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.
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.
Everygreat product begins with an idea—even while the world waits in lockdown. In fact, some of history’s best masterpieces stemmed from periods of isolation, like Sir Isaac Newton’s Theory of Gravity or Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables.
Whether you’re fulfilling a lifelong dream or simply seeking a new income stream, there are ways to get your groundbreaking tech idea to the market today.
Do your planning & research
The first step of software or web development is to appraise the idea itself. Most successful start-ups begin as answers to urgent consumer concerns. They also usually change the way things are done and are therefore called disruptive technologies. To be considered, your tech idea should, therefore, help resolve a relevant problem.
If you are not solving a pressing need, the fanciest invention or service (even with a solid marketing and financial plan) will fail to appeal to your target market. It will also not catch the eye of potential funders.
Many startups fail because visionaries fail to elucidate their idea to the people that can make it a reality.
Next, you should analyze the possible competition. With millions of Apps, DApps, and software developments out there, someone might have already created the same thing. If that’s the case, you could see how your product improves upon its predecessors. It might be a good idea to get your work patented or copyrighted. Likewise, you might want to check to see if the idea has not already been patented.
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Of course, transforming this amazing tech idea into reality involves a LOT of planning, too. That’s why you should research and map out an approximate timeline, possible tech builders(if you can’t DIY the work), related APIs, and most importantly, a budget.
Some software developers may offer to partner with you – as your startup’s CTO. This could be for an equity/share in the venture or to provide a discount on the work done. This is a good option if you are still early in the fundraising phase.
Finding the funds
If you don’t have the money to get your idea off the ground, not to worry! There are plenty of other ways to find the funds, such as angel investors, banks, or crowdfunding sites.
While some people rely on traditional loans from banks, others prefer to apply for grants from the government. There are also pages like GoFundMe and Kickstarter, where you can post your idea and crowdfund from private individuals around the world.
For example, Palmer Luckey, founder of Oculus (a virtual reality headset), raised over $2 million using Kickstarter to begin his business. If you instead opt for an angel investor, an individual willing to invest a large sum into budding businesses, studies show that your business is more likely to succeed.
Another form of assistance is to go through a startup incubator. You might want to look up the best ones in your country – but as ideas are not limited geographically – you can join any of the top incubators in the world.
Test & distribute
Finally, after proper planning and fundraising, you can execute and test out your brilliant tech idea. As AOL Founder, Steve Case, once said, “You shouldn’t focus on why you can’t do something, which is what most people do. You should focus on why perhaps you can and be one of the exceptions.”
This stage will also include a working prototype and a few open sessions or what is referred to in tech terms as ‘Beta-testings’. You can collect more insights from potential users to make your product stand out from others – preferably before you launch it.
There are many online tools to help you in this phase. Most of them offer free trials, so you can get away with using them just for the test period.
Covid-19 is no excuse not to launch a good venture provided it serves a pressing need as mentioned. In fact, projects that address the pandemic directly will indefinitely get preferential treatment when it comes to funding and support.
The world is slowly realizing that it needs to rely less on old systems in order to manage its way out of financial crises. One of the oldest systems which saw the US dollar as the vehicular currency of the world may be slowly coming to an end.
Enter the Bitcoin: the brainchild of cryptocurrency, a means of exchange that is less regulated and which is built on the Blockchain, a technology that is supposedly difficult to hack into.
A quick recap for those of you not familiar with the tech: A Bitcoin is a computer file that can be stored in a ‘digital wallet’ app on your smartphone or computer. With this technology, every single transaction you make is recorded in a public list or publicly distributed ledger.
This makes it easier for authorities to track and record your transactions but not you personally. We will not, however, get into the potential abuse of such anonymity in this article.
Adoption
We have been very slow to adopt new financial technologies for two reasons. First, there are many regulations that help maintain the US dollar as the vehicular currency, used by central banks and other financial institutions to secure assets. Second, many developers of the technology are hesitant to throw it upon us – yet.
But this will change as the robustness and reliability of cryptocurrencies is proved study by study and case by case. One method is by using cryptology.
Cryptology is used to protect your information from hackers. In fact, the protection of your data is more important than ever before. We have made our lives more public thanks to social media.
While you may not mind so much if hackers get unauthorized access to your pictures and social media profiles, some information is actually valuable. This includes your banking details, birth certificate, licenses, and intellectual property.
