As millions of Brits optimistically plan their getaways, we have rounded up some of the best out of office messages that you need to try this summer.
Check them out below.

1. The Workaholic

We all have that one colleague who really struggles to switch off. Whether never taking a proper lunch break, or logging on at the weekend, it can be difficult for some people to truly take a much-needed break.

That is the case for venture capitalist, Josh Kopelman, who used this all too true OOO when he took a break:

“I am currently out of the office on vacation.

I know I’m supposed to say that I’ll have limited access to email and won’t be able to respond until I return, but that’s not true. My iPhone will be with me and I can respond if I need to. And I recognise that I’ll probably need to interrupt my vacation from time to time to deal with something urgent.

That said, I promised my wife that I am going to try to disconnect, get away and enjoy our vacation as much as possible. So, I’m going to experiment with something new. I’m going to leave the decision in your hands:

• If your email truly is urgent and you need a response while I’m on vacation, please resend it to interruptyourvacation@firstround.com and I’ll try to respond to it promptly.

• If you think someone else at First Round Capital might be able to help you, feel free to email my assistant, Fiona, and she’ll try to point you in the right direction.

Otherwise, I’ll respond when I return…

Warm regards,

Josh”

This comical out of office message leaves the decision in the emailer’s hands – is it really something that you should be disrupting someone’s holiday for?

Remember, everyone needs a break at some point, so, if you are on holiday, try to really switch off and allow yourself time to recharge.

2. The Snack Fiend

When taking a break from work, it is important to keep yourself well nourished and healthy. And while a tropical beach might be the perfect escape for some, a trip to the fridge is just as rewarding for others.

HubSpot shared this funny out of office message that you need to try:

“I’ll get back to you once I’m back from my long-awaited trip to the fridge.”

3. The Gambler

Everyone loves a good game from time to time and this trickster created a fun game of email roulette to deter repeat senders:

“I am on vacation from [MM/DD/YYYY] to [MM/DD/YYYY]. I will allow each sender one email. If you send me multiple emails, I will randomly delete your emails until it is pared down to one. Choose wisely. Please note that you already sent me one email.”

Make sure you choose wisely when emailing this individual!

4. The Brave One

Users of this out of office are either really brave, or they truly have lost interest for their role:

“I am currently out at a job interview and will reply to you if I fail to get the position.”

While we would not necessarily recommend this out of office, it is an amusing take and would certainly make us smile if it landed in our inbox! Maybe untick the ‘internal’ option when using this OOO…

5. The Truth Teller

It is a well-known fact that some people will just delete your email. Whether they get too many messages in general or frankly just don’t want to hear what you have to say, the world is rife with serial deleters. In this case, we believe that honesty is the best policy, and we commend the individual who used this OOO message:

“I am out of the lab on extended leave until September 4th 2018 and uncontactable. Sadly, your email will not be read and will be deleted.”

If you are struggling to find the best out of office message for your break, check out HubSpot’s OOO Generator. It is a great tool for finding a unique – or humorous – out of office message.

The best out of offices are often informative, with a light-hearted touch. Make sure you include when you will be back and who to contact in your absence.

Once you return to the office, if you need any support with your emails, our team are on hand to help. Get in touch here.

Until then, we are out of the office until further notice…

The post The best out of offices for this summer appeared first on IT Support Services in Huddersfield, Yorkshire.

While some are super easy to spot (we’re talking mysterious royals with terrible spelling offering you billions of pounds to simply click their link), others can be harder to detect and can easily fly under the radar.

Our team has identified some small things that you can look out for and best practice habits to ensure you don’t fall victim to a malicious email.

What is a phishing email?

One of the best ways to avoid falling prey to a phishing email is to first educate yourself about them, what they are hoping to achieve and how they work.

Phishing is a method that hackers use to try and trick ordinary people into providing personal details, bank details, access to devices or networks, or money.

They do this by creating copycat emails designed to look like legitimate people, businesses or organisations.

It is worth noting that phishing isn’t a practice that is exclusive to emails. Phone calls, text messages and even some postal communications can be phishing for your details.

Common phishing attacks will aim to look like an individual’s bank, courier service, online shopping outlet or a Government agency such as HMRC.

