How Color Influences Web Design Success

About When Planning A New ECommerce Website

The modern website design process is much more complicated than it used to be. Out of the various things you have to take into account, color combination choice is definitely something that has to be seriously considered. This is mainly because people are always susceptible to colors at a subconscious level. Color choice can create a highly positive impact for the visitors that will end up staying longer. The exact opposite is also the case. One of the main reasons why colors have to be properly chosen is to keep people on a site for a longer period of time. This helps you to increase the possibility of making a sale or convincing the visitor to do something. Every single web design and branding agency out there will spend time to choose colors that bring in the desired results.

Determining Service/Product Sold

This is one of the first steps taken by design agencies when choosing colors. For instance, when you sell green products you do not want to use colors like orange or red. Earth tones and green versions are much better. Choose those colors that will match service or product offered.

Target Audience Focus

As you think about what color should be chosen for the website you have to always consider target audiences. Colors used for products that have elderly focus would not be really effective for those that are younger. Extremely bright colors like yellow, red or blue causes the appearance of eye fatigue so visitors would be driven away.

The Background Color

Backgrounds can be of all the desired colors but the truth is that something really simple as white is always a very good idea. Sometimes you can go for something else but only when the contrast is not causing eye fatigue. Obviously, when you go for white background one of the best possible color options for text is black. People are always used to read black text so this makes everything familiar.

Using Colors Relative To Highlighted Products

While proper research is normally needed to make a good choice, the following colors are often recommended in specific situations:

  • Red – This color is powerful and attractive, making it perfect for sites that sell products for children. It is also really good when added to CTAs because it will invoke emotions.
  • Orange – The color is very good in the sites that are promoting foods. This is because it will promote increased creativity and positive thinking. It will appeal to younger adults. Various technical companies are using orange right now.
  • Yellow – The color will signify creativity and cheerfulness, being highly appealing for leisure products and children based sites. The problem with it is that it will strain eyes so you are much better to use it as accent color.
  • Green – Green will be pleasing for your eyes and can be very good for the tourism sites or those connected to nature. We should know that green does symbolize wealth and prosperity. It will promote trust and stands out as a highly corporate and trendy color.
  • Black – Really useful for websites connected to art and photography.
  • Blue – The color is conservative and promotes trust while relaxing your nervous system. You can use it for the websites that feature high tech products and can even be useful for products aimed for dieting. Do not use blue for text since the human eye will have problems reading it.
  • Purple – Can be quite useful for vacation sites and religious sites.

Social Media Marketing: Driving Traffic to Your Website

“I use social media as an idea generator, trend mapper and strategic compass for all of our online business ventures.” – Paul Barron

Not only is social media an idea generator (according to Paul Barron), it is also a good way to leverage social influence to drive traffic to your website. The results of a 2015 study conducted by Pew Research Centre found that 72% of adult internet users have active Facebook profiles. Furthermore, 70% of Facebook users check their news feeds once a day while 43% of these users log on several times every day.  Additionally, a 2016 Hubspot study found that the consumption of Facebook content has increased by 57% since 2014.

Social media marketing (SMM) versus social influence

Before we look at ways to leverage (SMM) to drive traffic to your company website, let’s take a look at its specific meaning:

In its simplest form, social media marketing is a “form of Internet marketing that utilises social networking websites as a marketing tool.” Additionally, its primary aim is to “produce content that users will share with their social network to help a company increase brand exposure and broaden customer reach.

Furthermore, social influence or influencer marketing is a form of marketing that focuses on particular persons or personas (individual types) rather than the whole target audience. In other words, influencer marketing “identifies the individuals that have influence over potential buyers and orients marketing activities around these influencers.”

SMM: driving traffic to your website

If we assume, for the purposes of this article, that you own and manage a reliable auto transport company, the question that you will likely be asking is how can you increase your sales figures, and your bottom line by increasing your brand’s target audience?

The good news is that there are several ways to increase the number of visitors to your website:

Contract a motorsport personality as a brand ambassador

As you own a motor vehicle carrier, it makes sense to engage with one of the top Indianapolis 500 drivers to act as your brand ambassador; thus, endorsing your company as their chosen car carrier. The net result of this action will be that all of their fans and the people that are in their social circle will see your company as the go-to brand for transporting vehicles around the country.

