Category: business intelligence

Get Ahead With Tech

Must-Have Software Tools for Small Businesses to Outpace the Competition in 2023

In today’s fast-paced business landscape, staying ahead of the competition is crucial for small businesses. Fortunately, a plethora of powerful software tools can empower you to streamline operations, boost productivity, and unlock growth opportunities. So, let’s dive into the nine software tools that your small business should consider incorporating into its arsenal in 2023.

1. Communication & Collaboration

Google Workspace offers a suite of collaboration tools including Gmail, Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and more. It enables seamless communication, file sharing, and real-time collaboration, allowing your team to work efficiently and stay connected regardless of their location. Efficient collaboration and communication are vital for remote and hybrid work environments. In addition, platforms like Slack, Skype, or Microsoft Teams can further facilitate seamless teamwork and enhance productivity. It is always a good thing to have at least two depending on what your customers or stakeholders use as well.

2. Accounting/Banking

Efficient financial management is essential for your small business. This helps you monitor every expenditure and keep good records for easy tax filings. Utilize accounting and banking software like QuickBooks or Xero to streamline invoicing, expense tracking, and financial reporting. These tools simplify bookkeeping tasks, helping you make informed decisions and ensure financial stability. Bigger companies can use Microsoft Dynamics 365’s financial packages to manage their larger turnovers.

3. Cybersecurity

Don’t think just because you are a small business, you do not need adequate online security. One security breach can do a lot of (financial and reputational) damage and stop you from growing. Remember, bigger companies can afford to repair damaged brands/images. Protecting your business from online threats is, therefore, paramount. Acunetix by Invicti, a web protection software, offers robust security features, including vulnerability scanning and web application testing. Safeguard your business’s digital assets and customer data to gain trust among your clients.

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4. Artificial Intelligence(AI)

Enhance customer support and streamline communication with ChatGPT. This well-spoken-about AI-powered platform provides multiple language-based automated solutions like a chatbot that provides instant responses to common queries. This frees up your team’s time and delivers quick solutions to your customers’ questions. They even offer personalized assistance 24/7, ensuring customer satisfaction. Setting Chatbots up properly with the right prompts can help you automate almost anything else that requires not much ‘human interaction’.

5. Project/Task Management

They say failure to plan is planning to fail. To keep projects on track and teams aligned, project management software like Asana, Notion, or Trello is therefore indispensable. These tools help you organize tasks, assign responsibilities, track progress, and collaborate effectively, ensuring timely project completion. Depending on the level of technicality of the team you can even use more agile tools. Tools such as ClickUp, Miro, or Jira, are more suited for software development teams.

6. Customer-Oriented

Without them, your business ceases to exist so you need the best tools to engage with your customers, suppliers, and partners at all times. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, such as Pipedrive, Zoho, Freshworks or HubSpot, enable you to nurture leads, track customer interactions, and manage sales pipelines. With CRM tools, you can enhance customer engagement, improve conversion rates, and foster long-term customer relationships.

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7. Social Media Management

Most of your existing and potential customers spend a significant amount of hours online – sometimes just browsing aimlessly through TikTok or watching cat videos on Youtube. Twitter has recently even started ‘rationalizing’ the amount of engagement people can have on its platform in a bid to allow its servers to ‘cool off’ and prevent AI bots from running amok. A strong online presence is, therefore, crucial in today’s digital landscape. Utilize social media management tools like Hootsuite or Buffer to schedule posts, monitor mentions, and analyze engagement. These tools simplify social media marketing, enabling you to reach a wider audience and drive your brand awareness.

8. Email Marketing

Despite the power of the above-mentioned social media ‘movement’, Email marketing still remains a powerful tool for nurturing your leads and driving conversions. Tools like Mailchimp or Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) provide user-friendly interfaces, automated campaigns, and in-depth analytics, helping you create targeted email campaigns and measure their effectiveness. Naturally you have to do a little work to find the right prospect, or else all these will end up in a spam folder never to be seen.

9. Data Analytics

Thanks to two of the world’s software giants, you can now easily harness the power of data with analytics tools like Google Analytics or Microsoft Power BI. These tools will help you to gain insights into customer behavior, and website performance, and create better-targeted marketing campaigns. Data-driven decision-making will enable you to optimize strategies, identify growth opportunities, and therefore gain a competitive edge. You can even further feed the data into AI tools (like ChatGPT) to further analyze and decipher the data in simpler ways to quickly understand. Naturally, you should only input ‘non-private’ or generic data for the “open-source” program to crunch.

As a small business owner, leveraging the right software tools can be a game-changer in for you 2023. From streamlining operations to enhancing customer experiences, these top software tools will most certainly empower you to stay ahead of the competition. Embrace the digital revolution and equip your business with the tools necessary to drive efficiency, productivity, and growth.

For more about some of the tools mentioned – get in touch for a free consultation!

3 July 2023
Unleashing the Power of AI
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has transformed from a buzzword to a practical reality, revolutionizing numerous industries across the globe. With its ability to process vast amounts of data, learn from patterns, and make intelligent decisions, AI has become an invaluable tool for businesses seeking innovation, efficiency, and competitive advantage.

In this brief, we will explore real-life use cases of AI, differentiate it from machine learning, AGI, and NLP, discuss potential job transformations, and shed light on the limitations and dangers that come with its implementation.

The key to artificial intelligence has always been the representation
Jeff Hawkins

Defining AI, Machine Learning, AGI, and NLP:

Before diving into the applications, it’s crucial to clarify the distinctions between AI, machine learning (ML), artificial general intelligence (AGI), and NLP. AI refers to the broader concept of machines imitating human intelligence, enabling them to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as problem-solving, decision-making, and natural language understanding.

On the other hand, ML is a subset of AI that focuses on algorithms and statistical models that allow systems to learn from data without being explicitly programmed.

AGI, often considered the next step beyond AI, represents machines with the ability to understand, learn, and apply knowledge across multiple domains, akin to human-like intelligence.

There is, also a less-mentioned subfield of artificial intelligence that focuses on the interaction between computers and human language. This ‘system’ encompasses the ability of machines to understand, interpret, and generate natural language in a way that is meaningful and useful.

