<p>According to Forbes, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2019/06/20/confirmed-nasa-has-been-hacked/?sh=46cf8a4ddc62"><strong>NASA confirmed that its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) was hacked in the year 2019</strong></a><strong>. </strong>One of the biggest cyberattacks witnessed till now.</p><p>Cyber-attacks have become the biggest social menace for many corporations. It can cost millions to big companies and harm their reputation in the corporate world. Not only large organizations, but it has also affected many individuals.</p><p>This article will explain everything you need to know about cyberattacks, what they are, the types of cyberattacks, the major causes of cyberattacks, and how to prevent them.</p><h3 id="what-is-a-cyber-attack">What is a Cyber Attack?</h3><p>In simple words, crashing into someone's system using unfair means could be an example of a cyberattack. The principal aim of the attacker is to misuse someone's credentials and valuable data. The tools used for this purpose are referred to as cyberweapons. The attacker can either be an individual or a group of people.</p><p>Cyberattacks have been increasing, and to date, no one has escaped its grip. From common people to big corporations like Google, Yahoo, etc., everyone got engulfed by it.</p><p><strong>Some common types of cyber-attacks are listed below:</strong></p><p>?     <strong>Malware</strong> - Malware is malicious software that can harm a computer system or a network. There is a wide range of malware, including Trojan horses, worms, ransomware, adware, computer viruses, spyware, etc.</p><p>?     <strong>Phishing</strong> - A fraudulent message, e-mail, or phone call aiming at revealing sensitive information from people can be termed Phishing. It is the most common type of cyberattack. These attacks are easy to judge as the spoofed messages or emails have some inadequacy like incorrect domain names or spelling mistakes.</p><p>?     <strong>Denial-of-service attack (DoS)</strong> - As the name suggests, in this type of attack, the owner of the system is denied access to it. It is generally challenging to get rid of this type of attack as it originates from a variety of sources, and tackling only one source won't be enough.</p><p>?     <strong>SQL Injection</strong> - In this type of cyberattack, the web applications which use SQL are targeted. The statistics show that SQL injection now represents nearly <a href="https://www.darkreading.com/attacks-breaches/sql-injection-attacks-represent-two-third-of-all-web-app-attacks/d/d-id/1334960#:~:text=The%20exercise%20shows%20that%20SQL,of%20all%20Web%20application%20attacks.&amp;text=SQL%20injection%20errors%20and%20cross,for%20more%20than%20a%20decade">two-thirds (65.1%) of all web application attacks</a>. That's a sharp increase from 44% of web application layer attacks that SQL Injection represented just two years ago.</p><p>?     <strong>Zero-day exploit</strong> - Zero-day, which means it does not even take a day for the attacker to exploit a user in this attack. It occurs the same day on which a system vulnerability is caught. And before it is cured, it gets exploited by the attacker.</p><p>?      <strong>Man-in-the-middle (MitM) attack</strong> - This attack is observed in cryptography, where a hacker enters a conversation and manipulates it. Still, the two parties believe that they are directly conversing with each other. According to Netcraft, man-in-the-middle<a href="https://news.netcraft.com/archives/2016/03/17/95-of-https-servers-vulnerable-to-trivial-mitm-attacks.html"> attacks</a> were thought to pose a threat to<a href="https://www.thesslstore.com/blog/80-eye-opening-cyber-security-statistics-for-2019/#:~:text=Man%2Din%2Dthe%2Dmiddle%20attack%20statistics,-Man%2Din%2Dthe&amp;text=According%20to%20Netcraft%2C%20MitM%20attacks,of%20HTTPS%20servers%20in%202016.&amp;text=More%20than%20one%2Dthird%20of,Force%20Threat%20Intelligence%20Index%202018."> 95% of HTTPS servers in 2016</a>. More than one-third of exploitation of inadvertent weaknesses involved MitM attacks, according to<a href="https://www.darkreading.com/attacks-breaches/sql-injection-attacks-represent-two-third-of-all-web-app-attacks/d/d-id/1334960#:~:text=The%20exercise%20shows%20that%20SQL,of%20all%20Web%20application%20attacks.&amp;text=SQL%20injection%20errors%20and%20cross,for%20more%20than%20a%20decade"> IBM's X- Force</a><a href="https://www.ibm.com/downloads/cas/MKJOL3DG"> </a>Threat Intelligence Index of 2018.</p><h3 id="most-catastrophic-cyberattacks-of-the-decade">Most catastrophic cyberattacks of the decade</h3><p>The past decade has witnessed a tremendous increase in cyberattacks. These cyberattacks have shaken the roots of some popular organizations.</p><p>Below are a few incidents of cyberattack that took place in past few years:</p><p><strong>Twitter - </strong>The famous social networking site <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Twitter_account_hijacking">Twitter was hacked in July <strong>2020</strong></a><strong>.  </strong>One hundred twenty million<strong> </strong>user accounts were hacked, including past presidents of the US and<strong> </strong>famous personalities like <strong>Elon Musk. </strong>The hacker transferred more than $100,000 in Bitcoins to his account. This was a Phishing attack.</p><p><strong>Adobe Acrobat- </strong>The popular software used for editing PDF files, <a href="https://www.csoonline.com/article/2130877/the-biggest-data-breaches-of-the-21st-century.html"> Adobe Acrobat was hacked in October <strong>2013</strong></a>. One fifty-three million user records were hacked. It cost the company 2 million dollars. Weeks of research has shown that many credentials of people like passwords, credit and debit information was exposed in this hack.</p><p><strong>Yahoo- </strong>One of the internet's leading search engines,<a href="https://www.csoonline.com/article/2130877/the-biggest-data-breaches-of-the-21st-century.html"> Yahoo was hacked in <strong>2013 and 2014</strong></a>. One million accounts were hacked in 2013, and three million accounts were hacked in the year 2014 by a different hacker. It cost the company three hundred fifty million dollars. The timing of the hack being announced was terrible, as it was when Yahoo was in the process of being acquired by Verizon.</p><p><strong>Dub smash-</strong> A New York-based video messaging platform, <a href="https://www.csoonline.com/article/2130877/the-biggest-data-breaches-of-the-21st-century.html">Dub smash was hacked in December <strong>2018</strong></a><strong>.