A lot of phishing tactics use fear to try to persuade unsuspecting individuals to act quickly, without thinking things through or looking too closely at the fake email. This could include threats of accounts being closed or compromised, or even police action being taken.

It is very unlikely that HMRC will email you threatening arrest, so stay calm and fully evaluate the email in front of you without making any hasty clicks!

Spelling and grammar

One of the easiest ways to spot a phishing email is through spelling mistakes and grammar issues.

If you suspect an email is fake, read through it carefully and identify any errors. These may be minor, but they can be a useful indicator that an email is fraudulent.

Some fraudsters are very good at disguising discrepancies, so give the email a thorough check before taking any action.

Also check logos and company names. For example, two letter ‘N’s next to one another can easily be read as an ‘M’ at a glance. Or a zero as the letter ‘O’.

Source: PhishLabs

Too good to be true

If you receive an email that seems too good to be true, then it probably is! It is very unlikely that your bank will email you about winning millions of pounds. Be wary of any offers that arrive in your inbox.

While lots of brands do communicate offers and deals via email, keep a look out for any that seem to go above and beyond and always check their websites for corresponding messaging.

Source: Scam Detector

Personal details

Spot a phishing email by identifying what it is asking you to do. If it is asking you to provide personal details (such as address, bank details, national insurance number, etc), it is probably spam.

We recommend you contact the alleged sender via another method (for example a phone call or live chat feature on the legitimate site) to determine if the request is genuine.

All major organisations should have records of emails and requests for information so will be able to advise you on how to proceed.

Check and check again

Always double check emails before sending any information or clicking any links. You may have missed a vital clue in the first read, so give it a second look for good measure.

A handy tip is to check both the display name and the email address. When viewing emails on a mobile device, it is often just the display name that is visible at a first glance, which offers hackers a simple way to hide.

Check the email address before proceeding. People generally know the email addresses and domain names of their bank providers and any other businesses or organisations they use, so it can be easy to spot any fakers!

Source: DPD Local

Click savvy

If you think an email is suspicious, please do not click the link. If you want to check the message out by heading to an official site, do so by opening up an independent, secure browser and visit the site directly – do not click the link in the email.

Another useful tip is when you see a suspicious link, simply move your mouse pointer over the link, BUT DO NOT CLICK IT!

This will show you the true destination. If you click the link, these are often harvesting web sites which seek to secure more of your personal data. When cyber criminals have your data, its highly likely you will become the target of an exponential attack rate since your details will likely be traded with other malicious criminals and the circle continues.

Sometimes one click is all it takes for hackers to gain access, so don’t give them that opportunity! Head directly to the site on your own browser.

When it comes to suspicious attachments, we advise you reach out to whoever is supposedly sending them and verify that they are legitimate and safe. We also offer a FOC quarantine service to our clients to advise in these circumstances.

This can often occur in the workplace, so if a random attachment lands in your inbox that you were not expecting, the best thing to do would be to ask the person directly if it is truly them.

To avoid any issues, we suggest alerting someone if you need to send them an attachment and advise what method you will use to send this.

When you know what to look out for, it can be easy to spot a phishing email. Fraudsters often depend on quick, hurried actions so take your time and examine what is in front of you.

We work closely with security provider KnowBe4, with our clients using this platform to train staff on cyber security issues with increased awareness and accountability. Tools like this are fantastic to help minimise the costs of data loss and identify theft, all while helping employees to be more vigilant and aware of potential cyber threats.

For more information on KnowBe4 and how it can be implemented in your business, get in touch with our team via info@probado.co.uk.

The post Spotting spam: how to identify a phishing email appeared first on IT Support Services in Huddersfield, Yorkshire.

Spot the difference

While they sound similar and are both practices using the same techniques, ethical and unethical hacking should not be confused. An ethical hacker is legitimately hacking your system to find any issues or areas of weakness. Unethical hackers are hacking your system to cause trouble, steal data and/or information or to try and extort funds from your business. The use of ethical hacking can actually prevent unethical hackers from gaining access to your network and devices.

