5 Tips For Safer Cloud Data Migration

The cloud is a major target for cybercriminals.

Threat actors know that businesses use the cloud to store a lot of sensitive information about users and employees.

According to a Statista survey, when asked if they’ve experienced data breaches within their cloud environment, 40% of respondents said yes.

During migration to the cloud, your most valuable asset (data) is more vulnerable than ever.

Data has to be protected before, during, and after it transitions to the cloud. Here we explore crucial steps for secure cloud data migration.

Understand Your Data Landscape Before Cloud Data Migration

Before even researching cloud vendors, assess what data you have. Determine what sensitive, confidential, or business data you store in databases.

If your company has been operating for years and is now moving parts of its operations to the cloud, you might be looking at years' worth of data — all scattered throughout multiple databases.

From sensitive data to unusable or low-quality data, actions that need to be taken include:

• Clean the data and make it usable
• Classifying the data based on the level of sensitivity
• Auditing retention policies — removing the data that has been kept too long

A data audit is the first step to cloud data migration. No company wants to bring disorganized systems into a new environment.

To guard the most important information you have, it's essential to differentiate between useless and sensitive data.

This step will also facilitate the migration to the cloud. The data analysis will shed some light on the potential issues that you can anticipate during the transit and give you extra guidelines to prepare.

Handpick a Cloud Provider Known for its Robust Security

Choosing a reputable cloud vendor is an important part of securing data. So which cloud provider should you trust with your databases?

When weighing this decision and researching cloud providers that are the right fit for your type of company and industry, consider their certifications, the location of their data center, and their security practices.

Do they follow the best practices for your industry and have all the relevant certifications?

Are their data centers placed within your company's jurisdiction and as such adhere to local laws that govern responsible data management?

Will you have complete control over where and how the data of your business is stored after migration to the cloud?

How does the vendor approach cyber and information security? What kind of policies do they have in place? Do they match those of your company?

Have they experienced a data compromise in the past? How did they remediate the issue?

These are just a few of the important questions to consider when choosing a reliable vendor.

Secure the Data in Transit and in Rest

Once the data is clean and classified, some actions you can take to secure data during cloud migration include:

• Restricting access to data
• Encrypting sensitive data
• Creating backups
• Meeting compliance with regulations such as GDPR
• Validating data integrity

Knowing who has access to data at all times can tell you whether an unauthorized third party is attempting to compromise the information.

Furthermore, if you encrypt the data, it will be unusable should a hacker intercept it during migration.

The more complex the cloud data migration is, the greater the chance that some might get lost in the process. To avoid data loss, create regular backups of your most important files and documents.

Choose Safe Migration Tools

Similar to choosing a cloud vendor, migration tools that you use have to adhere to best security practices, be the right fit for your specific industry and business, and be centered around data protection.

The criteria that most companies apply when choosing the best migration tool are focused on price, scalability, and speed.

While these features are important, how do you choose the safest migration tool?

Reputable migration solutions regularly improve their security and release new patches. They continually work on improving their security posture and seek new flaws.

Have an Incident Response Plan Ready

In case a data breach takes place during the migration period, a pre-written response plan will help your teams react faster to cyber incidents that may compromise data.

Most companies already have a cloud incident response plan. This document breaks down how they should prepare, detect incidents, respond, contain the threats, and list what they should do following the incident.

They also govern which processes have to be automated and ongoing in the background to continually improve the security posture of a cloud.

You never know if the hacking activity might take place during or after the cloud data migration — when your data is in transit and thus more difficult to protect against exploits.

Make sure that your response plan also includes the migration aspect of cloud technology protection and use.

Cloud Data Migration Is Getting Complex

For companies that rely on multi-cloud infrastructures, cloud data migration is even more complex and time-consuming. Data must be transferred from different systems — all of which have policies and settings.

This is why, when shifting to the cloud, such companies rely on unified security tools that help them track the security of the entire infrastructure from a single interface.

Moving assets to the cloud will continue because it’s the most cost-effective, flexible, and reliable way for organizations to scale.

Whether the data will remain safe during this process depends on the way the company approaches its own security and continual data management.
by Web Desk via Digital Information World

Navigating the Advertiser Landscape with the Facebook and X (Twitter) Odyssey

The saga of declining traffic to Facebook/Meta Platforms and X (previously Twitter) ad portals continues in an apparent never-ending loop. While other platforms thrive in the spotlight, ads.twitter.com has seen a 15.9% drop in traffic over the last year, while business.facebook.com has suffered an 8.1% drop. We've been intently following this storyline, involving traffic to these entries as a manual for measuring interest in working with these social communities.

