Away from the movies, robots are becoming a reality in everyday life.

Robots have played a major role in manufacturing industries to perform basic tasks that are either dangerous or laborious for humans. As technology becomes relatively cheaper – through the availability of components such as processors, sensors, batteries, and cameras – robots are now making an entrance in industries apart from manufacturing, such as in marketing, inventory, telecommunications, and entertainment.

Why Robotics in Business?

To avoid confusion, it’s important to mention at this point that robotics often refers to software configured to carry out tasks done by humans, so it’s not always about physical robots.

Businesses are under endless pressure to be more efficient and reduce costs. As a result, many are turning to robotic process automation (RPA) to take up repetitive and routine tasks that don’t require frequent updates. RPA has been useful to take care of things such as call center operations, help desks, customer service chatbots, expense management, data entry, onboarding employees, and scheduling systems, among other tasks that are repetitive, rule-based and structured.

This is important for businesses as it frees employees from mundane tasks so they can focus on high-value work.

The unexpected COVID-19 pandemic cannot be ignored as an accelerator for robotics in the business environment. Consider businesses such as restaurants, retail stores, and all others seeking alternatives that will withstand disruptions and at the same time are durable and adhere to hygienic operations.

An Exciting Yet Worrying Phenomena to Some

Many people accept the use of intelligent systems and small robots such as robotic vacuum cleaners. But when it comes to the workplace, employees often don’t accept such systems as they are considered threats to their jobs. However, there is little difference between the robot used for household aid and the intelligent production system.

Financial institutions have been on the frontline in implementing robotic process automation. This has enabled them to automate and build platforms for the front office, back office and support functions. For a business, this means reduced costs while achieving efficiency and accuracy.

Another interesting concept is: robot as a service (RaaS). This is aimed at enabling small- and medium-sized businesses to enjoy the benefits of robotic process automation when they lease the services of a robot rather than incur the cost of purchasing one and handling maintenance for the system. It also helps businesses experiment with different robotic solutions.

With such innovations, businesses have no option but to adapt to technological advances. As a matter of fact, the possibility of robots taking up full process tasks is feasible with big names such as Bill Gates voicing support for a robot tax (a levy on work done by robots in a bid to replace tax that collected from work done by humans).

Be Prepared

So how do businesses handle this trend? Both employees and employers have no option but to be prepared. For an employer considering robotics, this should be done gradually with clear guidelines that the systems are only to assist and not replace the employees. At the same time, employees should be involved in the early stages of developing the new systems so they get accustomed to the format and avoid later resistance.

As businesses seek to improve their processes, employees should be ready to learn new skills as some duties are replaced by robots. It also goes way back to the education system, where students should be encouraged to take up subjects that will help enhance their digital competence. It will also prepare them for new job structures.

A Word of Caution

RPA has enabled business processes to evolve. Its results provide better accuracy, lower cost, efficiency, and high productivity. However, entrepreneurs should not rush to implement the robotic process automation without proper research. Although it is praised to reduce labor costs and other benefits already mentioned, the implementation – if not well done – will fail.

A big mistake would be to assume that the installation of robotic systems is easy. This is especially true when a business concentrates on ROI rather than solving actual problems.

Robotics for businesses involves time, cost, and complexity. It is not about moving processes into RPA as they are; only with lean techniques can this be successful.

With increased cyber threats, there is great awareness of malware that comes attached in files.  Individuals and businesses invest in security solutions to protect against malware. In fact, there are often company policies regarding opening attachments on emails; yet there is an increase in a type of threat (though not new), known as the fileless malware.

What is Fileless Malware?

A fileless malware attack is a type of threat that doesn’t involve executable files. Instead, these attacks include scripts that run on browsers, command prompts, Windows PowerShell, Windows Management Instrumentation, VBScripts, or Linux (Python, PERL).

In other words, fileless malware is a form of cyberattack carried out through software that already exists on your device, in your authorized protocols and in applications that you have allowed on your device.

As such, fileless malware is becoming a favorite of cybercriminals because they don’t have to look for ways to install malicious files in your device – they only need to take advantage of built-in tools.

Reported examples of fileless malware include PowerGhost, which has been used in crypto-mining and DDoS attacks.

How It Works

First, note that these attacks are termed fileless because they are not file-based; instead, they hide in computer memory.

The malware launches an attack in various ways. For instance, a malicious code is injected in an application already installed or a user clicks on a legitimate-looking link that loads a remote script.