Known as Natural Language Processing (NLP), it combines techniques from linguistics, computer science, and machine learning to enable computers to process, analyze, and respond to human language.

Some applications of NLP:
- Virtual Assistants: Virtual assistants like Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, and Google Assistant utilize NLP to understand voice commands and respond appropriately. They can perform tasks like setting reminders, playing music, providing weather updates, and answering questions.
- Sentiment Analysis: NLP techniques are used to analyze and determine the sentiment expressed in text, such as social media posts, customer reviews, or survey responses. This information is valuable for businesses to understand public opinion, customer satisfaction, track trends, and brand perception.
- Language Translation: NLP is widely used in machine translation systems like Google Translate. These systems employ sophisticated algorithms to process input text in one language and generate the corresponding translation in another language.
- Chatbots: NLP is essential in creating intelligent chatbots that can understand and respond to user queries. Chatbots are employed in various applications, including customer support, information retrieval, and virtual assistance.
- Information Extraction: NLP techniques enable the extraction of structured information from unstructured text. This is particularly useful in fields such as data mining, knowledge management, and content analysis.
- Spam Filtering: NLP plays a vital role in email spam filters by analyzing the content and language patterns to identify and block unwanted or malicious emails.
- Voice Recognition: NLP powers voice recognition technology, allowing systems to convert spoken words into written text. This technology is used in applications like transcription services, voice assistants, and voice-controlled devices.
- Medical Text Analysis: NLP is utilized in healthcare to analyze medical literature, patient records, and clinical notes. It helps in extracting valuable insights, automating administrative tasks, and supporting medical decision-making.
- News Summarization: NLP algorithms can summarize large volumes of news articles or documents, providing users with concise and informative summaries.
These are just a few examples of how NLP is applied in various domains. Its versatility and potential continue to grow as researchers and developers explore new ways to leverage human language for improved communication and understanding between humans and machines.

Some Real-World AI Applications in Industry

Courtesy of Pixabay

Healthcare: AI is revolutionizing healthcare by enhancing diagnostics, personalized medicine, and patient care. Companies like Zebra Medical Vision utilize AI algorithms to analyze medical images, improving the early detection of diseases like cancer. AI-powered virtual assistants also assist doctors in accessing patient information quickly, reducing administrative burdens.

AI-Generated Factory. Courtesy of Pixabay

Manufacturing: Smart factories are embracing AI to optimize production processes, quality control, and predictive maintenance. Companies like Siemens leverage AI algorithms to predict machine failures and prevent downtime, ensuring efficient and uninterrupted operations. AI-driven robots and cobots are streamlining repetitive tasks, improving productivity and employee safety.

Courtesy of Pixabay

Finance: AI is transforming the finance sector by automating manual tasks, detecting fraud, and improving investment decisions. For instance, PayPal utilizes AI to detect suspicious transactions and prevent fraud in real-time. Robo-advisors powered by AI algorithms analyze vast amounts of financial data to offer personalized investment recommendations to individuals.

Courtesy of Pixabay

Transportation: The transportation industry is harnessing AI to enhance safety, efficiency, and sustainability. Self-driving vehicles leverage AI to perceive their surroundings and make real-time decisions, reducing accidents and traffic congestion. Ride-sharing platforms like Uber employ AI algorithms to optimize route planning, reduce waiting times, and enhance the overall customer experience.

Courtesy – Apple Inc

Design/Entertainment: Overall, AI has significantly impacted the design and entertainment industries by providing new tools, enhancing creativity, improving user experiences, and streamlining various processes. The experiences can thus be enhanced and simplified in Generative Design, UX Design, Data Visualization, Game Development & Virtual Reality (VR), and Augmented Reality (AR) – the Metaverse particularly comes to mind here. Apple’s new ‘Vision Pro’ augmented reality headset is ‘the most advanced’ device to date.

Job Transformations

While AI promises immense benefits, there are concerns about job displacement. Routine, repetitive tasks are likely to be automated, leading to changes in the job market. However, AI also creates new opportunities by augmenting human capabilities. Instead of replacing jobs, AI has the potential to transform them, enabling us to focus on complex problem-solving, creativity, and empathy-driven tasks.

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Limitations and Dangers

As with any technology, AI has its limitations and potential risks. AI systems heavily rely on data quality, and biased or incomplete datasets can lead to inaccurate outcomes or reinforce societal biases. Ensuring ethical AI practices and addressing algorithmic bias is crucial. Moreover, AI lacks human-like common sense and reasoning abilities, making it prone to errors in unfamiliar situations. The ethical implications of AI, such as privacy concerns and potential misuse of personal data, also require careful consideration.

Afterthoughts

The practical and realistic use of AI has already begun reshaping various industries, unlocking new possibilities, and transforming how businesses operate. By embracing AI, organizations can streamline processes, improve decision-making, and unlock insights from massive amounts of data. However, it is essential to navigate the limitations, address ethical concerns, and ensure a human-centric approach to AI implementation.
8 June 2023
That’s so Meta, Dude!

The adage that whatever you see in science fiction, you will witness in reality, seems to ring true more than ever in the 21^st century. In fact, Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg is probably one of the biggest believers having bought the virtual reality company, Oculus as far back as 2014.

Now, he and people from all walks of life are embracing the creation and adoption of a “Metaverse”.

But is this a buzz term or a new reality, and are the ultra-rich throwing money at it because they are trying to entertain themselves? Or is it because they actually want to ‘augment’ hundreds of millions of peoples’ senses of reality with beneficial technology?

Like many things in life, the truth isn’t black or white in this regard. While multi-dollar billionaires including Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have looked to build cities in space that we can escape to when the world becomes overpopulated or uninhabitable, others are developing the ‘Metaverse’ as a complementary set of enhancements and parallel spaces for our lives on earth.

What is The Metaverse?

Is the Metaverse more than just ‘sales speak’ for a bunch of sales-speak-for-tech companies? It has been bandied about throughout 2021 but Zuckerberg has been even more brazen, having announced at the end of October that Facebook would be rebranded as Meta. Rather cheeky!

But what is this swanky new world we may soon be living, and maybe thriving in? I’ve been called Mr. Anderson for over 20 years, so it feels like a fitting time, with the release of the fourth Matrix movie, to ask: “What is the Metaverse(Matrix)?”