Behind the Scenes:

It all commenced in May 2022 for Facebook and June 2022 for Twitter (X). That's when the curtain rose on this enduring ad portal traffic challenges narrative.

In August, ads.twitter.com expected the job of the fallen star with a 12.4% drop in rush hour gridlock. At the same time, business.facebook.com, which likewise serves Instagram and other advanced firms, had its own arrangement of difficulties with a 11.7% fall. On a more certain note, ads.snapchat.com picked to get everyone's attention with a bewildering 168.4% expansion, ads.tiktok.com put on its moving shoes for a 85.2% increment, and ads.pinterest.com got the gather with a 13.7% increment.

The dramatic performance of dropping traffic, particularly by ads.twitter.com, saw year-over-year declines that rivaled any seasoned actor's plot. These drops, which surpassed 20% in April, May, and June, started even before Elon Musk took over as Twitter's proprietor and the stage went through its sensational change into X. With his approaching takeover, a few sponsors might have recognized an emotional turn.

The August Traffic Showdown:

Ads.twitter.com took the lead with a -12.4% performance.

At -11.7%, business.facebook.com played an essential supporting role.

With a performance of +168.4%, ads.snapchat.com emerged as the scene-stealer.

Ads.tiktok.com performed well, with a score of +85.2%.

With a +13.7% act, ads.pinterest.com brought its own distinct charm.

The Show Must Go On:

The account of declining traffic to these promotion and business entrances had its curtain-raiser in the late spring of 2022. It has kept on enthralling crowds with its unusual exciting bends in the road.

On a trailing 12-month basis, similar to calculating overall applause for the previous year compared to the preceding one, we discover that advertisements.Twitter.com has seen a -15.9% decrease in applause and business.Facebook.com has received negative feedback, resulting in a -8.1% drop in traffic.

Throughout this, Snapchat and TikTok have basked in the spotlight despite the specifics of ticket sales and prices being closely guarded.

While this ad gateway traffic narrative does not reveal the entire story, it is clear that Meta and X (Twitter) face issues ahead, while Snapchat and TikTok enjoy their moment in the spotlight. The question remains: will the plot thicken further, or will we see an unexpected surprise in the next episode? Keep an eye out for more excitement in the world of ad portals!

H/T: SimilarWeb

Read next: Facebook and YouTube Are Still the Most Popular Platforms in the World, New Survey Reveals
by Rubah Usman via Digital Information World

Investing In Apple Shares Instead Of Purchasing The Latest iPhone Will Leave You With Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars

The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models by Apple have been released and it’s the tech news that fans from all over the world were waiting for.

All eyes were on the launch event by one of the world’s most successful firms and things went down as planned. People were mesmerized by the product on display and simply couldn’t wait to get their hands on it.

The price tag was huge but the investment that many were making was worth it, in their opinion. Did we mention how it’s bigger and better in so many ways?

From major camera upgrades to a body built from titanium, not to mention an innovative action button too- the product is blowing people’s minds. And the latest on this front is that it sold out without delay.

But have you ever wondered what would happen or where you’d be if you ended up purchasing the new iPhone each time the company made it a point to unveil another one, instead of actually thinking outside the box and investing in the leading firm’s shares?

We’re not being hypothetical here and the news is raving online after one tweet went on to mention how purchasing shares in Apple for the amount you spent on the iPhone, could have resulted in millions of dollars. But wait, it’s not exactly true and we see the math here being a little off, as recalculated TechCrunch.

If you actually end up doing the calculations correctly, the most you’d have is around $1.5 million. Again, not bad being a millionaire. But that’s only if you had done that since the year 2007 and were smart enough to look up prices when Apple was rolling out phones from the start.

Experts actually have found a better way of calculating this. And what it would be like to purchase the best iPhone at every company launch event and compare it with the same value of stock invested.

Once you did that, you would have used close to $16k on Apple’s devices across the years. And then investing in the stocks for the company would leave you with many more gains instead of losses. Think along the lines of $147k so here, you’re profiting by a huge figure of nearly $131k.

Take a look at the infographic below for more insights on which was the better investment, Apple Shares or iPhones?

Read next: 65% of Gen Z and Millennials Are Concerned About Baby Boomers Impact on the Economy
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

FTC's Amusing Recommendations for Children's Advertising

Well, folks, brace yourselves for a dose of humor from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a report in which they addressed the topic of "Protecting Kids from Stealth Advertising in Digital Media," and within this report, they have come up with some rather intriguing suggestions for advertisers targeting our little ones.