Another scenario exists within a legitimate-looking website that a user visits; the attackers exploit vulnerabilities in the Flash plugin; and a malicious code runs in the browser memory of the user’s computer.

While file-based malware uses executable files, the fileless type hides in areas where it can’t easily be detected, such as the memory. It is then written directly to the RAM (and not the disk), where it carries out a series of events.

Once in your system, the malware piggybacks on legitimate scripts and executes malicious activities while the legitimate program runs. At this point, it performs malicious activities such as payload delivery, escalating admin privileges, and reconnaissance, among others.

Since it works in-memory (RAM), its operations end when you reboot your system. This makes it more challenging to trace attacks. The fileless malware also may work in cohorts with other attack vectors, such as ransomware.

Detection and prevention

Various security vendors claim to have products that can detect fileless threats, as well as protect endpoint systems.

Successful security solutions need to be able to put in place technologies that enable them to inspect different kinds of operating systems storage, as well as analyze in real-time the execution of patterns of processes in a system.

But even so, one thing is certain: traditional anti-malware software will not detect fileless malware because they are not file-based and they do not they leave footprints. Here are some tips that will help mitigate against fileless attacks:

• Regularly update the software on your devices (especially Microsoft applications) to protect against attacks propagated through PowerShell.
• Apply an integrated approach that addresses the entire full threat lifecycle. This is possible when you use a multilayered defense mechanism.  
• Use security solutions that can detect malicious attacks against command prompt (CMD), PowerShell, and whitelisted application scripts.
• Use anti-malware tools that include machine learning, as this will limit scripts from creating new polymorphic malware within your environment.
• Practice behavior monitoring to help lookout for unusual patterns.
• Use memory scanning to help detect patterns of known threats.
• Be on the lookout for high CPU usage by legitimate processes and suspicious error messages that appear for no clear reason.
• Disable PowerShell and Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) if you are not utilizing them.
• Avoid using macros that have no digital signatures or turn off macros if not being used.
• Use endpoint detection and response tools.

Final Thoughts

The cyber threat landscape keeps evolving. Every day, there are more sophisticated threats as criminals keep advancing to take on countermeasures that have been implemented.

Invest in security solutions that mitigate varying classes of threats, especially machine learning technologies. This will help protect against the latest and emerging threats. Also, keep your Windows OS and other installed software up-to-date to reduce the chances of fileless malware attacks.

Despite taking the mentioned measures, it’s important to stay informed of the latest threats and take necessary precautions.

Most states are starting to relax stay-at-home restrictions. As such, businesses are developing plans for bringing employees back to work. Many businesses are already affected by the pandemic and their future looks grim. Specifically, we are going to look at the IT sector and examine what spending might look like in a post-lockdown economy.

Disruption

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an unprecedented disruption in businesses. As a result, management has tried to reduce costs to survive or risk shutting down. IT departments have suffered the most with major budget cuts due to a reduction in revenue. As a result, non-urgent purchases have been eliminated; initiatives have been suspended; and employees have been terminated.

Of course, technology also has been playing a great role in supporting businesses during the pandemic, especially by enabling work at home and keeping in touch with clients. But there are expectations for major challenges when businesses get back to normal. For instance, the post-coronavirus business world expects travel restrictions, office distancing, business continuity, and pandemic regulations. As for onsite work in the office, challenges will include distributed collaboration, endpoint data protection, scalable administration, and secure access to corporate data.

It also appears that the impact will vary from industry to industry. Companies that depend on face-to-face contact are in danger of lost income and bankruptcy. At the same time, other businesses are thriving.

Consider digital marketing industries. With more businesses moving online, there will be a rise in the purchase of IT-related expenditures such as software. The entertainment sector has found solace in digital platforms, while there is an increase in the work-at-home trend.

The Future

Despite the uncertainties, some predictions can be made.

One thing that is certain is that the impact on IT spending will vary depending on the IT stack. While the infrastructure, branch networking, middleware, and enterprise apps might see a drop, areas such as communication/collaboration, cloud storage, security, and compliance will likely see an increase in spending as more people work remotely.

While the impact on the IT industry will definitely vary, we could see a lot of new innovations. Such innovations might include customer-facing and worker productivity apps. Some companies may increase spending on new innovations to help outperform their competition.

