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It’s nearly 100 days until Windows 10 goes out of support

Wed, 02 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The end of Windows 10 support is rapidly approaching, on Saturday July 5th 2025, Windows 10 will have 100 days left before it goes out of support with Microsoft, making it vulnerable to future exploits. What is more, Windows 11 runs on a lot of the code that makes up Windows 10, so if a security patch is released for Windows 11, it will most likely affect Windows 10 as well, the only difference is that there will be no fix released for Windows 10.

Windows 10 Support Ends In...

When Windows 10 goes out of support it will no longer get the security updates that close security holes. Any exploits found in Windows 11 will most likely also be in Windows 10, meaning hackers will be given a list of exploits on a plate, published by Microsoft each month, listing all of the security flaws they can target on unsupported Windows 10 computers. This will make people using Windows 10 more vulnerable than ever. Is it really worth staying on Windows 10? What is holding you back?

Is it the look and feel of Windows 11

If it is because you or your staff don't like the new look and feel of the Windows 11 interface, there are things that can be done as noted in a previous article here where we discuss how to change Windows 11 to look and feel more like Windows 10, improving user adoption and making it easier if they don't like Windows 11.

Is it the hardware

If your computer can't upgrade to Windows 11 because the hardware doesn't support it, it's time for a new computer.

Windows 11 has stricter hardware requirements compared to Windows 10, as it is more secure. This means that Windows 11 will only run on computers that have:

64 bit processor (Windows 10 would also run on a 32 bit processor)
Minimum 4GB RAM (Windows 10 minimum RAM requirements was 2GB RAM)
UEFI with Secure Boot (Windows 10 does not require this hardware feature)
TPM 2.0 (Windows 10 only needed TPM 1.0)

Computers have been sold with the above spec for many years, in fact the TPM 2.0 chip has been fitted in computers for the last 10 years so if your computer doesn't meet the above hardware requirement for Windows 11, it is definitely time to treat yourself to a new computer.

Windows 11 gives you better security

All of these changes in hardware requirements for Windows 11 mean better security for your computer and your data. The secure boot, the newer TPM chip, the 64 bit processor all add up to better security, making your computer harder to compromise. Windows 11 is also optimised to use these newer hardware features, something that Windows 10 will just overlook.

You'll also see better productivity

The other thing to consider is productivity. Have you ever wondered how much time is wasted with an old computer, running slowly and hampering what you, or your staff can do? A new computer with better performance can drastically improve staff productivity.

As a business we see it all the time when we deploy new hardware for an organisation, the staff are overwhelmed by the upturn in their productivity, they cannot believe how much quicker they can work. Programs load quicker, data loads quicker, data saves quicker, browsing and websites render quicker. All in all everything is quicker and staff notice this immediately, but so do businesses as they see staff doing more in less time.

Throw artificial intelligence (AI) into the mix

New hardware, coupled with AI like Microsoft Copilot can DRAMATICALLY increase staff productivity, stats have shown:

70% of Copilot users said they were more productive, and 68% said it improved the quality of their work.
Overall, users were 29% faster in a series of tasks (searching, writing, and summarising).
Users were able to get caught up on a missed meeting nearly 4x faster.
64% of users said Copilot helps them spend less time processing email.
85% of users said Copilot helps them get to a good first draft faster.
75% of users said Copilot “saves me time by finding whatever I need in my files.”
77% of users said once they used Copilot, they didn’t want to give it up.

Imagine getting this much of an increase in productivity in your business, without the increase in wage cost.

Security accreditation

Another thing to remember is that you can't get or retain Cyber Essentials or Cyber Essentials Plus if you are running software, including operating systems, that are out of support. If you are running Windows 10, you will have issues trying to obtain or retain your Cyber Essential accreditations.

Get Windows 11, stay protected, stay productive

So if you haven't got Windows 11 because your staff don't like the look and feel of it, or the hardware won't support it, maybe it is time to consider upgrading your computers AND your ways of working by bringing AI into the mix with it. You will find the increase in productivity will soon pay for the upgrades, then it is increased productivity and often increased profit all the way.

Call us on 01722 411 999 to get us to help upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11, protect your business and get better productivity, it won't take long to pay for itself and you will have better protection from security breaches, what's not to like?

Secure Your IT Using Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Where Possible

Wed, 25 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

What is MFA?

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) adds an additional layer of security that helps to protect you from people trying to access your computer accounts, data and services.