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced us all to work from home. Those employees of numerous companies are accessing commercial information using personal computers instead of office computers. But personal computers might lack anti-virus software, firewalls, and other security measures.
Right now, cybercrime is costing companies at least $45bn a year worldwide.
This is why now is cryptology’s time to shine. It will also be used to protect your online purchases made using cryptocurrencies instead of traditional money. It will help ensure that funds go from your bank account to a retailer’s quickly but securely.
Using Crypto for daily activities
Let’s face it, we are going to use Blockchain for shopping: Lamborghini already accepts purchases in Bitcoin. The concept might still be difficult for you to grasp, but they are still being developed and soon it will be near impossible to live without them.
Gaming companies are already embracing cryptocurrencies. Fortnite, a popular online game, with more than 250-million players, allows you to buy in-game products using cryptocurrencies.
Beyond regular shopping, you could soon buy a house using a cryptocurrency. Blockchain technology and the underlying distributed ledger technology is being used to increase transparency in real estate transactions using smart contracts.
To reiterate the use case for Crypto, many countries like Germany are relaxing laws and giving licenses to allow ‘Crypto Banks’ to operate. This is one effort to ensure that your Cryptos are properly taxed when used for investment purposes.
One such bank, Bitwala, allows you to purchase Bitcoins or Etheruem securely and quickly from a charges-free bank account which they provide.
Your transactions are then documented so that you can seamlessly submit reports of the purchases to the local tax authorities (Finazamt) to avoid penalties. You can do this all directly from the Bitwala App.
The blockchain and cryptocurrency are even being explored on national levels: China is allegedly creating its own national digital currency.
The way forward
Monetary systems will continue to be tested every day. Banks the world over are spending big bucks to protect themselves from hacks. But one day, a hacker could throw them into turmoil.
When that happens, you might be unable to withdraw your money. A central bank’s database could be hacked making it difficult for it to work with other banks. In the meantime, alternatives to classic monetary systems need to be developed.
Cryptocurrencies backed by cryptology could be a very strong alternative. There are also some valid cases for using Bitcoin as a global currency. This, however, will only become a reality if it shakes off its high trading volatility to become more stable.
We live in a world where we need to be cognisant of our health and how viruses can spread easily and quickly like wildfire. It equally is imperative to realize that cyber attackers could get and infect our data just as swiftly. Using modern technologies can help prevent these intruders from creating a ‘digital security collapse’ pandemic.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
New business? You’re going to need some basic software!
In this modern-day and age, it may seem that small businesses do not require a plethora of technological tools in order to succeed, but it’s worth investigating which technologies can give you an edge. This is especially crucial if you are not offering a niche product or service and have to compete with an army of existing players in your industry.
Accounting, CRM, marketing, analytics, taxation and other useful software may have just levelled the playing field between small and big businesses. The challenge is to choose the right one to help you grow quickly at the least expense.
You will, nevertheless, if you are even to make a first impression, need some basic software regardless of your trade.
HERE IS WHAT YOU WILL NEED
Almost everybody needs some kind of online presence. You’re a business and while social media is helpful (more on that later), a website is where you will be found by prospective clients or business partners. You can build one easily these days via a paid content manager provider such as WordPress or Wix.
They will even provide and host your domain if you don’t have one.
If you do not, however, have the time nor the energy to create one yourself, there are cost-effective alternatives such as outsourcing the building to a web-designer. They can do it remotely and the safest way would be through a regulated marketplace such as Fiverr* or Upwork.
*Debunqed can recommend a designer known as aceholder on Fiverr.
Email
You need to be contactable. In the old days, you got away with Yahoo or Google email but now you need an email service that can host a domain. The free emails are also not secure and subjected to heaps of spam.
Email hosting is a service in which your email messages and associated files are all stored on a server. When you receive an email to your website’s domain address, that email is routed across the Internet and stored on the recipient server.
A hosting service stores the files that make up a website on a data server which then uploads them directly to the web.
This gives you an Internet connection and way for your customers to access the site through a domain name.
Web hosting services often come with a slew of options for designing sites. These include the one-click installation of supported applications such as a service mailbox. Wix partners with Microsoft’s Office 365 for mail hosting whilst WordPress works seamlessly with Gmail/GSuite.
Task Management System/ Job Manager
Being organised from the beginning isn’t a good idea; it’s a great idea! Get yourself a system which tracks your sales and logs the deliverables that each employee completes.