The Metaverse is a hypothesised iteration of the Internet, that supports persistent online 3-D virtual environments via conventional personal computing, as well as virtual & augmented reality headsets.
Wikipedia

It’s still being given a concrete definition but essentially it is an advanced version of the Internet wherein we can become immersed. You don’t just look at the Internet; you are ‘digitally immersed’ in it. Instead of just looking at a 3D object on your PC using a mouse to scroll up and down to see it from different angles, in the Metaverse your brain will convince you that you are in the same world as that object.

Metaverses, in some limited form, were already present on platforms like VR-Chat or video games like Second Life. These suggest that we have been moving toward living in a Metaverse for years. But why should we care so much now about the Metaverse then?

Why The Metaverse Matters

The Metaverse has the potential to bring fulfilment, economic opportunity and equity to people. But, for this to happen, we would probably need a situation where a handful of companies – here’s looking at you Zuckerberg – are prevented from dominating it. The virtual world could overcome the shortcomings of the physical one which humanity has lived on for millennia. Digital environments could become actual places where people don’t only live; but also thrive.

It is for these reasons that we believe Metaverses will be pervasive across our lives from a young age until our retirement.

Images courtesy of the respective companies

For example, the gaming platform, Roblox might be unknown to well, adults, but this 13-year-old platform is booming. Children and teenagers use this platform to play existing games together but also to create new games. It also sports a marketplace where users can sell those experiences and other products like online outfits and personalized avatars. Another incredibly popular online multiplayer game Fortnite is well poised to switch its huge user-base into ‘Metaversians’. Two upcoming multi-billion dollar gaming platforms built on Blockchain technologies are Decentraland and The Sandbox.

The former made the news recently when a tech company bought a patch of virtual real estate in the Decentraland metaverse for 618,000 MANA (its native currency) – valued at $3.2 million.

Virtual ‘land’ and other items (digital assets) in Decentraland are sold in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which are a class of crypto assets. All of these are authenticated using a Smart Contract component of the blockchain.

Play-to-earn is another incentive to getting onto the Metaverse. You will now be able to earn virtual tokens (with monetary value) while emersed in your favourite game. This no-brainer strategy has seen an explosion of Blockchain play-to-earn games in the last quarter of 2021.

Other Use Cases

Back in the “real working world” virtual productivity platforms are also growing as companies’ employees use MS Teams, Zoom and other platforms to be able to communicate easily and at any time.

You will be able to now have online offices and attend online conferences in virtual conference centres while represented by avatars. No more suiting up or wasting time on perfect makeup! So, while one can’t stop people from spending time in a cyber world, we can, however, enhance their experiences using cutting-edge technology.

The opportunities for business and revenue generation will not be limited. Simulations for building and engineering projects will make presentations almost real – without having to travel to the actual sites. Online gambling/shopping companies will also look to capitalise by offering virtual casinos and stores in the Metaverse.

Marketing Spin-offs

There are even talks that companies may sell apparel and clothing and are designing virtual versions thereof. Virtual shoes could become status symbols which is rather bizarre but perhaps fun for the nouveau riche. Joke if you want but brands like Gucci, Adidas, and Nike are prepping (with partnerships) to board the Metaverse for obvious marketing opportunities.

People are rapidly immersing themselves in virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) worlds. Headsets are becoming more affordable and an assortment of AR/VR programmes are being written daily. These include entertainment programmes for PlayStation 5 as well as for pornography apps (another billion-dollar industry).

Soon the Metaverse will become a tool that improves our lives and will go beyond being just an entertainment novelty.

It doesn’t stop here. There is a little-known Metaverse company currently worth $2bn, that has made some major breakthroughs using Blockchain tech. They have actually created a device to scan entire people and objects to immerse them into the digital world.

The ambitious project, MetaHero will be paying people a decent amount to have their avatars made and used in games from January 2022. Sounds absurd but perhaps you need to take a look yourselves.

Final Word of Caution

Bear in mind that the Metaverse may exacerbate problems faced by humans because of the Internet. We need a better grasp of managing data rights, data security, misinformation, the radicalisation of morally wrong ideas such as racism and vaccine hesitancy as well as platform power.

Somebody needs to rein the likes of Facebook, um I mean Meta, in. We should not just allow the Metaverses to distract millions of us with a ‘wonderful’ cyber world.

30 November 2021
Digital vulnerabilities

Global security breaches are on the rise and no one or country is safe. The acceleration of certain technologies has been rapid since the pandemic engulfed the world last year. But unfortunately, we’ve also become slack in the process.

Once again, it has become apparent just how ‘at-risk’ our data is.

Data hacks have been frantic and are now getting major press attention. It’s hard to know who each unwanted visitor is in each case but fingers are being pointed in perhaps familiar directions.

Russian invaders back at it again

In fact, throughout June, Russians have been blamed for a slew of hacks around the world.

Microsoft in late May said a wave of Russian cyber-attacks had targeted government agencies and human rights groups in 24 countries, mostly in the US.

It claimed that around 3000 email accounts of more than 150 different organizations, some of them international, were attacked in just one week.

Allegedly, the group responsible was the same one that carried out 2020’s SolarWinds attacks, which the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) was accused of orchestrating.

But the Kremlin denied having any knowledge or anything to do with any cyber-attacks. It challenged Microsoft to how these attacks were linked to the European attacks.

Nevertheless, authorities are now aggressively investigating cybercrime. In the first week of June, the US Justice Department recovered around $2.3m in cryptocurrency ransom money.

This was part of the funds paid by the Colonial Pipeline Company to Russian hackers in the most disruptive cyberattack on record in the country.

The US deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco said investigators had seized 63.7 Bitcoins which was paid by the company after its systems were hacked, leading to massive shortages of petrol along the US’s East Coast. The department said it founded and recaptured the majority of the ransom.

The hackers are believed to be a group called DarkSide, whose menace caused a multi-day shutdown in certain petrol stations and a spike in gas prices.

The attack made international news and prompted the US’s White House to encourage business executives to improve security measures to avoid future cyberattacks whatever their nature, ransomware or otherwise.