</strong> One sixty-two million user accounts were hacked. It acknowledged the data breach and information being sold but could not find a valid reason for the breach and exactly how many users got affected.</p><p><strong>LinkedIn</strong>- A leading social media platform for business associates, <a href="https://www.csoonline.com/article/2130877/the-biggest-data-breaches-of-the-21st-century.html">Linkedin was hacked in <strong>2015-16</strong></a>. Three million user accounts were hacked in 2015 and credentials were sold to Russian hacker forums, and one hundred sixty-five million user accounts were hacked in 2016 by the same hacker who sold data for five bitcoins. LinkedIn acknowledged the data breach and reset the passwords of the affected accounts.</p><p><strong>Canva</strong>- A famous Australian graphic designing software, <a href="https://www.csoonline.com/article/2130877/the-biggest-data-breaches-of-the-21st-century.html">Canva was hacked in May <strong>2019</strong></a>. One thirty-seven million user accounts were hacked. A post by Canva said that the hackers were able to see but not steal the data. Later the accounts with stolen passwords were decrypted, and the users were notified to reset their passwords using OAuth tokens. The attacker claimed to have stolen OAuth tokens of users who logged in using google accounts.</p><h2 id="causes-of-cyber-attacks">Causes of Cyber Attacks</h2><p>16-year-old Kevin Mitnick executed the first-ever cyberattack in 1976. He hacked into The Ark, a computer at the Digital Equipment Corporation; this was the first time the world was introduced to cybercrimes. Since then, these cases have only been increasing. There are <a href="https://cyberscout.com/en/blog/the-big-5-threats-to-your-business">over 2200 cyber-attacks per day</a>, which breaks down to one cyber attack every 39 seconds. What might be the reason for the proliferation of cybercrimes at such mind-wrecking rates? The cybercriminals are always on the outlook of making tons of money by breaching data. Following are some of the prime causes of cyberattacks:-</p><ol><li><strong>System vulnerabilities</strong></li></ol><p>System vulnerabilities are the weaknesses in a system that make it easier for attacks and data breaches. As soon as the attacker finds out a vulnerability in a system, they attack it and exploit the data.</p><p><strong>2.  Easy Accessibility</strong></p><p>The more accessible the system will be, the much less time it will take for the hacker to breach data. It's not very difficult for the attackers to crack a code to get access to a system. "123456" is the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/19/tech/common-passwords-2020-trnd/index.html">most commonly used password in 2020</a>, with 2,543,285 people using it.</p><p><strong>3.  Human Error</strong></p><p>According to a study by IBM, <a href="https://nmsconsulting.com/4047/the-human-error-in-cybersecurity/#:~:text=Even%20more%20surprisingly%2C%20an%20IBM,the%20number%20of%20cybersecurity%20breaches.">human error is the major cause of 95% of cybersecurity breaches</a>. If we eliminate human error, 19 out of 20 cyber breaches can be avoided entirely.</p><p><strong>4.  BYOD Policies</strong></p><p>Bring-Your-Own-Device policies are still prevailing in many companies and are a significant cause of cyber threats. Under this policy, the employees use the same system for their personal and professional work. The employee might surf on a website that is not trustworthy. Malicious sites can hack the system and breach out some company's critical credentials, which could create a big problem.<br></p><p><strong>Prevention is better than Cure!</strong></p><p>Here is the list of some main preventions you can take to protect yourself from these Cyber-attacks.<br></p><h2 id="preventions-of-cyber-attacks">Preventions of Cyber Attacks</h2><p>Keeping in mind the drastic increase in cyber-attacks, the need of the hour is to follow some preventive measures.</p><p>Some preventive steps against cyberattacks: -</p><ol><li><strong>Keeping software and system updated</strong></li></ol><p>Ignore no update notifications!</p><p>When you receive an update notification, download the update immediately. When you have an updated system, the chances of getting attacked by a cybercriminal are significantly less. The updated system and latest software offer better security services.</p><p><strong>2.  Endpoint Protection</strong></p><p>When laptops, mobile phones, tablets, etc., are connected to the systems used for professional work, there is an increase in the pathways leading hackers to attack the network. Certain endpoint protection platforms are quick at detecting, analyzing, and blocking suspicious networks. These software will protect your system from the attacker.</p><p><strong>3.  Firewall Installation</strong></p><p>A firewall is a network security device that acts as a barrier between the system and the external sources. It filters out the sources trying to get unauthorized access to a computer or a network system. A firewall can identify a malicious code and can stop it from reaching the system.</p><p><strong>4.  Data Backup</strong></p><p>When a system is attacked, it could lead to loss of data. Backing up data is an advantageous way of avoiding the crucial data files.</p><p><strong>5.  Identity &amp; Access Management</strong></p><p>A company can prevent data breaches by limiting the access that they have given to the employees. The employees should only get access to the system they are working on and not more than that. There can be an insider attack that can cause data breaches.<br></p><h2 id="conclusion">Conclusion</h2><p>The COVID upsurge has forced each of us to work from home, consequently increasing vulnerability to cyberattacks. Thus, having a reliable security framework in place is of paramount importance.<br></p><p>Securing your personal data as well as enterprise information is important, since both are equally susceptible to cyber attacks. And thus, pose a threat to the confidentiality of the information.<br></p><p>Following the preventive measures that we discussed earlier, you can definitely mitigate the risk of cyber attack to a very large extent, if not completely. You should be very proactive while dealing with any sensitive data  or information. Using strong passwords, keeping all personal information in encrypted folders, and following the security policies can definitely save you from falling prey to cyber attacks.</p>

