17 Oct 2023

Workplace phishing simulations


Phishing is the name given to fraudulent emails and messages designed to trick people into giving away their passwords and other credentials or to download malware. These types of attacks have been increasingly deployed by criminals over the last few years. The number of phishing attacks are estimated to have risen by 150%, year on year, since 2019. Unions are at particular risk, as they hold the personal data of union members. Union membership is classified as ‘special category’ sensitive data under Data Protection legislation. If, for example, a phishing attack managed to capture the
09 Nov 2022

CRM change projects and trade unions


As unions digitise more and more of their operations, new tech tools are becoming essential across all their functions. However, the systems used to manage membership data are still the most critical that unions rely on. I’ve been working on a new TUC Digital Lab report called Managing CRM change projects in unions . It’s now available to download from digital.tuc.org.uk . This new TUC Digital Lab report looks at Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems from the perspective of the union movement. CRMs are commonly used in the world of business, typically to manage customers or marketing
22 Aug 2022

Attack simulation training


In the world of technology, security threats change over time. Currently, one of the most critical risks revolves around phishing emails. Phishing is where criminals use scams sent via email, SMS or phone calls to try and steal personal information or trick people into installing malicious software. Over the last few years, it’s been on the rise. It’s been estimated that about 90% of all cyber-attacks start with a phishing email. Attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated, with highly targeted attacks (known as ‘Spear Phishing’) that can be personalise more of the email content and design
19 Jan 2022

Virtual Reality in the workplace


Technology continues to change the world of work, something which isn’t expected to slow down anytime soon. Innovations in artificial intelligence, collaboration tools and other technologies will alter not only how we work, but the types of jobs available to us. One technology that has long been predicted to make an impact, but is only really starting to mature, is Virtual Reality (VR). We are now a few generations into the technology, and with VR Headsets like the Oculus Quest becoming very popular, this represents an affordable new work tool that costs less than most laptops. VR is already
14 Dec 2021

The dangers of Shadow IT


Shadow IT is the use of technology, such as cloud-based software, without the approval or oversight from the organisation’s IT department. Some examples of shadow IT include: Storing business data on a private Google account Using a personal account on an online survey platform to collect work-related data Saving sensitive work personal data on an unmonitored personal laptop Using a private Dropbox account to manage a spreadsheet of work contacts With the rise of online services in particular, more and more people have been able to use free or cheap tools to help with their work. These new
03 Nov 2021

8 tips for holding successful hybrid meetings


Throughout the pandemic, many key workers have still been travelling to their places of work. However, a large proportion of the workforce worked from home and have only recently started to venture to work. Many people have taken up hybrid working, for example, going to an office two days a week and working from home on other days. This poses a challenge when holding meetings, as some people will want to join remotely, while others will attend in person. Holding hybrid meetings is a challenge those. Here are some tips that can help. Help ensure all attendees have a consistent experience by
17 Jun 2021

Hybrid meetings


One of the big technology successes during the Covid-19 pandemic is video conferencing. As we found ourselves working from home and isolated away from loved one, people turned to video conferencing for work meetings and social interaction. Video conferencing has been around for a while, but its use has dramatically accelerated. ‘Zoom’ has become a verb and companies like Microsoft and Google have quickly developed and improved their offerings. Now even those with limited technical skills have become comfortable with online meet ups. Changing work patterns As we begin to approach the end of the
22 Apr 2021

Five ways tech in the COVID-19 pandemic has changed work


It’s been over a year since we entered the first lockdown in the UK. During this challenging period, there have been many changes to our lives, including how we work. Tech has played a crucial role in allowing companies and organisations to keep going. However, this has resulted in changes that will have a long-lasting effect. Video Conferencing Many people had never head of Zoom before the start of the pandemic, where now the product has become a verb for the new way of communicating. Workers who had to give up the office for their homes had to adapt quickly to videoconferencing. Now, even
12 Oct 2020

What is Edge Computing?


The next wave of change in technology will involve more data crunching taking place closer to home, with the Internet of Things (IoT), 5G and innovations such as AI and self-driving cars. This move to process data closer to where it’s created or used is called Edge computing, and it’s going to become much more common. Over the last few years, we have seen cloud computing become the norm. A dwindling number of organisations run their email from an internal server, and most of us have become used to storing our data on cloud platforms such as OneDrive or Dropbox. Similarly, organisations are
22 Feb 2020

TUC digital healthcheck


I’ve been working with the TUC on the latest version of their digital healthcheck tool, with our third major release (version 3) seeing a significant revision. It has been several years since the last revamp, and so these latest changes reflect the fast-moving world of technology. For those who have never used this tool before, our digital healthcheck is a simple tool that allows unions to benchmark their digital and technical maturity. It is an interactive Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, providing ‘best match’ choices across a broad range of categories. Alongside the use of technology, it also