The FBI said DarkSide had also disrupted operations at a meatpacking company. As no one tends to be spared in the spillover effects, it is always a good idea to protect your company’s digital assets as a preventative measure.

Not so sophisticated

The attackers rather proved to be quite ‘amatuerish’ because they sent the Bitcoins to an online platform to convert it to fiat money – and that is how they got nabbed. Server-hosted (Online) crypto exchanges are obliged to keep customer data for compliance and anti-money laundering practices. So while your Crypto digital wallet does not reveal your identity, pairing it with an exchange will link it to all the other particulars you needed to provide to use the exchange.

As long as you need cash to pay for things you will always need to switch your crypto in some way or another – unless your recipient agreed to take payment in Crypto as well. Keeping your digital assets on a hard-wallet or on your hard-drive keeps them “off-the-grid”. But also means you can’t actually spend them.

Although the initial cyberattack was a smart manuever, the attackers proved to be rookies at the robbing game in the end.

On a positive note: the ability to retrieve Bitcoins actually reinforces the need for a Blockchain-based financial system. This made it easier for the authorities to track movements of the ‘ransom-paid’ Bitcoins.

Cuban for a bruising

But politicians aren’t the only people who are urging businesses, civil society organizations, and other groups to improve security systems and be cognisant of an often-dark future.

US Dollar billionaire Mark Cuban has also called for stricter cryptocurrency regulations.

The owner of the Dallas Mavericks who has been investing in trading Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum said the world was in dire need of regulation for the burgeoning decentralized finance (DeFi) space.

—READ MORE ABOUT DEFI HERE —

Cuban said in an interview with Bloomberg that there “should be regulation to define what a Stablecoin is” in order for DeFi to be reliable and to prevent total collapses in investments.

This comes after he saw his investments in a particular Stablecoin ‘went to zero’. Cuban claimed he had been scammed.

Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency that is pegged to an underlying asset, or currency – usually the US dollar. They are the earliest forms of DeFi and the largest Stablecoin, Tether, is currently worth more than $62bn.

DeFi has helped the price of Ethereum, the blockchain on which most DeFi projects are built, to also soar. But they can be highly risky investments.

Investors try to create arbitrage opportunities and liquidity between coins but such a scheme collapsed for Cuban.

“There should be regulation to define what a stable coin is and what collateralization is acceptable,” he said.

Buy, Stake, and Trade Cryptos

Strong words of caution

Cuban hasn’t revealed how much money he lost but told a fellow DeFi investor via Twitter that regulation must be implemented- and quickly.

It had been suggested that Cuban was “rugged” which refers to when a project’s liquidity dries up and investors cannot withdraw their cash.

Mark Cuban is alleged to have 60% of his crypto holdings in Bitcoin, 30% in Ethereum, and 10% held in other coins. He likes to experiment with new financial tech investments.

He added further in a recent blog post that banks should be scared of unregulated DeFi technology.

All crypto-based investments remain highly risky as the technology around them develops. But there certainly needs to be global laws to prevent people from losing hefty amounts of their wealth/investment. Cryptocurrency is without a doubt a very lucrative investment vehicle that could make you an overnight millionaire. But that also makes it a perfect vehicle for scammers to clone projects to make away with your hard-earned cash.

You must, therefore, be extra vigilant and scrutinize offers for instant riches. But more so, you would be quite negligent these days to navigate the Internet without any form of cyber-protection.

5 July 2021
2020: Year of the PC

People will always find an opportunity in a crisis. This year has been one of the strangest years we will ever experience. Because of the global pandemic, we have been ‘shut-in’ physically and mentally. Hiding in our homes in an effort to save the lives of the elderly and sickly.

Technologies that enable people to communicate with each other from different locations and work remotely have had an excellent year because of this.

Who needs phones & email?

The pandemic may have stopped us from having face-to-face meetings because of self-isolation and social distancing. So just like that, we all needed to have online meetings and digital collaborative meetups.

In 2020, we just stopped phoning people. We needed to see what other humans looked like. So, we engaged more in video calling, using whatever technology available that supports that functionality.

The online video-conferencing tool Zoom, therefore, went from being a company you’d probably never heard of, to global ‘overnight’ success. It was founded in 2011 by Eric Yuan, a former Cisco engineer, and executive, who then launched it in 2013 as software for companies. It was valued at $1bn in 2017 because it enjoyed very strong revenue growth and was easy to use, and became profitable in 2019, and listed on the Nasdaq.

“You’re on Mute! “
Quote of 2020

Come early 2020, Zoom entered a boom period as most of us used it while in quarantine. Its share price, therefore, grew more than 490% from $68.72 to around $406.

MS Teams, Microsoft’s answer to Zoom. is believed by many to be more reliable and secure than Zoom – which suffered a major breach earlier in the year. Google’s Meet also features on the list of top video calling/conferencing apps.

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We won’t delve into comparison here. The pros and cons are highly dependant on what you use it for and your business size/budget. The usage stats below speak volumes though albeit just for the two major economies.

Other tools

When we weren’t working, we were using social communication applications such as House Party which, apart from allowing you to stream music and play virtual DJ, enabled you to play games with one another.

They were mostly silly general knowledge games but hangman made a welcome comeback to society thanks to this app.

Discord, an American Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) that uses instant messaging and runs a digital distribution platform also gained new users. It no longer just relies on gamers and people in creative computer development roles to drive its usage.

The Home Office

We started (forcibly) working from home and those who believe it made them more efficient and productive are considering carrying on with it in 2021.
The working from home concept, therefore, changed from being something associated with putting in half the effort and lazy lie-ins.

Companies at least in the developed world, have to offer the option of working from home. Like any viral pandemic, Coronavirus will still be around in 2021 as the vaccine could take a while to ‘take effect’. Working from home isn’t disappearing any time soon!

To operate a home office though, you need to have an advanced enough computer system, the right anti-virus software, and other methods of securing your work. Companies became concerned that people were using their personal computers to log onto work servers and bringing problems along with that. It’s not just good enough to get a laptop to have a ‘home office’.

We have also had to set up reliable phone systems for business. Landlines are becoming old-fashioned plus virtual phone systems that are simple to set up and use are becoming popular.

Smart speakers are also becoming popular. You can use them to play music via Spotify or the radio but can also be used to create the right audio ambience for your meetings and remind you about important events, tasks, and meetings.