It works by adding an extra level of security, MFA in its simplest form can be broken down into two parts, something you know and something you have. The something you know is your username and password and the something you have is typically an application that provides a six digit code that changes every 30 seconds or a biometric scanner or an SMS one time code sent to your mobile.

Over time there have been various ways of securing accounts, each getting more comprehensive and adding more security

Single factor authentication, which is a plain old username and password
1.5 factor authentication, which would be a username, password and then selection of letters and numbers from a known word, which used to be a favourite with banks where they would ask you to enter, for example, the 3rd and 7th letters of your known word
Two factor authentication, which is a username, password and a changing code, often sent via a text message to your mobile to then enter
Multi facto authentication, which is a username, password and an application where you can use an authentication application, or SMS, or biometric reader, or a near field reader security card, adding multiple layers and options for authentication

Why should you use it, especially in Microsoft 365?

I have come across people who say things like "why should I use it, we're not a big company, no one would want to break into my account", and "it's too complicated, my staff won't want to use it".

But in all honesty, neither of these things is true.

Hackers and bad actors who have intent opportunistically target hundreds of millions of users trying to phish for login details. It is purely a numbers game to a lot of them, send out and email purporting to be from a company like Microsoft saying they need to login to their account to access a new message, and they get provided with a link that looks like a Microsoft login page. If you don't use branding for your Microsoft account, it is even easier to get phished because it is very easy to mimic the standard Microsoft login page, a user enters their username and password in the fake site and the hacker has their details.

If MFA were setup, the hacker would then try to access Microsoft using these login details, only to find their access is blocked because they cannot provide the multi-factor authentication part of the login process meaning your Microsoft account is safe.

To say people find it too complicated to use MFA is also a bit disingenuous as most banks and online financial service sites already require users to have some form of multi-factor authentication, so people are already used to using it.

Once it has been setup, users are only ever required to use it if they need to renew an authentication session, so it is not needed for day to day usage. If you login to your computer, this is enough to allow you access to your information in Microsoft 365, it is only if you were to use a new computer to login, one you don't usually use, or a web browser and login through that, then you would be prompted for MFA credentials.

There have been some high level examples of businesses being hacked and compromised recently, we hear about these examples because of the scale of the hack, the number of people affected and the impact it has.

However, even small organisations HAVE to notify the Information Commissioners Office if they have a security breach so you have to notify anyone affected, such as clients or suppliers or staff. Even if this doesn't make the local papers, it still has an impact to your business and the reputational damage often is enough to make the business go bust. After all, would you want to do business with a company that doesn't take steps to protect your information, especially when the steps they could have taken are free?

Additional benefit of MFA

Another benefit of MFA is that it helps with Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus security accreditations, after all you are increasing your security which is why these accreditations like you to have it enabled where possible.

So why wouldn't you implement MFA? After all, it is free in most cases, as are the authentication applications you can use with it.

Examples of some of the authentication applications you can use are:

Microsoft Authenticator
Apple Passwords
Authy
Google Authenticator
LastPass

The above are a few examples, there are many out there.

NOTE: You don't need one application per service as each will provide you with multi-factor authentication across most services so you only need one application to manage multiple accounts across different platforms. It is surprising how many sites use MFA as an option these days as well and they can all be incorporated into one authentication application.

We STRONGLY recommend that it is enabled and used where ever it can be, this could be technology or cloud providers, such as Microsoft or Google, or it could be a site like Government Gateway, or it could be something like shopping sites like eBay or Amazon. Where ever you can enable MFA, it is typically free and provides that extra layer of security. What's not to like?

If you would like to enable MFA in your Microsoft tenant and need help, call us on 01722 411 999 or if you would like some advice about how to setup or use an authenticator application, again, call us and we'll be happy to help.

Are all your computers running current software or are there potential exploits lurking?

Wed, 18 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A lot of organisations think their computers are up to date because they have set a policy to apply all the Microsoft software updates and security patches, but this is only the tup of the iceberg. Whilst it is great to make sure your Microsoft operating system and applications are up to date, they are not the only things running on the computer, but these are typically the only things that get regular updates because it is so easy to switch on and let Microsoft do the rest, however....

Computers run lots of applications, sometimes an organisation doesn't even know all of the software in use within the business, let alone if it is current and supported.

Out of date software can be one of the biggest threats to a business, especially if the business doesn't even know that the software is installed on some of the machines in use. This is why the Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus accreditations require software to be kept up to date and running versions that are in support by the software vendor and have all security updates applied.