Ragini Agarwal

The ?Everything? Guide to Cyber Attacks

<h2 id="introduction">Introduction</h2><p>You all might have used a variety of Google Tools for several purposes. But, have you used Google tools to make your business grow faster?</p><p>If you want your business to grow at an accelerated pace or you are planning to start a new business, then you are at the right place. This article will provide you with a detailed insight into the<strong> Secret Google Tools </strong>that can be used for marketing your business.</p><h3 id="what-are-google-marketing-tools">What is Google Marketing Tools?</h3><p>Without marketing, it is next to impossible for a business to tackle the milestone of success. Marketing helps customers know about a particular product or service, leading to brand awareness. When it comes to marketing, Google can be trusted, as Google is by far the best search engine in the world. Although, Google is so much more than a mere search engine. Here are some tools that Google offers for you to create brand awareness worldwide and drive targeted audiences toward your business website.</p><p>By using relevant tools, you can make your brand grow so that it can reach a larger audience. Having the best services does not guarantee you high conversions until the services are marketed properly.</p><h3 id="some-google-tools-their-uses">Some Google Tools &amp; Their Uses</h3><h3 id="google-my-business"><a href="https://www.google.com/intl/en_us/business/">Google My Business</a> </h3><p>This application will help you stand out from the crowd and show what makes your business unique. You can make people aware of the facilities that you provide using your business profile by posting photos, events, offers, bookings, etc. With this app, you can connect with your customers before and after sales and keep them returning. No matter what your business is, you can let them discover it on Google My Business.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://iaxds62ruoojbg1k4180.cleaver.rocks/images/posts/a7e7f74c69572d8301dcee06ca549c69.jpg" class="kg-image" alt="" loading="lazy" width="1200" height="552" srcset="https://techfastly.com/content/images/size/w600/2021/05/google-my-business.jpg 600w, https://techfastly.com/content/images/size/w1000/2021/05/google-my-business.jpg 1000w, https://iaxds62ruoojbg1k4180.cleaver.rocks/images/posts/a7e7f74c69572d8301dcee06ca549c69.jpg 1200w" sizes="(min-width: 720px) 720px"></figure><h3 id="google-search-console"><a href="https://search.google.com/search-console/about">Google Search Console</a></h3><p><strong> </strong>This was previously known as Google Webmaster Tools. With the help of this application, you get an analysis of what people liked and disliked about your website. This information can help you improve your website, boost its performance and help it rank higher in search results. It is one of the best SEO tools. It allows website makers or webmasters to check indexing status and optimize the visibility of their websites.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://iaxds62ruoojbg1k4180.cleaver.rocks/images/posts/71b895f116bb38e26f2ea07d41613b30.jpg" class="kg-image" alt="" loading="lazy" width="508" height="338"></figure><h3 id="google-adwords"><a href="https://ads.google.com/intl/en_us/home/#!/">Google AdWords</a> </h3><p>If a person wants to know look for something online, what comes to their mind first? Yes, it's Google. Google AdWords, now known as Google Ads, helps you to get your website at the top when someone searches for anything related to your brand or product. You just need to pay a minimal amount for getting your website at the top when someone searches a keyword related to your website or your content. </p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://iaxds62ruoojbg1k4180.cleaver.rocks/images/posts/cc0872f5b38893f415b27577c415ba93.png" class="kg-image" alt="" loading="lazy" width="1200" height="438" srcset="https://techfastly.com/content/images/size/w600/2021/07/google-adwords.png 600w, https://techfastly.com/content/images/size/w1000/2021/07/google-adwords.png 1000w, https://iaxds62ruoojbg1k4180.cleaver.rocks/images/posts/cc0872f5b38893f415b27577c415ba93.png 1200w" sizes="(min-width: 720px) 720px"></figure><h3 id="google-suite"><a href="https://workspace.google.com/intl/en_us/">Google Suite</a> </h3><p>Google Suite is not just a powerful email provider. Google Suite is an all-in-one business productivity and communication hub that has all the tools and apps you need for your small business. It includes various applications like Gmail, Google Meet, Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google forms, etc. This application is a powerhouse containing a variety of facilities that can help in connecting to our customers using various mediums. </p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://iaxds62ruoojbg1k4180.cleaver.rocks/images/posts/27e06259096fa297e884b20cb0f8eedf.jpg" class="kg-image" alt="" loading="lazy" width="909" height="511" srcset="https://techfastly.com/content/images/size/w600/2021/05/G-Suite.jpg 600w, https://iaxds62ruoojbg1k4180.cleaver.rocks/images/posts/27e06259096fa297e884b20cb0f8eedf.jpg 909w" sizes="(min-width: 720px) 720px"></figure><h3 id="google-alerts"><a href="https://www.google.co.in/alerts">Google Alerts</a> </h3><p>This application will help you in marketing through web monitoring. Now, rather than searching for outreach prospects, whether for collaborations, links, or guest posting opportunities, you can get them emailed to you without lifting a finger using Google Alerts. This will send you an email whenever it finds something similar to what you searched most often or what you mentioned as your interests. It is a very beneficial application for getting the latest news articles, blogs, or scientific research in your inbox without even actually searching for it.