During the COVID-19 pandemic, how has working from home affected the cybersecurity world?

There have been two main changes:

1. Users are now on their home network and physically in their home
2. COVID-19 themed phishing schemes

We need to have our employees connect to our networks over VPN, protect their machines and other work equipment from accidents, and always lock their screen when they are away from their machine (unless they live alone). We also need to educate them about current phishing attacks, and how they play off our emotions about the pandemic.

When starting a business, what are some of the biggest challenges faced while implementing cybersecurity measures?

Most small businesses are unaware of the cybersecurity threats they face and the risks they pose. I would say lack of awareness of what they need to do to protect themselves is the main challenge.

Why is cybersecurity often not considered to be a priority for small business owners?

Small business owners usually concentrate on whatever their business is about, which makes perfect sense! If you’re an expert at floral arrangements, that’s what you need to ensure your business handles perfectly. That said, education can help you protect your businesses from threats online.

What are three best practises that you recommend for business owners?

I suggest that all small businesses get an email filtering and web filtering system, to protect them from phishing attacks. The second thing is to get a company-wide password manager, to use for storing all of your work-related passwords, and teach your employees good password hygiene (different password for every site and long random passwords generated by your password manager). The last thing would be turning on multi-factor authentication for all your important accounts. Watch the video below for a more in-depth explanation of all three!

To what extent can business owners be their own cybersecurity experts?

I honestly feel that every business owner doesn’t actually need to be an expert, they just need to know when to call in an expert. If each small business could follow those three pieces of advice (web & email filtering, good password hygiene, turn on multi-factor authentication), they would be an in decent spot. Then call in an expert if you need something past that, for instance; if you are going to handle credit card information over the internet, why not outsource that to company that only does that one activity as a service? It’s cost effective, and they are experts at this one thing. Then you can spend your time worry about your business, instead of each different security detail, because you know you’re in good hands.

The post Why Small Businesses Need to Be Smart about Cybersecurity appeared first on HiveInnovates.

SKY Data Sims knows the importance of data. With almost a decade of developing and commercializing global wireless service for machine-to-machine and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, the company has partnered with over 600 Tier 1 carriers in more than 160 countries to help business leverage the power of data.

SKY Data has expertise in providing leading industry connectivity solutions in asset tracking, eHealth, POS, smart home, and smart metering technology.

Being smart about smart metering

One of the most notable examples of SKY Data Sims’ solutions is smart metering. It’s a solid business case with approximately $1.5 billion in qualified benefits to be realized over the next 20 years in operational efficiencies, energy savings, revenue protection, and capacity savings.

For customers, this means detailed information regarding energy use alongside the data to adjust habits and lower energy consumption, with a reduced number of blackouts.

The benefits for companies include eliminating manual monthly meter reading, monitoring the electric system in real time, encouraging more efficient use of power resources, enabling dynamic pricing and reducing energy consumption, which delays need for new and capital-intensive power plants. All of this can help optimize profit today with existing resources.

But the SKY Data advantage is more than just connecting your meters, assets, and fleets. Backed by a team of IoT specialists, the SKY Data Sims platform lets you deploy, manage, and scale your application, while allowing you to control multiple tiers of subscribers all from a user-friendly dashboard. And security isn’t sacrificed, as virtual private networks (VPN) and EMEI locking are available. Sky Data Sims offers simple and predicable plans, with no long-term contracts or commitments and no hidden fees.

The post How to Make the World’s Data Reliably Work for You appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Michael Litt

Co-Founder & CEO, Vidyard

Lisa Brown

Vice President of Talent, Vidyard

By letting employees consume video content at their convenience, Vidyard’s asynchronous video communications software is helping to enhance employee productivity while reducing stress.

With the COVID-19 pandemic triggering a shift to working from home, video communication has become the norm. Fast and convenient, it allows people to see others’ facial expressions, pick up on their body language, and stay connected with their colleagues.

