Archive for July, 2017

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Sears Canada Sparks Social Media PR Disaster

Posted in Commentary with tags , , on July 24, 2017 by itnerd

Sears Canada is in creditor protection at the moment. For the Americans reading this, think of it as being in chapter 11 bankruptcy. As a result of that, many workers will end up losing everything from health benefits, pensions, and ending up with little or no severance payments as a result. Meanwhile it is being reported by various media outlets in Canada that execs are being paid millions in retention bonuses. That of course isn’t going over so well. Thus it has sparked the hashtag #BoycottSearsCanada and the company’s Facebook page has been flooded with comments from people vowing not to shop at Sears.

Here’s a few tweets related to this:

https://twitter.com/Kbarbarich/status/889084937709670400

https://twitter.com/Can_Skeptic_Wm/status/883041031264010240

Cue the PR disaster.

I am guessing that the top brass at Sears Canada didn’t think the optics through when it came to this as many of these people who helping this hashtag to trend on Twitter feel that these execs shouldn’t get a dime for putting the company in this position in the first place. It will be interesting to see if this social media backlash results in a course correction by the head honchos at Sears Canada.

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Citrix & Google Announce Enhancement To Their Strategic Relationship

Posted in Commentary with tags , on July 22, 2017 by itnerd

Businesses today must quickly adapt to the demands of a global economy and workforce. Success is increasingly defined by the ability to optimize and protect the information surrounding people, organizations and devices. To help businesses tackle these challenges and fully embrace the benefits of flexibility and scale that cloud delivers, Citrix has announced extensions to its long-term strategic relationship with Google. Customers will be able to use Citrix Cloud to provision and manage secure digital workspaces, including Citrix Workspace Service, on Google Cloud Platform. Citrix and Google are working together to bring cloud delivery of applications and desktops, and secure cloud-optimized endpoints to their enterprise customers who are increasingly looking to both public and hybrid clouds to solve their business requirements for secure digital workspaces.

Along with these new cloud solutions, Citrix and Google also announced new integrations, available today, between Citrix ShareFile and Google G Suite that enable follow-me-data when using Citrix workspace solutions. A new ShareFile plug-in that allows the secure sharing of files via Gmail and a ShareFile connector to Google Drive provides users with one place to find all their documents. In addition, Citrix NetScaler CPX is available now on Google Cloud and is targeted for availability in the Google Cloud Launcher marketplace by the end of the quarter. Google Cloud’s emphasis on containers and the Kubernetes orchestration system will allow the developer community to use NetScaler CPX to easily build and scale secure applications in the cloud.

With Citrix Cloud services integrated with Google Cloud, Google customers will have the ability to easily add virtual apps and desktops that run on Google Cloud and use them alongside the G Suite productivity suite.

Citrix and Google continue to work on delivering secure end point solutions for accessing digital workspaces with the recently announced Citrix Receiver for Chrome 2.4, which offers true multi-monitor support on Chromebooks. Google recently announced official Chrome Browser support for Citrix along with graphics optimizations available only on XenApp. Google and Citrix product teams continue their collaboration to enhance and optimize XenApp delivery to Chrome OS based devices for enterprise customers with ongoing Receiver for Chrome updates.

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Toronto Based Startup Logojoy Shows Off AI Powered Online Graphic Design Service

Posted in Commentary with tags on July 22, 2017 by itnerd

With entrepreneurship and start-ups on the rise, graphic design has become one of the most important components in the business world. With this shift, a Toronto-based start-up is making waves globally with their unique graphic design online service. This start-up is called Logojoy.

Logojoy is a technology and design start-up, focused on providing premium and accessible graphic design services to users through personalized automation.

Logojoy’s service is powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and its own technology, providing the user with an online tool to help create logos without a graphic designer. The technology is intuitive and mimics the process of working with an actual human graphic designer through its easy-to-use, guided user experience. The service’s goal is to make graphic design accessible for all businesses, particularly start-ups and SMBs, by offering premium design packages at an affordable rate.

Here’s a video that shows how to make a logo with Logojoy:

Since launching in November 2016, Logojoy has generated over two million logos, gained 600,000 active users globally, and has raised $900,000 in its first seed round.