The first thing any organisation needs to do is understand exactly what software staff are using.

In an ideal world users would not be able to install any software of their computer and it would all be managed by the business, but it is not an ideal world. Even with the best will in the world, and in some of the most locked down environments, we have still come across shadow IT, where staff have installed packages as an exception that then get forgotten and over time this becomes a liability.

What can you do about it?

As we said before, unless an organisation knows what it has, it is impossible to manage it. Yes you may get 80% - 90% of the software but what about that other 10% - 20% of software that slips through the net, that, potentially, is a HUGE attack vector.

Firstly, find out about all of the software in use and make sure the reporting remains current, in other words, don't find out about the state of the environment just once and hope nothing changes, keep a real time view of what is in use in the organisation, this is where we can help with our RMM (remote management and monitoring) solution which allows us to share with you the real time status of your environment, including a full audit of all the software, including the version information, that is in use.

Secondly, make sure that the software is running the latest version of software with the security patches and updates applied. This is where our patch management solution comes into play, where we can check what version is running, compare it with the vendors supported version(s) and apply updates where necessary.

One of the unseen advantages of using our RMM and patch management solutions is that it makes getting and maintaining Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essential Plus easy, because organisations using our services typically pass without issues because the environment is continuously monitored, managed and up to date.

It also makes it far easier for the organisation to get Cyber Insurance because insurers like to hedge their bets, and if a business can show it's computer environment is managed and maintained with current software that is security patched, it will be more willing to underwrite the policy and also may lower the premiums as the business is seen as being far lower risk.

If you would like more information about our RMM and Patching Solution and having your environment under management or if you are thinking about getting the Cyber Essentials or Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation's we'd be more than happy to help, call us on 01722 411 999 and we can even provide you with a FREE snapshot of your environment so you can understand the current state of the computers and then plan how to resolve any issues that are found.

Got a Suspicious Looking Email? Use Outlook's Report Button To Flag It

Thu, 12 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Have you seen something that looks suspicious in your email? Something that either has come from a name you don't know or is offering you something you know you are not interested in, there is a way to deal with it.

Microsoft Outlook has a tool, baked in, that allows you to report suspicious emails. It is important to use this button as it helps Microsoft build stronger detection, preventing similar emails getting though in the future.

So how do you use it?

Click on the email so it is selected in your In-box and shows the content in the preview pane, without fully opening it - do not fully open it
On the toolbar, look for a button, depending on the version of Outlook, it will be called Report, or Junk or Phishing
Click the button and select either Junk or Phishing, depending on how you want to categorise the email
The email will be flagged and moved out of the Inbox and put in Junk mail

Remember - the more emails you report, the more it trains Microsoft's detection algorithm and the more it intercepts in future.

Did you know you can brand your Microsoft 365 to match your business?

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Microsoft 365 has a lot of configuration options, one of which is the ability to brand your tenant to match your business branding.

Why should you do this?

It allows you to personalise your tenant so that when your staff connect to it, they feel like it is part of the business, making your staff feel connected to the business even when connecting remotely.

It also reduces ambiguity or confusion as to where your staff or volunteers are connecting. Some people, such as trustees or non-executive directors might hold several positions and might connect to more than one Microsoft tenant, by branding your tenant, there is no confusion as to which company they are connecting to when they login as it is very noticeable with the company brand on display.

Branding can be used across Microsoft 365, including the SharePoint sites, so it gives good continuity for the users, strengthening the brand and giving users a consistent experience when working online in the company tenant.

Then there is the security element, a branded tenant makes it far less likely that your staff could fall foul of a phishing attack. Some businesses have had issues where staff have been sent what looks like a legitimate link, they go to a landing page which looks like a standard Microsoft login page but it is actually a phishing site, the user logs in with their details, the site captures them, displays an incorrect login attempt message and redirects the use to the real login site, they try again, get let into the Microsoft tenant for real this time, but the phishing attack has been successful, the user's login details have been compromised.

By branding the tenant, phishing attacks are far less likely to succeed because the user will see the login page is a standard Microsoft login, not the company branded page and so will notice something is wrong and will hopefully not enter their login details!

