E-Business
Looking For Agility “As A Service”
The drive for improved agility and more rapid deployment of services is a main concern for business leaders across virtually all industry sectors.
For their part, IT decision-makers are under increased pressure to make sure business solutions can deliver on these ambitions.
In its latest “Business Value Scorecard”, Forrester found that business leaders increasingly measure success by comparing what percentage of their IT-spend actually fuels innovation to how much just helps “keep the lights on”.
This view of success is undoubtedly a large driver behind the rapid rise of cloud computing in the past few years, and why the technology has today joined the enterprise’s formal IT portfolio.
In its many forms, the technology offers businesses a gateway to improved agility.
To add to this, vendors’ cloud offerings today have at once become more varied and more granular, which means discerning companies can pick and choose exactly from a large menu of business solutions to suit their needs.
The public cloud, in particular, has become popular with businesses seeking a cost-effective means to reduce their time-to-market for new services or quickly deliver crucial add-ons to customers using their existing offerings.
With customer satisfaction scores now serving as a measure of success for IT initiatives, it’s hardly surprising that the market for Software-as-Service (SaaS) cloud solutions is set to expand by 17 per cent each year up to 2018.
The public cloud has already earned a reputation as an enabler of service agility in a number of fields, with the healthcare industry serving as a prime example of this.
According to a recent survey, 67 per cent of healthcare institutions use SaaS cloud-based applications.
What’s just as notable, however, is what these organizations expect from the cloud. 45 per cent of respondents cited “speed to deploy new services” as a top measure of the cloud’s value to their business.
This fell only slightly behind the top measure – “improving technological capabilities” – which is of course the central purpose of any technology investment.
SaaS cloud solutions area also leading the pack in this regard by helping mid-sized businesses and expansion-oriented larger companies gain agility in the pursuit of their growth ambitions.
As they become more successful, businesses will need to build on the breadth and functionality of their IT systems.
SaaS applications allow organizations to very quickly make scale-appropriate upgrades and implement expansion packages developed specifically for their needs.
As a result, they can make the jump to the “next level” without the high costs and growing pains that have traditionally accompanied these expansions.
Of course, companies will continue to consume the cloud in different ways depending on their needs.
For example, while many financial institutions and government bodies do make wide use of SaaS, others may have specific requirements that make an in-house cloud platform more appropriate for some applications.
That being said, business agility takes many forms. By taking advantage of the variety of cloud platforms available to them today companies can actually gain a great deal of flexibility when launching new services.
Because SaaS applications from established vendors are built on the same heritage and technologies as those traditionally developed for in-house IT systems, companies can seamlessly transition between a public and private structure as they see fit.
Business leaders eager to launch new services quickly to stay ahead of the market can roll these out in the cloud in a matter of weeks, and then move them in-house if they want to keep valuable data or processes out of the public domain down the line.
The truth is that the debate over which cloud platform – SaaS, Infrastructure-as-a-Service, or one of the many other options available – is creating a lot of noise but has in fact become a moot point.
Ultimately, business leaders will make intelligent investment decisions as they always have – first determining what pain points they want to address and then choosing whichever cloud platform and add-on services they need to address these challenges.
For example, many businesses have already begun to create their own mobile applications to empower employees to work more collaboratively and productively using their connected devices.
Applications developers need the proper tools and resource libraries to build this software, and will fuel rising demand for Platform-as-a-Service cloud solutions in the coming years.
No matter what they want to achieve with the cloud, what IT leaders will notice is that the breadth and customization options offered by vendors today present them with a seemingly unlimited range of options to choose from.
With the level of flexibility and extensibility available to them, it will be up to business leaders to choose the most suitable cloud platform for their needs, and build on their investment by developing services and add-ons that will set them apart and help them remain agile no matter what the market throws their way.
By adebayo sanni, country managing director, Oracle Nigeria
E-Business
Cybersecurity Firm Warns of Phishing Threats Targeting Telegram Premium
Kaspersky has warned that fake Telegram Premium offers have been spreading globally, targeting users with phishing scams and malware disguised as alternative app versions.
These attacks aim to steal account credentials or compromise devices. The scams capitalise on Telegram Premium’s popularity and gifting feature, making it crucial for users to remain vigilant.
Telegram Premium is a subscription that offers exclusive features, such as faster download speeds, voice-to-text conversion, premium stickers, an ad-free experience, and more. Users can gift a subscription, and scammers capitalise on this gifting feature and the Telegram Premium topic in general.
One of the tricks begins when a user receives a message that appears to come from someone in their contact list, whose account may have been hacked. The message claims: “You’ve been sent a gift — a Telegram Premium subscription”.
Below, there’s a link that looks legitimate but actually redirects the user to a phishing page, prompting them to log in to Telegram. If victims scan the code or enter their credentials, their account is immediately compromised, giving scammers access to their login details, password, and potentially their authentication code.
There are other tricks referencing the Telegram Premium theme, and not all of them necessarily start with messages on Telegram. Attackers may also use other methods to send phishing links, for example, email.
For instance, perpetrators host fake “giveaways” for Telegram Premium subscriptions. Victims are lured into participating, and in a series of steps, they are directed to a phishing site where they are prompted to enter their Telegram account credentials, ultimately resulting in their account being compromised.