A common misconception with ethical hacking is the legality behind it, many individuals believe that hacking of all types is an illegal practice. However, that is not the case. Ethical hacking is perfectly legal. IT Governance explains that ethical hackers ‘have the same knowledge and tools as a criminal hacker, but their work is conducted in a lawful manner’.

Why do it?

It may sound counterproductive, employing people to hack your business. However, this can be a crucial defence mechanism in protecting your business. Ethical hackers will notify you of any weak spots, unprotected areas, or easy ways that malicious hackers can take advantage of and gain access to your network. This will allow you to patch these holes and add technical armour to any areas of weakness before a product goes to market or a system into use. Ethical hacking does what it says on the tin, it is the practice of hacking systems and devices in an ethical manner. It can also be referred to as penetration testing, trying to penetrate a system to test its defences.

Ethical hacking has been around since the early days of the internet. According to Medium.com, the United States Air Force used ethical hacking procedures to evaluate the security of an operating system which unearthed some vulnerable software and hardware. This then allowed them to fix the problem before the system was put into use.

Covering all bases

When engaging an ethical hacker, it is important that you have a clear brief. Be sure to specify which devices you wish to be tested or if it is the full network. We recommend testing the entire network, your individual devices may be secure but when operating with a company-wide network it is vital that all devices, systems, and applications are safe. Your business is only as strong as your weakest device or system.

If that still sounds too good to be true, check out Packt’s examples of successful ethical hacking missions here.

If you have any questions, please get in touch with a member of our team.

The post A guide to ethical hacking appeared first on IT Support Services in Huddersfield, Yorkshire.

Here are our top ten remote working sign offs you need to try:

1. Quarantined regards

For a time when even your regards are required to stay indoors.

2. Yours from afar

We praise this email sign off for keeping its Government approved distance, reflect your compliance in your email.

3. Cautious cheers

A ‘wary thanks’ or a ‘careful wishes’ would also do the trick!

4. Best (but could be better)

Many can most likely relate to this email sign off in the current situation. Look on the bright side, there’s no commute (or at least a quieter one) and more time can be spent with our pets.

5. Socially Distant

Social distancing takes on the digital world with this reminder that we should all be doing our bit to stay away from others to protect the NHS.

6. Until three weeks

This hopeful sign off can be tweaked depending on the length of lockdown. The current restrictions are set to be reviewed after three weeks so can be updated if necessary. Add a countdown if you’re feeling fancy!

7. Sent from my living room

Or dining room or kitchen table. Wherever your new ‘office’ is let people know.

8. Yours from captivity

While some are enjoying isolation, others are feelings trapped and confined, opt for this comical email sign off if you feel the same.

9. Remote regards

While this sign off may conjure up images of someone huddled shivering over a laptop in the most remote corners of the world, it’s not necessarily that dramatic!

10. See you on the other side

While it may not seem like it right now, we will be able to get back to normal and see our colleagues, friends and family again. This is one for the optimists.

We hope you’ve been inspired by these quarantine-themed email sign offs perfect for remote working. If you’ve come across a sign off that is too good to keep to yourself, let us know over on Twitter.

The post Remote working email signs offs you need to try during quarantine appeared first on IT Support Services in Huddersfield, Yorkshire.

Why not try these witty Autoresponder emails?

We can all agree, the most exciting part of leaving the office before jetting off on our summer holiday is the prospect of switching on our autoresponder email and hitting shut down. Here is a round-up of some of the best out of office emails that positively oozed wit.

Taking it back to the Eighties

Who remembers 1980s pop hit Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley? Well one guy decided to turn his OOO into a song that certainly got people singing along. It went a little like this:

“Never gonna give you up, Never gonna let you down, Never gonna run around and desert you, “Never gonna make you cry, Never gonna say goodbye, Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you.

“I’m also never gonna reply to your message until 9th August as I’m off on holiday.”
Source: BBC

He admits his Rick Astley email rendition still makes him cringe to this day, but this hasn’t stopped him. In search of the perfect amusing auto response to counteract the serious nature of financial services, he is now in fierce competition with a colleague as they try to outwit one another via their out of office messages.

