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You don’t have to be an online arsonist, hacker, or international cyber-terrorist to hide your online identity. Likewise, concealing your PC’s web address or your Internet Protocol address (IP address), making it unknown to the public, does not necessarily mean you are up to no good online.
We will, therefore, build a case for why it is important at times to conceal your private online location using VPNs (Virtual Private Networks).
A VPN is a connection method used to add security and privacy to your private and public networks. This includes your Wi-fi Hotspots and access to the Internet. They are most often used by corporations to protect sensitive data but now also by people like yourselves for the same purpose.
Click on the image to view a quick video
Let’s get back to the importance of your IP address. It is probably something you rarely think about but is crucial to your online lifestyle even as an individual. How so? You might still ask.
Well, without an IP address, you wouldn’t be able to get the current weather, check the latest news, or view videos (streaming) online for instance.
Your IP is also used to access every online service you partake in including very private things like your internet/mobile banking or online trading activity. Think of it as your physical address and how important it is when getting things delivered by post or using it when you need to make applications for loans, jobs, etc.
“Without a public IP address, online service providers like Netflix, BBC, or Amazon wouldn’t know where to send the information you asked for. They wouldn’t be able to get it to your computer.”
Imagine how naked you must feel if you have nothing to protect this address from the advent of a hack without adequate data encryption. Also the just the haggling by overzealous online marketers, spam, malware, and even ‘419 scammers’!
Now the argument for whether using VPNs is illegal is highly debatable for some of the valid reasons highlighted above. It should, however, be a given right to be able to use it. And even though it is commonly used by cyber-thugs to mask their clandestine and often dark activities, it should not be outlawed altogether.
The legitimacy of VPNs debate, therefore, carries on into a grey area.
We will, however, investigate a few VPN providers that are ‘paid for services’ and even offered by established companies such as AVG (which primarily offers Antivirus protection).
The directive is to help the everyday consumer surf the web without ‘virtual’ salespeople bombarding them with offers based on personal information gathered in an ‘unsolicited’ manner.
Policies like the European-based GDPR law were put in place to protect consumers from the non-consensus use of their data. Even your Internet Service Providers (ISPs) can track your online activities via your IP and sell your browsing habits.
Some forward-thinking people and companies, however, have long been shielding themselves manually using VPNs.
One direct benefit for you as a consumer is the ability to access content (information, products, and services) from different servers. A good VPN service can enable you to obtain access to other geo-locational content despite being on a different continent.
It is perfectly legal provided you are paying for the service. The burden falls on the provider of the service and not you if it came down to a legal “scrap”.
If you perform these tasks frequently, you need a VPN:
A word of caution when navigating websites blocked by governments with a VPN. Unless you are a high-profile journalist working on a case and backed by good legal aid – it’s not a wise thing to do.
Do some research if you are not sure because accessing such sites could land you in some hot water. Rather use a known privacy service like Tor to ensure full anonymity to gain access to restricted sites if you really must.
VPN protocols and available security features are numerous. The most common (best) protocols are:
ExpressVPN – the acclaimed best offshore VPN for privacy and unblocking.
IPVanish – great for P2P and Torrenting.
VyprVPN – the best choice for those looking for security.
NordVPN – security is its middle name.
TunnelBear – dubbed the easiest VPN to use.
Windscribe – a VPN which gives you unlimited connections.
Hotspot Shield – an awesome solution for online browsing.
KeepSolid VPN Unlimited – the jack of all trades of VPNs.
CyberGhost – rich clients and ease of reconfiguring.
ZenMate – user-friendly VPN that caters to the newbies to VPN.
PureVPN – take advantage of easy to use apps and access to many servers.
Picking a VPN service can be a daunting task as there are now literally hundreds of them to choose from. Landing the right one means striking the right balance between what you are offered, the ease of use, and naturally, the price.
Some providers offer free you VPN services while some like AVG charges for their VPN service. Paid VPN providers, however, are preferred to the free service providers as they offer robust gateways, proven security, additional free software, and unmatched speed.