There are an array of CRM solutions focusing on different tasks from customer services or sales to project management and full-on finance and back office (ERP) operations (more on this later).
The key is to start small many of these offer trials but also some even offer a free package naturally with limited functionality. Figure out which tasks are important in order to choose the right package to handle your scheduling, sales and tasks. A simple calendar/scheduler via MS Outlook and Office 365 (Microsoft Bookings) can be a good place to start for a paid but fully functional service.
Payroll and Accounting Systems
You need to keep accurate books and not to rip off your employees. You’re a start-up; play the numbers by the books. And a word of caution: don’t ever cook the books!
There is a huge choice of accounting (and back office) systems to choose from. The big names are probably out of reach so like a CRM system, you might want to shop around and start with smaller but a reputable brand like Quickbooks.
But if you go for an Office 365 solution, you might as well look into something like Dynamics 365. One of their entry-level finance packages (Business Central) has all the ‘bells and whistles’ for a Startup to help get your books up to date for the taxman/audit.
You also need to monitor your payroll – this service can be added by upgrading to a bigger package under Microsoft Dynamics family. You could also shop around for payroll software if you are on a tight budget.
Project management and support logging system
Once you build up a workable database of existing and potential clients, you will require some kind of logging system to handle customer queries.
This will help you keep tags of what customers are having issues with. If they are repeated issues, then you know there is a recurring problem with your operations or an aspect of your business.
A good ticketing system will allow you to keep a knowledge base with instructions to help your staff with how to deal with recurring issues quickly.
Shopping cart software
If your products are sold online or does not come from a physical store, this is the mandatory software that enables you sell goods online. It is designed to quickly process debit and credit cards transactions but also allows your customers to use their PayPal and other payment methods – even Cryptocurrency.
A good shopping cart package also does inventory management, calculates packaging costs, shipping costs and taxes.
Security and Anti-Virus software
Always protect your Internet connection and your sensitive data against viruses, spyware, malware, worms and Trojans.
Most of the packages mentioned before come with in-built security measures such as sign-in authentication.
But these are not enough and you will need to source software to prevent a hack if you are dealing with extra sensitive data like patents, medical and financial records/accounts. Read our feature on Online Threats for more on this.
Cloud storage
This is a place where you can store large files as well askeep backups of files. Hardware can break. You could drop your 2-terabyte portable flash drive but at least your work will be safe in the cloud.
Once in the cloud, things can get disorganised (many files and folders) and sorting them can become a pain. The top file storage providers include, Microsoft’s SharePoint Online and OneDrive; Google’s Drive, Amazon’s S- series and Dropbox.
There are some really great add-ons like a Digital Asset Management (DAM) tool for those dealing daily with tons of documents and images by Pic.io. This software works specifically with GoogleDrive.
Social media
We have by now affirmed that you need a CRM system. With many choices of companies to buy products from for example, treating individual customers’ needs is very important.
A good CRM system will help you reach out to your customers where ever they are – online or offline. This is known as Social Engagement.
That, coupled with a powerful Business Intelligence tool, can help you leapfrog over your competitors with useful insights such as peak traffic times on your website, purchase habits and other characteristics of your client that will help you accurately predict potential revenues.
Find the best CRM platform that allows for social engagement, then set up whatever social network accounts that suit your business.
Webinar services
Remember you are doing business with groups from around the world.
Online communication tools, therefore, enable you conduct presentations and meetings over the Internet. This saves time and money associated with travelling costs whilst giving you access to markets outside your area, city or country.
Some of the most popular/effective communication tools includes those included in the Microsoft (Skype and Teams) and Google (Hangouts & Voice) bundles. There are also free standalones like Zoom.
Depending on your frequency of calls and audience size needs you can stick with the free version and then scale up to a paid subscription later. You can also run training sessions and product demonstrations and even replace your whole phone system with them.
Online Surveys and other Marketing Tools
Marketing is is the lifeblood of a company. It’s a key sales-driver and if you aren’t selling, you’re going out of business! Conduct market research using online tools such as SurveyMonkey and collect emails through opt-in forms. These valuable insights can be used in targeted email marketing campaigns.
The most advanced and widely recognised mail marketing tool is Mailchimp. It starts with a free version with 7 marketing channels and goes up to $299 per month for large companies with 200000-plus contacts. Most bundled Office solutions will allow you to add Mailchimp as a plug-in to your existing mailbox.
