Debunqed

Category: Social Media

  • The startup tech kit

    The startup tech kit

    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.

  • The Online Threats of 2019

    The Online Threats of 2019

    How you can stop them from happening.

    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 attack works 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.

    Read more about VPNs here

    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.

    Cybersecurity by Acunetix
  • The latest cloud computing trends in 2019

    The latest cloud computing trends in 2019

    It’s 2019, and the Cloud is everywhere—from the apps we use every day to the infrastructure of global tech giants.

    According to researchers at Gartner, revenue generated from public cloud services is projected to grow 17.5 percent in 2019. This amounts to a total of $214.3 billion, up from $182.4 billion in 2018.

    More than a third of organizations surveyed by Gartner saw cloud investments as a top three investment priority. With this kind of growth, tech organizations are racing to get on board with cloud-only software and platforms.

    Here are some of the trends to look out for this year:

    Hybrid Cloud, Multi-Cloud and Mergers

    IBM announced its purchase of Red Hat last October, calling it the “most significant tech acquisition of 2018.” This combined Red Hat’s extensive network of open-source clouds with IBM’s Hybrid Cloud team.

    Mergers like these are likely to become a trend this year, as companies see the benefit of using multiple clouds across all sectors of their organization.

    Furthermore, this system will dominate in the future, as businesses find public clouds inadequate to meet every one of their requirements.

    As a more flexible and functional solution, many organizations will shift to a network of multiple private, public and hybrid clouds in the future.

    Serverless Cloud

    Serverless computing is a young market in technology, but it will continue growing in 2019. It isn’t actually “serverless.” Instead, it is a cloud-computing model in which the cloud provider itself runs the server on a dynamic, as-used basis (FaaS).

    Rather than buying server space, developers can use a back-end cloud service to code. They will only then pay for the server space they actually use.

    As this relatively new technology develops, we can expect to see more companies providing and expanding their “serverless” offerings.

    Artificial Intelligence

    Although cloud technologies are growing exponentially, artificial intelligence (AI) could prove an even greater economic driving force. According to Accenture, the impact of AI could double economic growth rates by 2035 in developed countries. 

    Around 80 percent of large companies have adopted some form of AI, according to the Harvard Business Review.

    Amazon, Twilio and Nvidia, to name a few, are thus, incorporating AI with cloud computing, next-gen GPUs and the Internet of Things (IoT). This has led to the developing of applications with “smart assistants,” and voice-to-text technologies.

    Such a combination of AI and the cloud provides an extremely powerful and unconstrained computing network.

    Security

    Digital transformation is already underway, with Gartner also projecting that 83 percent of all workloads will shift to the cloud by 2020. However, this movement presents issues of cybersecurity.

    Many businesses have not properly secured their cloud-stored data. For example, marketing and data aggregation firm Exactis left around 340 million records exposed on its cloud servers. This was uncovered in a data breach last year.

    Mitigating factors

    The implementation of the General Data Practice Regulations (GDPR) makes this even trickier. It affects cloud security, and IT companies will likely struggle to comply with these new laws while protecting sensitive information.

    Cloud computing services are progressing exponentially, as are their new developments. The year 2019 will surely be filled with businesses pouring investment into enterprise solutions. This while expanding, securing, and implementing cloud technologies to their fullest extent.

    Bridget is a freelance writer and editor, and the founder of Lost Bridge Blog, where she writes about traveling as a Millennial woman on a budget. When not writing, you can find her traveling, drinking inhuman amounts of caffeine and scrolling through the latest tech & political news.
    N26 Bank
  • Smoother Online Shopping

    Smoother Online Shopping

    As a small online business, it makes sense to ensure that what you are selling is very easy to access. This is especially important when offering something that is common. The purchasing process should be practical and aesthetically pleasing to your clients.