The Silver Cloud Business can help with branding your tenant, we offer a service of producing the correctly sized images for the tenant and can upload and brand your Microsoft tenant so that it has your business logo and artwork. We offer three options:

You provide us with the artwork, we size it correctly and brand the tenant
We collect artwork from your website or other sources such as letter head, create the artwork from that, size it correctly and brand the tenant
Create everything from scratch, including a new logo and artwork for your business, ideal for new startups

There is a lot more to this than just branding the login page with your logo, our service produces comprehensive branding that can be used across your Microsoft tenant, even down to the favourite icon in the address bar!

If you would like your tenant properly branded, call us on 01722 411 999, it is refreshingly inexpensive.

Changes In Microsoft Non-Profit License Grants

Wed, 28 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Microsoft recently announced it is retiring the Business Premium 10 license grant and the E1 license grant that they have previously offered to non-profits.

Licenses are provided on annual terms, and depending on when your annual renewal date is, your licenses will expire any time between 1st May 2026 and 1st July 2026.

Instead, discounted paid for licenses are available for the Business Premium grant subscribers and Business Basic grant licenses can be used to replace the E1 license grant.

These changes apply exclusively to the free licenses and do not impact any paid licenses being used by non-profits and will also not impact the discounted pricing.

Microsoft will continue to provide:

Up to 300 granted licenses of Microsoft 365 Business Basic
Discounts of up to 75% on other Microsoft 365 offers to nonprofits, including Microsoft 365 Business Premium and Office 365 E1

What does this mean to your non-profit?

Firstly, The Business Premium License Grant

It means that if you currently benefit from the Business Premium grant, you will need to decide what you want to do to retain services. The Silver Cloud Business has determined there are realistically four options that you can take.

Retain Business Premium Licenses – continue to use Microsoft 365 Business Premium Licenses but pay for them at a discounted rate. Microsoft non-profit pricing for Business Premium is approx. 75% lower than standard RRP, call us on 01722 411 999 for pricing. This provides the users with the most consistent experience and no loss of services.
Switch to Business Standard Licenses – this would provide uses with a similar desktop experience however it would remove a lot of the features in Microsoft 365 cloud, such as the additional security, remove the software management and deployment from Intune and Autopilot. The Microsoft non-profit pricing for Business Standard is approx. 75% lower than standard RRP, call us on 01722 411 999 for pricing, whilst this does provide the desktop applications, it doesn't have the back-end functionality of Business Premium including enhanced security.
Switch to the free Business Basic Licenses but purchase Microsoft Office applications – switch to using the Microsoft 365 Business Basic license grant for the online services but use the Microsoft Desktop Applications that have been purchased through the Microsoft non-profit grant for a one-off fee which is approx. 75% lower than standard RRP, call us on 01722 411 999 for pricing, which will give the users access to the desktop applications as well as online services, however this will reduce some of the available services that could have been used by the organisation.
Switch to using Business Basic licenses and the online applications and no longer use desktop applications. This would allow users to use the online applications and services; however, this would reduce the functionality available to the users, and they would always need to be connected to the internet to work.

NOTE: The Business Premium grant allows non-profits to benefit from additional services such as the desktop applications, Microsoft Intune, Microsoft Autopilot, additional security and information classification. This is the top tier of services available in the Microsoft Business packages in Microsoft 365 without switching to Enterprise licensing.

What should you do?

If your non-profit organisation is using the Business Premium licenses, we would strongly recommend retaining this level of service and switching to paying for these licenses taking advantage of the discounted rate from Microsoft.

The fundamental reason for this is because of the additional services that are not obvious that are provided by using the Business Premium subscription. Business Premium provides significantly more back-end security and functionality in Microsoft 365 and our view is that you can never have too much security in your IT environment. Business Premium also provides the mechanism for controlling endpoints in the organisation, allowing for more granular control, including deploying computers and applications. This means that if a computer is enrolled into your Tenant using Autopilot, it means that if it is lost or stolen then it cannot be used by anyone else. It is locked to your tenant until it is released.

Whilst we have provided 4 options to consider, this is purely for transparency, but if your organisation is using the Business Premium grant, realistically, this is the only choice that should be considered due to the functionality and security it provides.

Secondly The E1 License Grant

Microsoft are also retiring the 300 E1 license grant. If your non-profit currently benefits from this grant, don’t worry, while Microsoft is retiring the 300 licenses grant, they are offering an alternate solution to non-profits.

What should you do?

Your non-profit will need to apply for the Microsoft Business Basic grant and once it has been granted, the E1 licenses can be migrated over to the Business Basic licenses.

If you would like help or more information about these changes, please call us on 01722 411 999 and we can hopefully answer your questions and help with any grant applications and the migration process.