Conclusion
Technology constantly changes and it’s hard to keep up – so don’t. Get the basics right first and add technological services and tools as you grow. Rather understand what each button does first before you spend money on a whole super system.
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.
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:
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 allowransomware 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.
Let’s face it: we’re accustomed to instant gratification in the Internet Age. With the expansion of technology, Amazon order confirmations arrive in email inboxes instantaneously, while hungry customers track the location of their much-awaited pizza delivery each step of the way.
Instant gratification is a sign of the times!
Likewise, if you want to run a sustainable, profitable business in 2019, then digitization is not only useful– it’s necessary. And it’s easier than you think.
Did you know that 30 percent of tasks involved in over half of all jobs could be automated using technology that exists right now?
According to McKinsey & Company, a global management consultancy firm, this number will grow even higher as technology develops–which is great news for your business, your employees, and your profits.
And no, we’re not talking about robots coming to take over your job (although some pretty cool robots exist). From automatic “Abandoned Cart!” emails to payroll and employee onboarding, automation is already a mainstay of modern organizations.
So, looking for inspiration? Here’s just a few of the amazing ways to automate your business.
AI Technologies
Artificial intelligence is taking over the world–and it should be taking over your daily processes. Machine- and deep-learning AI provides a cost-effective solution for both carrying out mundane day-to-day tasks and engaging with customers.
For example, AI-powered bots are revolutionizing customer service abilities by providing 24/7 assistance for regular inquiries and troubleshooting.
Meanwhile, SiriusDecisions, an industry analyst firm, found that sales reps spend only about one-quarter of their entire work week actually selling to customers. The rest of the time–approximately 27 hours each week–is spent on administrative tasks like data entry.
These duties tend to consume a lot of time and energy. Instead, by automating the process, employees could spend their time closing deals and making connections to new leads and investors.
Customer & Employee Relations
At its core, CRM, or customer relationship management, includes all the technologies and strategies involved in these relationships, like email marketing, telephone calls, mail, and social media marketing
If it sounds like a lot — well, that’s because it is. Manually logging all customer data (accurately) throughout the sales funnel is time-consuming and subject to human error. It’s also nearly impossible to maintain communications with every single lead. In those cases, both the business and the customer suffer.
Thanks to automated email responses, data collection, and communications, these problems are a relic of the past. According to a study by Enterprise Apps Today, over 60 percent of respondents believe that automation boosts customer experience. Digitization not only eases business processes, but it improves B2C ( business-to-consumer) relationships, too.
Boost Cybersecurity
Hackers and cybersecurity threats are growing more complex and common every day. Automating your data security systems with AI machine learning can provide a base level of protection while freeing up IT professionals to focus on progressing your business’ systems or confronting only the most complex of threats.
According to McKinsey, digitizing data-heavy processes within businesses can cut costs by up to 90 percent. You can automate everything from employee and customer onboarding, legacy-system integration, data migration, and far more.
Although the initial implementation of automation can take time, effort and money, the payoff is well worth the investment.
Where Should You Start?
To figure out where to start digitizing your business, there are a few questions you should be asking yourself, like: what would improve my customer’s experience and, how can I better communicate with customers?
Further questions such as: which tasks can I automate to save time and cut costs; and finally, how you can ease the daily tasks of your employees in order to better utilize their skills (productivity) are also important points to consider.
Whether you begin with cybersecurity, automating payroll and onboarding, or equipping your site with AI-powered technology, digitizing your small business will lead to happier employees, satisfied customers and a profitable structure for the future.
Did you know that there are still more than 700 million people in the world who live in extreme poverty? These people must scrimp, starve, and struggle to survive off less than $1.90 per day.
By 2030, the World Bank estimates that more than 90 percent of those people will be concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa.
This is perhaps one of the greatest developmental failures of the modern world. Despite the continent’s expansive natural resources and increasing connectivity, foreign actors still feel it’s too risky to heavily invest in their markets.
Blockchain could be the key!
Bitcoin and “Blockchain” were created in the mass wave of distrust in banks after the 2008 financial crisis. Therefore, the technology enables individual, distributed data storage that could become the perfect evidence (trust) base and financial infrastructure for a developing country.
With the right implementation, Blockchain holds the potential to completely revolutionize and revitalize such economies, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa.
So, what is this Blockchain?
Blockchain is essentially a kind of decentralized database that allows you to have a safe, secure way to handle their data without the need for third parties.