    Your online shopping cart software creates that important connection between you and your customers. It must therefore help you achieve three goals:

    -Deliver the best and most secure experience for your users;


    -Make it simple and desirable for them to complete transactions;


    –Minimize common ecommerce hurdles (such as shopping cart abandonment).

    Customers expect consistency, reliability, and speed. Most users are now accustomed to the speeds facilitated by broadband Wi-Fi and omnipresent LTE mobile networks.

    Research indicates that 78 percent of ecommerce consumers completed a purchase on their mobile device in 2016.

    This percentage has probably increased since then. Therefore, delivering experiences that embrace mobile best practices has to be one of your primary concerns as you choose a solution.

    Some other salient things a good online shopping cart solution should pay attention to:

    TRUSTis obviously a huge part of establishing a valuable relationship. Your shopping cart software is an extension of your brand, and your buyers must trust it with their personal and financial information.

    As buyers avoid using direct credit card purchases (due to increasing fraud and data breaches) in favour of more secure methods. Your company must be prepared to offer new payment options.

    Customers appreciate the SECURITY and ease of mobile wallet payments, such as Apple Pay and Google Pay. This is because they can complete purchases using a single-use virtual credit card number.

    Give them the ability to use these alternative payments and if possible, do not exclude Cryptocurrency!

    It would also need to link up to your MARKETING and customer service platforms to provide a holistic customer experience.

    Naturally, you also want a system that tracks product sales and customer activity with as much detail as possible, and that can also sort transaction data across a multitude of categories.

    So, where does one get such software?

    Read more about how to get a good shopping cart software here.

  • Get a vault for your data!

    Get a vault for your data!

    It’s not often that we readily endorse a product or company. However, when the nature of work they engage in is considered ground-breaking and has a positive impact on our lives – it most certainly warrants a mention.

    The rationale for considering such tech-driven projects as highly significant is neither due to ‘gut feeling’. Nor that it is simply because it is fascinating and therefore must be an excellent product. This project actually has a value proposition for you!

    We are indeed well into the information age and while we have written extensively about data, its importance to marketers, and its fragility when used and abused by unscrupulous third-parties for their financial gain.

    The issue of data security is, however, quite a serious one. You just need to pay attention to the news to become even more aware.

    Data breach incidents

    In Europe, where security is supposedly more advanced, we have seen the likes of renowned airline British Airways, being hacked. Several hundreds of thousands of customers’ personal data compromised.

    These were followed by hacks on other major airlines such as Cathay Pacific.  Aside from airlines, other business outfits have suffered a similar fate.

    The perpetrators are getting a lot more brazen and very recently, a cable car, used as public transport in Moscow was hacked. This left vulnerable passengers terrified and stuck high up in the air. And all this happened probably to the amusement of the pranksters (hackers).  

    Can you imagine the chaos and commotion that would be caused if their control systems of driverless cars were to be hacked? 

    The digital intrusion gets even more sophisticated...

    This time affecting the very wealthy:  private yachts are now being hacked and taken into the pirate waters, all via uniquely coded signals, reading data from their antennas!

    Data security 

    On the issue of data security, you often hear about extra protection but not just anti-virus and anti-phishing software. The more secure and heavily encrypted Blockchain technology is, however, making waves in the digital sphere.

    It is mainly for the escalation of its once shining star by-product designed for discreet transacting – Bitcoin.

    Blockchain technology has also triggered several other technologies based on its digital cryptology technology. The aim is to ensure that your information is kept safe from prying eyes while stored, used, or transferred online.

    Blockchain products such as cryptocurrencies, however, are not completely safe from hackers.

    A solution

    Zortrex400x400

    The company we chose to highlight uses a unique vault system and is called Zortrex. It has adopted one of such Blockchain technologies dubbed tokenization. It will be using it to ensure that your highly sensitive data online is kept safe.

    “Our tokenised solution would have protected their customers’ personal identification information (PII) details. Instead the hackers ran off with the date of birth; passport numbers; financial data etc,” says Susan Brown, Chairperson of Zortrex – relating to the British Airways incident.

