This is because according to the most recent Kaspersky Lab report on SPAM & Phishing during Q3 2015, SPAM Emails accounted for 54.2% of all emails flowing through the Internet, and whilst this percentage is relatively stable compared to previous quarters, what is alarming is the growing number of these with far more malicious intent than simply offering you ‘cheap prescription pills’. More and more emails are hitting SPAM Filters (and worse, making it through!) which contain attachments designed to do a multitude of things from downloading keystroke loggers and personal information harvesters, through to applications that will encrypt all of your files and lock you out of your system until you agree to hand over your hard earned cash – a very real and increasingly prolific threat known as ‘Ransomware’, that is capable of incapacitating almost any device, be it Phone, Laptop, or even the once considered ‘safe’ Apple Mac.
Unfortunately, they are also getting quite creative in their attempts to include these malicious files, as everyone knows now not to open executable applications that are attached to emails, so they are now embedding them within Zip and other archive files, making them ‘Macros’ within Word Documents, and even the trusty PDF file can now be a carrier for Phishing and malicious download attacks through the embedded links that can be included in a PDF Document. Because of this, it won’t be long before most businesses start to restrict the sending & receiving of emails with any sort of attachment in order to protect both themselves, and their users from any inadvertent email use.
With all this in mind, we at Altitude are pleased to announce that we have just completed a major upgrade to our Altitude Client Portal with the aim of enhancing the level of security and reliability with which we exchange information. The Altitude Client Portal now has an all new look and feel, along with additional improvements and benefits to help make things as convenient and hassle free as possible when securely reviewing, uploading, or downloading files. The major changes are as follows:
All New Account – Upgrading to the new portal means that you will need to activate a new account. But don’t worry, this is a very simple process and the best part is that you will no longer need to remember a special login just for the Portal – your Account Login is simply your preferred Email Address.
Multiple Entities – For those of you with multiple entities you will now be able to log in to your new Portal Account to see and action documents for all entities, rather than previously needing to use a separate login account for each entity.
Signing Documents – You will now also have the ability to electronically sign and return documents, saving you time, money, and paper! You can do this by simply clicking a ‘Sign’ tab in the Portal and entering a unique pin code that will be emailed to you as a form of two-factor authentication. This pin code allows you to securely and legally, electronically sign documents needing your authorisation, without the need to print/sign/scan/email or post back. (How easy is that!)
So if you already had an account on the previous version of the Client Portal, over the next few days you will receive an email from us with more detailed information on each of these new features, as well as instructions on how to activate and begin using your new account by visiting the ‘Client Login’ page of our website.
If you have not previously had an account for the Altitude Client Portal and think you might like to use this secure storage and electronic delivery method, please contact your Altitude Adviser who will be able to get this organised for you.
