Tag: blockchain

Business, Technology

CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency): A Possible Revolution in Money

John Ejiofor / June 29, 2020

Image by WorldSpectrum from Pixabay  CBDC may eventually turn out to become a revolution in money in the post-COVID-19 world. Before the idea of a central bank digital money started gaining ground, the cryptos have been around as virtual or digital currencies. Taking into consideration that the global mobile payment market is presently estimated at US$816.50B and with the projections that it will reach over US$5.5T by 2025, the way we carry on transactions with money is set to undergo a mammoth revolution with the intended introduction of digital currencies by governments around the world. However, unlike the cryptos that encountered very stiff opposition from governments and some large corporate bodies, it seems the CBDC will enjoy their patronage. The main reason governments around the world were very equivocal in the opposition cryptos encountered is the fact that cryptocurrencies were not meant to be regulated.  The seriousness governments are attaching to CBDC is the reason why about 80% of the world’s central banks are exploring the possibility of adopting the digital currency. It’s on record, however, that China has gone very far on the project, having been working on it since 2014, when Xiaochuan Zhou, who was the Governor of the People’s Bank…

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Technology

How to Best Secure Data at Rest, in Use, and in Transit in the COVID-19 Era

John Ejiofor / May 29, 2020

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay  Taking into consideration that internal and external cyber threats are on the rise especially with this COVID-19 pandemic, it’s necessary for you to put all measures in place to adequately protect your data at rest, in use, and in transit. The world has got to a situation where businesses depend on data to carry out transactions.  Ordinarily, the best and safest option would have been not having any data, but this is not tenable in the technology-based world we are living in. It, therefore, becomes a very important task for your IT team to come up with hardcore strategies that will ensure your data, whether at rest, in use, or in transit is secured. Cybercriminals set out to hurt your business through information theft and whether you want to believe it or not, the consequences of information theft can be utterly destructive. It’s, therefore, very important for the survival of your business, that you pay attention to how your sensitive information can be protected. Once your information has been stolen, you should gear up for identity theft. The information that has been stolen can be used for corporate or even government espionage as well as a lure…

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Technology

Cybersecurity Measures That Could Have Stopped The Exposure of Four Billion Users’ Records

John Ejiofor / February 1, 2020

Image by Katie White from Pixabay In the face of the multiple waves of cyberattacks that governments, corporations, and individuals suffer almost on a daily basis, it’s very annoying to note that any form of information can still be left unguarded and unsecured despite all the cybersecurity measures that are readily available. That is why the news that personal data relating to 1.2 billion people, including email addresses, phone numbers, and LinkedIn and Facebook profile information, has been leaked online via an open and unsecured Elasticsearch server came as a shock. The said data was uncovered on 16 October 2019 by researchers Bob Diachenko and Vinny Troia of threat intelligence platform Data Viper. Diachenko and Troia were able to access and download the data via a web browser without having to use an ordinary password or any other form of authentication. According to the researchers, the first dataset was discovered to contain, among other things, data on 1.5 billion unique individuals, a billion personal email addresses including work emails for millions of decision-makers in Canada, the UK, and the US, 420 million LinkedIn URLs, a billion Facebook URLs and IDs, over 400 million phone numbers and 200 million valid US mobile phone numbers.…

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Business, Technology

How to Best Safeguard Your Customers’ Data From Cyberattackers

John Ejiofor / October 14, 2019

Your customer is the best asset you have and should be roundly protected from any form of harm. With the unceasing onslaught by cyberattackers on governments, businesses, and individuals, the least you can do is to go to any length to ensure that your customers’ data are safeguarded. A quick recap of some very ugly incidents in 2019, will bring to the front-burner why safeguarding your customers’ data must be your uppermost priority. In May, a surveillance contractor for US Customs and Border Protection suffered a breach, and hackers stole photos of travelers and license plates related to about 100,000 people.  A destructive strain of ransomware called LockerGoga has specifically been victimizing industrial and manufac­turing firms. As if that is not enough, in March, a research report from the threat intelligence firm Kaspersky, says that computer maker Asus disclosed a supply chain attack sometime in the second half of 2018 that had compromised the company’s Live Update tool to push malware to almost 1 million customers. We can go on and on as this is just the tip of the iceberg. The important thing to note here is that it’s now more necessary than ever to put serious measures in…

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Technology

Can Blockchain Solve the Problem of Data Breaches?

John Ejiofor / May 21, 2019

We live in a dynamic and ever-changing world, with data breaches increasing and regulators looking to tackle the issue with strict restrictions on data management. One such regulation that has had a widespread impact is the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) brought in by the EU. It is having an effect all over the globe, not just in the EU countries. Essentially, if you’re processing data that has even a single EU citizen involved, then you must conform to the regulation. These tight and strict regulations have been brought in to combat the ever-growing number of data breaches which have an impact on individuals and companies. In a digital age, where previously there was little to no regulation, privacy was an afterthought. Now, privacy is beginning to reshape the internet. So, it might just be that blockchain technology, the innovation powering the world of cryptocurrencies, holds the key to preventing data breaches. Major Data Breaches and Blockchain: Use Cases The case of 500 million compromised records You might be surprised to learn that around 5 billion records were compromised in 2018. According to the study conducted by RBS, the most vulnerable sector is the business sector – it accounts for…

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Marketing, Technology

How You Can Amazingly Transform Your Digital Marketing With The Blockchain

John Ejiofor / September 17, 2018

Data and the privacy of it are of major concern to virtually every sphere of life and not the least in the field of digital marketing. Digital marketing as we know it is the marketing of products or services using digital technologies, mainly on the Internet, but also including mobile phones, display advertising, and any other digital medium. Digital marketing simply put, revolves around data.