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://iaxds62ruoojbg1k4180.cleaver.rocks/images/posts/932162b764420c4e550a4beaa0a71941.png" class="kg-image" alt="" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="395" srcset="https://techfastly.com/content/images/size/w600/2021/05/google-alert.png 600w, https://techfastly.com/content/images/size/w1000/2021/05/google-alert.png 1000w, https://iaxds62ruoojbg1k4180.cleaver.rocks/images/posts/932162b764420c4e550a4beaa0a71941.png 1024w" sizes="(min-width: 720px) 720px"></figure><h3 id="google-analytics"><a href="https://analytics.google.com/analytics/web/provision/#/provision">Google Analytics</a> </h3><p>Google Analytics is just a simple tool that allows you to track and analyze your website traffic. It is a must-to-use application for people who want to grow their websites using digital marketing. It allows you to see how many visitors are coming to your website, where they are coming from Google, YouTube, and Facebook, which pages they are viewing, what their age is, what's their location, and much more. This data will eventually help you know about the audience that is interested in your product or service. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Analytics">Google launched Google Analytics in November 2005</a> after acquiring Urchin. </p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://iaxds62ruoojbg1k4180.cleaver.rocks/images/posts/06c4040e4ccd2e779cd9ad6d3159fef5.png" class="kg-image" alt="" loading="lazy" width="720" height="420" srcset="https://techfastly.com/content/images/size/w600/2021/05/aanalytics.png 600w, https://iaxds62ruoojbg1k4180.cleaver.rocks/images/posts/06c4040e4ccd2e779cd9ad6d3159fef5.png 720w" sizes="(min-width: 720px) 720px"></figure><h3 id="google-adsense"><a href="https://www.google.com/adsense/start/">Google AdSense</a></h3><p>It's an ad network that is basically a complement of Google AdWords but differs totally from it. In Google AdWords, you need to pay Google to get your website at the top of the search results, whereas in Google AdSense, you get paid by Google for the traffic that is coming to your website. If you make a website and allow Google to show ads on it, then you will be paid according to the number of people coming to your website and watching those ads.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://iaxds62ruoojbg1k4180.cleaver.rocks/images/posts/65e400ebd9983d429d2762acdedbc828.jpg" class="kg-image" alt="" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://techfastly.com/content/images/size/w600/2021/07/google-adsense.jpg 600w, https://techfastly.com/content/images/size/w1000/2021/07/google-adsense.jpg 1000w, https://iaxds62ruoojbg1k4180.cleaver.rocks/images/posts/65e400ebd9983d429d2762acdedbc828.jpg 1024w" sizes="(min-width: 720px) 720px"></figure><p></p><h3 id="google-trends"><a href="https://trends.google.co.in/trends/?geo=US">Google Trends</a> </h3><p>This application is another perk to your business growth as it lets you know the most trending topics within Google Search, Google News, Google Images, Google Shopping, and YouTube so that you can alter your website according to those trends. Using Google Trends, you can see the latest stories and insights and get knowledge about the things people are searching for the most. It is a very useful tool that can increase a website's rating and keep it SEO-friendly.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://iaxds62ruoojbg1k4180.cleaver.rocks/images/posts/33e261986314f731cdc74544b9fe1823.jpg" class="kg-image" alt="" loading="lazy" width="2000" height="1333" srcset="https://techfastly.com/content/images/size/w600/2021/05/Google-Trends.jpg 600w, https://techfastly.com/content/images/size/w1000/2021/05/Google-Trends.jpg 1000w, https://techfastly.com/content/images/size/w1600/2021/05/Google-Trends.jpg 1600w, https://iaxds62ruoojbg1k4180.cleaver.rocks/images/posts/33e261986314f731cdc74544b9fe1823.jpg 2000w" sizes="(min-width: 720px) 720px"></figure><p></p><h3 id="google-feedburner"><a href="https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2021/04/changes-to-feedburner">Google FeedBurner</a> </h3><p>FeedBurner is a web feed management service that provides custom RSS feeds and management tools for bloggers, podcasts, and other web-based content publishers. <a href="https://www.feedburner-alternatives.com/">On April 14, 2021, Google announced that Google FeedBurner would move to a new platform</a>, and it would get an updated version that would meet the present-day demands. However, Google added that one of its core features, which is the email subscription service, will be deprecated in the latest version.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://iaxds62ruoojbg1k4180.cleaver.rocks/images/posts/1293c83eb37977b23d8efaae6b5b1cdf.png" class="kg-image" alt="" loading="lazy" width="590" height="300"></figure><p></p><h2 id="summing-up">Summing up</h2><p>Though Google is an indispensable part of our lives, right from the simple search to Gmail or using docs &amp; sheets for day-to-day information handling, many of us are still unaware of tools that have the power to make our lives easy as well as help us in rocketing the business process.<br></p><p>This article is an attempt to inform the masses about the less-known or probably under-used Google tools that can help you both personally and professionally.<br></p>