    Tokenization is the process of converting rights to real-world assets into a digital token on a blockchain.

    Brown’s background in data privacy systems as well as her devoted passion for the protection of PII, financial and healthcare data led her to start up and chair Zortrex. 

    The law on data

    Thanks to new laws like the European GDPR law, which enforces the protection of data, breaches are now met with hefty financial penalties.

    “Companies have disrespected your data for over 25 years, and if left unattended, there will be nothing left to protect,” Browns says.

    Companies now have to think twice about getting your consent and how to use and share your data digitally. But is it enough? The simple answer is no.  

    The authorities just do not have the resources to investigate every complaint nor to actively enforce all data breaches.

    We have ingeniously invented systems that automatically align with financial messaging, payments and securing information. All of which require data. 

    “However, we need to go a step further to secure all the PII details with tokenization. This is so that in the event of a hack, the cookies and trackers will only be following a ‘useless’ token will be no real identification on it,” Brown explains.

    Zortrex would naturally like to tokenize all healthcare data. This way, vulnerable those of you living outside of major cities can also feel assured that your privacy is protected.

    Using Blockchain

    The application of the all-powerful blockchain is not limited to use in the financial sector and will be applied via the supply chain to all industries that deal with your data – especially the most sensitive ones.

    A business angel or any investor for that matter looking to get onto the next best thing since Amazon would therefore be unwise to pass up the opportunity to back the Zortrex venture given its scope.

    Furthermore, regulations are currently being implemented primarily in the pharmaceutical sector.

    A tokenized supply chain such as what Zortrex offers would be ideal for this new law which is planned to be implemented by 2023.  A judiciary blockchain, for instance, would allow the police to “talk” to the prison service. They,  in turn, will communicate with the legal sector or public health institutions (NHS).

    Forensic evidence would in such instances be tokenized and kept secure (away from tampering) during legal hearings.  In another practical scenario, Smart Contracts (which could replace some lawyers) can spark off legal aid assistance to you.

    Your court cases will be heard quicker and be more efficient.  Protection registers can also be guarded using tokenization – rendering them more secure.

    Blockchain technology offers quality assurance making sure that no shortcuts are taken.

    This will enable the monitoring and tracking if any of your data is shared with third parties once tokenized. The third-party apps would only gain access to your data once the trigger has been activated.

    Like other pioneers and visionaries, Brown’s futuristic hope that every child being born will have their name, date of birth, blood type data being tokenized, might seem far-fetched.

    Zortrex wants to use its technology to put the hackers out of business! 

    Tokenisation cannot be mathematically reversed and thus it will least it will keep the hackers busy for a while.

    Scalability

    For such high ambitions, the creators of Zortrex’s software have adequately ensured that the technology used is fully scalable. One stumbling block many Blockchain projects now face is what is referred to as scalability. This is the ability of a network or software to grow and manage increased usage.

    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 250x250.gif

    Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum specifically – which is used to build a lot of Distributed Applications, however, have massive scalability issues.

    The growth in demand for DApps is also crippling (slowing down) those systems. They need to investigate the incorporation of alternative technologies, upgrade or split their platforms to cope with such high demand.

    Someone must take the first step in securing this data forever. You should be able to purchase what you want without being harassed by trackers and cookies.

    The need for tokenization is endless and further, down the line, celebrities and government official’s PII can be secured by it to protect them from damaging schemes, ‘bad press’, and scandals.

    In a previous blog, we “prophesized” that data is the new commodity – like gold or oil. However, the actual value with that data will lie in its privacy, the ability to store it securely and unlock it only with legal permission by its rightful owner.

  • Get a vault for your data!

    Get a vault for your data!

    It’s not often that we readily endorse a product or company. However, when the type of work they engage in is considered groundbreaking – and one with the potential to have a massively, positive impact on our livelihoods, it most certainly warrants a mention.

