BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
Protecting Your Digital Assets
BY KEN SMITH
It ’ s a mistake so many of us are guilty of — using the same password , or a variant of that password , across several websites . It ’ s essentially the equivalent of using the same key to unlock your front door , your car and even your bank account .
Phishing uses fake links in emails to entice you to hand over your keys in the form of your login and password , which can then be used for nefarious purposes like access to credit cards or other sensitive financial information .
Heath Spencer , CEO of authentication platform Traitware , says a local real estate agent took the bait on a phishing expedition and cybercriminals used the login credentials they stole to watch the agent ’ s emails for escrow closings .
“ The moment they see an escrow is about to close , they figure out how to replicate the corporate letterhead and everything of the escrow company and bank ,” Spencer says . “ They insert false wire transaction instructions milliseconds ahead of the real ones … Money has been sent to offshore accounts in the size of seven figures with some transactions .” Spencer ’ s company targets the number one threat to security by eliminating the need for usernames and passwords . Rather than requiring a user to manually input credentials , Traitware ’ s newly patented technology creates a constantly changing mathematical representation of a “ trait characteristic ,” or how a user interacts with their phone or other device , and uses that in lieu of a password . The software employs GPS tracking or QR codes to verify that the user and the device are in the same location or verifies a user ’ s identity through their iPhone ’ s Face ID or fingerprint biometrics before allowing access . This technology makes logging on up to 99 percent more secure — no easily stolen passwords are used , no personal data is stored and the user remains anonymous .
“ We think technology should simplify the process yet make it more secure ,” Spencer says .
Data mirroring offers an additional level of security , says Jon Falker , director of marketing for Prime Data Centers , a wholesale data center real estate developer . Data mirroring creates an exact copy of the data and stores it away from its primary storage location — for example , at one of Prime Data ’ s secure data storage centers in Santa Clara , Hayward and McClellan Park in Sacramento . That copy can then be used for recovery if malware or a hacker gets into your system . Falker says , “ This relieves the burden on production systems and provides the typically three copies needed to truly mitigate the risk of data loss .”
says his company has integrated RPA software into back-office systems for an impressive national roster of utilities , high-tech firms and consumer packaging companies to reduce the need for humanpower through the use of software robots that learn and then automate human input in digital environments . For example , accounts payable departments that receive invoices in a variety of formats can use The Silicon Partners ’ RPA software to automatically enter amounts into several applications at once instead of requiring a staff member to input those numbers manually multiple times .
“ What RPA does for users is eliminate a lot of stress and mundane tasks ,” Chowdhury says . “ It helps these users spend more time on more strategic and more important things ... Nobody enjoys looking at five different business applications and just copying data into a sixth business application .”
Easing IT Implementation The new software currently being developed is not only increasing efficiency , it ’ s also allowing businesses to implement new systems remotely — a grave concern of late given the contagion of COVID-19 . Big Green IT ’ s Rogers says that the majority of their installations now have to be remote either because companies won ’ t allow people on site due to health concerns or because they ’ re not even working in their own buildings . “ It used to be 90 percent onsite and 10 percent remote for implementation ,” Rogers says . “ It ’ s completely flipped the other way now .”
Remote implementation has also proven beneficial to providers , who now have the ability to widen their service areas . “ We are able to help companies across the country now , which opened up a larger market for us ,” says Gregory Kiefer , president and CEO of Kiefer Consulting , a Folsom-based business that provides Microsoft-based solutions for public and private sector clients . “ We weren ’ t able to do that before —
38 comstocksmag . com | January 2021