Premium reporting on technology, startups, VC funding, and software from Techfastly tagged with Business. Read about trends and strategies for Business.

Business

How These Secret Google Tools Will Take Your Business to a Next Level

<h3 id="introduction">Introduction</h3><p>The ongoing automation of traditional manufacturing and industrial practices using modern technology is what we know as Industry 4.0.</p><p>The fourth revolution will prove to be the most impactful as it will bring a drastic change in many fields of work. The fourth industrial revolution is a fusion of advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), genetic engineering, quantum computing, and more.<br></p><p><a href="https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/industry-4-0-market">The industry 4.0 market</a>, valued at USD 86.03 billion in 2020 and expected to reach USD 267.01 billion by 2026 and grow at a CAGR of 20.71% over the forecast period (2021- 2026). The COVID-19 upsurge has further driven the adoption of industry 4.0 and improves resilience to any further pandemics.</p><p>In a pandemic, the automation of manufacturing sites can help manufacturers follow social distancing by decreasing the number of workers at the production site. This will not only reduce the risk of the health of the employers but the employees as well.</p><h3 id="what-are-dark-factories">What are Dark Factories?</h3><p>Dark Factories are fully automated manufacturing sites, ensuring that production is taking place with no human intervention. From the entry of the raw material at the production site to the delivery of the finished goods, each task is carried out by fully automated machines.</p><p>Another name for dark factories is ?Lights Out Manufacturing?, unlike humans who need light to work, these fully automated machines can work without lights. This is possible only when the machines do not use any optical sensors and no visual monitoring.</p><p>Dark production has enormous benefits along with the new ways of implementing automation, they provide a high accuracy level, perform faster automated processes, do better detection of problems, and provide increased output. </p><h3 id="are-dark-factories-a-threat-to-human-employment">Are Dark Factories A Threat To Human Employment?</h3><p>Modern technologies are posing a serious threat to the future of employment. As modern machines are efficient, accurate in work, and learn to accomplish increasingly complex production tasks, the concern arises that automation will wipe out a significant number of job opportunities for many people. This can create a huge problem for people who don?t have any prior skills and depend on the task provided to them by the manufacturing firms or factories.</p><p>Most factories don?t need many workers as robots and machines are able to do the same work in a better way. Almost 88% of the 5.6 million workers have lost their jobs in the U.S. between 2000 and 2010 according to a study by the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University. And <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2017/05/02/the-impact-of-automation-on-the-independent-workforce/?sh=5038370375c5">investment in industrial robots</a> is expected to grow by 10% every year in the 25 biggest export nations by 2025.</p><p>However, some manufacturing sites may prefer human labor because of the high capital expenditure required to invest in automation. A well-structured automated system can cost millions of dollars to design, frame, and install. Apart from this, the fully automated machines need a high level of maintenance and care. With all this, small-scale manufactures would prefer to stick to the ideology of human labor.</p><h3 id="will-industry-40-create-dark-factories">Will Industry 4.0 Create Dark Factories?</h3><p>None of us might have ever imagined that the trend which started with the discovery of steam engines and weaving loom will reach a stage where something like Dark Factories could also be formed. The more we people are heading towards modernization and technological upliftments, the more we excel in our businesses. From the<a href="https://sixfab.com/iots-rise/#:~:text=This%20advanced%20technology%2C%20called%20the,human%20beings%20in%20the%20world."> First Industrial Revolution in 1765</a> to the ongoing Fourth Industrial Revolution, technology has bought many brilliant innovations.</p><p>The Fourth Industrial Revolution describes the fading of the thin line of difference between the physical, digital, and biological worlds. Modern technologies have paved the way for many multi-functional devices like smartphones, smartwatches, IoT, etc. The growing technology has made our lives easier, faster, better, and more fun. </p><h3 id="machines-vs-humans">Machines Vs Humans</h3><p>Although machines have more efficiency than human labor and automation of manufacturing sites will replace humans with machines. Still, what the humans can do, the machines can?t. Humans can intellectually perform a task and analyze the situation on prudential and moral considerations, whereas the machines lack this quality. Machines can only work according to the instructions given to them. Also, if one machine breaks down due to any fault, the whole system will stop. This may give a halt to the production as these machines require a good amount of time for repair. This can cause a great loss to many companies as their production rate per day is really high. But, the situation won?t be the same with the human workforce.</p><p>Both machines and humans have their own pros and cons. And we should not forget that it?s the humans only who have created these machines.</p><p>There are many things that machines can do far better than that human, but saying that machines can replace humans wouldn?t be fair. </p><h3 id="summing-up">Summing-up</h3><p>With the passage of time the technology is developing rapidly thus, there is a need for each one of us to pace up with the growing technology. Technological advancements might affect us either positively or negatively. It depends on us, how we allow use it and let it affect us. The more we make healthy use out of it, the more it will help us in our journey.</p><p>The developed countries might jump onto the idea of making the production industry fully automated, while the developing countries would take some time to adapt to this technology.</p>

Premium reporting on technology, startups, VC funding, and software from Techfastly tagged with Technology Revolution. Read articles on Technological Revolution.