Support a social cause

Consumers respond to companies who support social causes, especially if they are to the benefit of society as a whole. A good case that an auto transport company can back is a national road safety campaign. Ergo, your target audience will see you as a company that places a high priority on traffic safety. Therefore, they will be more likely to offer you their business.

Engage with your target audience

People, especially social media followers and users love to be asked their opinion on important matters such as traffic safety, etc. Therefore, create posts that are engaging as well as those that encourage users to respond and offer comments on issues that are relevant to your business and its industry.

How to Start a Gaming Website

Online gaming has been growing since its origin in Antigua and Barbuda in the year 1994; when online casinos were first offered licenses. Although Microgaming was the sole software developer at the time, the industry has come of age. Many developers exist today, and the various gaming websites have their developers and game providers. The popularity of this phenomenon has swelled as well with customers joining each day. These users subscribe to enjoy table, card and arcade slot games. An example is the Dolphin Treasure slot game offered online.

Factors to Consider

To kick-start this lucrative business, there are due processes to follow that lead to a successful gaming website. The following are the parameters an interested investor should put into considerations.

  1. Explore the Industry

A little of research before engaging in a venture does not hurt. Before breaking ground in starting an internet gambling website, you should first review the industry as a whole. Identify the major players, the pros and cons, and the basic requirements. Seek advice from experts as well. Through this manner, you will be well armed with a powerful tool; information. You will have begun on a good footing, and your trek to success will have few obstacles.

  1. Acquiring a License

Regardless of the region, you desire to establish your online casino; it is paramount to obtain a license to operate. Well-known regions offering legitimate licenses include:

  • Malta
  • United Kingdom
  • Antigua and Barbuda
  • Cyprus

Licenses give you the green light to conduct betting operations in that jurisdiction. On top of that, you will gain credibility among the masses.

  1. Website Design

As a host to online punters, your website should be standard at least, if not better. This is because it will be the primary platform for most operations. These including providing many games to users, holding data and passing information to clients. As such, the web design process should be conducted with these factors in mind:

  • Visual Appeal

The first impression more often than not, determines whether a client chooses or overlooks a website. Artistic creativity should be incorporated on your homepage. This visual appeal will strike many customers who will be more interested in exploring the website further.

  • User-friendliness

In as much as the website should be attractive, sophistication must be avoided. You are not targeting all-knowing programmers or fashion icons but normal gamblers are seeking to simply bet and win. Therefore, the interface should be simple to navigate and use. Command buttons are clearer when the font is big enough to see and vivid enough to read. Also, too many buttons can overcrowd the space hence moderation is the mantra.

  • Security

Gamblers and internet users as a whole are really concerned about how secure the information they share on websites are. Their location, personal details, passwords, and banking information must be your priority. First, you must secure your website with end-to-end encryption. Obtaining the Secure Sockets Layer certificate (SSL) will raise your profile. The lock symbol on a user’s address bar in whichever browser gives him the confirmation that their vital information is private and confidential. Backing this up with secondary digital security certificates is an added advantage.

  • Speed

Nothing nags more than a website that is infected with bugs and hangs from time to time. A gamer’s nightmare is forfeiting a bet midgame because of an error-strewn website. Strive to make your website to offer smooth sailing to all users.

  • Customer Service

Ultimately, it is the one on one interaction with your subscribers that will determine whether you get to keep or lose them. Providing a telephone helpline, support email address and even a Live Chat feature that works 24/7 ensures customers’ needs are satisfied. Also, it is advisable to use real people (typically replying immediately) other than bots in engaging clients.

  1. Find a Reputable Software Provider

Having achieved all that, the gaming provider you select must be among the best. Tasked with providing and updating the online casino games, your software provider should also update and maintain the website. Some of the many software developers in the game include:

  • NetEnt
  • Microgaming
  • Playtech
  • Aristocrat
  • Bally
  • IGT

These and other notable companies should avail online casino games such as roulette, baccarat, slots, and poker among others. Of course, it all boils down to your preferences thus the ultimate choice lies with you.

