WFH is the new norm.   The demand for remote working is on the rise, which has pushed us all head first into a new digital world. With this new means of working, businesses have needed to adapt to keep everything running smoothly, which isn’t always up to scratch when it came to being cyber secure. Not only does this open a new gateway for hackers, but with our guards are down, it has made us far more susceptible to attacks than we maybe once were.   WFH is right where hackers want us to be.   Strength in numbers is a cliché, but it’s true. If you’re in an office and you get an email, how often do you shout over to Dave and say “I’ve just had this email, have you?”. And all of a sudden, you’ve got two heads questioning an email. There’s no longer that second person anymore. You’re now faced with making this decision on your own. Hackers are aware that people are working in a different way, and that means to reach out for help and support has also changed.   Hackers have the element of disguise   Being located in an office or at home, you might think that your data is stored safely, but hackers know a trick or two. We’re constantly sharing information online, whether that’s through a business website, through LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook you name it. A hacker will find a name and simply call head office, ask for John the CEO and discover that he’s on annual leave. That’s three pieces of information to get started with. From there, they could email someone new in the business with “hello, I’m John the CEO. We’ve not spoken before, but I need this from you…” Even in a 50-million-pound business, which one of the 200 employees is going to call the CEO and ask him if he meant what he said? Not many. That’s how easy it really is for a business to become compromised to hackers.   The bigger the better… Not when it comes to surface attack areas though.   Understanding the surface attack area and making that as small as it possibly can, will help reduce the risk of threat. Simply put, in an office you had one device to 100 people, but now they’ve all gone home. So you’ve got 100 people with 2 or 3 devices, plus 86 remote networks, making it a much bigger attack surface.   In addition, there’s also devices in our homes that we might not even consider to be a threat. Your Google home or Alexa are equally as likely to cause a pitfall. What might these devices be eavesdropping into? Some information you discuss at home might be highly sensitive, and you don’t want Amazon to be a part of it. As we’re probably all aware of, there’s been stories about a thousand packets of baby wipes turning up at someone’s front door the next day because Alexa has overheard a conversation… But the same can be said for highly sensitive information. We now need to think about these issues on a larger scale. It’s no longer just Steve and his accidental order of many baby wipes, it’s Steve and everyone else that is connected to the same server that can be impacted. That means all of the devices need to fight off anything that might be brought into the equation.   Gone phishing… be back soon.   Not only are hackers becoming more sophisticated with impersonations, but the old methods that they used previously have been supercharged. There are seasonal emails to watch out for. Take the Christmas period for example; You’ll be bombarded with phishing emails taking the form of a phony M&S or Sainsbury’s newsletter encouraging you to get your turkey in early. And there’s everyone’s favourite, the usual tax returns emails from HMRC, and false pandemic emails coming through. Anything that’s topical, or you’re expecting in the back of your mind, is now likely to take the form of a phishing attack.   Education, education, education.   The question now is “how do we deal with these issues?”. Ultimately, it’s all about awareness and training. You can spend multiple 0’s on security, but your best and first line of defence is your people. If you arm your people with the buzzwords and terminology by breaking it down for them so it’s easy to digest and understand, they can then start to use this in their working practices. If you want to kick start the development of cyber maturity in your employees, we can provide you with user-awareness training. Get in touch today to find out more. . .

Babble’s market-leading contact centre team earns accolade again after another year of growth. 

  Babble, UCaaS, CCaaS, Cyber and Mobile Solutions provider, has been named Five9 EMEA Partner of the Year for the third year in a row   Babble’s success is down to its ability to use Five9 technology to enable its clients to delight their customers, empower their workforce, and increase overall business agility.   Five9, a leading provider of cloud contact centre software globally, started its Partner Awards to recognise the outstanding contributors to its success. Five9 has quadrupled its headcount in Europe during the past two years and Babble has been instrumental in supporting them throughout their European expansion by helping more and more customers realise their customer experience ambitions.   Mark Jordan, Managing Director (Contact) at Babble, said: “We’re delighted to be recognised as Five9’s most valuable EMEA partner for the third straight year. Five9’s technology is at the very cutting edge of innovation in the market, which perfectly fits with our own mission of always improving. CCaaS is the future for businesses with big ambitions – we’re excited to keep on working with the very best businesses and help them deliver exceptional customer experiences that lead to business growth.”   Gemma Ayres, Channel Sales Director for EMEA at Five9 says, “This award shows just how important Babble has been to our success, not just this year, but during the past three. Babble’s enthusiasm to partner and sell Five9 technology is down to their relentless focus and drive. Joint, focused, go-to-market plans brimming with strategic expertise, right down to the finer tactical practicalities, are key to this enduring achievement. Long may our success continue. Here’s a sincere thank you to the dedicated teams on both sides that make this partnership such a triumph!”   Matt Parker, CEO at Babble, commented, “Where I come from, winning something three times in a row means that you get to keep it, has anyone checked this with Five9?”