Technological Revolution

Industry 4.0 & Dark Factory Demystified

<h3 id="introduction">Introduction</h3><p>Qualcomm Technologies have added seven new solutions to the IoT ecosystem to aid next-generation IoT devices. There are various chipsets, from the entry-level to the premium tier. A wide range of industrial and commercial applications can make use of them.</p><p><a href="https://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/2021/06/08/qualcomm-debuts-powerful-roster-cutting-edge-iot-solutions-purpose-built">Mr. Nagaraju Naik</a>, Qualcomm's senior director of product development said, ?We have two product variants. One belongs to the QCS family and is a Wi-Fi application processor. The other belongs to the QCM family and is a cellular application processor.?</p><p>This article will give you all of the necessary information regarding the new solutions.</p><h3 id="the-new-chipsets-by-qualcomm">The New Chipsets By Qualcomm<br></h3><ol><li><strong>Qualcomm QCS8250 | Target: connected healthcare, digital signage, retail, and video collaboration</strong></li></ol><p>With support for Qualcomm Wi-Fi 6 technologies and 5G connection, the <a href="https://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/2021/06/08/qualcomm-debuts-powerful-roster-cutting-edge-iot-solutions-purpose-built">Qualcomm QCS8250 </a>is the premium tier product, aimed to ensure maximum efficiency at the most significant power consumption feasible. This chipset supports seven concurrent cameras with encoding at up to 4K definition at 120 frames per second, courtesy of the Qualcomm Kryo 585 CPU architecture, Qualcomm Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engine, and strong image signal processor (ISP).</p><p>Apart from this, it offers a new Neural Processing Unit (NPU) besides machine learning for IoT applications to enable smart cameras, video collaboration, connected healthcare, and intelligent retail. This platform is designed specifically for corporate and business applications and it provides clients with a variety of configurable alternatives.</p><p><strong>2. Qualcomm QCS6490 / QCM6490  | Target: connected healthcare, logistics management, retail, transportation, and warehousing</strong></p><p>The upgraded <a href="https://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/2021/06/08/qualcomm-debuts-powerful-roster-cutting-edge-iot-solutions-purpose-built">Qualcomm QCS6490 and Qualcomm QCM490</a> solutions provide premium quality features such as worldwide 5G connection and blistering-fast Wi-Fi 6E for slightly elevated IoT devices. These chipsets are designed for industrial and commercial IoT applications such as transportation, linked healthcare, warehousing, logistics management, and retail point of sale (POS) kiosks, and are powered by Qualcomm's Kryo 670 CPU architecture. These chipsets allow the next generation of highly portable handhelds and tablets, industrial scanners, and human-machine interface devices by supporting 5G wireless communication and Wi-Fi 6E.</p><p>This solution provides astounding performance at reduced power with dynamic triple ISPs and advanced Edge-AI. It computes based on the 6th generation Qualcomm AI Engine compared to the previous generation solutions.</p><p><strong>3. Qualcomm QCS4290 / QCM4290  | Target: cameras, industrial handhelds, and security panels</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/2021/06/08/qualcomm-debuts-powerful-roster-cutting-edge-iot-solutions-purpose-built">Qualcomm QCS4290 and Qualcomm QCM4290</a> aim at providing mid-tier benefits with even more outstanding performance. This solution offers robust performance, dynamic camera capabilities, and extensive connection choices (LTE Cat13, Wi-Fi 6-Ready), making it perfect for industrial and commercial IoT applications such as industrial handhelds in logistics and warehousing, security panels, and cameras. For the increased intuitive on-device intelligence, devices based on this new solution will help enable productive and efficient work environments. For providing a high speed and robust on-device performance, it is based on the Kryo 260 CPU architecture.<br><br><strong>4. Qualcomm QCS2290 / QCM2290  | Target: camera applications, industrial handhelds, retail and tracking</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/2021/06/08/qualcomm-debuts-powerful-roster-cutting-edge-iot-solutions-purpose-built">The Qualcomm QCS2290 and Qualcomm QCM2290</a> are robust entry-level offerings, enabling reliable performance and power conservation for low power consumption, with LTE connectivity, improved functionality, and memory support. Being equipped with the Cortex A53 CPU architecture, these solutions are cost-effective, delivering outstanding performance, better image quality, higher graphics capabilities, and improved power performance. This platform is very well-suited for retail point-of-sale (POS), industrial handheld, tracking, and camera applications.</p><p>Also, The QCS2290/QCM2290 baseband chip is also pin-to-pin compatible with the QCS4290/QCM4290, giving more flexibility to users for reusing software and hardware over many IoT devices, consequently reducing costs.</p><h2 id="facilitating-the-iot-ecosystem">Facilitating the IoT Ecosystem</h2><p>Qualcomm?s new solutions have led to its growth at an astonishing rate. Analysts expect that <a href="https://www.investors.com/research/qualcomm-stock-buy-now/">Qualcomm earnings</a> per share will rise to 86% altogether of fiscal 2021 and a further 10% in 2022, according to Zacks Investment Research. The company returned to growth in 2020 after several years of decline. Sales are seen escalating 37% in 2021 and a further 10% in 2022. With all this, it?s pretty easy to imagine that how useful these solutions might have proved for many corporations. With its newest family of IoT chipsets, Qualcomm aspires to empower its more than 13,000 IoT customers to accelerate their development of relevant products.</p><p>?We are ideally positioned to push the IoT ecosystem forward with our systems-level approach,? said Mr. Jeff Lorbeck, general manager of linked innovative systems at Qualcomm.?These new IoT solutions, together with the recently announced Qualcomm 315 5G IoT modem, to make our way to drive growing network change and delivering a spectrum of solutions to reconfigure manufacturing and commercial IoT applications for advanced performance and flawless connection,? he added.</p><p>The new chipsets have helped many applications to provide better performance. These are some of the <a href="https://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/2021/06/08/qualcomm-debuts-powerful-roster-cutting-edge-iot-solutions-purpose-built">applications</a> whose performance got enhanced with the help of the new chipsets.</p><ol><li><strong>Amtran</strong>- Amtran can provide fine-tuned audio and video processing products because of the Qualcomm QCS8250's advancement.</li><li><strong><strong><strong>Arrow- </strong></strong></strong>Arrow now offers a full spectrum of IoT solutions, from entry-level to premium-tier, by adding the Qualcomm QCS8250 to its expanding product range with Qualcomm Technologies.</li><li><strong><strong><strong>AVer- </strong></strong></strong>Qualcomm QCS8250 will allow AVer to not only remain competitive but also to provide superior UC&amp;C solutions to the video conferencing industry.</li><li><strong><strong><strong>eInfochips</strong>- </strong></strong>The Qualcomm QCS8250 solution will be used by eInfochips to allow collaboration devices, smart robotics, augmented reality/virtual reality devices, home/industrial automation, intelligent cameras, and other intelligent products.</li><li><strong><strong><strong>Fibocom- </strong></strong></strong>These innovative technologies, when used in conjunction with Fibocom's end-to-end IoT modules and wireless communications solutions, will allow powerful, smart, and innovative IoT solutions across a wide range of industries and vertical applications.</li><li><strong><strong><strong>Honeywell- </strong></strong></strong>Qualcomm's solutions will provide Honeywell clients with strong processing capabilities that will help them speed up and improve their employee and customer experiences, resulting in significant productivity gains.</li><li><strong><strong><strong>Quecte</strong>l- </strong></strong>Qualcomm?s latest chipsets are fully compatible with Quectel's existing 5G and LTE modules, allowing clients to speed up their time-to-market.<br></li></ol><h3 id="summing-up">Summing-up</h3><p>The new solutions by Qualcomm have proved to be of more significant benefit to many industrial and commercial applications whose performance has improved with the help of these new chipsets. The solutions Qualcomm QCS8250, Qualcomm QCS4290/ QCM4290, and Qualcomm QCS2290/ QCM2290 are accessible now. But, the Qualcomm QCS6490/ QCM6490 solutions are expected to be available in the second half of 2021.</p>

New Products

Qualcomm's Latest IoT Chipsets Will Boost The Performance of Next-generation IoT Devices