Another factor affecting IT spending is the size of a business. While big businesses may get back to normal after a few months, small businesses have to tread carefully. As such, IT spending for different-sized businesses will not be similar.

A decision to have employees continue working at home means that IT expenditures will take a different shape. While there will be less need for office equipment, there will be an increase in spending to enable offsite work.

There could also be more spending by businesses investing in continuity strategies such as more remote locations, new training in information and communications technology (ICT) and automation of processes.

This also will depend on business operations. Consider a business that had already migrated to the cloud before the COVID-19 pandemic. Such businesses did not suffer much disruption compared to those still using on-premise applications and proprietary data centers. Thus, IT spending for both types of businesses will vary in the future.

Lastly, businesses will want to invest in projects that are likely to provide a return on investment faster.

Conclusion

The disruption to businesses by the COVID-19 pandemic is like none previously encountered. One thing is certain: Things will not bounce back to the known normal. Rather, we should expect a new normal. And, as we have seen through the examination of certain IT expenditures, the success of each industry is dependent on various factors.

Since the escalation of COVID-19 cases, malicious activity from cybercriminals is also on the rise.

Hackers are taking advantage of the coronavirus fear to carry out attacks. This is done by creating websites that claim to have cures for the virus or by spreading emails that contain links to malware.

The COVID-19 pandemic has seen a rise in remote working. Even organizations that have always been against it have their employees working from home. With some areas experiencing complete lockdowns, this means you find yourself in an unfamiliar work environment.

Remote working means that you have to work outside a traditional office environment. Although some people already have experience working remotely, there are a good number of workers who might have a hard time getting anything done from home. This is particularly true for those  with a family that includes young children.

But with the current epidemic, many don’t have much choice other than to agree with the concept that work doesn’t have to be done in a specific place to be performed successfully. Your employer may have already set a work-at-home policy, but how do you ensure you are productive? Here are a few tips to help you retain your employment.

Create a Workspace

If you don’t already have a home office, then it’s time to be resourceful and create a workspace. Unfortunately, since this is unplanned, you might not have an ergonomically friendly work area. This means you could hurt yourself while working; for example, sitting too long in an uncomfortable position. But think outside the box and utilize what you have, such as using pillows to create a comfortable posture. Also, ensure you take frequent breaks.

Don’t forget to choose a space with minimal distractions.

Establish a Routine and Stick to It

The fact that you no longer have to wake up early to get to the office might tempt you to sleep more. It is important to have a work mindset. To achieve a sense of normalcy that you were used to in the office, you need to plan a schedule for your work hours and stick to it. Failure to create a work routine may find you wasting work hours.

Remember, if you live with family or friends, let them know your work hours and have them respect that.

Be Flexible

It’s important that you be flexible, especially if you have kids in the house. This makes it hard to work a 9 to 5 job. A lockdown means you probably do not have someone to come over and help with chores or childcare. The way out is to experiment with different plans. Try working late at night, early in the morning or when your children take a nap.

Use Time Management Apps

Your employer already set goals and roles for you. But achieving them while working at home is challenging. Use time management apps to track the amount spent working on tasks. Such apps, whether web or mobile-based, can help minimize distractions.

Avoid Social Media

There is so much information on the coronavirus pandemic and there is a need to stay updated. But this can turn out to be a distraction that causes you to miss out on work time. Set a time to check such updates and stick to it.

Informal Communication Groups

Apart from official online meetings or discussions, it’s good to keep in touch with colleagues. If your company did not set up such meetings, then you should. There are many communication tools available today that you can use. Keep in mind, isolation can lead to depression, especially if you live alone and are used to an active social life.

Work-Life Balance

Don’t spend all of your day working. Set daily tasks and stick with them. Set a time to exercise; it’s good for productivity and helps you avoid getting sore, which will generally affect your health. Log off from your work and do a different activity.

Use Secure Connections

Cybercriminals are now more likely to target remote workers. There are already reported cases of coronavirus ransomware and malware. This not only affects your work but can put your company at risk. Ensure that you use a secure wifi and virtual private network (VPN). Most importantly, don’t ignore your company’s security policies just because you are working from home.

Final Thoughts

There is a lot of debate surrounding remote working. Employers may see the benefit of remote working and adopt it more. Whether this will be the case, only time will tell. But we should brace for unexpected changes in the workplace when things finally get back to normal.