It’s all about getting tech products and virtual assistants to make working easier. People also invested in better desks and other office accessories such as computer or mobile-phone-operated coffee machines. Yes, those do exist! Expect the internet of things (IoT) to play a bigger role in your life next year and beyond.

Cybercrime on fleek

Naturally, because we are all forced online, this is no better time for cyber-thugs. They have upped the ante with cleverer ways to dupe you out of your already diminishing funds. Here some of the highlights of 2020 when it comes to crime on the web according to cybersecurity provider ID Agent:

–A cyberattack is attempted every 39 seconds.
-700 million people in 21 countries experienced some form of cybercrime.
–The damage related to cybercrime is projected to hit $6 trillion annually by 2021.
-Ransomware attacks rose 148% in March 2020.
-Cloud-based attacks rose 630% between January and April 2020.
-Two in five SMBs have been the victim of a ransomware attack.
-More than 80% of reported cyberattacks are phishing.
-Phishing attempts have increased by more than 660% since March 1, 2020.
-Organized crime gangs account for 55% of attacks.

The rise of AMD

Chipmaker AMD has had a stellar year as it has brought out some of the most advanced (yet affordable) computer chips ever built and has managed to outshine rival behemoth, Intel.

Its share price on the Nasdaq bounced from $49.10 to about $95.92. The company has been a runaway success story, especially over the past five years. At the end of December 2015, AMD stock was a paltry $2.87, that’s 3242% growth in half a decade!

Another contributing factor for the company’s success is that AMD’s Ryzen line of processors has been a huge hit since its release. They are used in some of the best mining CPUs money can buy.

Mining is the process of acquiring Bitcoins and other Cryptocurrencies using special software together with your PC’s hashing power.

Crypto makes a comeback!

Cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ethereum experienced returns of more than 216% and 390% year-to-date respectively.
The argument is that institutional investors including some of the world’s largest finance houses and banks are now backing the world’s most popular digital currency.

This is despite the fact that most ‘9-5 people’ are not using Bitcoin to buy much on a daily basis – but this trend is changing.
It is still purported to be a means for criminals and drug dealers to help avoid banking authorities from checking their transactions. Or maybe that is just an underground rumour (or FUD) created by the fearful banking system.

But seriously, a few things are speculated to be behind the Crypto surge.
The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates, loaned more than $1.5 trillion to banks and financial institutions. It also increased its purchases of US treasury securities to stabilize the economy when the pandemic struck.
This response was very strong and helped to weaken the effects of a national lockdown on the largest economy in the world.

These actions created a favourable ‘macro environment’ in which to invest in an asset that is perceived as very risky given its lack of use and lack of clarity around what it can be used for. The high returns compared to Gold, interest-bearing and other traditional assets have certainly got the major asset managers excited.

The second trend that propelled cryptocurrencies was the above-mentioned expansion of digital life. This may have lead to more investors feeling comfortable using a digital wallet. From payment systems, storage, finance, to gaming, gambling and sports: There is now literally a crypto-based coin for anything under the sun! This digital transformation has even prompted global Central Banks to seriously consider a move away from paper money.

The Future

Our lives are progressively going digital. Many older people who had never used a computer to shop online before, did so for the first time in 2020. They also using messaging apps for the first time as well as streaming entertainment services such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Disney Plus.

To sum up, the year 2020 has been an abomination of a year. Who knows what 2021 will bring? Maybe (tech-driven) Tesla stock will keep on rallying after successfully listing on the S&P500. But maybe also because owner, Elon Musk kind of took an interest to Bitcoin. This year has indefinitely made us aware of two things: proper sanitization and the practical use of computers.

28 December 2020
Technology contained

Over the past decade container technology has become a popular method for packaging applications in an effective way. Some developers believe is better than that offered by virtual machines and other technologies.

Container technology has been embraced by the big cloud computing providers including Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Google’s Cloud platform.

Examples of the actual container software include the Apache Mesos, Docker, rkt (pronounced rocket), and Kubernetes.

But what is container technology?

Logically, it gets its name from shipping. Shipping containers standardize how goods are moved around. Goods get placed in steel shipping containers which can be picked up by cranes and fit into ships. They tend to have standard sizes.

By standardizing the process and keeping the items together, your container can be moved as a unit and it costs less to do it this way.

In computer terms, container technology is referred to as just a container: a method to package your applications so they can be run, with their dependencies, isolated from other processes.

Container technology decreases the potential for problems when developers move programs from server to server before the program is in a state where it is saleable.

When you use container technology to create an application, you can code everything using just one operating system and database. This makes the application quite easy to replicate as resources including memory and the central processing unit (CPU) are shared. This also makes your technology great for scaling and for working within the cloud.

Out with the old…

If you don’t use container technology, you can have a situation where a program runs well on one machine but has problems on your server. This common problem occurs when you move a program from a data server to a cloud server.

Many issues can happen because of variations in machine environments. These include differences between your operating system, secure sockets layer libraries, storage, and network topology.

So, computer container technology picks up all of your software and related parts which include dependencies, being libraries, binaries, and configuration files. They all get migrated as a unit, avoiding the differences between machines including operating system differences. This will also include underlying hardware that leads to incompatibilities and crashes.

And, importantly, containers also facilitate the deployment of your software to your server. Advocates of using container technology say it is a much better tech to use than that which preceded it – virtual machines.

In this case, one physical server would be used for multiple applications through visualization technology. Each virtual machine contains the entire operating system, as well as the application to run.

The physical server then runs several virtual machines, each with its own operating system, with a single hypervisor emulation layer on top. By running several operating systems simultaneously, you incur a lot of overheads on your server as resources get used.

…and in with the new

Container technology allows your server to run a single operating system because each container can share that system.

The parts of your operating system that are shared are read-only to not interfere with the other containers. Therefore, compared with virtual machines, containers require fewer resources of the server, and are much more efficient.

You can pack many more containers onto a single server. Each virtual machine may require you to have gigabytes of storage. But each container running a similar program may only need megabytes.

How do the containers operate?

