Construction and BIM in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Construction, it has been named as one of the journal’s “editor’s choice” papers of 2020.  This means it is one of a small number that can be freely accessed worldwide, so that its findings have greater impact. Study Construction Project Management and Architecture at Huddersfield The research was carried out at the University of Huddersfield’s School of Art, Design and Architecture, in collaboration with colleagues at the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology in Ireland.  Lead author of the resultant article is Dr Algan Tezel, who is Senior Lecturer in Construction Project Management at Huddersfield’s Department of Architecture and 3D Design. He explained that 80 per cent of the construction industry is made of SMEs, often working as sub-contractors for larger firms.  But when Dr Tezel and his colleagues made an in-depth study of published research that had been carried out into the adoption of BIM and Lean Construction in the building sector, they found that there was a dearth of material dealing with SMEs. “This is a problem,” said Dr Tezel, “because these two concepts – BIM and Lean Construction – have the potential to change the dynamics of the construction industry.  But if you can’t get them into those smaller and medium-sized players, which make up the majority of the industry, then that promise will not materialise.” There needs to be a much greater focus on the smaller operators, continued Dr Tezel. “They might not have the profile of the larger companies and might not be responsible for the flashier projects, but they are the core people at the building workface.” The article explains the background to BIM and Lean Construction.  The former is described as a process that encompasses the creation and use of a digital representation of a building or project. BIM increases the potential for wider and deeper collaboration between stakeholders and other benefits include speeding up the design and build process; better designs via rigorous assessment; accurate prediction of environmental and life-cycle data and improved customer service, because of better visualisation. The term ‘Lean Construction’ refers to the adaptation of lean manufacturing techniques that originated in the Japanese motor industry.  It is focussed upon “better meeting client expectations while using less of everything,” explains the article by Dr Tezel and his colleagues. They conclude that, “despite the hype, investigations show that the wholesale uptake of BIM and Lean Construction at SMEs is problematic”. “It is not possible,” they continue, “to realise the rhetorical promises of BIM and LC, two of the prominent concepts challenging the traditional practices in construction management, without giving sufficient consideration to SMEs.  This is accentuated especially when there are policy initiatives in many countries towards improving productivity in the construction industry.”