The most important thing right now is to keep in mind that your productivity will depend on your self-discipline, time-management skills, technology skills (to use new apps) and adaptability. 

Imagine someone manipulating how you feel. Of course, no one wants that. But how about being manipulated unknowingly? This is exactly what is happening to your nervous system every time you switch on your TV or computer.

Well, at least according to the 6506148 B2 Patent.

Technology advances continue to reshape industries and businesses – and the accounting industry is no exception. So far, a lot of repetitive tasks are performed with the help of advanced hardware and software. Even for businesses that do not like change, many find themselves making adjustments due to a generation change in the workforce, marketing demands, regulations and client demand. In any case, technology offers strengths once a business adopts new solutions to the accounting processes.

The accounting industry has evolved so much that bookkeeping is no longer just about balancing books; professionals in this field are slowly transitioning into strategic business advisors.

Technological innovations offer inexpensive and efficient ways to run businesses and other aspects of life. Every now and then, there is news on emerging technologies.

Here are some tech trends that are expected to influence the accounting industry in the year 2020.

Cloud-Based Accounting

The internet has enabled the storage and processing of data from remote servers. Small- and medium-sized businesses can now leverage the power of the internet and access data and infrastructure without worrying about the cost of purchasing and maintaining hardware and software services on-site. The ease of accessing data anytime and anywhere helps businesses save valuable time. Such benefits will continue driving more businesses to adopting the use of cloud-based accounting systems.  

Automation

Automating repetitive tasks has helped eliminate manual data entry while saving production hours at the same time. Since technology continues to advance, the accounting industry will see more tasks become automated. This trend can be observed in the growing number of accounting software available for both small and large businesses. Artificial intelligence will also contribute to automation in the industry. This is already evident with the increased development and adoption of robotic process automation.

Social Media

In the early 2000s, social media platforms were mainly used to communicate with family and friends. Today, social media is making an impact in digital marketing. Social media platforms will continue influencing how businesses communicate with their clients.

Apart from reaching out to more clients, accounting firms can also find talent to hire from social media platforms such as LinkedIn.

Big Data and Data Analytics

With advanced data collection and processing, it’s now possible to have access to insights and predictive analysis. Although analytics is not entirely new in accounting, the availability of data analytics tools makes it more powerful. This is important for business owners as it helps to improve decision making as well as understand the overall status of a company with the click of a button.

Cryptocurrency

This digital currency has revolutionized the financial industry with millions of coins present in the market today, including Bitcoin, Ripple and Ethereum among others. This digital currency has taken root so much that it is now accepted as a means of payment. Cryptocurrency has been enabled by blockchain technology.

Blockchain

For businesses, blockchain technology helps maintain a unique history of all interactions with various parties, which is indisputable. Widely known accounting companies like Ernst Young and Price Waterhouse already have people working in distributed ledger laboratories. The blockchain technology will not only lower the cost of reconciling and maintaining ledgers, but it will also provide accuracy of ownership and asset history. 

Remote Working

Remote work settings are becoming common in most industries, and accounting leaders are also adapting this trend. With expectations of more advanced computerized accounting systems as well as cloud-based solutions, it will not be a surprise to have your accountant handling accounting tasks remotely.

In Conclusion

With technology largely affecting how businesses are run, it’s no longer enough for a business to stick to traditional accountancy practices.

As technology and accounting becomes more intertwined, it’s wise for businesses to stay ahead of the curve. The most important way to deal with it is to embrace the technology, learn about new technologies and most importantly, learn new skills. This will ensure that your business remains competitive as you are ready to meet customer demands for faster processes. 

Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO, made a prediction in September 2018 that the internet will split in two – one part being led by China and the other by the United States. The reasoning behind this involves China’s active monitoring of all internet activities, as well as technological products and services from the country. Other reasons include a different leadership regime, controls and censorship.

Although it’s just speculation, the splinternet phenomenon has been around since the 1990s. Also known as cyber-balkanization, the concept is slowly taking root as governments seek to fence off their internet to create national internets.

How Realistic is Splinternet?

The United States has maintained dominance over the internet since its inception and going public. But in the modern digital landscape, rules and regulations are expected to curve the global internet into smaller networks. The idea is being driven by nationalism as well as concerns surrounding digital colonization and privacy issues.

