What is the best way to securing stuff?

In today's world where getting hacked is so common place that it is being discussed over a quiet beverage after work, I was asked this question and thought the answer was worthy of sharing.

When you look at securing anything, all solutions are based around 3 basic fundamentals:
1) Something you are (#1).
2) Something you know (#2).
3) Something you have (#3).

Diverting for a moment to some historic examples:

• In the old days, the key to your house was something you have (#2). Obviously if someone manages to steal it or copy it they get access to your house. Low hassle and higher risk.
• Banks stepped it up when they originally issued cards (#3) that required a signature (#1) although the signature check became inherently weak over time.
• The Payments Cards Industry altered that second factor by changing signature (#1) to a PIN code (#2) and forced everyone to use it (although some countries see limited benefit and are slow to adopt). They have recently lowered security for low value items in Australia (paywave) to just (#3). 

If you want to secure your own 'stuff' that has significant value to you you have to do the following:
a)  Firstly have a back up in a completely different ecosystem (I will explain that in a different post if people are interested).
b) You need to use at least two of #1,#2 or #3, with #1 being the most secure.

To demonstrate a poor security example:- A username and password is just two of the same type (#2) and quite insecure.

As we head into an increasingly digital world, there is the temptation to lower your security level for convenience. An example is a single tap to access an APP (#3) or automatic login. Phone companies are trying to help protect you by adding biometrics (#1) to unlock the phone (face, fingerprint), but you are also giving your biometrics to the phone companies that have a huge number of employee's and the misuse of corporate access to your devices and data is increasing.

When looking to secure anything, it is best to use at least one each of two different types.

So, that's the point, from houses, cars, cash, online identity and data, they all follow the same basic fundamental concepts.

If you have any questions, please send them through and have a great day!


Ross.

True Customer Engagement and the right people drives Growth

Exceptional Growth through People and Engagement

When we acquired Grabba International in 2017 it primarily was an R&D company, continually evolving their product into the best product possible within their field. Their field was enabling digital transformation for large entities by providing bespoke (custom created) devices that operate at the fringe of operations to automate all different forms of processing from simple POS systems and logistics through to biometrics.

They were able to get the contracts that no one else wanted. The ones that required all the tough customisation work. The devices where they are turning the customers dream into reality. The end effect on the business was integrating the new knowledge from customer generated requests into their core platforms. After doing this for many years, the capability of their underlying platform is truly impressive. Their customer list and product was also impressive, but the sales revenue was poor.

They had an amazing R&D team which can be easily seen on Linkedin, but the management attitude of 'built it and they will come' failed to deliver stable results leaving them in a weak position.

The primary problem was the best use of their product was large government or large corporate with the resulting large contract value. These are not sales, they do not need a 'hunter' to catch them. These large 'deals' are not only the classic transfer of trust, but also require a consulting angle with the key aspect being process improvement through digital transformation.

Ultimately, they need a partner and guide. The key contact in the business or government needs someone knowledgeable in both how the technology may be bent or twisted and also in the underlying business of the customer. This enables ongoing robust conversations around how the technology can be customised to produce a result far more outstanding than any off the shelf product that can be found today.

This is an approach that works in today's society where people want to purchase that they need, not what is available. After enormous growth over the last 3 years, one thing I can say is:
None of this is easy, but having the right people and true engagement with our customer leads to controlled profitable growth.