But real-time, live synchronous video communication comes with challenges. It can be very tiring when done all day long and doesn’t give employees much time to think, reflect, or react. “This is where asynchronous video communication comes in,” says Michael Litt, Co-Founder and CEO of Vidyard, a Canadian company specializing in asynchronous video communications and makers of the video platform built for business.

Asynchronous communication is communication that occurs after the fact, like email, Slack messages, and texting. It can also occur in video format. “The nice thing about asynchronous video messages and screen recordings is that employees can engage with the content when they want, which gives them much more flexibility in the way they work, think, and digest information,” says Litt. “It’s really the way forward and a better way of doing business because communication can be more thought through.”

Enhanced employee mental health

With the transition to working from home, there has been a heightened awareness of employee mental health and well-being. Initially, many workers were feeling they had to always be “on” or behind their computer, something that’s not always possible when people have other meetings to attend or are distracted with children at home. “Employers are recognizing now that people can’t stay fully connected for an 8-hour-plus day without some flexibility,” says Lisa Brown, Vice President of Talent at Vidyard. “Asynchronous video helps greatly with that.”

Because asynchronous video lets employees engage at their convenience, it’s easier for them to stay informed, collaborate with colleagues, and keep productive. It also helps to foster the human connection when employees might be feeling isolated. “Updating employees on the status of a project or giving a leadership update by recording a video puts a human face on that communication and that’s especially important during times of crisis and change,” says Brown.

Employees can engage with the content when they want, which gives them much more flexibility in the way they work, think, and digest information.

Michael Litt, Co-Founder & CEO of Vidyard

Simple to download, easy to use, and with lots of possibilities

Vidyard is free, simple to use, and works across all major mobile platforms and web browsers. “It’s just one click to install, one click to record from your webcam or screen, and then one click to finish the recording,” says Litt. A link is automatically created as soon as the recording stops, which can be shared in an email, on social media, or within an internal messaging platform. “The recipient clicks on the video and it plays automatically,” says Litt. The viewer recipient can pause, rewind, or view the video as many times as needed in order to digest the content.

The video creator is notified when the recipient has viewed the video. “This is very valuable, not just for how it relates to customer interactions, but also to internal interactions — just understanding the way people are consuming the content,” says Litt. Video recipients may also be inspired to make their own videos in return.

As adoption of asynchronous video increases, employers are discovering more creative and innovative ways to leverage it — from connecting with customers, to sharing updates with employees, to recruiting, onboarding, and training. “We’re also seeing a trend now in using it to archive people’s work and processes — and more and more, it’s replacing the need for so many live video meetings,” adds Brown.

The post Why Asynchronous Video Communication Is the Way of the Future appeared first on HiveInnovates.

As a worldwide leader in digital interactive entertainment, Electronic Arts (EA) has developed and delivered video games and online services for console, mobile, and PC platforms for over 25 years. The gaming company giant’s EA SPORTS division focuses on developing and publishing sports video games, connecting millions of players around the world to their favourite sports, teams, and players. Its portfolio includes EA SPORTS FIFA, EA SPORTS MADDEN NFL, EA SPORTS NHL, EA SPORTS UFC, EA SPORTS NBA LIVE, and other new intellectual property products.

The stereotype that gaming — and especially sports video games — are mainly for males persists, but EA SPORTS is bucking the trend. Diversity and inclusion are at the core of the company’s mission.

Leading inclusion and diversity initiatives   

“EA exists to Inspire the World to Play — to create games that speak to and resonate with people everywhere,” says Natali Altshuler, Vice President and Head of Operations at EA SPORTS. “With 2.6 billion gamers around the globe, gaming transcends race, gender, and culture. To create powerful experiences, our games must be as diverse as the communities we serve.”

To resonate with this wide player base, EA uses an Inclusion Framework to challenge its creative thinking and help its teams develop more inclusive characters and stories. “The Framework facilitates driving in-game representation, ensuring we create multi-dimensional characters and inspiring our teams to create games that deliver an experience of belonging,” says Altshuler.