    The rationale for considering such tech-driven projects as highly significant is neither due to ‘gut feeling’ nor that it is cutting-edge/fascinating and therefore must be an excellent product – it actually has a value proposition for everyday people!

    We are indeed well into the information age and while we have written extensively about data, its importance to marketers and its fragility when used and abused by unscrupulous third-parties for their financial gain, the issue of data security is quite a serious issue – we must just pay attention to the news to become even more aware.

    In Europe, the where security is supposedly more advanced, we have seen the likes of renowned airline British Airways, being hacked – with several hundreds of thousands of customers’ personal data compromised. This was followed by hacks on other major airlines such as Cathay Pacific.  Aside from airlines, other business outfits have suffered a similar fate.

    The perpetrators are getting a lot more brazen and very recently, a cable car, used as public transport in Moscow was hacked, leaving vulnerable passengers terrified and stuck high up in the air – probably to the amusement of the pranksters (hackers).  We all know about driverless buses and cars coming to the market soon.

    Can you imagine the chaos and commotion that would be caused if their control systems were to be hacked?  The hacks get even more sophisticated: this time, affecting the very wealthy –  private yachts are being hacked and taken into the pirate waters, all via uniquely coded signals, reading data from their antennas!

    On the issue of data security (with almost full anonymity); we have also heard about extra protection (and not just anti-virus and anti-phishing software) but the more secure and heavily encrypted Blockchain technology that is making waves in the digital sphere. Mainly for the escalation of its once shining star by-product designed for discreet transacting – the Bitcoin.

    It has also triggered several other technologies based on its digital cryptology technology to ensure that information is kept safe from prying eyes while stored, used or transferred online.

    Zortrex400x400The company we chose to highlight uses a unique vault system and is called Zortrex. It has adopted one of such Blockchain technologies dubbed tokenization – and will be using it to initially ensure that highly sensitive data online is kept safe.

    “Our tokenised solution would have protected their customers’ personal identification information (PII) details, instead the hackers ran off with the date of birth, passport numbers, financial data etc,” says Susan Brown, Chairperson of Zortrex – relating to the British Airways incident.

    “Tokenization is the process of converting rights to real-world assets into a digital token on a blockchain.”

    The establishment of this start-up company was due to Brown’s background in data privacy systems as well as her devoted passion for the protection of PII and financial/healthcare data.  In her view, companies have disrespected their customer data for over 25 years, and if left unattended, there will be nothing left to protect.

    Thanks to new laws like the European GDPR law which is now imposing the data protection; data breaches and abuse of customer data is now met with hefty financial penalties. Companies now think twice about consent and how to use and share customer’s data digitally – but is it enough? The simple answer is a no.  The authorities just do not have the resources to investigate every complaint nor to actively enforce all data breaches – yet.

    “We have ingeniously invented systems that automatically align with financial messaging, payments and securing information, all of which require data. However, we should and need to go a step further to secure all the PII details with tokenisation so that in the event of a hack, the cookies and trackers will only be following a useless token as there is no real identification on it,” Brown explains.

    Zortrex would naturally like to tokenise all healthcare data so that vulnerable people living outside of major cities can also feel assured that their privacy is protected. In a previous blog, we wrote about the new Internet of things (IoT). For all those devices being built for it, their IP addresses and the serial numbers can be tokenised to avoid the terrifying thought of the whole Internet being compromised.

    N26_banner-160x600-EN

    The application of the all-powerful Blockchain is not limited to use in the financial sector and will be applied via the supply chain to all industries that deal with customer data – especially the most sensitive ones.

    An angel investor or any investor for that matter looking to get onto the next best thing since Amazon would therefore be unwise to pass up the opportunity to back the Zortrex venture given its scope!

    Furthermore, regulations are currently being implemented primarily in the pharmaceutical sector and a tokenised supply chain such as what Zortrex offers would be ideal for this new law which is planned to be implemented by 2023.  A judiciary blockchain, for instance, would enable the police to “talk” to the prison service,  who in turn, will communicate with the legal sector and public health institutions such as the UK’s NHS.