  1. Establish Payment Methods

The desire by gamblers to play for real money and for your online casino to benefit as well requires you to set up a form of payment method. Cash flow involves the deposit of stakes and withdrawal of winnings. The good thing is that multiple payment methods can be employed putting regional currency and time factor into consideration. Players prefer faster transactions. These methods may be:

  • Direct Bank Transfers
  • Credit/Debit cards
  • e-wallets

You may also accommodate the digital currencies such as Bitcoin to expand your customer base.

  1. Running Traffic for Marketing Purposes

Numbers are chiefly vital in this competitive market. You will have to use social media as a medium to run traffic to your homepage using banners and ads. Create attractive ads that lead new users to your website. Also, employ the services of bloggers and marketing affiliates to widen your reach. Among the items you can market, are bonuses, loyalty points, free games and popular casino games on your website. In no time, you will be generating the required clicks leading to sign-ins.

Conclusively, setting up a gaming website involves research, licensing, website design, finding good game developers and setting up a banking method. Marketing the product comes in the end.

Most Wanted Drone Simulators that are Real RC Controller Compatible

You just got your new drone and can’t wait to take it out for a spin, we know that feeling. But, if this is your first drone ever, before storming out in the open and taking off, it might be a smart move to try a drone simulator first and get used to your brand new drone controller. This way, you will skip that maiden flight crashes that might kill your enthusiasm and make you forget all about this amazing hobby after seeing the repair bills.

Now, what you need to know is that, when it comes to drone simulators, you can find two main types:

  • For FPV Racing
  • For training with camera drones and camera controls

The first type is designed to help you get familiar how racing drones function and how to fly without all those fancy flight assisting sensors and to get used to flying in FPV.

The second type helps you get familiar with how flying with self leveling, altitude hold and a bunch of other systems feels like, and to know how to control the camera while the drone does most of the flying.

Important to mention, is that all the simulators we included in this post, allow the use of your RC transmitter and that you will need a special gadget known as the PCTx, in order to connect your transmitter with the simulator. Of course, there are other ways to make that connection and google can help a lot with that. Furthermore, most of these simulators allow the use of game controllers as well, so if you haven’t bought your drone and the transmitter yet, you can get the taste of drone piloting by simply downloading the simulator and connecting it with your PS, Xbox, or PC game controller.

If you don’t have any of the mentioned and still are eager to give it a go, we can tell you that you can use the keyboard and the mouse as well, but you will have to be an octopus to be able to reach all the controls and fly the drone properly.

But, enough chit-chat, let’s get started with the simulator reviews.

DRL Drone Racing Simulator

This drone simulator is the most wanted one of them all. It is actually the official Drone Racing League sim and they have used it for this year’s World Championship pre-qualifying. It is, however, still in its beta phase, but even so, it still offers the best, most polished physics and feeling among every free sim available.

Once you have downloaded it, you will have a chance to fly around the courses that quite authentic and are used in the real competition. The courses that are outdoors are great and offer plenty of excitement, but the full charm of the game comes into the spotlight with the indoor courses, when the LED glowing drones and  the neon lights throughout the course irresistibly remind us of the legendary Wipeout video game.

The rules are the same as in real races, and you get scores based on completion times and checkpoint combination, while the drone models you choose in the game are hard-core customizable, as are your racing opponent models.

The DRL is compatible with both RC controllers and your good old faithful console controllers. Also, the simulator does support the keyboard, but when we tried to test it, we didn’t manage to get the sim to detect hardware. Our guess? You need the smooth controlling ability of the controller’s sticks in order to control the drone as hitting the keys on your keyboard repeatedly to make those fine, midair adjustments is simply impossible. On the other hand, if this sound too complicated for you, you might also get more familiar with some of the drone models that can be controlled with android devices,  and also offer in app simulators so you won’t even need an RC transmitter.

 Hotprops

This is a drone simulator that offers full handling control for those who are racing beginners, yet, is quite stylishly designed. Like the DRL simulator, this one is in beta stage as well, and is free to download and use, fully, without any restrictions.

With the Unity Game engine, this advanced physics simulator’s goal is to provide, as close as possible, the FPV racing experience. Furthermore, the sim allows you to fully adjust the parameters so that the drone behaves as it would in real life. You will notice that a huge degree of granularity with the settings, and how moving each button and slider affects the drone’s flight characteristics when you take off.