Cultivating inclusive community and allyship

EA’s Women’s Ultimate Team (WUT) also helps to create a sense of belonging at EA and to foster safe, fun, and inclusive workspaces. “The group’s goal is to enhance employee engagement, encourage different perspectives, and create an incredible employee and player experience,” says Altshuler.

Beyond the WUT, EA has five additional Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) across 24 offices to help cultivate a diverse workforce. The ERGs include LGBTQ+, Hispanic/Latin, Black, Asian, and Accessibility. “Each ERG provides community and allyship for our employees,” says Altshuler. “Having an inclusive and diverse workforce is critical — it fuels our creative process and enables us to deliver amazing games and experiences for our players. We want to create a company culture where people bring their whole, best selves to work and we’re committed to investing in our people and their development.” 

Opportunities for women in STEM

When you think of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), gaming may not jump to mind — but many of EA’s career paths are in STEM fields, presenting ample opportunities for women in STEM.

“The gaming industry is growing quickly, and so is EA SPORTS,” says Altshuler. “We’re always looking to attract and hire diverse talent, at all skill levels, to help us build new immersive and innovative experiences for the next-generation platforms and to help us add new games to our portfolio.”

Career opportunities include designers and producers to help set the vision and direction for games, project managers to help with planning and goal-setting, software engineers to implement new ways for players to engage, and artists and animators to help bring those features to life. For young professionals with these STEM skills, EA SPORTS is an all-star choice for your career.

It’s in the game.

9,000+
people worldwide

40+
global locations

$5.5 B
In fiscal year 2020, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $5.5 billion USD

EA SPORTS

EA SPORTS is one of the most iconic brands in entertainment with over 25 years of innovation, passion, and connecting millions of players across the globe to their favourite sports, teams, and players.

Be Part of the Game

Join us. We’re hiring:

• Software Engineers 
• Project Managers 
• Producers
• Designers 
• Artists / Animators

The post Get in the Game with a STEM Career in the Gaming Industry appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Thanks to modern shipping and storage methods, the period between harvest and plate in the traditional grocery system is getting longer by the day. This bolsters profits for large-scale producers, but consumers bear the cost in taste and nutrition. Enter the local food movement. Local and organic aren’t just restaurant buzzwords — they represent an approach to food driven by quality and environmental sustainability. The movement is about getting back to the true nature of food as it was before the age of pesticides, supermarkets, and tomatoes that taste like styrofoam.

Mama Earth Organics, a food-delivery company partnered with more than 60 organic farms and artisanal producers, is helping drive the local food movement in Ontario. It offers a wide range of hyper-fresh food with all the convenience of a standard grocery-delivery service. Customers select from an online marketplace stocked with organic produce, dairy, bakery, and pantry products made by local artisans, as well as chef-prepared meals from Mama’s Kitchen. Produce baskets, complete with a variety of sizes and customization options, are a popular choice — including a local-only basket. The average time from harvest to delivery is just 48 hours.

Buy local and help build the future of sustainable food 

Supporting local agriculture isn’t just about food that far surpasses supermarket options when it comes to taste and nutrition — it’s about rebuilding a sustainable food system. Through its network of partnerships and customers, Mama Earth diverts money from large-scale producers to local farmers who work to enrich and restore the land they cultivate.

In Mama Earth’s online marketplace, each product description includes its farm or artisan of origin, giving customers insider knowledge on exactly where their food comes from. Each delivery comes with a newsletter that contains recipes and suggestions on how to try new products. The newsletter also details what’s going on at local farms, giving consumers a level of connection to food producers inaccessible in the traditional grocery system.

The company’s focus on sustainability and reducing food waste doesn’t stop with grocery delivery — produce that doesn’t make the cut for sale to consumers is donated to animal sanctuaries like Story Book Farms and Wishing Well Sanctuary.

