Imagine what would happen if you lost your most important work password—and everything it protected—with no chance of retrieval. Your data? Just “poof”—gone! How much would it cost your company? What if it were well over $100 million? Because that’s what just happened to Canadian crypto-currency exchange QuadrigaCX with the apparent death of its CEO, … Read more
In late December of last year, the news emerged that on October 23rd, NASA had discovered a data breach that may have exposed personal data (such as Social Security numbers) associated with current and former NASA employees. How does such a thing happen? The folks at NASA are smart and hardworking; they know how to … Read more
“Friction.” “The game of telephone.” “Paralysis by analysis.” In a business context, they can all amount to the same things: frustration and delay. For any marketing project involving more than one person—which is another way of saying for any and every project—it’s all too easy to get caught up in the churn. Creating digital marketing … Read more
Have you ever gotten past a website login error, or been able to establish a new online account, only after getting a security code delivered to you via text to your phone? Late last year, TechCrunch reported on a security oversight that illustrates the danger of sending passwords or passcodes over SMS: The message itself … Read more
Being friendly and approachable is a small and easy thing, but it makes a huge difference, and it costs you nothing besides some thought. Replies welcome One company I admire, multi-factor access specialists Duo Security, sent a corporate email the other day that had a standout feature among digital marketing assets. Instead of the too-often-seen … Read more
As a young writer, the parable of the blind men encountering an elephant made an impression on me. The story is all about how someone without sight would interpret a being they encounter. Divorced a bit from reality by their lack of sight, the blind men had to rely on what they could feel. First-time … Read more
If you’ve ever sold a house or are looking to do so, one of the first things people will tell you is to add a fresh coat of paint—to just about everything. New paint is bright. It covers up dirt and generally forces you to repair a whole bunch of dings, scratches, and other flaws … Read more
If you’re inclined to ease into the new year with some IT security predictions for 2019, there’s no shortage: Here are 10 from Tech Radar, five more from Security Boulevard, and another four from BetaNews. (I prefer TechCrunch’s snarkier approach.) Are you selling the right data security basics? The kicker is that even though there … Read more
Every once in a while, I hear someone put the em-PHA-sis on the wrong syl-LA-ble, and it distracts me to the point where I miss the meaning. The lesson? Messages need to be clear and delivered correctly. (With bonus points for brevity!) Your name in lights Similar disconnects happen when an organization’s digital marketing messages … Read more
Why does free software need paid advertising? Someone who emerged from a decade-long nap beneath a technological rock (decades-long, really) might be shocked to see how much of today’s IT landscape, from programming languages to virtual environments, infrastructure standards to critical networking software, and even entire operating systems, belong to no one. Or at least, … Read more