    Forensic evidence would in such instances be tokenised and kept secure (away from tampering) during legal hearings.  In another practical scenario, Smart Contracts (which are touted to replace lawyers) can spark off legal aid assistance, so that court cases can be heard quicker, more efficient than currently pertains.  Protection registers can also be protected with tokenisation rendering it more secure.

    Blockchain technology offers quality assurance with every process being undertaken making sure that no shortcuts happen; as the smart contracts trigger any possible malfeasance. This will enable the monitoring/tracking of any data sharing to third parties once it is tokenised. The third party apps would only gain access to the data once the trigger has been activated.

    The company will be providing numerous business blockchain platforms; Asset Chain, Supply Chain, Accountancy Chain, Debt Chain, Life Cycle Management Chain, Outsourced Worker Chain; the list is endless, and all will be adequately secured.

    Like other pioneers and visionaries, Brown’s futuristic hope that every child being born will have their name, date of birth, blood type data being tokenised, might seem farfetched – but may we remind you of the need for data protection taking into consideration the growth rate of massive data breaches.

    Zortrex is aiming high and wants to use their technology to put the hackers out of business!  Tokenisation cannot be mathematically reversed and thus it will least it will stop the hackers for a while.

    Brown explains further that as they move with their education; other information can be added on to the token, as with all their healthcare; any allergies tokenised; what injections they have had right through their life cycle until the day no more data can be tokenised.

    For such high ambitions, the creators of Zortrex’s software have adequately ensured that the technology used is fully scalable. One stumbling block many Blockchain projects now face is what is referred to as scalability – which in tech terms, is the ability of a network or software to grow and manage increased demand.

    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 250x250.gif

    Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum specifically – which is used to build a lot of Distributed Applications, has massive scalability issues. The growth in demand for DApps is crippling those systems and they are having to investigate the incorporation of alternative technologies, upgrade or split their platforms and accompanying cryptocurrencies to cope with such high demand.

    Someone must take the first step in securing this data forever. Citizens should be able to purchase what they want without being harassed by trackers and cookies. The need for tokenisation is endless and further, down the line, celebrities and government official’s PII can also be secured to protect them from damaging schemes, ‘bad press’ and scandals.

    In another previous blog, we “prophesized” that data is the new commodity – like gold or oil. However, the actual value with that data will lie in its privacy, the ability to store it securely and unlock it only with legal permission by its rightful owner.

  • Digital Dribs & DApps!

    Digital Dribs & DApps!

    We have barely scratched the surface with the Internet (from the early eighties) and it is already seemingly being threatened with the competition. A possible replacement by a new phenomenon.

    Well, for lack of a better word, “replaced” has connotations of a dying Internet. This is far from accurate. This new phenomenon – fostered by blockchain technology, will change the way we use and consume the Internet as a service.

    So, what is this new Internet-like system creating waves online? And why is it making online marketers quiver at the prospect of them losing out on the exponential revenues they have previously enjoyed?


    Well, without hyping it up any further, it is called Distributed Applications or ‘DApps’ for short.

    A brief history of Apps

    Before we delve further into its meaning and use in the cyber world, perhaps some background context is required.


    The way we use online or mobile applications software or “Apps” has changed how we consume products and services online. Companies jumped onto the bandwagon when they discovered that we mostly use Smartphones for the Internet.

    App developers were then subsequently sought after to create mobile Apps for practically anything.  What started as something mainly for gamers moved quickly onto applications for practically any commercial activity.


    We now use Apps for our shopping; fitness; traveling; online bookings and banking. Developers now create customized software to help us with practically, anything.


    In addition, we now have App stores for every significant tech provider – Microsoft, Google, and Apple to mention a few. This has naturally fattened the pockets of software companies and created an additional stream of income for them.