China is one country known to be taking steps to compartmentalize the internet through its Great Firewall. Other countries that have taken steps to control domestic access to the internet include Russia and Iran. Europe is also taking steps toward reducing U.S. dominance by increasing regulations that require data localization. They have facilitates this with the 2018 introduction of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

In the United States, there is a drive to increase internet fragmentation to reduce the domination of large companies. This is because of the need to increase personal data protection and reduce data control by large companies. With the world becoming more global, we continue to see cases of large companies like Facebook or Apple having more influence as well as centralized power.

Though a small fraction of the internet interactions, this provides a good example of the splintering. With such fragmentation of the internet increasing, it’s bound to have an effect on economic interests.

How a Split Internet Would Affect Businesses

Data has become a critical resource, from influencing purchasing decisions, behavior dynamics, health and other aspects. But with the changing internet landscape, businesses could be affected in one way or another. Businesses have had an easy time operating in a standardized web. But with the unity of the internet shattered, they would have to adjust their planning and metrics to fit into the new environment. For instance, due to China’s domestic internet control, it’s impossible for some companies in the United States to carry out business operations in China.

This situation presents a challenge for businesses – and especially those whose operations are purely internet based. Increased regulation means disruption of operations.

For small companies expanding to other countries, it would be difficult due to the overhead costs of compliance to various regional regulations. As a business, failing to comply with the laws of a different region would subject it to hefty fines.

Be Prepared

Whether this is going to be a reality or not, the fact is there are big changes happening on the internet. The days of an open internet are dwindling with different countries and companies erecting digital walls on the internet every other day.

Unless we have a new set of global rules that enhance openness and public interest, then businesses and consumers will have to navigate complex laws and regulations that will not only affect the economy, but also disrupt seamless communication.

Since data today plays a big role in the digital economy, businesses can’t afford to ignore the possibility of a splinternet. As a business owner, you need to stay steps ahead as it would be a challenge connecting with your customers when caught up in the changes.

Businesses need to know how to follow consumers to new environments – and this could mean a bigger budget is required for development and testing different markets. Given that technological changes happen gradually, it’s advisable to keep tabs on tech trends and adjust accordingly. 

According to a report by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released in July, financial institutions have incurred more than $9 billion in losses due to Business Email Compromise (BEC) schemes since 2016. With such staggering losses, businesses and even individuals can’t afford to ignore BEC attacks.

What is BEC?

BEC fraud involves cyber thieves posing as company executives or a business contact with the intention to commit wire transfer fraud or obtain sensitive information. The main targets are businesses working with foreign suppliers or a business that carries out regular wire-transfer payments.

To carry out this attack, criminals might pretend to be the company CEO and request that a junior staff member perform a task for them, such as transferring funds. Attackers take advantage of the fact that most organizations don’t have a set procedure to verify instructions received from the top management.

How Attackers Collect Data from their Targets

Cyber criminals use various techniques to carry out BEC fraud, with the main aim of stealing funds from the victims. The techniques used include:

• Imposter techniques – this can be carried out in various ways. Attackers use a look-alike domain, display-name deception and spoofed emails that appear to come from legitimate addresses.
• Social engineering – when a target has not set appropriate privacy settings on social media accounts, an attacker can easily collect information that will make their requests sound legitimate.
• Malware – this enables attackers to have access to sensitive information that makes the fake request sound legitimate.
• Mining from the Dark Web – here attackers can obtain stolen credentials.

How to Avoid BEC Attacks

It is difficult for conventional security systems to detect BEC schemes. Consider a case in which a transaction is initiated willingly by a legitimate user in response to a request from a legitimate source. Such an email has no payloads such as malicious attachments that can be blocked.

Here are some methods to help reduce the possibility of these attacks:

• Raising awareness of common attack scenarios or tactics used by the cyber criminals, such as a false domain name that looks almost like the original one, impersonation of a vendor, false sense of urgency or a request for secrecy.
• Training employees on cyber security risks and implications.
• Implementing email authentication protocols like Domain-Based Message  Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMARC) and email authentication, such as DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM).
• Using layered defense, such as encryption, and virtual private networks.
• Implementing a multifactor authentication that will introduce a secondary authorization control. This will help stop attackers even when they have access to the target’s credentials.
• Establishing communication protocols that will allow for a follow-up. For instance, if the person is requesting financial transactions, an employee should call to ascertain the request.
• Scrutinizing all emails that request for fund transfer.
• Monitoring incoming email, especially those that use VIP names.
• Optimizing accounting systems and controls.

Final Thoughts