Check out Logojoy at www.logojoy.com.

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Guest Post: Alt-Lending – FinTech Disrupts POS Financing for Retailers

Posted in Commentary with tags on July 21, 2017 by itnerd

By Peter Kalen, Founder and CEO of Flexiti Financial

For retailers, point-of-sale (POS) financing isn’t new, but it has usually been used as a tool of last resort to save a sale. You may have used financing yourself when purchasing an expensive item. If you did, then chances are you went through a pretty cumbersome process. Typical POS financing requires a paper-based application and a long approval time that can take hours or even days. Risk-averse financial institutions don’t make it any easier, approving fewer people and making the completion of the sale a risky proposition for sales staff. Yet stats show that as much as 50-60 per cent of furniture, appliances, and electronics sales at large retailers can be driven by promotional financing offers. In an increasingly challenging and competitive retail industry, where every advantage and innovative edge is critical to drive sales and increase customer loyalty, POS financing is in desperate need of a refresh.

The evolution of POS Financing

During the global credit crisis, between 2009 and 2012, a number of large players in the consumer lending space exited the market or drastically reduced their activity in Canada. As a result, there was a significant shortage of sales financing supply for small and medium-sized retailers.

At the same time, advances in technology and a shifting marketplace resulted in the rise of FinTech companies that are redefining the banking and financial services industry. More than ever, customers expect choice and convenience related to financial transactions and will take their business elsewhere if they can’t get it. I founded Flexiti Financial to take advantage of what I saw as an opportunity in the market – help retailers grow sales and establish greater customer loyalty by redefining the value of POS financing through the innovative use of technology.

POS Financing Reimagined

Flexiti Financial’s sales financing platform was built to ensure retailers and their sales team are able to understand and reap the true benefits of POS financing. Today’s technology allows for higher approval rates, instant and paperless origination process and a focus on customer service. Retailers across Canada can now offer their customers instant financing on any device, anywhere, and instant credit approval in three minutes. This is done using a mobile application process and patented ID scanning technology, making the traditional paper process obsolete. Our advanced algorithm and customer service team are able to approve more customers, resulting in more sales. Customers can choose flexible payment plans with varying interest rates, and virtual QR codes can be transferred via cell phone, allowing customers to have their line of credit always accessible.

Customers want to buy now. They will choose financing so long as the transaction is easy and under transparent terms and conditions. Retailers want a solution that can easily integrate with their business, lacks complexity and can be quickly adopted by the sales team. By reimagining the process and inherent value in POS financing, it has become a very attractive and easy option for customers, and a proven sales driver for retailers.

 

Peter Kalen is Founder and CEO of Flexiti Financial, Canada’s leading POS Financing Platform for retailers. Peter is a seasoned credit card and retail executive with over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to founding Flexiti Financial, he served as EVP at Sears Financial and Home Services, SVP at President’s Choice Financial and SVP Citi Cards Canada. Peter received his MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business in 2001.

 

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#Fail: Dow Jones Exposes Data Of Millions Of Customers Via “Semi Public” S3 Storage

Posted in Commentary with tags on July 21, 2017 by itnerd

Hot off the heels of Verizon exposing the data of 14 million people via a wide open Amazon S3 data bucket, comes this story of the security firm who found that #Fail finding that Dow Jones had a “semi public” Amazon S3 data bucket that exposed the records of 2+ million customers to the entire planet:

The UpGuard Cyber Risk Team can now report that a cloud-based file repository owned by financial publishing firm Dow Jones & Company, that had been configured to allow semi-public access exposed the sensitive personal and financial details of millions of the company’s customers. While Dow Jones has confirmed that at least 2.2 million customers were affected, UpGuard calculations put the number closer to 4 million accounts.

The exposed data includes the names, addresses, account information, email addresses, and last four digits of credit card numbers of millions of subscribers to Dow Jones publications like The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s. Also exposed in the cloud leak were the details of 1.6 million entries in a suite of databases known as Dow Jones Risk and Compliance, a set of subscription-only corporate intelligence programs used largely by financial institutions for compliance with anti-money laundering regulations.

