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ALEXA: HOW SECURE IS MY SMART HOME?

Published

4 years ago

September 24, 2019

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By David Emm, Principal Security Researcher, Kaspersky

Baby monitors, CCTV tools and smart home devices like Amazon Alexa and Google Home are all handy additions to today’s modern home. A quarter of Britons now own one or more smart home devices, and by 2023 every home in the UK is expected to contain at least 50 of them. It is therefore becoming increasingly important for consumers to consider the dangers of IoT devices in their homes, as they could be vulnerable to criminals who could be watching or listening and waiting to attack.

During the 2018 Christmas period, the biggest spenders in the UK were families with children, and toys accounted for 31% of online purchases. Many of these toys will have connectivity built in. Yet often, little thought is given to how to secure a connected toy is. Meanwhile, items such as stairgates and child safety locks are seen as an essential part of a family home to protect children from danger. The same level of thought should be given to protecting children from connected toys and monitors from the moment they are purchased.

As connectivity continues to spread into more areas of our home and working lives, manufacturers eagerly continue to put ‘smart’ products on the market that will sell. However often they do so without ensuring that these products have sufficient security measures in place to protect the people that use them. Many of these devices, such as baby monitors, have become such as established part of our everyday lives that we often rely on them without really thinking beyond the benefits they provide. However, in today’s evolving technology landscape – and with the growing threat from cybercriminals – this way of thinking must change.

When manufacturers install voice recognition, or other smart elements, to a toy, the threat vector for consumers becomes very real, even if the device has been bought from a trusted brand. Even trusted and well-known toys such as Mattel’s Barbie were found to have potential vulnerabilities when they came onto the market.

These attacks are no longer just a theoretical possibility, they have actually taken place and left people in danger. One example is a criminal who hacked into parents’ baby monitors and threatened to kidnap a 4-month-old child.

One key security challenge that consumers face in relation to connected devices in their home is that they may not be directly affected by the actions a cybercriminal takes to compromise the device. Cybercriminals might bide their time – for example, gathering personal data, but not acting until they have everything they need, so that their attack goes unnoticed until it’s too late. In addition, cybercriminals might use the device to launch a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack on the provider of some online resource at the other side of the world.

Manufacturers must help consumers mitigate the risks of connected technology by ensuring basic security protocols – and building security into the design of smart tools, toys and other devices. Vendors must take cyber-security seriously. The government’s initiative and code of practice for the design of IoT devices is a positive step in the right direction (although I would also like to see it include some form of ‘smart-safe’ logo that can be easily identified by potential purchasers of a device..

However, the need to keep connected devices secure isn’t solely the responsibility of manufacturers. Kaspersky advises consumers to always consider the following, to ensure the safe use of their smart devices:

1. Are the extras essential?

Do you need the functionality that’s in the device you’ve just bought? If it comes with X, Y and Z, but you only really need X, disable what you don’t need, or look for a product with just the functionality you need. More functionality simply makes a product more vulnerable to a cyber-attack.

2. Look at reviews.

Has this product been reviewed – and well? Has it got a good reputation in terms of safety? If there’s a lot of negative feedback, consider whether you should invest in it at all.

3. Change default settings.

Does the device come with a default password? If it does, change it immediately. Some manufacturers of routers, for example, ship a devices with a unique key – which is something that all manufacturers should be doing. However, they aren’t yet, so consumers must get into the habit of changing default passwords quickly.

4. Will the device update itself?

The chances are that in the future, a cybercriminal will find a vulnerability that lets them compromise a new device. Check if the device you are planning to buy can be updated by the manufacturer.

5. Change your thought process.

The device might provide functionality that pre-dates the digital age – for example, baby monitors. As a result, we’re not thinking about digital security. We must all start to think about digital security, in the same way that we think about real world dangers, from the moment they buy a connected device. Consider the risks and how you can mitigate them.

Finance

Budgeting the unknown, forecasting the uncertain

Published

6 days ago

March 25, 2023

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Tarka Duhalde, Vice President, Financial Controller, IRIS Software Group

Volatility and uncertainty are still looming large. In late March the Bank of England raised interest rates from 4% to 4.25%. While many think interest rates will peak at 4.5% in Summer 2023, no one knows for sure. Likewise, no one knows what the price of fuel or the price of energy will be in six months, despite the UK not falling into a recession, as announced by the Chancellor in his Spring Budget.

Nevertheless, the high level of uncertainty will not disappear overnight, making the tasks of budgeting and forecasting even more difficult than they normally are, as there are simply so many unknown quantities at play. However, senior business leadership are continuously looking to their finance team for clarity – often asking them to generate accurate forecasts at a faster pace. In many ways, this request makes sense. After all, in a climate of uncertainty, who doesn’t want visibility?

However, generating multiple forecasts can put a lot of pressure on already-overworked finance teams. What’s more, when it comes to budgeting and forecasting, speed and accuracy can be at odds with each other. Too often, finance teams feel they have to choose between turning around an accurate forecast at a slower pace or a less accurate forecast at a quicker pace. Obviously, neither option is ideal.

That said, hope is not lost. If the right tools are in place, it is possible to turn around accurate forecasts at a rapid pace.

Eliminate guesswork and assumptions

Businesses and finance teams should want their forecasts to be as close to reality as possible. Yes, forecasts are about predicting the future, but they’re not magic, they’re science.

Tarka Duhalde

There are many ways to generate an accurate forecast, but the first step should always include cutting out wishful thinking, guesswork, and assumptions. If this isn’t done, businesses run the risk of inaccuracies. The ‘single truth’ is the goal and a wildly conservative forecast is just as incorrect as a wildly optimistic forecast.