Containers are set up in an architecture known as a container cluster. Then, in a container cluster, there is a single cluster master, with the other related containers set as nodes, that are your multiple worker machines. The cluster master schedules the workloads for your nodes, and also to manage their lifecycle, and their upgrades.

Containers allow programs to be broken down into smaller pieces, which are known as microservices.

A major advantage of having a program as component microservices is that different teams can work on each of the containers separately as long as the interactions between the different containers are maintained. This facilitates faster software development.

Containers are also flexible and can be orchestrated. Since the operating system would be already running your server, a container can be started and stopped in just a few seconds.

Some containers within architecture can be turned on during peak demand, and turned down when not needed.
The software can control this type of orchestration, and distribute the tasks among the container cluster.

The way forward with the tech

But is container technology overrated? Some people are concerned about the security around it.

Because multiple containers share the same operating system, there are growing concerns that container technology is less secure than virtual machines. If there is a security flaw in your host kernel it will affect your multiple containers.

Other software is being used to have more secure container technology. The use of isolated containers is, therefore, being constantly improved.

8 July 2020
The Future Office Worker

Aside from essential services personnel, millions of people are now working from home. The Covid-19 pandemic has prompted the growth of products to help the home office worker of today and tomorrow.

Debunqed breaks down which cloud solutions to pay attention to and which to avoid while you adjust to a changing world of commerce.

During the pandemic, one video conferencing service has exploded in popularity after years of trying on the wayside. This is the service operated by the NASDAQ-listed American group, Zoom.

Zoom has become a service of choice especially for companies and staff which may have not used online conferencing before. This popularity has made the service a target and there are concerns around security and privacy issues.

Before Zoom’s burst in interest, the most popular applications include Google’s Gsuite which offers online conferencing solution Meet, Microsoft 365 which includes competing conferencing solution Teams, and Slack.

Slack which was formed in 2013 also offers chat services that multiple people can use at once in private groups and persistent chat rooms or channels, which are organized by topic as well as direct messaging.

Zoom being hacked during quarantine might have made news headlines but it’s not the first time that technology services like these have been infiltrated by the wrong people.

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Slack was hacked back in 2015. The data included email addresses, usernames, hashed passwords, and in some cases, phone numbers, and Skype IDs users had associated with their accounts. As a result, Slack added two-factor authentication to protect data in the future.

Gsuite is the ‘OG’ of cloud-based business

How does Gsuite work? G Suite which was founded in 2006 and was formerly known as Google Apps for Work is a suite of web applications created by Google for businesses. It’s still a decent offering 14 years later. A basic G Suite account gives you access to Gmail and 30GB of Google Drive storage per user.

There are obviously Enterprise-level packages with beefed up security to match that offered by highly secured ‘on-premise‘ setups.

The suite’s Meet service is a video conferencing app. It is the business-oriented version of Google’s Hangouts platform and is suitable for businesses of all sizes. The solution enables users to make video calls with up to 30 users per high-definition video meeting.

Compared to other software, and due to familiarity and affiliation to Android Smartphones, G Suite is quick and easy to set up and use from the time you subscribe to it. It literally takes up to 15mins to start receiving emails and make video-calls!

Still in the game

Microsoft offers 365 which includes Teams. Teams is quickly becoming Zoom’s big competition. Several companies are using Teams for internal meetings and Zoom for external meetings. Microsoft gains its competitive edge from is strong data protection, GDPR, and comprehensive security measures. But others are slowly and sometimes painfully also having to jack theirs up.

The crucial factor to Teams is that it is part of the Office 365 ecosystem. In this way, it can collaborate with different services offered by Office 365. Users gain access to several functions separated into four categories:

Firstly, they have access to the main Teams application which lets them find and create channels to hold “on-the-spot meetings, have conversations and share files”. Secondly, they have access to a function called Meetings. You can plan, schedule, and track meetings. This calendar syncs with Outlook, as an example of the deep Office 365 integration.

Thirdly users have access to calls which includes VoIP calling as well as fourth, they have access to the Activity application. This application lets one access @mentions, unread messages, and replies.

Other secure apps

Then we have Signal, a very new addition to the saturated video calling and voice messaging application world. The non-profit organization, the Signal Foundation launched a stable version of Signal last month.

Signal is a cross-platform encrypted messaging service. It’s an impressive entrant and it’s opensource too.

It uses the Internet to send one-to-one and group messages. These may include text and audio files, voice notes, images and videos.

It is also available through a mobile application that can also make one-to-one voice and video calls. We expect the Android version to become well-loved soon. It can operate as a replacement for the SMS app.

Signal’s emphasis on messages being protected and voice and video calls being stable because of the push by hackers to infiltrate the plethora of online messaging and video applications coming online over the past few months since Covid-19 broke out.

This will become more and more important in 2020 and beyond as working from home becomes more common.

The German government has encouraged people to work from home offices beyond the Covid-19 pandemic. This call is gaining impetus after the country saw a rise in Covid-19 infections after it started to ease it is locked in marked ways.

With so much choice around cloud-based solutions, it’s best to try a few for yourself and see what works for you. But don’t waste too much time. Many of them are free and you’d really want to just get on with whatever your business is.

A key is to use strong passwords which you change regularly as well as other measures to protect yourself from hackers.

Read more about how to make your online accounts safer.

Find out more about online office collaboration tools on our resources page

12 May 2020
Forced digitization

If you are reading this, you are probably couped up in your home, apartment, or wherever you have been forced to settle for a couple of months.

Local stores ran out of toilet paper, rice, and other ‘essential’ supplies but what also flew off shelves were laptops, printers, webcams, and modems. Let’s not mention the millions of software and apps that are downloading every second.

Retailers are also running out of printer paper because some of us are still hooked on paper despite the invention of emails and digital signing.

State of play

Pic courtesy of Pixabay

The term ‘home office‘ is no more a privilege for those people in senior management or for entrepreneurs – we all have to do it now.

The coronavirus has shifted the way we integrate digitally – more people are learning how to use video-conferencing and collaboration tools.

But how long can businesses afford to pay people to babysit their kids, watch funny cat videos, binge on Netflix, and have meaningless conferences on Zoom?

One can only imagine the frustration you are going through to set up your home offices. Installing/using software and the correct drivers for devices can get a little techy.