What’s worse is that Dow Jones had a “sluggish” response to this when it came to notifying their customers. That too is a #fail. This is why this sort of thing needs to be aggressively policed and punished. Otherwise, we are all at risk.

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SoftBank Robotics Expands Partnership With Zora Bots

Posted in Commentary with tags on July 21, 2017 by itnerd

SoftBank Robotics and Zora Bots have reached an agreement to expand their partnership. Designed and developed to universalize the use of humanoid robots, the Zora solution will now be available worldwide, facilitating the use of NAO in a considerable number of domains.

robot

The humanoid robot created by SoftBank Robotics and equipped with the Zora
solution is already working alongside healthcare teams, performing various feats and providing new kinds of support throughout the world. In hospitals, treatment centres, nursing homes and care centres, this small robot just under 58 cm tall has been adopted as a working tool that makes it possible to improve patient care significantly.

Over 10,000 NAO have already been sold in almost 70 countries. This strategic rapprochement between the two companies should make it possible for NAO to attract an even wider audience. In retail, hospitality, education and other sectors, NAO equipped with the Zora solution is the ideal companion for carrying out repetitive tasks such as reception services, providing information (product/services catalogues, school
exercises, events agendas) and leading activities. It is also perfect for offering opportunities for interaction unique to all individual user groups
such as clients, students and colleagues.

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Netatmo Welcome Now Does Pet Detection

Posted in Commentary with tags on July 20, 2017 by itnerd

If you have a pet and a security camera in your home, chances are that your pet would set off the camera simply by walking about. Seeing as 41% of Canadian households have at least one dog, while 37% of households have at least 1 cat, that’s a bit of a problem. Netatmo has a solution for that that is now available for their Welcome security camera. It’s called Pet Detection.

Welcome’s unique Pet Detection feature enables to track motion caused by pets. Thanks to its Artificial Intelligence algorithm, Welcome tells specifically when an animal passes in front of the camera, in real-time. Users can choose to ignore motion alerts caused by pets to prevent false alerts or keep them running to check on their favorite companions when they are not home.

Thanks to its superior face recognition technology, the Netatmo Welcome also alerts users on their smartphone about intruders, complete with a picture of their face and a video of the intruder.

I reviewed the Wecome camera recently. Please click here to see what I thought of it.

 

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Technology Solve the Employee Engagement Crisis Says StaffConnect

Posted in Commentary with tags on July 20, 2017 by itnerd

StaffConnect Group, provider of the world’s leading enterprise mobile employee engagement platform, today announced the availability of a new eBook entitled, “Can Technology Solve the Employee Engagement Crisis?”  The new eBook proves out why this is no longer just an HR issue, drawing the direct inarguable link between a lack of employee engagement and the negative impact on business performance, reflected in declining corporate profits, shareholder value and the bottom line – by as much as 202%.

The eBook states that according to Gallup, only 13 percent of employees worldwide are actually engaged at work. The situation is slightly better in the U.S. but not much-less than one-third (32 percent) of American workers report feeling involved and enthusiastic about their job. And research by Temkin Group shows that as company size increases, engagement decreases.  Comprehensive research and statistics from world renowned authorities including Bain, the Bureau of National Affairs, Deloitte, Forbes, and Glassdoor, among others, further demonstrates the employee engagement “crisis” being faced today, around the world.

However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  The eBook further substantiates that in a world that’s increasingly digitally driven and focused, the key to employee engagement is integrally connected to technology.  Today’s workforce is no longer tied to their desks, working on the road, from home offices, and from other non-traditional settings, as well as geographically distributed.  And, millennials dependence on social interactive technology to communicate and gather information has had an increasing influence in the workplace.  A slick user experience is a must, and its not just the millennials that have become expert in quickly finding an alternative if deemed otherwise.  Sleek, customizable, mobile-based solutions that support these paradigms are already available, and will be those that are most rapidly and successfully adopted.  And not surprisingly, analytics is critical.  A sincere hope and belief in an organization’s employee engagement success is no longer enough.  Organizations must employ a technology platform that allows them to effectively measure engagement, so that they can use this information to make true cultural shifts to improve their employees’ experience of the company.