<h3 id="introduction">Introduction</h3><p>The hacker group suspected to be the mastermind behind the world's biggest ransomware attack demanded 70 million dollars to restore the data they are holding. This demand was posted on a dark website that Russian-linked cybercrime gang REvil typically uses while the group allegedly broke into a US IT firm "Kaseya". Over the weekend, access was used to breach Kaseya's network of clients involving hundreds of companies worldwide. Schools, organizations, and credit unions are all being badly affected by this attack. Experts believe that there are victims in at least 17 countries, including the US and Germany. Kaseya has hired a cybersecurity vampire eye to deal with the attack.</p><p>Last month, REvil extorted 11 million dollars from the world's largest meat processing company JBS.</p><p><a href="https://cisomag.eccouncil.org/supply-chain-security/kevin-reed/">Kevin Reed</a>, Chief Information Security Officer, Acronis, stated, "I don't really think that REvil gang expects this demand to be fulfilled because for one they somehow need to collect it from multiple organizations or from multiple insurers that are insuring those organizations or they really need to have one large organization or potentially a government that would back such large payment." </p><h3 id="impact-of-the-attack">Impact of The Attack</h3><p>A wide range of organizations and government entities were impacted, including those in financial services and travel. According to studies, several countries including, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Canada, Argentina, Mexico, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Kenya were affected. Kaseya, a leading IT firm, took most of this attack's hit. According to the<a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/ransomware-attack-using-kaseya-software-affected-1-500-businesses-worldwide-101625531520766.html"> senior executive of American IT firm Kaseya</a>, up to 1,500 firms worldwide have been hit by the largest ransomware attack in history. The attack was carried out using software built by the corporation as a conduit by Russian-linked hackers.</p><p>Kaseya is a software provider for IT outsourcing agencies, which often undertake back-office work for businesses that are too small or under-resourced to establish their own IT departments. The hackers, who are thought to be related to the notorious REvil organization, exploited Kaseya's VSA software, allowing businesses to monitor their computer systems remotely.</p><h3 id="revil-criminals-demand-70-million-ransom-for-the-global-decryption-key">Revil Criminals Demand $70 Million Ransom For The Global Decryption Key</h3><p>While research has indicated that ransom demands of $45,000 for each<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2021/07/05/70-million-demanded-as-revil-ransomware-attackers-claim-1-million-systems-hit/?sh=6279935f57c0"> encrypted machine </a>that is not 'domain-joined and $5 million for an entire domain, REvil quickly changed track on the higher figure. Some of the conversations with REvil have been viewed by Bleeping Computer, and one victim with a dozen encrypted extensions was told to pay a $500,000 ransom.</p><p>"Make no mistake, the timing and target of this attack are no coincidence. It illustrates what we define as a Big Game Hunting attack," <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2021/07/05/70-million-demanded-as-revil-ransomware-attackers-claim-1-million-systems-hit/?sh=6279935f57c0">Adam Meyers</a>, senior vice president of CrowdStrike Intelligence, said, "launched against a target to maximize impact and profit through a supply chain during a holiday weekend when business defenses are down. What we are seeing now in terms of victims is likely just the tip of the iceberg."</p><p>In Sweden, for example, when the checkouts at the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2021/07/05/70-million-demanded-as-revil-ransomware-attackers-claim-1-million-systems-hit/?sh=6279935f57c0">Swedish Coop's</a> 800 supermarkets stopped operating, the company was forced to close up to 500 of its stores. Now, the REvil group is demanding $70 million in bitcoin in exchange for a "universal decryptor" that will return users' access.</p><h3 id="kaseyas-response-to-the-attack">Kaseya's Response To The Attack</h3><p>According to the company, the REvil ransomware assault last week affected fewer than 60 of<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2021/07/05/70-million-demanded-as-revil-ransomware-attackers-claim-1-million-systems-hit/?sh=6279935f57c0"> Kaseya's customers</a> and up to 1,500 of its clients.</p><p>According to the software company, all Kaseya customers who were hacked were utilizing the VSA on-premises solution, which provides remote IT management products to managed service providers (MSPs).</p><p>The supply chain assault began on July 2, when threat actors controlled VSA servers and distributed malicious updates to MSP customers. Kaseya stated it has presented no trace that any SaaS customers were directly impacted.</p><p>"The attackers were able to circumvent authentication and run arbitrary commands by exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities in the VSA software. The attackers were able to use the typical VSA product capabilities to distribute ransomware to endpoints as a result," according to the incident report. "There is no evidence that Kaseya's VSA codebase has been updated maliciously."</p><p>Kaseya claimed in a statement on Tuesday that the REvil attacks had "minimal impact." However, the company claims that<a href="https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/news/252503605/Kaseya-1500-organizations-affected-by-REvil-attacks"> the compromised Kaseya customers</a> only affected about 1,500 "downstream businesses" or MSP clients. It's unclear whether these 1,500 businesses were just hacked or had their data locked by ransomware.</p><h3 id="biden-directs-intelligence-agencies-to-investigate-links-to-russia">Biden Directs Intelligence Agencies To Investigate Links To Russia</h3><p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2021/07/05/70-million-demanded-as-revil-ransomware-attackers-claim-1-million-systems-hit/?sh=6279935f57c0">President Biden</a> has previously stated that his initial thoughts are that "it was not the Russian government," but that he isn't certain and that US intelligence services have been asked to investigate. Given that we are dealing with a criminal gang rather than a state-sponsored espionage squad, this could backfire for REvil. Furthermore, while it is known that REvil's operators are Russian-speaking, this does not imply that REvil is based in Russia or is in any way protected by the Russian government.</p><p>The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has offered advice to MSPs and consumers who have been impacted by the ransomware attack. Kaseya provides updates here after behaving excellently under the duress of such an incident by swiftly shutting down services to minimize more damage and do so in a transparent manner.</p><h3 id="conclusion">Conclusion</h3><p>Kaseya CEO<a href="https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/news/252503605/Kaseya-1500-organizations-affected-by-REvil-attacks"> Fred Voccola</a> said his company worked fast to mitigate and contain the attack by collaborating with the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, and White House and private-sector partners in a video statement to customers. While the supply chain attack only affected a tiny percentage of Kaseya's 35,000 customers, he acknowledged the widespread impact the breaches had on small and medium-sized businesses.</p><p>He said that in response to the REvil assaults, Kaseya is adopting a careful approach to restore all systems and services. VSA on-premises clients will receive a security patch, which the business is presently testing and validating. After SaaS servers are brought back up, the fix is scheduled to be issued within 24 hours; Kaseya, which shut down its SaaS servers as a precaution, is expected to deploy the patch within 24 hours.</p><p>Assuming REvil's ransomware assault has infected hundreds of businesses, the issue now becomes "how many simultaneous negotiations REvil can handle, and whether firms that wish to pay will encounter delays."</p>

Premium reporting on technology, startups, VC funding, and software from Techfastly tagged with Cybersecurity. Trends and strategies for Cybersecurity.

Cybersecurity

Kaseya Ransomware Attack: USD 70 Million Demanded by REvil

If you're in business, then you have to be generating sales leads. Our article shares tried-and-true tactics that will help grow your business today and in the future.

The process is pretty common, but the only thing that makes the difference here is how strategically you implement this process and carry out your tasks with efficiency.