Another machination involves cybercriminals sending victims an invitation to download a ZIP archive that claims to contain a version of the messenger service with a “Premium” subscription. The download link redirects users to a phishing page where they are once again asked to log in to Telegram.
Yet another fraud involves distributing malicious software disguised as an alternative version of the Telegram app with a “built-in” Premium subscription. Scammers send victims links to download APK files claiming they are modified versions of the app, but they turn out to be malware.
“Phishing schemes capitalising on the Telegram Premium topic has been observed in several languages, suggesting that the perpetrators operate globally. Even if these scams haven’t yet reached a specific region, there is a probability they could eventually make their way there.
Therefore, it’s always important to remain cautious and skeptical of offers that seem too good to be true. Additionally, make sure your Telegram security and privacy settings are up to date, and your device has a robust security solution,” advises Olga Svistunova, security expert at Kaspersky.
E-Business
FG to Add Iris Biometrics to Digital ID for more Inclusion
National Identity Management Commission of Nigeria (NIMC) has said that it is looking at ways of streamlining and expanding the rollout of digital ID in Nigeria and one of the options on the table is adding iris biometrics to its digital ID enrollment.
Iris biometrics is a biometric authentication technology that uses the unique patterns of the iris to identify a person
The hint was dropped recently by Abisoye Coker-Odusote, director general and chief executive officer, NIMC, during a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Journalism Fellowship training which took place in Abuja.
Speaking through a representative, the NIMC boss said this idea is among a litany of innovations which they are planning to introduce to the digital ID system in order to make it more inclusive, The Sun reports.
At the moment, biometric enrollment for the National Identification Number (NIN) in Nigeria involves face and fingerprints.
Adding the iris modality, according to the official, will make it possible for citizens with disabilities to be equally issued the important credential which is necessary to access a wide range of services in the country.
“We are exploring the use of iris recognition technology to cater to the specific needs of individuals with disabilities,” the representative was quoted as saying. Uganda is one other African country which has announced the addition of iris biometrics to its new generation biometric national ID card.
The NIMC CEO said despite the challenges the ID authority faces, its commitment to build an inclusive ID system and expand coverage remain unwavering.
She emphasized the important of the NIN as an essential tool in getting access to several services.
In order to streamline access to services, Odusote said they have been working tirelessly with their partners to enhance interoperability among government agencies to facilitate identity verification.
This, she says, will save Nigerians the stress of having to register many times with government agencies to obtain services.
The innovations envisaged by the NIMC are part of a broader reforms plan which aims to give the ID authority a new legislative framework for more efficient identity management.
It also comes at a time when the World Bank has extended its support for the country’s digital ID program by another two years, with a target to issue 180 million digital IDs by the close of the extension.
The Nigeria ID4D has pledged in the past to create the enabling environment to the issuance of NINs to persons living with disabilities.
A recent investigative report however suggests that many aged and physically challenged citizens in Nigeria go through tough times seeking the NIN.
Some have reportedly had their SIM cards blocked while others have been locked out of their bank accounts for their inability to register for a digital ID.
E-Business
Kaspersky Reviews Main Business Headache Related to IT Security
According to the recent Kaspersky IT Security Economics report, the majority of companies surveyed globally find the loss of productivity, securing complex tech environments, and enabling data protection to be the most concerning business issues, driven by growing IT security needs and requirements.
The Kaspersky IT Security Economics report is released every year to analyse the changes in budgets, breaches and business challenges affecting IT Security decision makers.
This report is compiled from interviews with IT and IT security professionals from organisations of different sizes and industries. The survey was carried out in 27 countries across Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, Latin America, North America, the Middle East, Turkiye and the Africa (META) region, including in Egypt, KSA, Pakistan, South Africa, Turkiye, UAE.
According to the report, downtime and lost productivity are the most concerning business problems caused by ineffective IT security, an opinion expressed by 38% of companies globally and 34% in the META region. They encounter this problem mainly because of the long-time taken to detect and remediate threats.
Data protection is another important concern that was expressed by 33% of companies globally and 34% in the META region.
Respondents were worried about this because they regularly encountered the physical loss of devices by employees and experienced leakage of data from corporate systems caused by both external and internal reasons.
Securing complex technology environments and ensuring data connectivity were also on the list of key concerns, according to 33% of respondents globally and 26% in the META region.
Among the main IT issues that cause this challenge, respondents pointed to the rising number of incidents involving non-computing connected devices and incorrect operations of cybersecurity solutions that leave systems exposed.
Additionally, difficulties in managing security across different computing platforms play a crucial role in their inability to build a reliable all-encompassing cybersecurity system.
“It is crucial for organisations to safeguard every aspect of their operations from potential breaches. Attackers no longer solely rely on zero-day exploits, as a simple click on a malicious link or a vulnerability in a contractor’s infrastructure can lead to devastating consequences.
“This underscores the idea that information security should be based on a comprehensive and systematic approach, rather than being limited to the implementation of individual point-specific measures,” comments Alexey Vovk, Information Security Director at Kaspersky.
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