BetaNews Staff

Web 3.0 is upon us -- and it's set to shake up the digital landscape

Since the arrival of Web 2.0 at the turn of the millennium, the internet has had an escalating impact on the way we go about our daily lives.

As Web 2.0 upgraded the earlier 'read/write' internet model to a medium that was altogether more interactive, we have seen social media platforms become ubiquitous. Little by little, these changes paved the way for the 'social web', with more user-generated content and information-sharing at users’ fingertips.

Continue reading

Should you buy a used electric car?

Electric cars are rapidly rising in popularity. Last year saw record sales in the UK for electric vehicles, with 59,945 EVs registered throughout the year. December saw EVs have a 3.8 percent split of the UK’s market share, with almost 5,500 electric vehicles registered in the last month of the year. In December 2016, this market share was a lowly 1.7 percent. The rise of new electric vehicle purchases comes in the run-up to the government’s future ban on new petrol and diesel cars in 2030.

While the benefits of electric cars are well documented, especially their no emissions, should the public look into purchasing used electric vehicles if they’re in the market for a new car?

Continue reading

Security experts predict a global AI-related cyber attack before year-end

As artificial intelligence technologies become more complex and better integrated with new services and products, executives worldwide are concerned about cyber security vulnerabilities. While AI is a strong tool for security, security experts also predict that malicious actors will utilize artificial intelligence to unleash a global cyber incident in the near future.

Today, unauthorized users can get easy access to AI-powered systems to create sophisticated cyber threats. For example, AI chatbots have emerged as a novel doorway to cyber attackers, and the Emotet Trojan malware is hyped as an AI-based cyber threat prototype directed at the financial services sector.

Continue reading

Assessing the viability of first-party data

data privacy

In the wake of expanding regulations surrounding the use of consumer data for unprecedented purposes, the digital advertising industry is in for a massive overhaul. Google has announced the removal of third-party cookies and, although they have pushed the date of obsolescence back to 2023, companies are now forced to reckon with a future devoid of third-party data collection. Big Tech is looking to lead the rest of the industry in the development of innovative alternatives.

Unsurprisingly, Google has been at the front of these efforts thus far. The technology giant controls the largest browser, adtech, and search engine products in the industry, a powerful trio that leaves them perfectly positioned to navigate the digital advertising industry through uncharted territory. In addition to removing third-party cookies from their Chrome browser, Google is also fostering the development of responsible adtech in their Privacy Sandbox.

Continue reading

White House Cyber Summit: Why top tech cyber pledges aren't enough

The Biden administration might have called on high profile figures to improve cybersecurity, but the reality is it's down to all businesses to tighten up their IT security measures.

The recent White House Cyber Summit with high profile leaders of some of the world’s biggest tech, energy, and financial services companies was a sign that the Biden administration is doubling down on its effort to prevent cyber attacks.

Continue reading

Curbing pandemic burnout: 3 steps you can take to support overwhelmed security teams

We’re a year and a half into the COVID-19 pandemic, and burnout is hitting employees hard. Recently, Okta CEO Todd McKinnon used an all-hands meeting with employees to underline the importance of taking vacation. In April, LinkedIn announced it was giving the entire company a full week off to unplug, recharge and help curb burnout. 

For security teams, burnout isn’t a new phenomenon. Given the need to always be on and ready, cybersecurity professionals already face high levels of stress, and the pandemic has added to increasing and alarming burnout rates. On the heels of the Exchange, Kaseya, and SolarWinds attacks, it’s no surprise that cybersecurity teams are overworked and exceptionally stressed -- we’re under a lot of pressure.

Continue reading

3 tips to drive eCommerce customer engagement

eCommerce

In the hopes of adapting to the unprecedented digitalization era that’s impacted businesses worldwide, you’ve created your eCommerce site to continue selling to your ideal shopper. In an effort to overcome the pandemic’s aftermath, you stretch time and resources to help market your site and reach more customers. In doing so, you’re quite certain that you’ll make your money back in no time and quickly grow your business to beat pre-covid sales numbers.

You’re not alone; with over 24 million eCommerce sites worldwide as of 2021, competition is fierce, so making the right decisions and the right investments can give you the competitive edge you seek.  

Continue reading

Brands must deliver personalization, even in a cookie-less future

Apple recently changed how the company handles consumer data and this singular move will transform how we market products in the future. Apple gave each user greater control over who tracks their data, how it can be shared, and where that information is used. Similarly, consumer data privacy legislation changes are happening all over the world.