Ace Your Business With These Solid B2B Lead Generation Strategies

B2B Lead Generation Strategies | Techfastly

<p>In this over-saturated market, where several B2B companies are providing a variety of services, it might be difficult to find your ideal client with minimal effort. A lead is more than a potential client. All you have to do is capture their attention, offer value, and demonstrate that your solution will solve their problem. That is what makes strategic planning and proper execution get the best results out. If you are a B2B business holder and you want to increase the number of prospects being converted into the number of leads, then here we have some very effective lead-gen strategies that will skyrocket your B2B lead generation procedure.</p><h3>What is B2B Lead Generation?</h3><p>B2B lead generation stands for business-to-business lead generation, and it refers to companies that sell largely to other companies. A journey of a thousand miles commences with a single step. B2B lead generation is the first stage in a normal marketing funnel or sales process.</p><p>Lead generation is gathering information about a possible customer, such as their name, email address, business name, and job description, and utilizing that information to target them with personalized sales pitches or ad campaigns.</p><p>Business-to-business (B2B) lead generation is distinct from business-to-consumer (B2C) lead generation, in which products and services are offered directly to consumers.</p><h3>The B2B Lead Generation Process</h3><p>Learning how to generate leads is only a portion of the equation.</p><p>If you're serious about growing your business, you'll need a robust lead-generating strategy. Processes bring marketing and sales teams together and provide salespeople with a tried-and-true structure to follow.</p><p>B2B lead generation is the process through which the sales &amp; marketing team convert prospects into paying clients. Below are the exact steps to be followed.</p><h3>Find B2B Leads</h3><p>Finding the contact information of potential buyers is the first step in creating B2B leads. (Fortunately, that's what we'll be addressing)</p><p>Contact information is frequently created in-house, purchased from a lead database, or generated by a third-party "lead gen" business (not advisable for B2B lead generation).</p><h3>Reaching Out To Leads</h3><p>Reps contact leads via cold outreach, social media, or reacting to inquiries after compiling a list of (ideally) high-quality leads.</p><h3>Qualifying and Prospecting High-Quality Leads</h3><p>Reps assess how probable leads are to buy when communicating with them. They'll do it by determining where leads are in the purchase process. These stages are as follows:</p><p><strong>1. Research &amp; awareness</strong>: The customer is aware of a solution they require or an issue they are experiencing, and they are beginning to research it.</p><p>They will consume material such as blogs, whitepapers, and case studies during the awareness stage.</p><p><strong>2. Consideration: </strong>The lead is aware of the precise service/product that is required. They'll outline their precise requirements before conducting research and "opening up" to providers.</p><p><strong>3. Decision: </strong>The buyer will have several meetings and check-ins with other decision-makers to complete a purchase after filtering through vendors that best suit their demands.</p><p>Reps will start nurturing campaigns or focus on getting the prospect to schedule a call or demo depending on where they are in the sales cycle.<br>&nbsp;</p><h3>Close Leads By Making A Sale</h3><p>Success! The prospect chooses you after numerous meetings with various vendors, and the sale is closed. For onboarding, they'll be transferred to customer success.</p><p>Now that you are well aware of what steps a lead-generation comprises, it's now time to take a look at some full-proof lead-gen strategies. Although these strategies have been found out after proper investigation. It might still differ from person to person and from organization to organization.<br>&nbsp;</p><h3>Competitor Analysis</h3><p>In this fast competitive world, it's quite important to keep an eye on what your competitor is doing. Competitor Analysis is one of the key strategies to keep in mind while you are on your way to increasing your number of leads. Always keep a check on what your competitors are doing as a customer is more likely to compare certain service providers to get the best one chosen. And your services should stand out well on their expectations.</p><h3>PPC- Pay-Per-Click</h3><p>PPC is a type of internet advertising in which marketers get charged each time a user clicks on one of their adverts. Businesses who run pay-per-click adverts are only paid when a user clicks on their ad, hence the name "pay-per-click." PPC is a very effective way for websites and enterprises to generate leads. Lead generation is a need for companies that can't or won't do business with just anybody.</p><h3>God-father Strategy</h3><p><a href="https://medium.com/@paulttran/sales-strategy-the-godfather-technique-f934724bc726">The Godfather Strategy</a> is a three-step technique that helps business owners and salespeople sell more, sell faster, and sell differently while keeping the competition at bay. These three steps of which the first step includes the making of a list of all the services that your company offers. Afterwards, the second step would comprise of finding out your potential clients through various platforms. And the third and final step includes reaching out to the prospects and scheduling calls to discuss things further.</p><h3>Gain Trusted Backlinks</h3><p>While including backlinks in your website content or blogs, keep in mind that you use trusted sources as that will increase your credibility. An effective and proper link-building strategy can do wonders to your rate of generation of leads.</p><h3>Free Giveaways/Gated Content</h3><p>People are always attracted to free content. Provide any kind of free webinar or giveaways or any type of gated content. That will simply increase the traffic coming on your website which will eventually make you more leads.</p><h3>In-Depth Blog Posts</h3><p>These are very important, yet most of the business holders simply ignore them. Studies show that 80% of people are identified as people who prefer reading blogs. Companies that include detailed blogs on their websites are more likely to create <a href="https://neilpatel.com/blog/convert-blog-readers-to-leads/">67 percent more leads</a>, 434 percent more indexed pages, and 97 percent more indexed links, all of which improve SEO and ranking.</p><p>B2C marketers utilize blogging in their marketing efforts 70% of the time, second only to social media (89%) and email (70%). In the B2B world, the percentages are much higher: 79 percent use blogging, 92 percent use social media, and 93 percent use email. This shows how the B2B businesses are more dependent on blogs than B2C.</p><p>The strategies, if followed properly can be of great benefit to many B2B businesses and help them stand apart from the crowd. Rigorous marketing can only be of benefit if done in the right direction, keeping n mind the target audience. It is therefore important to analyze things first, identify your target audience, reach out to them with your services, further influencing them that you are indeed the best match and BINGO! You are all set with your leads. The process is pretty common, but the only thing that makes the difference here is how strategically you implement this process and carry out your tasks with efficiency.</p>

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