To read “Can Technology Solve the Employee Engagement Crisis” please visit: https://www.staffconnectapp.com/how-can-technology-solve-the-employee-engagement-crisis/

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OnDeck Canada Partners with Now Prepay from Payment Source

Posted in Commentary with tags on July 20, 2017 by itnerd

OnDeck Canada a leading online lender to small businesses in Canada announced their newest strategic partnership with Now Prepay, a division of Payment Source. Through this partnership, Now Prepay is offering its customers access to the OnDeck platform which provides customers an easy to use, quick experience, managed online. The simplicity and speed of the solution will offer retail merchants a seamless experience and provide them with the much-needed access to capital required to fund core growth initiatives. OnDeck’s advanced lending technology and staunch dedication to customer service has enabled it to deliver more than US$6 billion dollars in capital to over 60,000 businesses across the United States, Canada, and Australia.

The strategic partnership between OnDeck Canada and Payment Source is a major step forward for Canadian businesses, especially those retail companies looking to fund immediate needs in a short period of time.

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Apple has released updates to iOS, watchOS, tvOS, and macOS…. Here’s Why You Should Care

Posted in Commentary with tags on July 19, 2017 by itnerd

At 1PM EST Apple Apple released iOS 10.3.3, watchOS 3.2.2, tvOS 10.2.2, and macOS 10.2.6. The release notes for all the above basically say some that the focus was performance and security improvements. But the the latter is why you should care. I’ve been browsing the documents that list the security improvements that have been made and these ones jump out at me. I’ll start with iOS 10.3.3:

Available for: iPhone 5 and later, iPad 4th generation and later, and iPod touch 6th generation

Impact: Notifications may appear on the lock screen when disabled

Description: A lock screen issue was addressed with improved state management.

CVE-2017-7058: an anonymous researcher

Lock screen issues are not new to iOS, but this one could have privacy implications.

Available for: iPhone 5 and later, iPad 4th generation and later, and iPod touch 6th generation

Impact: Visiting a malicious website may lead to address bar spoofing

Description: An inconsistent user interface issue was addressed with improved state management.

CVE-2017-2517: xisigr of Tencent’s Xuanwu Lab (tencent.com)

And:

Available for: iPhone 5 and later, iPad 4th generation and later, and iPod touch 6th generation

Impact: Visiting a malicious website may lead to address bar spoofing

Description: A state management issue was addressed with improved frame handling.

CVE-2017-7011: xisigr of Tencent’s Xuanwu Lab (tencent.com)

This is kind of dangerous as it could lead to you and your iDevice getting pwned by hackers through no fault of your own.

Available for: iPhone 5 and later, iPad 4th generation and later, and iPod touch 6th generation

Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted movie file may lead to arbitrary code execution

Description: A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved bounds checking.

CVE-2017-7008: Yangkang (@dnpushme) of Qihoo 360 Qex Team

This is really dangerous. There have been examples of this in the past where it would crash an iOS device. It sounds like this attack vector has become a bit more sophisticated. I should also note that the same thing was fixed in tvOS.

iOS, tvOS, macOS and watchOS share one interesting security fix:

Available for: All Apple Watch models

Impact: An attacker within range may be able to execute arbitrary code on the Wi-Fi chip

Description: A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved memory handling.

CVE-2017-9417: Nitay Artenstein of Exodus Intelligence

I should note that this fix is available for iPhone 5 and later, iPad 4th generation and later, and iPod touch 6th generation. Not to mention macOS users running 10.12.5 and 4th Generation Apple TV users. Which is good as this is not the first time that Apple has fixed an issue where a device could be pwned via WiFi, and the fact that this can be done at all is very serious.

There’s a bunch of interesting tvOS security fixes that look like this:

Available for: Apple TV (4th generation)

Impact: A malicious website may exfiltrate data cross-origin

Description: Processing maliciously crafted web content may allow cross-origin data to be exfiltrated by using SVG filters to conduct a timing side-channel attack. This issue was addressed by not painting the cross-origin buffer into the frame that gets filtered.

CVE-2017-7006: David Kohlbrenner of UC San Diego, an anonymous researcher

There’s of course many other fixes, but none as serious as these. Thus consider updating to the latest version of whatever OS your iDevice runs so that you can protect yourself from the attacks that are sure to come.

 

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