Also worth mentioning is the fact that the developers of the Hotprops sim are regularly updating it, and they are removing, adjusting, and adding features as the feedback from testers and users come in. The downside of this is that you might experience long wait-times from time to time (when ever an update is available) and it can take up to half an hour sometimes. Also, you need to know that even if you aren’t planning on using the multiplayer mode to test your piloting skills vs. random strangers or friends that also use this sim, an internet connection is still going to be needed for course downloading.

As for the sim itself, we have nothing but words of praise for it as flight physics are unbelievably smooth and realistic, and the graphics are nice-looking. Furthermore, you can test your piloting skills on numerous courses, which are actually quite different from each other, allowing you not to get bored and have plenty of fun.

3. Real Drone Simulator

Tons of fun and plenty of real models, as well as plenty of features coming our way soon.

This simulator is still an early release that is testable and there are still some things that need some polishing, but it still looks more than promising even without the ability to use all the features and courses. However, it will only become better as the developers claim that they will keep it free for playing and that more features will become available soon.

Now, unlike the first two simulators, where you have the computer generated VR environment as your training field, the Real Drone Simulator comes with an option that allows you to fly in the “Real World” that is based on Google Earth.

Before taking off, for each area you plan on flying in, you can actually check the difficulty profile. This includes the size of the given area and the strength of the wind. This will allow you to adjust your controls and drone settings to get the best out each flight, but keep in mind that this sim is still just for the fun of the flying and getting used to drone controls and that the final version of this sim will come with the option of starting a “Career” and racing against other pilots, online.

Now for the controls. With this sim, you will be able to use RC transmitters that allow USB connection, Gamepads, or, if you have an extra pair of hands, a keyboard and a mouse.

Also worth mentioning is that the Real-Team, the developers of the Real Drone Simulator,  have some rather ambitious plans for this sim in the near future. Namely, they plan on adding aerial filming and photography missions, as well as DRL style, international championships. Their sim already offers some racing drones that are licensed, but their plan is to get in touch with some of the biggest racing drone manufacturers and ask for permission to use their models for the beta version of the Real Drone Simulator.

How a Data Recovery Plan can save your Business

One of the biggest problems your company can have is a computer system failure. With so many things dependent on computers, it is hard to imagine having to work without them. Such a failure would mean you would not be able to process your orders, arrange to ship or communicate except by telephone.

How you prepare for such an occurrence is important, even if you think it will never happen. You need to plan for the worst possible scenario, that way, you will have everything covered should trouble arise.

What do you need?

Firstly, you need to think about how your data affects your business. If you lost all your data, would it irretrievably damage your company? You can decide what parts of your data are the most important and plan a different strategy for that data.

How will the loss damage your approach to your competition? If your data is the only thing that separates you from them, then you will need to think about how to deal with that scenario.

What are the risks?

You need to consider how your data could become damaged or even lost. What could happen to your computer systems or your servers that would cause such a disaster? It is an important step because you will then be able to look at the possible causes and try to develop a plan to stop it from happening.

Make a note of all the possible ways from fire, virus, water damage and electrical failure. How can you try to cover your business against these threats?

Can your data be recovered?

If all your data was lost, do you have backup systems that can recover the information and enable you to resume your business? If you do not have such fallbacks, then you should be looking at ways you can address the problem. If you have a lot of data to recover, one way would be to back it up to a cloud server. That way, it would be separate from your server and wouldn’t be affected by the cause of the failure.

How will you recover the data?

When you have developed your plan, you need to consider how you will recover the data if your plan does not work. You will need to resort to contacting an outside company to help fix your problems. There are many expert Secure Data Recovery Services who can help recover your data, even when you think it has been terminally lost.

How long can you go without your data?

One crucial question that you need to ask yourself is how long your business can survive without its data? It is a big issue because you need to be able to recover your data before your business stops functioning.

Of course, the amount of time will vary depending on the company and the data it uses; this is why it is crucial to analyze your data to find understand the timeframe you must work within.

With a plan in place and all the possible problems identified, you will be in the best possible place to prevent any data loss.