Leadership values are not only confined to the running of a political campaign, party, or country for that matter, however, like in any venture that has an objective and deals with human beings – it forms the backbone of a successful business.
Consequently, what leaders such as CEO of Tesla Elon Musk, for example, say or does, have a positive or, in the recent unfortunate case, a negative impact on the shareholdings of his business.
The share price can decline sharply and worse yet, it can lead to the exit of senior staff members and thus undermining the business, its leadership values, and objectives.
This why it is critical for companies to adopt the right practices and responsible leadership to enable them to address both internal and external issues affecting them.
This is even most relevant when dealing with a company that has a multinational operational facet such as the Murray and Roberts Group – a South African company that operates in a global setting.
This specific multinational company was used in a case study for a research paper because it is firmly entrenched in the construction and engineering industry.
More specifically, they service the global natural resources market sectors of underground mining; Oil & Gas; Power & Energy.
Such a diverse set of operations requires a varied set of objectives spearheaded by a solid leadership path.
We have covered the topic of Emotional Intelligence before. It now surfaces again within a brand-new leadership model known as the ARCHES model.
The name derives from a key characteristic of the physical structure of an arch and its durability.
Coupled with its diversity in models and materials and its depiction as symbols of triumph, it represents an apt analogy of what responsible and effective leadership should be.
The model was especially derived by an academic* for a syndicate group assignment and is based on six key characteristics that should be imparted in a leader.
An effective and responsible leader is one who is attuned to their followers, responsive, possesses the necessary competencies, serves with humility, is ethical and adopts a sustainable approach to leadership.
A leader who possesses all these attributes is one who can rise above adversity and lead their followers in a way that promotes innovation, motivates, develops skills, promotes personal growth, and encourages improved performance.
B.Moyo
The model defines attuned leadership as the act of being self-aware, informed, and aware of the environment in which you exist – servant leadership.
Employees should be encouraged to take responsibility for their actions because responsibility and effectiveness are complimentary. The demise of US energy company Enron, for example, was due to a failure of management to execute communication-based responsibility, internally and externally.
A volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment in which a business operates can result in many potential projects not coming to fruition.
In such an environment, leaders that are attuned, responsive, and possess the right competencies can expert power as their way to influence followers to exhibit the same traits.
Referent power develops out of admiration of another and a desire to be like them. Expert power, on the other hand, is a person’s ability to influence others’ behaviour because of recognized knowledge, skills, or abilities.
This requires the leader to have a tolerable level of humility.
This is defined as a personal quality reflecting the willingness to understand the self (identities, strengths, and limitations). That combined with a purpose in the self’s relationship with others.
Once again, the emphasis on Emotional Intelligence coupled with traditional leadership competencies is needed to steer multifaceted companies.
Even more so when dealing with diverse cultures and work ethics across borders and continents.
Being the largest employer in the locality directly implied that Murray and Roberts had to be consistent with the idiomatic Zulu expression of “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu”. This means: I am because you are, you are because we are.
Good leadership in the Ubuntu philosophy is based on the engagement with communities and defines a well-led organization.
Not paying attention to ethical issues surrounding a community or the environment can have an adverse effect on your values. This would also affect your staff and the image of the company you steer.
A bitter consequence of the failure of ethics was evident in the $4.2m (64.1 million ZAR) fine to the said company. This was for its involvement in sector collusion related to construction projects for the 2010 World Cup.
Finally, a practical leader will also consider any upcoming projects with the lens of understanding the environment that surrounds them to incorporate the concept of sustainability.
These traits might sound like they need to be learned but most should be already ingrained or come naturally to you or your leaders.
If not this is not the case, you need to quickly install the right personnel with such to help steer your business enterprise or economy for that matter, to success.
*This blog post contains excerpts and is derived from a master’s research paper. It was conducted by Bonnie Moyo for the Rhodes University Business School.