Cloud comms and cyber solutions firm Babble has completed its biggest digital transformation yet for WebBeds, the B2B division of Australia based Webjet Limited. Taking 22 isolated pieces of technology and amalgamating them into one global solution, the migration was successfully completed within just 24 hours, allowing 1,500 staff to access the new solutions. It has transformed the wholesaler's contact centre and telephony solutions across 22 sites in 16 countries. "With over 350,000 properties across more than 12,000 destinations, it's vital that we have a technology solution that enables our staff around the globe to work harmoniously together. The work carried out by Babble enabled us to completely transform the way in which we work," said Alaa Saleh, Chief Operating Officer at WebBeds. It improves WebBeds' existing telecoms and customer experience, whilst reducing overall operational costs. "It is certainly a first for the industry to complete a project of this scale, in such a short turnaround and without any service disruption," said Mark Jordan, Managing Director for Contact Centre at Babble. Babble works with over 3,000 organisations in a wide range of sectors,  including travel, accommodation and public services.

  Announcement comes as James Golding, this week, sets his sights on breaking the Guinness Seven Day World record for a second time as part of his preparations for The Race Across America (RAAM) in 2022.   Babble has recruited elite endurance cyclist, James Golding, as brand ambassador. The announcement to partner with James – who is seeking to break the Guinness Seven Day World Record for distance cycled in June 2021 and win RAAM in 2022 – comes as Babble works to inspire others to identify their goals and draw on their strengths to achieve them.   The leading cloud technology company will work with James to drive tangible positive social impact. Over the course of the ambassadorship, Babble has committed to raising in excess of £500,000 for charities including The Prince’s Trust and the Buffalo Foundation.   Through a combination of fully integrated internal and external initiatives, James will support Babble’s drive to empower and celebrate others as they push themselves further than they thought possible.   Matthew Parker, CEO at Babble said: “As a business, we firmly believe that drawing on individuals’ strengths, together we can all achieve more. We can all push the finish line as far as we want to, but it is up to us to be transparent about identifying, discussing and accomplishing our ambitions. James is the embodiment of this ethos.   “In the last 12 months, we have enjoyed outstanding results as we’ve sought to attain our own business goal of becoming the biggest, best and most capable cloud technology player in the UK, but we want to be much more than just a technology company. Through this partnership, we hope to encourage others to dream big, and pursue their own versions of success and accomplishment.”   James Golding, Professional Endurance Cyclist, said: “Positive change is contagious, and all positive change starts with a vision. Through my own experience I’ve come to understand that we can all achieve anything we want to – one step at a time. In partnership with Babble, I aim to show this to the next generation.”   Since first being diagnosed with cancer 10 years ago, James has recovered twice, discovered cycling, competed in 21 multi day events and raised over £3 million for charity. He is the only Briton to have held the Guinness Seven Day World record and has used his experience to inspire others to commit to their vision and achieve.   Believing that there is no such thing as failure, James has his sights set on breaking the Guinness Seven Day World record for distance cycled for a second time in June 2021 when he returns to the UK to put his strategy for RAAM to the test, including sleep patterns, pacing and other factors that will contribute to the fine balance between sustaining endurance and offsetting fatigue.   Babble now has bases in London, Burton and Newcastle, supporting over 3,000 organisations in a wide range of sectors – including financial, health and education, travel and accommodation, and public services – by sourcing and deploying the very best cloud solutions to deliver increased efficiency, customer engagement and profitability, whilst protecting customers’ businesses.