Qualities to Look for in a Design Intern

Consumers spend five hours each day on their smartphones. Much of this time is devoted to browsing brand websites, searching for product information, and just under 2 hours each day is devoted to perusing social media feeds. Essentially, consumers are bombarded with images and videos all day long. They have become expert at assessing the quality of a photograph or design within a split second. Furthermore, because of this incessant barrage of imagery, many consumers think visually. Shoppers, today, don’t want to spend extra time reading through product descriptions and analysis; instead, they want to be able to accurately assess quality through strong imagery. The constant exposure to photography and videos has made  branded visual content more significant than ever.

In an effort to meet the increasing visual demands of industry standards, many organizations are boosting their design departments by adding interns. Contrary to the old-school approach of bringing on interns to make coffee and organize mail, these positions are intended to bring value and fresh perspectives to a team’s visual creative content strategy. Because of these specific intentions and goals, organizations cannot simply blindly select resumes from a pile. Instead, they have to find marketing interns who can not only handle the demands of a fast-moving department, but can also offer their own unique design ideas and persuasions. Here are 3 criteria for assessing design intern candidates.

Interesting Social Media Pages

Design intern candidates are likely still undergraduate students with minimal professional experience. Although these kids may not have built brands and projects for professional clients yet, they (likely) have work examples to show in the form of their own social media accounts. Design intern applicants came of age with social media accounts, which means they are highly comfortable with creating and distributing content that represents themselves. To get a sense of the range of their design skills, as well as their taste, you can ask to see content examples from their personal social media feeds, including stylized event and wedding photos, hand-drawn illustrations, travel photography, or stop-motion videos.

Proficiency of Basic Design Tools

Most likely your design team is already slammed with work on a daily basis and won’t have time to walk interns through basic design programs. When you’re interviewing potential candidates, be sure to ask them specific questions about their experience and comfortability with programs like Photoshop and Illustrator. If candidates can bring in academic portfolios showcasing their work on these programs you’ll gain an even better understanding of the range of their skills and experience levels.

Awareness of Design Trends

Like fashion and food, there are always emerging design trends on the horizon. Even if your company owns a strong visual identity that you are not looking to evolve or veer away from, interns who demonstrate an in-depth awareness of happenings in the design field show a commitment to a field. If a candidate is truly passionate about design, and excited about the prospect of working for a real-design team, they will likely have studied on their own. For interns, enthusiasm and passion often translates to hard-work on the job. Furthermore, if your team is small and there’s a chance the intern will be in a client-facing situation, you want to feel confident that they will possess the awareness and knowledge to speak to clients and customers about design decisions and projects in an educated fashion.

There’s an abundance of resources intended to guide students through the process of landing their first internships. But it’s just as important for companies to prepare and invest time strategizing an intern’s place on a team. With proper planning and vetting, the right interns can offer cutting-edge visual insight and invaluable project support to take your designs to the next level.

DDoS attacks evolving from child’s play to major political targets

Even with how much attention DDoS attacks have garnered in the last few years for the immense amount of devastation they cause, the average observer would be forgiven for not quite grasping the seriousness of the situation.

While high-profile victims like the Sony PlayStation Network, the Xbox Live network, Twitter, Reddit and online gaming platforms including Steam, Blizzard and League of Legends are undoubtedly huge and their outages caused major disruptions for millions of users around the world, these targets lack a certain gravitas. Putting aside the economic impact of these attacks, it was easy enough for many to shrug and figure the script kiddies were welcome to duke it out over their precious video games and social media using DDoS.

The warnings have abounded for a while, however: websites big and small, professional and hobbyist, serious and not are all potential targets, and one of the current trends in DDoSing is proof of that, with major global institutions and political power players buckling under these attacks. The script kiddies have made room, and big-time attackers are taking aim.

Activist roots

When DDoS attacks first burst onto the scene they weren’t known as a revenge tool for gamers, or a means of rabble-rousing online. They were a whole lot more serious than that. In fact, one of the first distributed denial of service or DDoS attacks to gain widespread attention took place back in 1995 when an Italian activist group took down the website of the government of France in protest of France’s nuclear policy.