For example, you could with Bitcoin, make or accept payments in real-time without needing a centralized bank.
“[It is] a way for one Internet user to transfer a unique piece of digital property to another Internet user, such that the transfer is guaranteed to be safe and secure, everyone knows that the transfer has taken place, and nobody can challenge the legitimacy of the transfer,” said software entrepreneur Marc Andreessen.
“The consequences of this breakthrough are hard to overstate.”
Historic background
Until the mid-twentieth century, most of Africa was ruled under a colonial system meant to exploit the people and their natural resources for European benefit. Africans, in addition, were rushed into development according to European standards rather than homegrown ones.
The legacy of rapid development, distrust and corruption left behind an economic system failing to recover in the 21st century.
While the World Bank celebrates a decrease in global poverty levels, the number is expected to remain stagnant in Africa. Today’s poorest people are living in places with the least economic growth.
Sadly enough, poverty and lack of investment in many developing countries stem from how they were integrated into the world system.
The land was cut into countries according to European treaties and agreements, rather than by traditional and tribal land divisions. This situation worsened upon the handover of colonial power to so-called “democracies.” Power often shifted to the ethnic groups that former colonizers favoured.
Corruption multiplied in the form of bribes, political persecution, rigged elections, and a massive wealth gap. All of this still affects the wealth distribution and investment potentials of many developing countries.
Of course, this created a lack of trust in banks and government throughout much of Sub-Saharan Africa.
The perfect fit for Africa
During a 2012 study conducted in rural Western Kenya, Stanford University researchers waived the costs of opening basic savings accounts for a number of unbanked individuals.
While 63 percent of the subjects opened an account, only 18 percent of them used the accounts. This was likely due to three factors: a lack of trust in banks, unreliable service and prohibitive withdrawal fees.
Unfortunately, the prevalence of unbanked individuals in the informal sectors scares off foreign investors, who heavily rely on transactional evidence to make investments. Otherwise, pouring money into markets is too risky. That’s where Blockchain comes in.
How would it work?
Blockchain can host an entire evidence base of transactions, loan repayments, and asset titles. The technology is also decentralized and requires individual confirmation, creating an element of trust and transparency beyond traditional banking systems.
According to Victor Olorunfemi, Director of Products for Pan-African tech and crypto-exchange, KuBitX, Blockchain’s major benefits lie in “frictionless P2P and cross-border payments, transparent elections, land registry management [and] transparent crowdfunding.”
Let’s look at some of the different ways Blockchain could benefit developing economies, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa.
1. Creating financial infrastructure and accountability
According to a study by the Milken Institute, viable financial markets require consistent, accurate data on assets and credit histories. Luckily, Blockchain may fulfil these needs.
The use of Smart Contracts technology is ideal in areas lacking accountability, such as the real estate or land/agricultural sectors. In Africa, a lack of record-keeping practices often leads to “missing” or non-existent title deeds. In some cases, this is intentional.
Title deeds “go missing,” only to end up in the hands of benefactors other than the rightful owners. Smart Contracts could eradicate these issues through the use of special tokens that cannot be duplicated, changed or removed. See the article on tokenization.
Likewise, Bitland, a company in Ghana, currently helps individuals record deeds and land surveys. By resolving land disputes, Bitland creates more stability while accurately recording land asset data.
“There’s a massive number of people in the informal sector, but there’s not much data being collected on them right now.”
Merit Webster, co-president of the MIT Sloan Africa Business Club.
“That means you don’t have that credit history or payment history for them. If you have a decentralized approach to collecting data, you end up with more malleable data. [This] is very valuable for creating credit histories.” The agricultural industry also has the potential to thrive using Blockchain.
“Blockchain could be used to track goods around the world. This allows farmers to earn a fair wage for their goods.”
Also, farmers could use record-keeping technology to streamline the supply chain and document resources. This would lead to better efficiency, lower transactional costs, and improved logistics.
2. Security in banking
According to the World Bank, there were 1.7 billion people with no bank account in 2017. This situation is worst in developing countries, especially African ones. For example, over 62 million of these people lived in Nigeria.
Besides, data from Google Trends reveal that Lagos, one of Nigeria’s biggest cities, ranks globally as the number one city based on the volume of online searches for Bitcoin (BTC). Clearly, for the city’s 21 million-odd people, there an immense interest in some form of an accessible payment system.
