local broadband, fast broadband, Worthing broadband
By Dan Cash Business Security • General Information • Tips and Tricks • • 0 Comments

Stand And Delivery! Security Issues With Ordering Online

local broadband, fast broadband, Worthing broadbandData breaches sound like something you only have to worry about if you’re in charge of a bank or looking after the details of high value, high security information that you don’t want business competitors or foreign governments to find out about. Unfortunately information security is far more mundane and something that all of us who are shopping online and ordering deliveries during lockdown need to think about.

Millions of usernames and passwords are currently for sale on the dark web. Cheap ones haven’t been verified or tested so the buyer takes pot luck, but expensive high quality data is available to fraudsters, and sometime it even comes with money back guarantees if you, as a scammer, aren’t completely satisfied.

Because it’s quick and easy to order from Deliveroo, McDonalds or JustEat, and the orders are low value not much thought has gone into security, either on their part or by the people making the order. A recipe for disaster. Read more

By Dan Cash CCTV • Home Security • Tips and Tricks • • • 0 Comments

Does CCTV Deter Burglars? People Ask And Facebook Answers

I was looking through Facebook and a question arose in one of the groups we follow here at Briant Communications: “So, does CCTV deter burglars, or just make them think you must have expensive stuff?” but because it’s a sensible, helpful group and not full of sarcastic, unhelpful know-it-alls, many of the answers were quite enlightening.

A lot of people have taken up the use of CCTV to protect their property and businesses from intruders and thieves and have first hand experience of the benefits that can be had from simply keeping a 24 hour eye on your home.

Naturally there are some who elaborate upon apocryphal, anecdotal stories of gangs of burglars breaking into garages with angle grinders and look-outs armed with baseball bats guarding the thieves and keeping the homeowners at bay as they steal high performance motorcycles from the property. However, many commenters make remarkably salient points. Read more

Aerial, satellite dish, installation, aerial repair, satellite dish repair, TV receiver maintenance, aerial maintenance, satellite dish maintenance, home entertainment, TV hanging, TV mounting, TV wall hanging, smart home, smart home automation, smart home security, security, security devices, home security, home security camera, house alarm, business alarm, business security, home automation, environmental control, smart lighting, smart lights, smart home system, cable installation, fibre optic installation, fibre installation, fibre repair, fibre optic repair, fibre data, fibre broadband, wireless data, wireless broadband, internet service provider, isp, wireless internet service provider, wisp, worthing, arundel, angmering, hove, littlehampton, south coast, sussex, UK,
By Dan Cash General Information • Home Entertainment • Management • Older People • Tips and Tricks • WiFi • • • • • 0 Comments

Get Networking, From Person to Person to Business to Business

networking, fibre, fibreoptic, data, broadband data, broadband internetThis past year has come as a revelation to most of us. We’ve become so used to science and technology being a reliable source of solutions to all of our problems that when something completely new and unpredictable comes along it turns out we’re as defenceless as newborn babes. Most of us have been forced to cope because there was simply no choice. We found that our networks of friends and family were easier to reach than ever before thanks to social media, video conferencing and instant messaging, and we found that many of our jobs could be done from home, even if the distraction of being at home and not “at work” was baffling, frustrating and frankly annoying!

It seems like networking has never been so important, from our connections with friends and family, to our local communities, to work and colleagues, and to sources of news and current affairs, being able to gather and absorb information quickly, in a way that’s easy to achieve has become part of our everyday lives.
Even for people who are naturally technology resistant, the last year has meant that they have embraced that which they would normally ignore. Necessity has driven that for some: if they can’t shop online & they’re considered to be vulnerable it can be difficult to get shopping done, especially if they don’t have young, fit, active people in their Bubble. Read more

Image courtesy of https://www.freeimages.com/photo/working-woman-1440176 working from home, contractless broadband, wireless, full fibre
By Dan Cash Business Security • CCTV • Do It Yourself • General Information • Home Security • Older People • Tips and Tricks • WiFi 0 Comments

Online Fraud: My Experience of Beating Internet Scammers

Image courtesy of https://www.freeimages.com/photo/working-woman-1440176I like to think of myself as an intelligent guy who can spot phishing and fraudulent attempts to scam me into handing over my personal information, and for the most part I’m successful. I get so many calls from scammers using private numbers or from places with area codes I’m not familiar with that I know what’s going to happen as soon as I pick up: either the line goes dead or I’m told by a robot that my Amazon Prime account is going to be renewed, that I was involved in a car accident which wasn’t my fault, or that BT Internet has discovered my neighbours are stealing my data and I need take action immediately to stop them.

Just for fun, since it costs me nothing and I’m interested to see how the scam works I go along with it. The scams are so incredibly obvious it’s astonishing they can work, yet some poor, overly trusting marks must fall for it, else they wouldn’t keep using the same old methods.

The Amazon fraud works by telling you that you’re going to be charged for something you don’t want. So naturally you talk to the ‘customer service representative’ and press 1 to fix it. They tell you to go to a website which is hosted on Wix, a perfectly respectable web hosting business which is in no way connected to the scam. The problem with the fraud is that the scammers are too cheap to even pay for hosting so the website they use has a .wix suffix and has adverts for their other premium services popping up during your visit. Not something you’d expect from a multi-billion dollar company such as Amazon. The rep tells you to click on a link, except the link is a download for software which is sure to damage your computer and give up your details. I don’t know what is supposed to happen next as I gave up my pretence of credulity and told them off for having such a pathetically obvious scam, and that I would be ashamed if I was to try anything so amateurish. Read more

By Dan Cash Design • Do It Yourself • General Information • Home Cinema • Home Entertainment • Tips and Tricks • WiFi • • • • 0 Comments

Christmas is Over, Now Get To Grips With Those Tech Prezzies!

digital technology, digital tech, smart speaker, alexa, sonos, Did you have a good Christmas? What was your best present? Did you get lots of Smart Tech and digital gadgets? Good for you!

The market for Smart devices and high definition television keeps on growing. Smart speakers are now on to their fourth generation, and with 5g technology becoming available throughout the country their usefulness is becoming amplified.

What’s 5g got to do with your Smart Speaker or Home Automation system?

Smart devices connect to one another wirelessly, that’s true, but they don’t juts perform one operation or have one conversation with another smart device at a time. Smart devices are always on, looking out for updates, listening out for each other as well as your voice in order to perform their role properly. If they didn’t there would be no point having them. There’s no point yelling “Alexa! Turn the kettle on!” in the lounge if nothing in the kitchen is connected. Read more

By Dan Cash General Information • Home Entertainment • • • • • 0 Comments

Briant Communications Offer Year Round Service, No Matter What!

TV television aerial satellite dish installation maintenance repair servicing safety covid coronavirusSussex, along with most of the rest of the country has been put into Tier 4 for Coronavirus protection and further lockdown instructions are being received all the time. Despite this, Briant Communications remains open for those who need television aerial antenna or satellite dish servicing and repairs.

It’s hard to imagine how we would have entertained or distracted ourselves, informed ourselves, or kept up with the kids’ education if we hadn’t had TV, or internet. Television is not only escapism, it’s a fast and timely way for us to consume news, receive information directly from Number Ten, SAGE and local authorities, while the internet allows us to investigate, help the children with their education, do the shopping if we’re not able to leave the house, and keep in touch with our families via social media. Read more