From there, a group called the Electronic Disturbance Theatre grabbed hold of the idea of DDoS as protest and built a DDoS tool that allowed anyone with a computer and internet connection to join in on these so-called virtual sit-ins, targeting the White House website as well as the sites of a number of American politicians.

As the internet grew almost exponentially, so too did the potential effects of cyberattacks that took down websites and left users fuming.

Driven by dollars

A certain segment of cyberattackers came to realize that with the popularity of social media, website users that were angry about an outage now had a soapbox on which to stand. DDoS attacks on online gaming platforms and the like may have started out simply being for the ‘lulz,’ with an end result of thousands of angry users airing their grievances on Twitter, but as the groups behind the attacks gained internet infamy, they saw the opportunity to cash in.

Distributed denial of service attacks used to exact revenge on companies or to carve out an advantage against competing websites began to emerge, putting money in the pockets of those who could launch them. Groups like the Lizard Squad were thinking bigger, however. Using the publicity gained from the social media outcry caused by DDoS outages, they and other groups launched DDoS for hire services, making money from the average person who wants to launch an attack but doesn’t have the know-how to do it on their own.

Average people using DDoS for hire services, in turn, got the bright idea to start targeting random small websites and businesses with DDoS ransom notes, demanding payment in return for not launching attacks. Between the ransom notes and for-hire services those pervasive script kiddie attacks are, in fact, a cottage industry, one that put DDoS attacks back in the spotlight.

Coming full circle

Thanks to enterprising cyberattackers, DDoS attacks are now two main things: highly disruptive, and capable of gaining a lot of attention. For those looking to get serious with these attacks once again, financial incentive is irrelevant. The disruption and attention is more than enough.

To that end, government websites, politicians and other global organizations have found themselves staring down the barrel of powerful distributed denial of service attacks, some launched by hacktivist groups, and some reportedly state-sponsored, with Russia, China and North Korea coming up frequently in allegations. In just the last few years, a citizen-led push for democracy in Hong Kong had its website repeatedly targeted, the Brexit voter registration website was hit and left tens of thousands of people unable to register as voters, and both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton saw their presidential candidacy websites knocked offline as a result of DDoS attacks. These are just a few notable political incidents among hundreds.

One of the latest seemingly politically-motivated targets is the Al Jazeera Media Network. Based in Qatar, Al Jazeera began suffering both hackings and DDoS attacks in early June as other Persian Gulf nations including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt severed both economic and diplomatic ties with Qatar in the current Gulf crisis.

A versatile weapon

It’s hard to predict where DDoS attacks will go from here, but with these attacks serving as a weapon for so many different types of attackers against so many types of targets, two things are certain: these attacks won’t be easing up any time soon, and just about every website on the internet – no matter how big or small – is a potential target, and those without professional DDoS protection are sure to suffer the very public consequences.

Top Tools to Secure Your Business

You’ve worked long and hard to build up your business into a successful enterprise, so it stands to reason that you would protect your business as best you can. This includes physical theft and cyber theft, that could potentially cost you serious amounts of money in damage, downtime and the embarrassment of some cybercrime.

Here we look at the best prevention techniques, how to teach yourself and your staff to be more savvy to the threats out there, and some services that need to be thought about whether you are a small, medium or large-scale business.

Be Savvy

In the majority of cases, security breaches in your business will come from the actions of you or your staff being tricked into opening emails or unwittingly giving out information. Cybercrime has developed over the years into a sophisticated operation to dupe as many people as possible. Phishing emails – sent to get readers to click on a link directing them to a website that will capture personal information that can be used to extort money, or to download a PDF that contains a virus – are common, so it’s best to educate your staff to recognise these emails.

Some key things to warn your staff about of include:

Passwords – When employees use short and easy-to-crack passwords, this makes the hackers work very easy to do. If your employees are also using the same passwords across several accounts, this is another red flag. Educate your staff to create long passwords with a mixture of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters.

Emails – The key thing with emails is to be cautious of unknown senders. These top tips from Which? are a great start to re-education in your business:

  • Check the ‘from’ address – a scam email usually has a bizarre email address behind what looks like a genuine sender name.
  • Is it personal? – Although some scam emails are getting better at including people’s names, most are still using ‘Hi’ or ‘Hello’.
  • Contact information and dates – Does the signature look legit? Hover over the website address(es) to see where it links to.
  • Check branding – Keep an eye on the quality of branded logos. Does it match the last genuine email you received from them?
  • Is the linked website legitimate? – Open a new tab and do a search for the company sending the email. Does its website have the same URL address?

