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Strategic merger of three digital technology firms in Asia
Three prominent digital services companies in Asia – Digile Technologies, Reveron Consulting, and Innopia Global – have merged to create a digital services powerhouse with a formidable presence in the Asian region.
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Yahoo integrated approach for advertising in a cookieless world
Yahoo Advertising announced a new integration with Twilio Segment Customer Data Platform (CDP) to drive greater advertising reach and relevance, without relying on third-party cookies.
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Mindful Employer Branding Key to Successful Staff, HR Recruitment
In modern society, building an inclusive employer brand should be considered mission critical for businesses large and small. The most successful companies are the ones that see challenges and opportunities from many different angles, and having a diverse employee population allows you to do just that. An inclusive employer brand lets you engage, recruit, and hire a wonderful spectrum of people who can bring their varied backgrounds to bear for your business. Simply put, building an inclusive employer brand brings a diverse set of experiences and perspectives to the table, which in turn allows your company to be smarter, more thoughtful, and ultimately more successful.
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GSMA report predicts tenfold rise in 5G mobile connections in Asia Pacific by 2030 as digital transformation gathers pace
5G will account for over two-fifths (41%) of mobile connections in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region by 2030, up from 4% in 2022, according to the GSMA's Mobile Economy APAC 2023 Report.
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Fastest web-based editor released for a new era of storytelling across streaming, broadcast, digital and social media
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, announced the release of Dalet Cut, the cloud-native, real-time, lightning-fast multimedia and multiplatform editor fully integrated within the Dalet ecosystem.
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Black Friday Online Shopping Safety Checklist
Vigilance is urged during this 2023 Black Friday and Cyber Monday, as “AI generated scams enhance the threat to this year’s festive shoppers, as it’s revealed over 7 in 10 British people worry that AI will make it easier for criminals to commit online fraud” – NCSC.
But while AI scams like voice cloning, romance scams, and language mimicking are on the rise, “93% of the biggest spenders, millennials aged 24-35, plan to shop during this coming weekend. And they spend an average of $419.52 per person.” But with cyber security threats at an all-time high, how can shoppers and businesses stay cyber safe?
Here are our top tips for staying safe online, and the preventative measures that can be taken while shopping for your latest bargain.- Be Aware of Phishing & Quishing Attacks
SecurityHQ analysts have recently observed a significant increase in Business Email Compromise (BEC), regarding phishing attacks containing QR code (Quishing) and captchas for credentials harvesting. Quishing attacks usually occur via the scanning of a QR code. This technique involves tricking users into scanning a QR code using a mobile phone. The QR code then redirects the user to a phishing or fake website that aims to steal their credentials.
Read more about Quishing, and how to spot QR Code vulnerabilities, here. - Read the Small Print
If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. While Black Friday deals can offer huge discounts that are genuine, people still need to make money. Anything ridiculously cheap is a red flag.
What to look for:
- It is worth checking the reputation score of retailers to determine if that retailer can be trusted.
- A website with no company address, descriptions or specifications on items are all red flags. Look for the details. And do not base purchases solely off star ratings, as these can be fake.
- Pop-ups that offer free electronics are obvious scams, containing malicious phishing links, and should be avoided at all costs.
- Read the small print. Often cons are perfectly visible if you know what to look for. Like seeing a picture of a laptop being advertised, going to buy said laptop for a reduced rate without reading the small print, and receiving a literal picture of a laptop in the post. The devil is in the detail.
- Use Reputable Websites/Companies
Tried and Tested – Using websites that are globally known is a good way to avoid any nasty surprises. Even if it is a couple of pounds more, it is worth knowing where your money is going and that your purchase will be tracked and delivered.
Use Antivirus Software that will warn you of potentially dangerous sites in search results as well.
Look For Suspicious Emails, as well as suspicious calls and text messages. Never click on a link you are unsure of, and never provide personal information over the phone. Read more on email security, here. - Stop, Look, Check, Pay
Secure Sockets Layers (SSL) are used to ensure data is encrypted before being transmitted across the web. It is also an indication that an organization has been verified. Keep an eye out for HTTPS in the address bar rather than HTTP, as this highlights a site uses SSL.