They've come up with some really intriguing proposals for those sneaky advertisers who target our children in this report. If you're an online influencer, game creator, or anyone with the chutzpah to publish adverts geared at children, you're in for a treat with the FTC's out-of-the-box formatting approaches. Because obviously, ensuring that our children can recognize advertisements is the most important responsibility on our planet.

In what can only be described as a eureka moment, the FTC suggests that the best method to minimize harm from fuzzy advertising is to not distort marketing. It's as if they're saying to advertising, "Hey, just don't be sneaky!" Isn't it revolutionary?

Yet, hang tight, there's something else! The FTC suggests that game engineers, virtual entertainment powerhouses, and content suppliers incorporate short guards or interstitials (extravagant words for dark or white screens) when their notices. Who hates a decent pop of variety while going through their #1 substance? We should disregard nuance and make their adverts as noticeable as a neon sign in a dull rear entryway!

The FTC presently talks about "unmistakable in the nick of time disclosures," both oral and composed, as the masterpiece. They apparently feel that even the tiniest tots will catch on if you cry, "This is an ad!" loud enough. To be safe, we should engage a town crier to follow the kids around.

But here's the kicker: the FTC believes we need a brand-new ad symbol. But not just any icon, but one that is "easy-to-understand and easy-to-see." Because the problem with the present icons is that they are simply too intricate. We can't have our children straining their developing brains to figure out what an advertisement is, can we?

Hold on to your hats, for there's more to come. The FTC believes that this new emblem should be accompanied by "disclosures and customer education." Yes, you read that right. They suggest that children should not only interpret the emblem but should also take a mini-course on the complexities of advertising icons. It's similar to a treasure hunt, but the hidden treasures are icons and disclosures.

This report has piqued the interest of advocacy groups Fairplay and the Center for Digital Democracy. They are overjoyed that influencers and companies have been brought to their attention. Take note, advertisers: don't even consider disguising your adverts as engaging and exciting stuff. The FTC is watching you, and they're armed with black and white displays to prove it!

Finally, the FTC's proposals for children's advertising are nothing short of hilarious. They almost seem to be saying, "Be less sneaky and more upfront, advertisers!" But, in the realm of advertising, who needs nuance and finesse?

Read next: 58% of Americans Trust AI, but Only 46% Understand It
by Rubah Usman via Digital Information World

Leading Health Applications on Android Have Hazardous Permissions

Some of the top health-related Android applications are putting users at inevitable risks, such as identity theft and monitoring, because of their harmful permissions policy. In this post-contemporary digital era, where phone applications have become a necessity to navigate this world, users might ignore the threats that come with them. However, vigilant users and security researchers have caught risks that were hidden in plain sight under the guise of enticing capabilities and refined user interfaces in the permissions given to Android applications.

Android is known for its versatility and flexibility, offering developers to program creative and revolutionary applications. However, with this limitless freedom comes challenges such as protection and maintaining the convenience of users, especially when it comes to their privacy and confidential personal data.

Cybernews researchers explored fifty the permissions of health applications that were related to mental health, blood-sugar management, sleep tracking, meditation, medication reminders, quitting smoking, and fitness. Android OS has designed a complex permission system to safeguard phone users' security and privacy. Granted that many applications require essential permissions for basic functionality, some are hazardous as they give applications access to personal data that opens up the exploitation risks of their confidential information.

Access to location is a hazardous permission, enabling apps to track the user’s exact location using network information and GPS. This is not true for location-based apps and maps but for dangerous applications that can use users' sensitive information for targeted advertising, surveillance, and stalking. Microphone and Camera Access also allows dangerous apps to monitor and spy on users to record their video and audio without their consent. Apps that require Call Log Access and SMS have the potential to retrieve sensitive data such as contact details and authentication codes, as well as enable them to spam calls and phishing.

Some apps require read-and-write external storage permission, which allows them to gain access to confidential data such as personal photos and files. Device Administrator Access gives malicious applications enhanced accessibility to control a few integral parts of the user’s device, and in other cases, complete control. Other apps require read phone state and identity access, which is permission that grants the app user’s unique device ID and phone number. Background Data Usage is another access that most users tend to dismiss, which causes their phone’s battery to drain significantly without them knowing.

Camera access in Android OS grants malicious apps the capability to use the device’s camera for tasks such as recording videos and taking photos without the user’s content, heightening the risks of compromising the user’s privacy. App developers must justify its use for more transparency and place high-security measures to protect user data. The research by Cybernews discovered that 44% of the apps they tested require access to this.