    The ‘catch’ for using mobile apps is that even though it costs you nothing to download, using them still requires you to register with your personal details. You can also do this by linkingyour existing social media accounts.

    The benefit to App providers

    These Apps, which are integrated with social media services, create a data goldmine for marketers to study and track browsing habits. Through them, marketers can gain valuable insights into your interests and then customize their products/services to sell to you.

    The impetus behind a distributed application system is that it serves to distribute plow some of the wealth garnered from your data via application providers back to you.

    Data mining has become more lucrative and accessible because of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning. Do you ever notice how after browsing online or having a conversation or a chat application like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger? You go online later, and you see Ads displaying the items you discussed? Creepy isn’t it? Well, that is the future of Web 4.0 for you!

    Staying ‘woke’

    Luckily for us, there is a school of knowledgeable and security-conscious programmers who are not ‘giving in’. They help us understand how the Internet has become a cesspool for marketers to harvest our data. Social media platforms, search engine providers, and mobile application providers facilitate them immensely with this.

    Image Courtesy of blockgeeks

    Imagine getting paid to surf the web for hours. The way you get paid for taking on a survey, partaking in a social experiment, donating an organ or sperm?


    This is the way distributed apps are touted to work. They reward you for the use of specific applications (in a peer-to-peer review setting) with cashable tokens. Seems only fair right?


    Now you can imagine how companies like Cambridge Analytica would react to having to pay you for their use of your data. They would surely be reluctant and that’s why they preferred to work clandestinely. But if they could pay companies like Facebook for the use of data, why not pay us directly?

    Early adoption

    Joining the ‘DApps revolution’ is a no-brainer. Those at the forefront of building and supporting DApps will end up with a more substantial chunk of the market.

    DApps primarily provide you with the use of payment systems. These are specifically known as Smart Contracts and Proof of Work systems.


    There are currently also web-browsers (built as DApps on blockchain platforms such as Ethereum or EOS) that will reward you for merely using their DApps.


    For instance, you are rewarded in cashable tokens to surf the net over applications like Google Chrome, or Mozilla Firefox.


    It is only a matter of time that this form of Internet-browsing and use of applications becomes the norm.


    The Internet revolutionized the way we communicate, socialize, learn, shop, and do business online. DApps however, will determine the way you get compensated for doing the things you love to do online.

  • 3D Copy and Paste!

    3D Copy and Paste!

    The bizarre-sounding digital printing phenomena called 3D-Printing has been mulling around from the past.  Recently,  has been in the limelight; specifically in the press for the wrong reasons.

    Read about the new craze and get ideas for Xmas via 3D Copy and Paste!

  • Digital Fundraising

    Digital Fundraising

    The latest abbreviation in the finance and crypto-world is ‘ICO’. This word, however, gives global financial authorities like the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) nightmares for several reasons.

    250x250

    Not to be confused with Initial Public Offering (IPO) which is used by firms to raise cash through the issuing of shares to the public. An ICO (Initial Coin Offering) works like crowdfunding, but for digital currency and tokens.


    We recently covered a feature on raising funds and capital for a business but missed out on one relatively new method. Many companies are using ICOs to raise capital for their businesses.

    Why ICOs?


    The concept of an ICO works similarly to how a company raises capital through shares in that it is all based on contrived value.


    Funding raising in effect boils down to sales! If your actual product or service has nothing substantial or intrinsic to offer a client base, then it is nothing more than a scam.


    Launching an ICO is quite easy, and to an extent, many tech companies are now catching onto it.

    An ICO is the cryptocurrency space’s rough equivalent to an IPO in the investment world. ICOs act as fundraisers of sorts; a company looking to create a new coin, app, or service launches an ICO.

    Investopedia

    If you still do not believe it is possible, just listen to this testament from someone who did it after unsuccessfully knocking on the doors of conventional funders.


    The alarming spurt rate of ICOs often brings with it a scourge of potential scammers. The SEC and other institutions have to step in to monitor and regulate them.