Of course, it’s unrealistic to expect bank branches to magically appear in every remote corner of the world. However, a digital database using Blockchain technologies has the potential to reach far beyond physical banks.
Ad: N26 Bank
Many Africans value trust and transparency. In developing countries, this lack of trust goes beyond the Internet. Developing countries with less industrialization tend to have higher levels of corruption.
This reduces national investment opportunities in the public sector and instills a lack of trust in centralized oligarchs handling an international investment.
Because its power lies within the community of users, Blockchain can combat these trust issues. All data logs and amendments must pass through this community and identification confirmation tests.
Blockchain technology also secures your data incredibly. Hacking and data breaches are all too common nowadays. In 2017, for example, around 3 billion Yahoo user accounts were stolen.
When information is stored in the same place, hackers have one, easy target. In contrast, Blockchain is a distributed entity. This dissemination of data leaves it far less vulnerable to cyberattacks.
3. Fostering Entrepreneurship
Coupled with the Internet, Blockchain technology could be the perfect platform for aspiring African developers. Because the ‘source code’ is free of charge, skilled coders can adapt, create, and configure special applications, called DApps.
These are available on Crypto platforms and provided by companies like Ethereum, and a South African firm specializing in what they called the Keto-Coin.
Rather than waiting for governments to drag their feet trying to create jobs—individuals on the continent can form small firms that build and sell Crypto-based Apps locally or abroad.
“Despite the frictions and impediments mentioned,” said Olorunfemi. “Blockchain can still provide an avenue for promising African tech projects to access capital (FDI) via token offerings on digital assets exchanges.”
Many courses are even readily available online to quickly learn about new technology. Microsoft, for instance, offers a platform via Azure for you to build and learn about the Blockchain.
One-man shops in countries with unfavourable economic systems, like Zimbabwe, can also adopt smaller, stable, Cryptocurrencies to facilitate or payments. In cases of rampant inflation, they can temporarily act as a store of value or help you pay for things until your currency stabilizes.
As with the Venezuelan hyperinflation case study, Cryptocurrency intervention could help many developing countries troubled with economic instability.
There is also the option of Crypto-mining. But before you pull out the ‘high-consumption energy’ argument – think outside the box for a moment. What about energy sources that are free and available nearly 24/7? Like water and the sun!
The African continent is full of capable scientists and mechanical engineers. One could build special solar-powered energy centers to power Bitcoin-mining.
And without the expertise, governments or private companies could alternatively just invite Crypto companies with abundant financial resources to mine (cleanly) for a special tax/fee while creating jobs for the locals.
4. Elections
In addition to the financial side of things, Blockchain technology could help eliminate some forms of corruption. For example, many African countries’ elections are incredibly vulnerable to the social scourge. In some extreme cases, some officials change or forge written ballot votes to rig elections.
To combat this, Blockchain databases could record votes. This makes it nearly impossible to tamper with using Smart Contract technology. Having fair elections improves infrastructure, which then increases development and economic dependability.
While some might see Africa’s economy as underdeveloped, others might see it as a blank canvas well-suited for a large-scale implementation of Blockchain. Economic and governmental systems are shifting and slightly shaky in many Sub-Saharan African nations.
The challenge is to foster a rigid economic system to implement Blockchain.
Don’t just take our word for it—African nations have often implemented new, practical technologies before the Western world. Let’s look at the example of M-Pesa. Back in 2014, Americans and Europeans were amazed by Apple Pay’s launch.
However, this mobile payment system wasn’t exactly “new.” By that time, Kenyans had used M-Pesa, a very similar technology, for years.
“There’s a lot of opportunity to leapfrog the way the West developed and have these more unique African solutions, but it needs to come from within,” said Webster.
“It needs to come from entrepreneurs in the continent who want to implement these solutions. It’s important to engage people very early on. Systems incubated in the West don’t stand as great of a chance to work as African ones do.”
Concluding remarks
With the possibility of an experimental, large-scale takeover of Blockchain technology to improve African infrastructure, the nations there could leapfrog in development and growth.
This must begin internally. According to Olorunfemi, “Education—of policymakers and other stakeholders—which is often ignored has to be a critical factor in paving the way for the acceptance and adoption of new technologies and the accompanying investment.”
The results in Sub-Saharan African countries could help eliminate much of the world’s poverty. It would also remove remnants of mistrust and corruption left behind by the days of colonial exploitation.