Make Sure the Website That You Intend to Shop on is Not a Copy of a legitimate one. Verify that the date and name of the organization are consistent with the site you are visiting. And look for typos in the URL. Your best bet it to go directly to the website yourself, and do not access it through links on other sites/emails.
When using public Wi-Fi, use a VPN as the most effective way to stay safe and so that hackers do not steal your personal data while you are on an unsecure network. - Check Your Bank Account
- Use a credit card or payment method which offers protection (i.e., PayPal).
- Check your accounts regularly for fraudulent activity.
- Only provide enough details to complete your purchase (no extra details required)
- Keep Your Passwords Safe & Don’t Use Default Credentials
Default credentials used by applications and appliances are often published on the internet. This can be a big problem. An attacker will typically first scan your network to see where they can move next. If an attacker was lucky enough to identify applications or appliances with default credentials enabled, it won’t take them long to hunt on the internet for these published credentials. Read how to detect default credentials, here.
Finally, keep your passwords safe. Read this blog on password protocols to learn more. Don’t let cyber scams ruin your festive fun this winter!
By SecurityHQ - Be Aware of Phishing & Quishing Attacks
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KAWO’s "Guide to China Social Metrics" helps marketing teams translate KPIs into business success
KAWO, the leading social media management platform in China, has launched its 2023 “Guide to China Social Metrics.”
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Outlook of generative AI for the enterprise market is exciting but lacks a clear corporate strategy
The democratization and acceleration of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) originated in the business-to-consumer (B2C) market with the release of popular applications like ChatGPT and Stable Diffusion. But the B2C market will barely scratch the surface of generative AI’s potential economic value.
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API Security Company Neosec acquired by Akamai Technologies
Akamai Technologies, Inc. announced entering into a definitive agreement to acquire Neosec, an API detection and response platform based on data and behavioral analytics.
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IBM report: half of breached organizations unwilling to increase security spend despite soaring breach costs
IBM released its annual Cost of a Data Breach Report, showing the global average cost of a data breach reached $4.45 million in 2023 – an all-time high for the report and a 15% increase over the last 3 years. Detection and escalation costs jumped 42% over this same time frame, representing the highest portion of breach costs, and indicating a shift towards more complex breach investigations.
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Alibaba Cloud unveils new AI Model to support enterprises' intelligence transformation
Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group unveiled its latest large language model, Tongyi Qianwen.
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Meltwater Brings Powerful New Enterprise Suite to APAC
Meltwater, a global leader in media intelligence and data analytics, today announced the availability of Meltwater Enterprise Intelligence Suite, a comprehensive offering that promises vital insights and transformative impact to enterprise clients.
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SecurityHQ’s Cyber Predictions
In response to the growing number of breaches, SecurityHQ released their latest white paper to highlight analyst predictions for threats and vulnerabilities in H2 2023.
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New Study by MAGNA & Yahoo Urges Marketers to Pair Media Placement with Quality Creative in Order to Drive Stronger Ad Effectiveness
Media placement and creative work hand in hand when it comes to effective advertising strategies. A new study by MAGNA Media Trials and Yahoo set out to understand the role that creative quality plays in ad effectiveness, and the elements that contribute to quality creative. Creative, the Performance Powerhouse found that while media placement helps marketers find consumers where they are, creative quality was responsible for 56% of purchase intent, illustrating the strong performance of both tactics as they work together. The study suggests that marketers can greatly benefit from making small improvements to their creative in order to optimize ad performance, while also driving brand quality and trust.
Technology will give fraudsters an edge in 2015, but it will also provide new tools for organizations and investigators, according to three experts from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) who were asked for their top fraud predictions for 2015.