A training day on cyber security every so often could be the best move you make to secure your business from fraudulent scams.

Back Up

Another key issue is to back up all the work your business does. The most common, and advisable, course of action is to use cloud computing – also known as ‘the cloud’ – which is delivery on-demand computing resources.

To take this on yourself is expensive and time-consuming, described in a recent BBC article as ‘chewing up IT resources’. If you can outsource this hardware and software to a specialist tech company, this will free up time and resources for you to focus on the business areas that can increase your profit margin.

The article also discusses the worries of giving up your data to a third party, and that even though you are trusting another company to look after your security, the data is still your responsibility. So do not get complacent – make sure you are keeping your business as security conscious as possible.

Security Breach

If the worst should happen and your company experiences a security breach, there a few things to keep in mind including dealing with the problem itself, and preventing this breach from happening again.

Protection – To give your computer systems the best protection available, be sure to look into installing some decent antivirus programs. Once you have these, it is up to you to make sure your systems are regularly up to date with the latest version of antivirus.

Servings as a sentry to your network, firewalls give that extra layer of protection to your sensitive business information and contacts. Your business may include holding the personal information of others. If you do not protect it sufficiently, your reputation could be at stake.

Make sure that the latest operating system is being used on your computers. Developers add in new protections with each version, so you are best to have everything up to date.

Ransomware – A malicious software that blocks access to the victim’s data or gives a threat to delete the data or publish it to cause embarrassment. Until a ransom is paid to the hackers, the threat remains.

This type of attack is personal and causes lots of stress to the person or business affected. There are several types of ransomware out there, including a ransomware attack pyramid scheme that gives victims the chance to get out of paying a ransom if they send a scam email on to people they know.

If you are affected by this type of cybercrime, there are companies on hand to deal with the breach and stop this threat from happening again. One of the best ransomware removal services is Monster Cloud. The company can also do some testing to see how secure your systems are by trying to hack them – an excellent preventative measure.

Interesting Apps Slated To Launch In 2017

Each year there are thousands of new innovative apps developed for smartphone users. There are apps made for both Apple and Android devices, some of which are exclusively designed to work with either format. Below you will find a list of some of the most exciting apps for 2017.

AutoSet is a convenient app that works with your device preferences. This app automatically adjusts functions of your phone when certain apps are opened. For example, you can set your Wifi to turn off automatically when you open your Facebook app, or vice versa. AutoSet works like a task management service, effectively functioning as a power use app. For people who are constantly on their phone, battery life is something to take note of. AutoSet works for task-oriented people who want to be in control of their phone’s power. The app costs $1.59 and doesn’t feature any in-app purchases.

Panna Recipes is a comprehensive cooking app that boasts a wide catalogue of video recipes. These recipes are taught by over 40 renowned chefs. Users have access to hundreds of videos through a searchable database. Search options include your dietary interests and more. There is also a write-in feature that allows you to edit recipes with some unique ideas of your own and a shopping list feature where you can make your grocery list. The app has a subscription fee of $39.99 per year, but users can try it out for free for 30 days.

Not all apps are native to the App Stores. In some cases, websites utilize their own development teams to make mobile-optimized applications that can be accessed via mobile browsers. For example, there are several reputable online gambling sites launching various forms of real money betting apps. Most App Stores do not offer real money gambling apps. These apps are free to use, rarely require a download and offer various gambling options, bonus incentives and more. You can find a list of available real money gambling apps at http://www.realmoneybettingapps.com/.

This next app will be a lifesaver if you live in a big city. SpotAngels is a free app that remembers where you parked your car. There are other parking apps, but SpotAngels also gives you parking information in the area. The app is supported in over 20 cities and building outward. SpotAngels uses crowdsourcing to build on their parking database by allowing users to add parking information in the form of pictures of parking signs and other rules. With SpotAngels, parking hassles are becoming a thing of the past. You can help yourself avoid traffic tickets and leave your car with peace of mind that you will be able to find it again.