Instead of relying on wishful thinking, guesswork, and assumptions, finance teams and businesses should base their forecasting on robust quantitative and qualitative techniques, including strong research, reliable data, and facts. As well as assessing the accuracy of previous budgets and forecasts, looking at the business’ historical data, checking the latest industry analysis, and seeing how the competition is doing. All of this will help get forecasts as close to reality as possible.

Embrace artificial intelligence

In addition, businesses should consider investing in automation, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning as the right tools will be less error-prone than humans. On top of this, they can help with eliminating conscious and unconscious bias and will spot data patterns finance teams cannot. They can also vastly reduce cycle times – freeing up team members’ time to focus on adding strategic value.

It is crucial to remember, the aim is not to replace employees with AI tools, rather the ultimate goal is for AI to work with people – helping to optimise the budgeting and forecasting process.

What’s more, the tools are only going to get more sophisticated as time goes on. Businesses and finance teams should seriously consider getting ahead of the curve and adopt these technologies sooner rather than later.

Adopt rolling forecasts

Instead of finance teams just generating a yearly static budget, they should also look to adopt rolling forecasts – ideally revisiting and reforecasting on a quarterly or even monthly basis. This will maximise visibility, giving leaders the crucial insight into how the business is performing in real time or near-real time, allowing more informed business decisions to be made. Especially in more uncertain times, it’s important to stay agile and rolling forecasts can facilitate this.

Whilst static budgets have their place, they cannot adapt to change. For example, if shortly after generating a budget, the business loses a major client or the wider economy takes a turn for the worse, the budget will already be out of date. However, rolling forecasts can adapt to change. In this way, they are more accurate and, by extension, more useful than static budgets.

Once a business is up and running, rolling forecasts can be highly efficient. What’s more, if AI and automation have already been embraced, there won’t be a need to sacrifice accuracy for speed.

If businesses and finance teams want to generate accurate budgets and forecasts during these uncertain times, they will need the right tools, the right strategy, and the right mindset. For maximum visibility, casting aside assumptions, embracing automation, and adopting rolling forecasts are three great places to start.

Top 10

5 Often-Overlooked Investment Options To Consider Exploring In 2023

Published

2 weeks ago

March 17, 2023

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When choosing what to invest in, many people will initially focus on the stock market which is considered a more mainstream investment. However, investments are more than stocks, and there is a wide range of alternative investments you can add to your portfolio to not only add growth to your long-term returns but also to spread the risk. If you’re looking to diversify your investments or if you simply want to get started with something different, this guide will cover the overlooked investment options that you should consider in 2023. From investing in EIS schemes and commercial property to commodities and collectables, there is plenty to discover.

EIS Schemes

One of the first on our list of overlooked investments is EIS investment opportunities, one of many flagship policies developed by the UK government to support early-stage companies. With an EIS investment, you would be helping to support businesses in exchange for various tax reliefs. Depending on your circumstances, this could include 30% income tax relief, tax-free gains, CGT deferral, loss relief, or inheritance tax relief. To understand more about investing in EIS schemes and their benefits, head over to Oxford Capital, to learn more.

Property Bonds

When property developers are looking to finance new commercial or residential projects, they typically do so with property bonds. These bonds are used to raise capital for the projects from investors and typically last for a fixed term, between two and five years. This form of investment is attractive due to the higher interest rates, ranging from 4% to 15%, offered in comparison to traditional government bonds, which generally perform at under 4%.

While there is a risk that the project could be abandoned due to external factors such as a rise in material costs, disruptions to supply, and a lack of finances, if the project goes to plan, you will see a return of your original investment as well as any interest accumulated. However, you can also opt to receive the interest payments monthly, quarterly, or annually throughout the course of the project, in which case, at the end of the project, your original investment will be returned with any leftover interest that has not yet been paid.

Commodities

The term commodity encompasses a variety of physical investments you can make. Unlike traditional investments such as stocks, bonds, or funds, these investments have both a use-value and an exchange value. This is because when you invest in commodities, you gain ownership over a small amount of the resource you are investing in. As there is always a need for physical goods, these commodities are an excellent way to diversify your investment portfolio and hedge against inflation, market changes, and the depreciating value of different currencies.

Some of the most common commodities you can invest in include:

Gold.
Agricultural products.
Crude oil.
Precious metals.
Timber.
Diamonds and other precious stones.
Spices, sugar, and salt.

Commercial Property

When looking into properties to invest in, many people choose residential options as they can renovate and sell or rent these homes. However, as the property market can be particularly volatile, a great option when you want to invest in properties is to look to commercial options instead. When it comes to commercial property, there are many ways you can invest, and these include:

Direct investment:This means buying a share or all of a property, which can then be rented out to businesses.
Direct commercial property funds:Often referred to as bricks-and-mortar funds, this is the most popular way to invest in commercial property. With this fund, you invest into a scheme that invests directly into an existing portfolio of commercial properties, which pays out the interest of your investment monthly, quarterly, or annually.
Indirect property funds:Similar to the direct commercial property fund, with this fund, you would invest in a collective investment scheme that invests in the shares of property companies in the stock market.

Peer-To-Peer Lending

Peer-to-peer lending is a risky venture where you would invest directly into start-up enterprises in order to help them get off the ground. It’s an excellent way to help small business owners get going with their dreams while also creating a lucrative investment. When you choose peer-to-peer lending, you loan the start-up a specific amount with the promise to pay back with interest. You can determine a timeline for this, or you can also choose to have the interest paid back monthly, quarterly, or annually.

However, as already mentioned, peer-to-peer lending is a risky venture, as the company you invest in could fail, and in that case, they would default on your loan. With this in mind, before you choose peer-to-peer lending, you should always thoroughly research the start-up’s fundamentals first, as this will give you a better insight into the viability of the business.