The experts (Gerald Zack, Bruce Dorris and Jacob Parks) weighed in on digital currencies, information security and other issues that will help shape the effort to prevent and detect fraud in the new year:
1) Technology will increase the sophistication of fraud schemes. This is an existing trend that will accelerate in 2015, according to ACFE Regent Gerard Zack, CFE, Managing Director
– Global Forensics for BDO Consulting. “More and more we are reacting to reports of fraud with ‘how did they do that?’, Zack said. “It’s a reflection of schemes becoming more complex and capitalizing on technology, including some of the new technology deployed by companies in the interest of improving efficiency. While simple fraud still exists, we are seeing a distinct proliferation of more complex fraud schemes.”
2) But technology (like data analytics) will also help catch tomorrow’s frauds. Zack is quick to note that for fraudsters, technology is a double-edged sword, as it is leveraged as well by professionals trying to catch criminals. “There will be more breakthroughs in the use of technology to detect fraud – particularly in the use of visual analytics and also in the use of tools to mine unstructured data. Tools that were thought of as cutting edge just a year or two ago will seem ancient in another year or two”, he stated.
3) Improving information security will be a major priority. More massive data breaches, like the ones that have stricken Home Depot, Target Corp. and other large retailers over the past two years, are likely to occur in 2015, according to ACFE Vice President and Program Director Bruce Dorris, J.D., CFE. “These breaches have exposed widespread vulnerabilities among organizations that store and maintain personal information, putting millions of individuals at risk,” Dorris said. “Considering that storage of data continues to grow at an exponential pace, more trouble lays ahead – and there is an increasing need for information security and protecting against data breaches.
4) Digital currencies will shake up fraud risks for retailers and consumers. An increased acceptance of bitcoins and other digital currencies among merchants will signal a shift in fraud risk, according to Jacob Parks, J.D., CFE, Associate General Counsel at the ACFE. “Vendors/sellers face reduced fraud risks from ‘friendly fraud,’ where customers fraudulently cancel credit card or bank payments after receiving an item,” Parks said. “Digital currency transactions are generally permanent, which makes this scheme untenable. However, consumers face an increased risk of fraud by dishonest sellers, since the transaction is often not insured or protected by an agreement with a financial institution”, he added.
Additionally, consumers using digital currencies have a reduced identity theft risk, because the transactional data stored by the seller cannot be used by malicious parties to charge the customer (this also means vendors have a reduced risk of data breaches involving these customers).”
5) With protections for whistleblowers increasing, more people will step forward to report fraud, Dorris said, pointing out that a decade ago, few countries had whistleblower protection. However, increased awareness about the harm caused by major fraud at organizations has led to legislators looking to whistleblowers to prevent or mitigate such crimes. “France, South Africa, South Korea, Australia and other countries have all taken substantial reforms to protect whistleblowers, particularly those who identify crimes in the public sector,” Dorris said: “U.S. policy has moved beyond simply protecting whistleblowers; it now has several programs that financially incentivize whistleblowing regarding bribery, tax evasion and corporate accounting fraud. The programs are largely still in the beginning stages, but have already had major payouts.”
While those are the top predictions for 2015, the list doesn’t end there. Here are two more prognostications for fraud in the new year:
There will be a re-emergence of financial statement fraud. While Enron, WorldCom and other major financial statement frauds are starting to fade from the public consciousness, there may be more such accounting fraud on the way, according to Zack. One indication is the effort being made by the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) to step up enforcement in this area.
Credit card security features will continue to evolve. This prediction comes from the ACFE’s 2015 Fraud Examiners Manual: “As the United States migrates to smart cards, several variations will exist until a single standard is adopted. As most merchants are not yet equipped to accept smart cards, many credit card users carry hybrid cards that include both a microchip and a magnetic stripe. Moreover, these cards may or may not require a PIN to complete a transaction. Embossed credit cards are slowly being supplanted by smooth credit cards in order to prevent physical card imprints. Additionally, local bank branches are able to produce unembossed debit cards within minutes, which eliminates the need to send cards through the mail.”