Data collection has been synonymous with the modern consumer experience and the way brands interact with their customers. But new privacy initiatives are bringing about a new age of digital marketing strategy. Further protection of consumer data will make it more difficult for companies to understand the desires of their customer base, at least in comparison to the third-party data collection practices that are so common today. But this could actually be a good thing.

Continue reading

What have we learned from the last six months? Trust no one

How many people do you trust with your credit card information? Or your social security number? For most people, the answer is zero (unless you’re married, in which case the answer might still be zero). What many don’t realize is that there are far more damaging security risks than a stolen credit card number. Namely, your internet browser. We don’t often fully appreciate how much our browsers know about us. We use them for our email, shopping, sensitive company data, and yet we leave our browsers more vulnerable than the wallets in our pocket. The truth is a compromised browser might have you wishing you’d just lost your wallet.

Even though we’re always looking out for pickpockets, hackers may well be just as ubiquitous. Following the post-COVID digital boom, the last six months have seen a sharp rise in cyber attacks taking advantage of the security gap that comes with shifting entire enterprises to a remote environment. Companies scrambled to introduce short-term fixes like scaling existing VPNs to connect employees to a central network, but the cost and complexity meant that this approach simply wasn’t going to work to support long-term remote operations. In fact, many companies struggled to expand their efforts to implement VPNs as a remote security measure that could support today’s mobile workforce, and as a result, it is likely that this outdated technology will be  abandoned altogether in the near future.

Continue reading

Why investing in customer education is imperative to your business

Despite advances in software and excitement about what products and services can do today, implementation often remains a barrier. Companies are hesitant to spend money on something that requires a significant time investment to figure out, and leaders want to ensure that new software purchases don’t sit on the shelf because employees lack the knowledge to fully leverage their capabilities.

If software vendors hope to remain competitive in today’s SaaS-based world, they must be prepared to address customers’ adoption issues and fears. If a service is not being utilized for whatever reason, organizations won’t have to look far to replace it. Sales and customer retention increasingly depend upon delivering comprehensive product education. This has become a new business imperative, sparking an evolution in how training is deployed.

Continue reading

Why every government should have a cybersecurity minister

The world has witnessed the worst kind of cyberattacks that have threatened our personal privacy, stolen private information, and cost billions in lost business and productivity. The past five years have seen increased cyber attacks from home hackers, and with the pandemic, the risk has only increased alongside remote working. The risk of cyberattacks calls for the necessity of establishing proper safety measures, such as by naming a cybersecurity minister for governments to protect the people and organizations.

The only way to secure the internet is for all governments to take a serious approach to cybersecurity. That means establishing a cybersecurity minister in each government to oversee cybersecurity practices in their own country. This is the only way for governments to be confident that every country is up to date on cybersecurity practices.

Continue reading

Summer is here and data still needs to be protected

The summer of 2021 is upon us and everyone is excited to get back out and enjoy national parks, oceanfront beaches, amusement parks, campgrounds and so much more. With a large number of employees still working from home and taking time off this summer, it is still critical to protect your organization's data as it travels for summer holiday.

Ransomware attacks are on the rise and continue to be a disruptive force affecting everything from financial institutions, healthcare to SLED (state and local government and education). Due to the rise in remote work prompted by the pandemic, attacks are up 148 percent. 

Continue reading

3 ways to streamline your document processing with AI

Artificial intelligence

While Artificial Intelligence (AI) has gained traction with enterprises in other industries, insurance providers have been slower to adopt. In 2016, research by Deloitte noted that less than 2 percent of insurance companies were currently investing in artificial intelligence technologies.

This same research noted that overall funding in AI development was projected to reach $47 billion by 2020. Today, as AI has become prevalent, more and more insurance companies are looking for advanced solutions that will help them effectively process their repositories of day-to-day paperwork and the unstructured data they contain. Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) platform solutions that leverage AI technology are uniquely positioned to help these companies realize significant gains.

Continue reading

IObit Uninstaller 11 lands with permission management, Windows 11 support and more

Just about every computer in use around the world has a hard drive that contains at least some software that isn’t used or needed. You can, of course, remove apps you don't want by using the Apps & features section of Settings, but this is not guaranteed to get rid of every last trace of any given app.

And this is precisely why software unsinstallers like IObit Uninstaller 11 are so valuable. This tool monitors installations so it knows exactly which files have been added or changed, making it much easier to completely remove apps during uninstallation.

Continue reading

5 questions to consider before choosing an app platform

If you have an idea for an app, the first significant consideration is which app platform to use.

Both Android and iOS have positive growth potential, so there’s no need to be concerned about the platform’s longevity, but there are a few factors to consider, including app performance, budget, audience reach, and platform security.

Continue reading

© 1998-2024 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.