Small Business: Innovate or Attenuate
Are you a small business owner? Why are you doing the same thing, year after year? Why aren't you changing? Evolving? Innovating? Now's the time. There's no better time to think differently
So you're a small business owner?
Go ahead. Keep doing the same thing.
Keep using the same business processes, the same hardware and software, the same approaches to your business game that you've been using for the last decade. Heck, maybe even before then.
Keep hiring the same kinds of people, execute the same strategy, depend on the same marketing techniques, and say the same thing about your product or service.
Keep doing the same thing because ... ? It's safe? It's what you've always done? You're afraid of alternatives? Consequences? Real and perceived risk? Losses? Embarrassment?
Keep doing the same thing because ... ? You believe the world is static - technology isn't reinventing your industry, consumer preferences aren't changing, and that the perceived value of your product or service doesn't continually wane in the eyes of your consumer?
Keep doing the same thing because ... ? You like consistency. You dislike change. You want to keep the cheese right where it is, thank you, and that makes you feel comfortable. Comfortable is preferable to disruption.
Keep doing the same thing and - in comparison to your competitors - your costs will increase, your margins will erode, your perceived value will diminish, your market share will shrink, and you will be slow: you shall be the master of the wrong product, at the wrong place, at the wrong time.
But maybe, in the end, you'll still feel good about it? If not, upswings in the economy are times to innovate. Do something different. Spend a little money to R&D - try new things, in new ways, to question your assumptions and think differently. And a great place to start is with your business processes and systems automation.
R
Why Heartbleed is a Good Thing
Yeah, Heartbleed was pretty bad. But know what would be worse? Going on, assuming everything was okay. Exposed technical vulnerabilities gets us to question our assumptions and make sweeping improvements, improving all of our security.
Don't get me wrong: Heartbleed wasn't a shining moment in tech security and I'm not super-glad that the vulnerability occurred. Still, personally, I'm pretty happy when stuff like this hits the fan.
Well, I suppose I'm glad in a "question authority" kind-of-way. When a wide-ranging vulnerability like this is brought into the open, it gets us in the technology security field off of our butts to, one, provide a remedy to the most immediate problem, but two, question all of our assumptions.
Incidents like Heartbleed, Edward Snowden's NSA revelations, and the good work conducted by Wikileaks, gets technology professionals to look more carefully at our solutions. It forces us to think differently. These incidents also reveal certain threats that we may haven't foreseen. They also lead us down a path of hardening our all our technologies in short-order to curtail compromise. In all, situations like Heartbleed elevates all of our security postures. They make all of us safer.
Arguably, what wasn't safe was continuing to live in ignorance as Heartbleed was exploited, or, while the NSA was wiretapping private data centers without warrants, or, believing that corporations and governments always have our best interests in mind. Assuming everything is okay wasn't safe. Proving flaws and vulnerabilities - even if the outcomes are undesirable - is how we all get better.
Question authority. Further, question our assumptions. Learn, build awareness, and do better next time. That's what will improve cyber security.
R
Remove GPS Data from iPhone Pictures
The iPhone, like many modern cell phones, can take pictures. When those pictures are taken, information about the location of where the picture was taken is embedded into the photo. This is called metadata, and specifically it's referred to as a geotag.
Geotags are an interesting feature in that they can be pulled up on a map, then, sequenced in time to replay where you were when the photo was taken, even down to the very accurate location of a room within a household.
Very clever and fun. Until you start thinking about children using iPhones - their privacy and security become compromised in that it lays out a predictable pattern of their whereabouts.
Photos (along with the metadata) are uploaded conveniently into social media networks and distributed to whomever in uncontrolled ways.
This date is also used by professional computer forensics technicians (hey, like me!) to identify potential evidence in the court of law.
Further, if someone wanted to "case" another (a term used in hacking meaning we collect personal private information about individuals in order to break into their accounts), geotagging provides a unique and easy exploit. Imagine a stalker determining the predictable locations and timing to harm a victim?
So ... You may be curious on how to turn off geotagging on your iPhone or iPad.
1. Go to Settings.
2. Privacy.
3. Location Services.
4. Camera Setting and flip to OFF position.
Doing this will prevent the device from storing geo-tag metadata in future photographs. The photos you've already taken and uploaded probably already have the geotag information in them and it cannot be removed, other than deleting the photo, or, Using an app like deGeo (you can find it in the iTunes App Store).
It's not perfect, but it is one step you can take to control the distribution of your whereabouts, and the whereabouts, safety, and privacy of your children.
R