Professional Web conferencing with Microsoft 365

Let’s be frank, nowadays, no ‘IT guy or gal’ in their right mind would risk, or be willing to pay house calls to help with these installations. You will, therefore, need to familiarise yourself with finding the right remote tech support or by watching Youtube videos to guide you along. Most cloud providers like Google have an online help site. Microsoft also has a great support site to help with basic office set up.

There are many of you, on the other hand, who have some working knowledge of computers but just need the right tools to facilitate your home working experience.

Broadband needs

So first things first – you need the Internet!

Without this, you might as well go outside and risk infection. Or better, get hauled to prison for breaking national isolation laws for a few months. You might even get better forms of entertainment in your local hospital or prison.

Back to the serious stuff…

Research has shown that a ‘standard’ broadband Internet connection has a minimum download speed of 25 Mbps and a minimum upload speed of 3 Mbps. This serves as a baseline for determining fast and slow internet speeds.

Speeds much faster than that (100 Mbps and above) are therefore considered “fast” Internet.

Here’s how long it would take in hours, minutes and seconds to download a 4 GB file at various speeds.

1 Mbps 10 Mbps 25 Mbps 50 Mbps 100 Mbps 200 Mbps 400 Mbps 1,000 Mbps
9:32:39 0:57:15 0:22:54 0:11:27 0:05:43 0:02:51 0:01:25 0:00:34

Upload speeds (generally offered at much slower speeds ) come into play with things like video-conferencing or uploading large files to a server/cloud. It is good to pay attention to those as well. As a guide, 5 Mbps and above are good upload speeds.

So based on the above, and what activities you perform online, you can now have an idea of which packages to go for if you need to upgrade or change your Internet Service Provider (ISP) altogether. If you are not sure what your current speed is, take a free speed test here.

For those living in Germany, there is a local speed test which is monitored by the government to ensure the ISPs adhere to speeds promised to clients.

Kitting up

Once that is sorted you can shop for a good PC, laptop, or other accessories – bearing in mind that performance depends on the specs of the machine you choose.

This can include the quality of the network card built into your device that enables you to maximize the broadband package’s top speeds. For more advice on choosing the right device that you need for optimum performance, give us a shout.

Take a look at our resources page for a list of available software tools to help with communication and collaboration. Naturally, we all have our favourites so we will not advocate for one specifically.

Debunqed, however, does supply some of the best brands (with enhanced security features) so check out our online store.

Lastly, as tedious as it sounds, please ensure that you have adequate anti-virus, anti-hacking, malware, and anti-phishing (for emails) software. We cannot stress how many online scammers have become super active in this period. Some of them are even offering “help” fighting against the Coronavirus.

Some cyber-criminals offer desperate people who have lost their jobs ‘a chance to work from home’. It’s all the same, a word to the wise is enough. Be safe when it comes to self-isolation and hygiene – but also online!

Speak to us for a more detailed free consultation on how to best setup at home. At the global rate of the spread of the Coronavirus, this home office phase might be a thing for the rest of 2020.

30 March 2020
2019 in Tech

This year may have felt like it was dominated by political shenanigans, but technology also had its wild ride.

The USA vs Huawei

A story that has persisted throughout the year is the heat around Huawei in the US. The Americans have stopped Huawei phones from being sold in their country because they say the Chinese mobile phone maker has stolen technology from American companies and has spied on them.

The tussle began in 2018 but kicked into gear in 2019. Nevertheless, some American companies and organisations are still doing business with Huawei despite the ban by US President Trump’s government.

The President of Microsoft, Brad Smith, also wants to the US government to offer more evidence to back up its Huawei ban.

The core issue with Huawei has been around concerns with Huawei’s close relationship with the Chinese government and fears that its equipment could be used to spy on other countries and companies.

Huawei has also hit back at US ‘bandwagon followers’ and recently threatened to boycott Germany’s Auto industry if the European powerhouse banned them from offering 5G (broadband) in the country.

Not a great year for big tech

Big technological companies like Facebook, Alphabet, Google and Uber have faced a barrage of probes in 2019 be it around anti-competitive behaviour, spying on customers or their staff abusing customers. We also haven’t seen many new companies graduate to super-size status.

After a long drought of big-name tech IPO (initial public offerings), 2019 promised to be a banner year. A crop of highly anticipated, highly valued tech companies — with hot marquee names such as Lyft, Uber, Pinterest, and Slack listed on the public markets. The idea was to allow you to take a stake in their business.

Their reception, however, was truly tough. These companies’ stocks have not gained momentum and being listed has attracted greater public scrutiny.

The biggest disappointment, however, must be WeWork’s failed proposed listing and its subsequent business fallout.

The hottest things in tech

Artificial Intelligence (AI) – We’ve been talking about this for decades since Terminator came out but scientists are managing to harness the technology especially in manufacturing and medical fields.

Most of the top tech companies (Microsoft, IBM, Amazon, and Google) have already embraced AI. Many tout it as one of the main distinguishing features to set them apart competitively.

A little of this tech has gone into robotics with much fanfare and fear over their capabilities and propensity to ‘initiate a judgement day’. Check out Boston Dynamics

Bitcoin

Blockchain – Bitcoin may be highly volatile and not the get rich quick scheme people thought it could be, but it is still out there. Clever people are finding ways of making commerce more efficient.

There are however several practical and use-cases for Blockchain-based tokens and tech other than for payments and investments.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) – this is a technology that could explode in 2020. Right now, only large enterprises are using RPA but it could become more affordable and workable for smaller businesses in 2020. RPA is the process of automating mundane tasks such as taking data from one file and entering it into a business application like CRM software.

It’s about computerizing repetitive tasks that are an inefficient use of time, so it makes our lives more efficient.

RPA is not a physical robot. It is also an approach to working across multiple business applications and entering, maintaining, migrating, integrating, mining and testing data on spreadsheets.

These tasks are prone to human error which is why computerizing them makes so much sense.

Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality – VR made strong progress in 2019. This was most useful in gaming, real estate companies, pornographic entertainment and for people with disabilities.

For you gamers – it is best to buy an Oculus Quest for your PC. Sony’s VR headset is still the best and only gaming set.

Look after my data – or not!