Understanding the GDPR: what it is, to whom it applies and what it means for data security

While not every IT-related update is a welcome one, some are heralded – especially if they’re approximately ten years overdue. Such is the case with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), legislation intended to fortify data protection for individuals within the European Union. This legislation replaces the Data Protection Directive, legislation that was written in 1995 and last updated in 2003 – prior to the invention of major data holders Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and back before online shopping was a weekly or even daily reality for many people.

Just because it was about time for new legislation doesn’t mean it’s smooth sailing for everyone, though. The heightened protection individuals are now allotted under the law comes with many data security considerations for companies involved in controlling or processing data.

The ABCs of GDPR

The most important thing to know is to whom the new legislation applies. As expected, the GDPR applies to all companies either controlling data in the EU or processing data in the EU. International companies are by no means off the hook, however. If the data is either controlled or processed by an organization originates from an individual physically in the EU, whether a resident or a visitor, the GDPR applies, no matter where in the world that data is being controlled or processed. The GDPR even applies to websites collecting personal data if the data is collected from a person who is physically in the EU when the data is collected.

The second most important thing to know is what constitutes personal or consumer data under this legislation. It’s any data that could help identify someone – dates of birth, passwords, PINs, social security numbers, email addresses, location data, IP addresses and information on physical characteristics including gender, age, race and many more.

Also essential to be aware of is the date this new legislation will be enforced – May 25, 2018 – and that even if an organization is not responsible for a data leak or the sharing of data with unauthorized third parties, say in the event of a hacking, the organization from which the data was stolen is still liable and could be hit with anything from a written warning to a fine of 20 million EUR or up to 4% of the annual worldwide turnover of the preceding financial year for enterprises  – a potentially fatal blow.

Playing by the rules

When it comes to data security, there are five key points in the GDPR. They are as follows:

  1. Technical and organizational measures. Under the new legislation, companies that act as data controllers are required to take technical and organizational measures to ensure that personal data cannot be attributed to an identified or identifiable person. This may mean using a technique such as data masking, otherwise known as pseudonymization, which maintains data format but changes the data.

Data controllers also have to be careful to process only the data needed for the specific processing that is being completed. (Article 25 in the GDPR)

  1. Data security requirements. Both controllers and processors are required to implement technical measures to prevent breach, taking into account the state of the costs, and purpose, context, nature and scope of the processing as well as the risk to the individual attached to the data. These measures must be implemented:
  • For the masking and encryption of personal data
  • To ensure processing systems are confidential, resilient and available
  • To enable access to data. This includes restored access following an incident.
  • To regularly test technologies and processes that protect data (Article 32)
  1. Notification of data breaches to the regulator. When a data breach is discovered, the processor must notify the controller without undue delay, and the controller must then notify the appropriate regulator within 72 hours. If the 72-hour deadline cannot be met, the controller must be able to provide reasons for this. Notifications must include the nature of the breach, number of persons affected, number of records, type of data affected, potential consequences of the breach, measures either proposed or taken to mitigate the data breach, and the name and contact information for the organization’s data protection officer. This information can be provided in stages in order to facilitate faster notification. (Article 33)
  2. Notification of data breaches to the affected individual. Controllers must notify the individuals affected by a data breach without undue delay in the event that there is a high risk to the individuals’ rights and freedoms. The notification must include the same information as provided to the regulator, but it must be easy to understand. (Article 34)
  3. Data protection impact assessment. Controllers are required to perform a data protection impact assessment whenever a new processing technology or data process is introduced and could result in a high risk to individuals’ rights and freedoms.

GDPR readiness

To begin to prepare to comply with the GDPR, organizations need to examine the type of data they either process or store, where it’s stored, and determine its risk profile. Following that, the data flow needs to be examined as well as all possible access points.

Organizations also need to assess their existing data protection policies and procedures, perform a gap analysis relating to the new requirements, and address the gaps through resources, technology, processes and contracts. There is nearly a year left in the transition period preceding the May 2018 beginning date for enforcement, and though it may feel onerous for some organizations, it’s not a bad period of time considering how long ago these measures ought to have been enacted.