Email Russian Roulette

This person, decided to turn his auto response into a game of email Russian Roulette:
“I am on annual leave until dd/mm/yyyy. I will allow each sender one email and if you send me multiple emails, I will randomly delete your emails until there is only one remaining. Choose wisely. Please note that you have already sent me one email.”
Source: BBC

Thankfully, this auto response was only sent to internal colleagues – otherwise it could have led to some sticky situations with clients!

Simple and to the point

If you simply don’t have the time to insert that level of wit, because its 5.25pm and frankly you are itching to get out of the door, you can of course keep it short and sweet. However, here are a few amusing messages that made us smile:

“I am out of the office from mm/dd to mm/dd and will not be checking email. It’s likely your note will be swallowed in a sea of inbox banality, never to be seen again. If you require a response, please re-send your email after mm/dd.
On vacation. Hoping to win the lottery and never return.”

“I am away from the office right now. Unfortunately, I will be back tomorrow.”

“If you’re reading this, Doc Brown was unable to make lightning strike the clock tower, and I’m stuck in 1985. I won’t be able to respond to emails or voicemail until 9ish on mm/dd, or until email is invented – whatever comes first.”

“I am currently out of the office. I have a cell phone, but I will not be giving the number out. If you can guess the number, however, I will take your call.”

Whether it is to poke fun at the office atmosphere, or a tongue-in-cheek reference with the intention of making your colleagues insanely jealous, there are plenty of hilarious examples of people injecting some fun into their autoresponder emails.

Just remember though that at some point you will be returning to your desk so it’s unwise to use anything too cheeky if your clients will be on the receiving end of your message!

The post Why not try these witty out of office messages? appeared first on IT Support Services in Huddersfield, Yorkshire.

It’s fair to say, digital communication and unified communication has come a long way in the past decade. Virtually all our daily tasks can be done at our fingertips.

In late 2015, mobile web traffic skyrocketed and surpassed desktop for the very first time. Since then, mobile technology has continued to evolve and adapt, rendering us increasingly dependent on our mobile devices, not just within our personal lives, but also in our professional lives.

A study carried out in 2017 by Asurion found that the average person checks their phone once every 12 minutes, this includes checking work emails and communicating with colleagues and clients alike.

Thanks to the introduction of clever applications, online communication has been streamlined and adapted to bring work to our fingertips. This integration is known as unified communications and more and more companies are seeing the undeniable benefits.

Unified communications nowadays are limitless. Voice, email, chat, video and web communications are brought together and accessible from almost anywhere using nothing more than a simple internet connection.

Whether we’re on the train or sitting in the comfort of our own home, we can participate in web conference calls, check emails and access work documents at the touch of a button without having to fire up our computers.

For business, this technological flexibility brings with it several advantages. Firstly, integrating unified communications allows tasks to be streamlined between locations and resources to be utilised to their full potential.

Unified communications mean a reduction in commute time which leads to greater productivity. There is also a significant increase in employee motivation as fewer distractions lead to reduced stress, and in turn lower sickness levels. Flexible working also has a positive impact on finances due to savings on office space and other facilities.

For employees, the main advantage to accessing work outside of the office is the increased work/ life balance. Employees with children can balance work with childcare and other home commitments. Calls, emails and important work documents can be seamlessly transferred to mobile devices and accessed anywhere.

Whilst to many of us, this seamless technology and working from home is a relatively new notion, the idea of unified communications has actually been around since the 1990s. However, as technology wasn’t as advanced as it is today, communications weren’t as streamlined and convenient. Everything had to be done via desktop with a wired internet connection.

Implementing unified communications into company policy doesn’t require much work. Firstly, every main email service provider used in business has an application that can be downloaded from both Apple and Android app stores. Once downloaded, all employees need to do is log in using their work credentials.

Secondly, work documents and filing systems can be accessed using remote cloud applications. The convenience of cloud storage cannot be underestimated, the amount of desktop storage is greatly reduced which is beneficial for the overall health of computer devices and employees can access work files from wherever they are.

It is clear to see that as technology evolves, we gain more and more flexibility in both our home lives and our professional lives – everything we need is at our fingertips, in our pockets and even on our wrists.

The post Unified Communications – how you can communicate wherever and whenever you want appeared first on IT Support Services in Huddersfield, Yorkshire.