The first fines around the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) were lodged in parts of the EU. The GDPR was promulgated in 2016. It is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy for all individual citizens of the EU and the European Economic Area.

It also addresses the transfer of personal data outside the EU and EEA areas. GDPR was enforced because of concerns about data breaches and attacks on privacy by the likes of Facebook and Google.

Then there were concerns our banks, insurance, and other data keepers were selling or losing our data to dangerous entities.

The types of personal data exposed included your names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and even passport numbers.

Lessons learned

The Marriott hotel group’s data breach of 2018 resulted in the exposure of 339-million customer records. Around 30-million of the records belonged to European Union citizens, and therefore they were subjected to a GDPR fine.

Facebook seems to love controversy and had been found to have allowed a massive 247 million user (mostly Americans) data leak.

Back home in Berlin, on October 30th the Berlin Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information issued a €14.5m fine on a German real estate group, die Deutsche Wohnen SE. This was the highest German GDPR fine yet. The infraction related to the over retention of personal data.

Despite the turbulent year for tech companies and consumers, we look to 2020 with breathless anticipation. We also ponder on which of the mentioned technologies will stick out and make a positive impact on our lives.

Pictures courtesy of Pixabay

22 December 2019
Ethical hacking
Maybe you should encourage your kids to become hackers. When you open Twitter handles and Linkedin profiles, it’s not unlikely that you’ll find people listing hacking as a skill.

Parents used to tell their kids to become doctors, lawyers, and accountants. Later, they advised them to learn about computers. These kids have now grown to become hardware specialists and then software specialists today.

In the past 10 to twelve years, we have seen ourselves thrown into the fourth industrial revolution. In it, technology affects our lives through social media and augmented reality.

We share a lot of our personal information with more people, companies, and institutions every day, willingly and are often blasé about it. This has tempted people to steal this information by hacking it.

Hacking background

Since the advent of personal computers in the 1980s hackers have become prolific, initially in ‘first-world’ countries that had an advanced infrastructure. There were numerous cases in the US but as computer technology permeated the world, hackers followed suit.

A hacking group called MOD, Masters of Deception, in the 1980s allegedly stole passwords and technical data from Nynex, and other telephone companies as well as several big credit agencies and two major universities.

The damage caused was extensive and one company, Southwestern Bell said it suffered losses of $370,000 alone. These days the damages, though not always publically announced, can run into a few millions of dollars.

READ MORE about the Online Threats hackers use here

All this has paved the way for a special information technology (IT) vocation. A security hacker is someone who explores methods for breaching defenses and exploiting weaknesses in a computer system and networks. They break into systems they aren’t authorized to, and tend to break seamlessly into email and banking systems.

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Hacking as a career

Ben Wilson works as an ethical hacker. He has more than ten years of experience and worked in London where he received on-the-job training. He now works remotely in South Africa servicing UK clients.

“I test websites for clients and look for vulnerabilities in the systems. I have done a lot of work for banks lately but my work is across industries.”

“Energy companies are using my services more and more,” he says.

Wilson says he worked in a permanent position for six years. Right now he contracts for five clients regularly.

Ethical hackers are the knights who test how permeable these systems are.

“The majority of my work is for British clients. The UK pound is strong and I like to earn pounds. I’d say the best computer security consultants in the world are in the UK. The US is strong too but the UK consultants are sophisticated and the best.”

Vulnerabilities

The most common way in which people hack information is through email contacts; especially personal Gmail accounts.

People think that their information is safe because it sits with one of the largest companies in the world. But this is exactly why it isn’t safe.

Gmail and other third-party free email accounts are regularly hacked. If you want to protect especially valuable information you should either upgrade it to the business/enterprise level, use a different email service, or perhaps the one connected to your employer.

Nowadays companies use services to protect themselves against hacks and unauthorized access. These monthly or annual service providers might employ ethical hackers to check the companies’ systems.

Hacking, however, isn’t just something that happens to big companies or in blockbuster movies. Here are some reality checks:
- All websites are under threat;
- So are applications (Apps) on your phone;
- People can also program artificial intelligence (AI) to hack into systems. This has become a big concern and theme for security experts.
Ways to proactively prevent a hack

Fortunately, there are several ways of protecting yourself and your information from hacking; starting with your emails. Be wary of “phishing” emails asking you to update your information, especially for bogus databases that you have never heard of.

Use a spam filter – Avoid opening attachments from senders you don’t know – Update your passwords regularly – It helps to have authentication methods, such as a smartphone-linked and email-linked authentication (2FA) or security keys like Yubico – Do not click on any ad – period! Back up your files regularly – it’s always a good idea – Don’t allow ransomware bullies to bully you.
- If you get sent communication saying that people have your files and want money or they’ll release the files; ignore them.
- They can’t threaten you forever and might eventually move onto another target especially if your information loses its value over time.
Anti-hacking software

As a business, use tools like those from cybersecurity experts Acunetix. More than 4 000 companies protect their web applications from vulnerabilities using its powerful web scanner.

Its penetration testing software prevents potential attacks by identifying holes in your websites’ coding. This is where hackers usually plant their complex code which allows them to extract data such as contact details, credit card details, and in worse cases, company-sensitive data like patents and blueprints.

Naturally, it also scans networks to find gateway loopholes that could lead to crashes and downtime-related losses. A bank’s website going down for a few hours can cost it several thousand or even millions in lost revenue.

Despite having firewalls, VPNs, and other Internet security systems in place, your websites and apps being developed are still vulnerable to cyber-attacks or a hack.

The most commonly known hack used is a DDoS attack. Basically, it works like a traffic jam clogging up a highway, preventing regular traffic from arriving at its desired destination. Incidentally, only a few days ago, Amazon was hit by a DDoS Attack.

So, how would you know or find out if you are vulnerable? By conducting regular scans on your websites and apps to see where vulnerabilities lie.

Avoiding a hack requires common sense

Be aware and don’t fall into scams. It’s unlikely you’ve won 120-million Euros in a lottery. You should know by now that you are not the descendant of a king!

In addition, if someone says they have a sex tape with you in it and they want your salary, unless you know you made a sex tape, they’re probably lying.

Unless of course, a scorned lover of yours tricked you – but you can’t blame technology or a hacker for that.
26 October 2019

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