Mama Earth’s quality guarantee

Many customers choose Mama Earth for the convenience factor. Grocery baskets, complete with temperature-control ice packs for hot days, are delivered right to the door, and customers can opt into a subscription with automated weekly delivery. Deliveries are fully customizable, and for extra peace of mind, consumers can specify “never-send” items for produce baskets.

When Heather and Alex Billingsley started Mama Earth out of their garage in the Beaches, they delivered to just 13 neighbours. Today, the company delivers all across the GTA. The keys to its expansion and continued success? A picky selection process — from producer partnerships to items that make it into customers’ baskets — and friendly, attentive customer service. Each delivery is backed with a 100% quality guarantee.

The post Mama Earth Brings the Local Food Movement to Your Door appeared first on HiveInnovates.

The shift to digital-only and mobile-first banking on a global scale raises one fundamental question: without face-to-face interaction, how can banks and financial service providers be sure their customers are who they say they are?

Trulioo, founded in Vancouver in 2011, has made it their mission to provide a solution to this critical question. By providing secure access to hundreds of reliable and trusted data sources, they have created a global digital ID network for identity verification and authentication services in over 100 countries. Today, Trulioo can instantly verify the identities of over five billion people and 250 million companies around the world through a single API. 

“We think of ourselves as a catalyst for fintech,” says Trulioo General Manager Zac Cohen. “The most common use cases are know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering, with Customer Due Diligence (CDD) wrapped into that as well. Another use case of growing importance is trust, safety, and fraud prevention.”

Technology like Trulioo’s is allowing digital “challenger banks” to compete with the traditional banking behemoths

Removing friction from banking, without sacrificing security

It is technology like Trulioo’s that is allowing digital “challenger banks” to compete with the traditional banking behemoths, while also meeting all of the essential regulatory requirements.

“Having instant digital access to reliable high-quality data through a single platform is critical to creating a robust online environment for both challenger banks and traditional banks,” says Cohen. “Challenger banks are starting from scratch, which can in fact be an advantage. From the very beginning, they can build in the new mobile-first technologies that traditional banks have struggled to integrate into their established systems.”

For Vancouver-based financial service provider Koho, secure KYC and CDD is essential for onboarding customers and providing a seamless mobile-first experience. With Trulioo’s technology, Koho is now able to take processes that would previously have taken hours or days, and complete them in seconds.

“People want an easy way to access financial services that would traditionally have involved face-to-face meetings and tons of paperwork,” says Cohen. “If we can book flights, shop, and hail a ride from wherever we are because of something as powerful as a cell phone in our pocket — why not banking?”

Banks that are going to be successful tomorrow cannot afford to ignore what is happening today.

Expanding horizons: banking access is a social issue

Alberta-based challenger bank ATB-Brightside is leveraging this technology to go global and reach customers that have traditionally been underbanked or unbanked, such as new immigrants. This is more than just an untapped market — it’s an issue of social equality.

“Individuals who are unbanked or underbanked don’t have the level of access to the digital economy or to financial services that most of us take for granted,” says Cohen. “Tools that can provide that access to those individuals can act as a great equalizer. Being able to verify your identity digitally is the pillar that allows that gap of financial inclusion to be bridged.”

As Canada’s demographics shift with growing immigration and large new cohorts of young people entering the workforce, banks that are going to be successful tomorrow cannot afford to ignore what is happening today. That means making banking accessible to those with less robust paper trails, and making banking convenient for those who prefer to use their phone as a portal for everything.

“We have to consider what Canada looks like today,” says Cohen. “We have so many millennials and we have so many new-to-country residents. We need to include them and make it easy for them to access financial services. If a financial institution is making things just as easy for those populations as for everyone else, they are going to win in the market.”

The post Know Your Customer (Online): The Catalyst for Trust in Mobile Banking appeared first on HiveInnovates.