Dealing with Cryptocurrency has its interesting dynamics. There are, however, many hidden facets making it still a mystery to the masses. Not knowing about it makes you prone to, get rich-schemes or outright scams.
We are all by now aware of the mania caused by the soaring prices and then, the subsequent decline that followed early this year.
What we don’t pay attention to, however, is just how complex it is to physically “acquire” and store these Cryptocurrencies.
Mining coins can be described very basically as the process where users “or miners” become part of a Cryptocurrency network. This by making hardware (processors & graphics cards) available to support that specific network’s operations.
As a miner, you contribute towards the working of the Blockchain. The technology requires millions of calculations to validate transactions into what are known as public ledgers.
Click here for more about how the Blockchain works.
There are three main ways to mine these coins but we will not be highlighting them in this post. The matter to be covered here, however, is the business aspect: how the Blockchain has created a new line of commercial entities and ‘profit-takers’.
These modern tech “enterprises” offer you a specific or cluster of altcoins and tokens as a reward for helping them maintain their Blockchain.
Sounds like a win-win situation right? Or is it?
If you have actually looked into the methods of mining, you will discover that only those with high-end hardware are able to produce enough energy to power the Blockchain. This is called “hash power” or “hash rate”. This is kind of like horsepower for cars, but for PC processing.
There are sites that illustrate how to calculate potential profits such as one conveniently called ‘what to mine’.
The opportunity cost of operating the customized computer systems (known as Mining Rigs), will have to be offset with the cost of acquiring hardware such as the Antminer S9i. Then there are energy costs associated with running the rigs for long periods of time.
Your profit would, therefore, be the balance of the costs versus the revenue involved in mining coins.
The mining profit = revenue (quantity multiplied by the price of the coin in local fiat currency). Then subtract the cost of the mining devices + annual electricity costs (measured in local currency per KWh).
The problem with going at it alone is that it is very hard to break even. You are also faced with a conundrum: the more powerful your hardware is, the more electricity it consumes.
It also takes a lot longer to acquire the coins which you are awarded by the respective blockchain network after successful hashing is completed.
To make it worth your while you would hope that the coin you mine’s market value exceeds the costs of the monthly/annual electricity bill.
There a now hundreds of these so-called Crypto/Tech companies spurting up by the day. Their modus operandi: to relieve you of the burden of the high electricity and hardware costs. This in exchange a monthly or once-off fee.
In return, they promise to mine coins and provide you with daily or monthly profits. They can do this because they presumably have more powerful mining setups and therefore, larger economies of scale.
Some of these establishments use big rooms, whole buildings or even warehouses to run thousands of mining rigs throughout the year.
The payments you make supposedly help them with maintenance costs and pay for the said electricity bills. They are also usually stationed in countries where the cost of electricity is very low.
You are likely to, however, run the risk of dealing with the occasional Ponzi-scheme – setup. Such companies dive at the opportunity to swindle those not familiar with Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies.
By dazzling you with the price increases and potential astronomical returns, they take your money and make a run for it!
You can also ponder, it is incredibly difficult and expensive to mine Bitcoin these days. If these setups are actually just people who have already made their millions from acquiring Cryptocurrency.
The acquisition naturally, would have been when they were dirt cheap, and are now offering the residue to make more profit off unknowing investors.
How it would work is: let’s say you owned 100 Bitcoins mined in 2010 for the opportunity cost of $100 each (cost of electricity). You then sold half at the height of the Crypto ‘bull-run’ in January 2018 when they were worth $19 000 each. You would have been $945 000 richer.
So, with almost a million bucks in the kitty and another 50 units of coins (which would be now worth a lot less); the natural inclination would be to look at ways to make the extra coins ‘work for you’.
And what better way than to be your own boss and head a Crypto company! You can with your new setup, sell off the residue of Crypto coins in bits for profits in cash.
This is likely what some of these companies offering you coins for an opportunity to get Bitcoins. This under the false pretence of partaking in a ‘mining operation’. Meanwhile, in reality, the actual mining probably took place almost a decade ago!
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