While there are some obstacles to large-scale Blockchain implementation, we can’t think of a better benefactor than there. The possibilities for business using the Blockchain are endless!
To learn more about how to get started with Cryptocurrency mining or purchasing, visit our resources page for useful links and guides.
Additional input by Bobby Quarshie (BQ).
Citations: Christopher Lee and Jackson Mueller.
Swan, Melanie. “Anticipating the Economic Benefits of Blockchain.” Technology Innovation Management Review 7.10. Oct. 2017.
Bitcoin Lessons from Venezuela, Where Hyperinflation Reigns. Online Source: https://www.lathropgage.com/newsletter-237.html
Like a biological virus mutates – as technology advances so do the complexity of phishing and identity theft schemes. With major services adopting cloud technologies and storing private data online, anyone is vulnerable to hacking.
To make matters worse, hackers continue to come up with some pretty creative ways to profit from stolen information.
Without wasting time, these are the things you should already be doing to avoid being exposed to hackers in the first place:
In order to keep these cyber-criminals out of your lives and computers, let’s take a look at some of the actual schemes to watch out for in 2019.
Hacking
We all know what hacking is by now – the term has almost become synonymous with internet security. So a question is: do you love watching movies on Netflix or jamming out to your summer playlist on Spotify? If the answer is yes, then you’re at a pretty high risk of getting hacked.
DynaRisk, a UK cybersecurity firm, recently found that cybercriminals most commonly target these brands, along with adult-oriented sites (you know what we mean) and then, online gaming services.
Identity Theft
A few weeks ago, authorities caught a New York-based gang who had used identity theft to steal over $19 million worth of iPhones. Quartz reported that this operation ran for seven years.
So-called “Top Dogs,” the ring leaders, would organize lower level members of their organization to steal identities and create clone credit and identity cards. Then, affiliates fanned across the nation, signing up for mobile phone plans to acquire iPhones, which were later sold for a profit by the Top Dogs.
Because phone payment plans take the shape of nominal fees over the course of several years, victims often wouldn’t notice the fraud until it was too late. Learn how another scheme dubbed sim port attackworks in the diagram below:
Ransomware
Hacking can happen to anyone – including our favorite bands. In early June, a hacker managed to steal the minidisk archive of Thom Yorke, the lead singer of Radiohead. This included previously unreleased demos and audio material from around the time of “OK Computer,” the band’s 1997 worldwide hit album. The hacker then demanded $150,000 on the threat of releasing it.
Holding files for ransom is so common nowadays that it even has its own name: “Ransomware.” Either pay over the ransom or lose your files—or, even worse, have them released onto the unforgiving Internet.
In response, Radiohead released all 18 hours of material on Bandcamp themselves, winning against these ransom hackers.
Most security experts recommend the same route as Radiohead—never pay the ransom, because there’s no guarantee you’ll recover files or prevent their release.
Sextortion
If you think ransomware is bad, there’s an entire subgroup of it aimed to profit off sexual shame. Cheekily named “Sextortion,” some hackers creatively upgraded the classic email phishing scam to scare victims into handing over Bitcoin.
According to Fortune, hackers have already racked up over $900,000 with sextortion. In these phishing emails, the sender claims to have spied on you while you watched porn—and has webcam footage of the salacious deeds. The message then demands a Bitcoin ransom, or else face the social and professional consequences of this lewd video getting sent to all your contacts.
To make the threat even more believable, the sender references a previous password tied to the user’s email account. According to Krebson Security, a sextortion phishing message might look a little like what’s written in the sidebox.
In rare cases, the threats are real—and hackers get their hands on some sexually explicit photos. Recently, American actress Bella Thorne fell victim to sextortion. Last Saturday, she took a similar, albeit more risqué, route as Radiohead, opting to release her nude photographs on Twitter in order to take the power away from her hacker.
Last thoughts
So, what’s the best way to avoid your personal, or, business from costing thousands in virtual currency? Since most of these emails are fake, you can just avoid them with a spam filter. And you should probably buy a webcam cover…just to be safe. When it comes to general browsing- we suggest using a VPN.
There are now more secure anti-hacking tools that use the Blockchain and offer great protection, especially against identity theft. Have a look at our feature on Tokenisation.
Most online services now like mobile banks, offer App-based 2-factor authentication. This should now be regarded as the minimum security for ANY online account or App.
To avoid hacking or phishing scams in general, optimizing your cybersecurity and using online common sense will save you loads of time, trouble and money.
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