Sal Ziauddin

Thoughts and Opinions from Sal's Desk

Author: Sal Ziauddin

Last Week in Biztech

September 6, 2020 / / 0 Comments

August 30th to Sept. 5th
BUSINESS & CYBERSECURITY

  • Is your firm protecting itself against both internal and external cybersecurity threats? A Russian national was arrested after offering $1M to a Tesla employee to plant malware (link).
  • Is your firm using Cisco Jabber for videoconferencing? Make sure you download the latest application update from Cisco to close off a critical vulnerability that could allow a remote attacker to target your Windows systems (link).
  • If your organization works in financial technology (Fintech) then you should be aware of a hacker group that targets the employees of fintech companies by sending phishing emails with deceptive “Know Your Customer” (KYC) attachments (link).
  • Microsoft has released a new tool in the fight against deepfake videos. These are videos where advanced digital editing can make it seem like Person A is really saying or doing something, when in fact they did no such thing. Such misleading videos can be used for political gain, or in email phishing campaigns to motivate curious George to open a sketchy file attachment (link).

BUSINESS & CYBERBREACHES

  • Warner Music Group (WMG) suffered a breach by an undisclosed party that could have taken sensitive information between April 25 and August 5. The breach does not seem to have affected those customers of theirs using Paypal, but for all other customers using credit cards, help is being provided by Kroll for identity and credit monitoring (link).

BUSINESS & PRODUCTIVITY

  • Microsoft “Lists” is a new productivity app for MS Teams will help your employees get team projects done more efficiently by tracking information across various projects and workloads (link).
  • Qualcomm has come out with a powerful new processor to power 5G computers, bringing battery life for days, enterprise-grade security, and much faster communication speeds. For business users this means laptops with greater capabilities for remote workers, enabling better productivity and greater security. (link)

IT Leadership during the Great Lockdown

July 3, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Wow what the hell? How is it July already?
 
Someone pinch me please. Where did the first half of the year go?
 
A few grams (literally) worth of some virus comes out of left field, broadsides the entire planet, killing half a million –  and counting, so far – destroys millions of jobs, forcing countless businesses onto life-support, and puts the global economy into the Great Lockdown – one of the worst recessions in nearly a century. In my polite Canadian understatedness, (is that even a word?) I’ll call this super ugly. Every client or prospect I talk to has indefinitely shelved or pushed-back IT projects that were already greenlit for Q1 or Q2, due to unprecedented levels of uncertainty about what’s around the corner.
 
Business leaders and their lieutenants in all major divisions and units are tossing their yearly forecasts and plans out the window as they focus on putting out fires, getting through this trainwreck or that, or just fighting to stay relevant and alive. So as you pause to catch your breath, now is the time to focus on strategic moves that will position your organization for stability and growth.
 
Let’s address the elephant in the room first – when is this thing going away?
 
Buckle up buttercup, it’s not going to be anytime soon.

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Genesis

May 18, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Well, this certainly isn’t my first blog or even website.

It is however, the result of a realization that publishing my thoughts on other platforms carries certain risks and restrictions, as well as certain benefits. However those benefits often had strings attached, which I felt would dilute the integrity of my writing, hence my decision to go solo.

Throughout my career in technology and business development, I’ve had countless occasions where clients, team members, or other stakeholders have asked me to repeat a conversation or presentation on XYZ topic for others. In all cases, my goal has always been to simplify technology for the widest and most relevant audience.

That is what I plan to achieve by putting my thoughts in writing here in this tiny corner of the internet.

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