    Social media platforms like Facebook and Google – which house a bounty of users (potential investors) have banned ICOs ads due to possible prey on unsuspecting investors; exposing them to con artists.

    Basically, the scammers use fancy websites, laden with impressive figures and terminology to con users into buying into their coins or tokens.

    Though the tokens barely even cost a cent, it adds up if they have millions of people buying in.  Once they have reached a certain amount in funding – they close shop and disappear!

    To create a new digital coin:

    Create a product concept or Business Plan for the coin or what is called a Whitepaper. This describes in great detail what the coin or token aims to do; the core technologies behind it; the team and their qualifications; the product’s lifecycle/growth path etc.

    Once completed and water-tight, the whitepaper would be submitted along with an application to one of the best Cryptocurrency Exchanges for review.

    Naturally, you would need some initial working capital for liquidity. Some of this is raised through your savings and others through institutions (via loans etc).

    You must then assure your investors of a solid return on investment (ROI) and deliver – which goes back to sales. Unless your offering is a scam, you actually need to do some work!

    This assurance comes via regular updates (marketing campaigns can have a tremendous or adverse impact on the uptake and price) on milestones reached.

    The updates are also necessary to keep your investors abreast with progress and might convince them to increase funding.

    Growing interest and the addition of more funds create demand for the coin/ token which, in turn, drives up the price and market capitalization.

    Most successful ICOs of all time

    NEO:

    Known as “China’s Ethereum”, and backed by Microsoft, Alibaba and the Chinese government, NEO uses smart contract applications. It does so, however, with the addition of decentralized commerce, digitized assets and identification.
    It enjoyed a considerable hike in token value from $0.03 to $88.20, NEO has big things coming with a 294,000% ROI.

    Ethereum:

    Unlike Bitcoin, the second-most valuable cryptocurrency in the world has more functionality than just being a coin. Its ledger technology is used to build and deploy decentralized applications a.k.a. “smart contract” technology.
    Ethereum’s ROI has been nothing short of jaw-dropping at 230,000%. Having sold its tokens at $0.31, an Ether token now sits at a whopping $713, second in value only to Bitcoin.

    Spectrecoin:

    The “premier privacy-focused cryptocurrency” enables users to send and receive currency worldwide with total anonymity. It is currencies like SpectreCoin that have most government tax offices quaking in their boots.
    If you had repurchased a token in November 2016, that puny $0.001 would be worth $0.64 today, or an ROI of 64,000%.

    Ark:

    With Ark, collaboration is the name of the game. The platform’s SmartBridge is a lightning-fast ecosystem designed to integrate other cryptocurrencies into its blockchain.
    Investors were eager as any to buy in, and they have made a 35,400% gain given today’s token price of $3.54.

    DigixDAO:

    DGD, which stands for Digix Decentralized Autonomous Organization, is a self-governing community. It gives out grants to different projects which will promote the growth of the DGX network.
    At a current value of $346.88 per token, this gives them a return of 10,722%.

    Quantum (QTUM):

    QTUM is an open-source value transfer platform which focuses on mobile decentralized apps or Dapps. QTUM is the world’s first proof-of-stake smart contracts platform.
    They hosted a highly successful ICO in March 2017, and since that time has seen an ROI of 6,400%.

    Source: investinblockchain.com

    In conclusion

    The prospect can be daunting for a cryptocurrency investor looking to make money off new investment opportunities while remaining cushioned from fraudulent ICOs and dodgy coins and tokens.


    As there is no guarantee that any cryptocurrency or blockchain-related start-up will be genuine or successful.

    You simply need to be vigilant and take steps such as getting to know the core team, poring over the whitepaper with a big magnifying glass. Naturally, you should be monitoring the progress of the token sales.


    Most importantly, you must just use common sense to gauge just how feasible the project is to ensure that you’re not falling for a scam.

    Remember, if it’s too good to be true, then it isn’t true!

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