The ‘Read_Extrernal_Storage’ permission grants apps permission to retrieve data from the device’s SD card or any other external storage. It gains unauthorized access to documents and files stored there. App developers must request this permission only when necessary while explaining to the users their purpose to reduce privacy risks. The research revealed that 58% of the apps request this permission, highlighting its prevalence.

Record Audio permission allows apps to use device’s microphones for audio recording, increasing the risks of privacy breaches. The Cybernews research revealed that 12% of apps require this permission for access. The ‘Write_External_Storage’ permission in Android apps requests to add or edit data in the device's external storage. It is dangerous as it risks potential data manipulation. Developers must be transparent about their usage and explain their purpose for its access. 53% of the tested apps were revealed to request access to this. ‘Get_Accounts’ gives apps access to device accounts, including Google accounts and emails. The reason it is dangerous is because it exposes potentially confidential account data. Developers must ensure to explain its clear purpose and grant it selectively. 18% of the tested apps require this permission.

18% of the tested apps require permission to ‘Read_Contacts’, which allows Android apps to access a user’s contact or address book data, including phone numbers, names, and email addresses. It is hazardous due to potential privacy breaches. ‘Read_Phone_State’ is a permission that 18% of the tested apps requested, which allows them to access information about device status and identity such as IMEI, phone number, call state, and SIM card data, opening up to various dangerous privacy breaches.

4% of the tested apps revealed to request ‘Access_Background_Information’ permission, which Android 10 (API level 29) and above introduced, allowing apps to access the device’s location in the background. It is dangerous as it gives access to continuous location tracking without user consent. 30% of the apps requested ‘Access_Coarse_Location,’ which accesses the device's approximate location using cell towers and Wi-Fi, revealing the device's general location. In the research, 28% of the apps require permission to ‘Access_Fine_Location,’ allowing apps to access the device's precise location using GPS. It risks potential exact tracking of the user's device.

In short, developers need to justify and explain the reasons their apps require such permission to put users at ease regarding their sensitive information. Furthermore, it is also crucial for users to carefully review the permissions before installing any application and keep their Android up-to-date to ensure the best security safeguard measures.

Read next: 65% of Gen Z and Millenials Are Concerned About Baby Boomers Impact on the Economy
by Ahmed Naeem via Digital Information World

Google Chrome's new feature to hide your watching content

Privacy is something that everyone truly desires and seeks constantly. The right to privacy gets even more spotlighted when people use the internet and intend to view content that might not be suitable for others in their vicinity. Often, people use the internet for work, socialisation, leisure entertainment and sometimes to discover their vices and other things that are not socially acceptable. All browsing websites have one feature: viewing content history by entering the settings.

The canary version of Google considered the most experimented version of web browsing initiated by Google, is now testing out a new feature through its users. The new feature will allow users to hide the media content they view, such as videos and others while using the incognito mode.

In order to achieve this new content-hiding feature, Google Chrome will avoid displaying the media content or the metadata that is the information of the media being played on the control panel of your operating system. The metadata media hide feature in the incognito mode will allow embedders to be hidden more effectively and quickly.

Chromium Gerrit, the open source project for Google Chromium and a web-based platform for people to host for their contribution to its code, found much evidence and references to this new hiding metadata feature on the incognito.

Although this new feature isn’t readily available across browsing platforms, Google states that it will consider launching it across systems that offer Chrome hosting, such as Windows, Linux, Mac, and Chrome. Furthermore, this feature will be accessible on mobile OS and IOS.

For people who aren’t familiar with what will be shown when this feature is turned on, don’t worry, as we will explain it to you. By turning on this feature, the first thing that happens is Chrome will stop showing your information about all media titles, artists, artwork descriptions and all the other details in your media control window and on the taskbar. Additionally, the information will also be stopped being shown on your device lock screen, and the content information will be replaced by the Google incognito logo and the text saying “ A site is playing the video.”

This feature of not showing the content of the media being played on the taskbar is highly beneficial for the users who view adult content as their secrecy level is enhanced since others won’t be able to tell what is being played. The previous version of incognito that didn’t have this new feature consisted of loopholes because it displayed the content information of the media that was opened even when the screen was minimised or was in preview mode.

From a technical side, Chromium code has enabled MediaSession Client API, due to which media metadata is masked and hidden with the information of the placeholder. The name of Chrome’s API version is SystemMediaControl API, and it is activated when the user goes into incognito mode.

For non-Google Chrome users, other browsing platforms have features named private browsing tabs that work the same as the incognito. The advantage of using private or incognito browsing tabs/ windows is that they increase security as they don’t save passwords, don’t allow to leave traces of activity on the local computer, don’t save passwords, and don’t give suggestions in your search, engines as no information is being saved.

The people who want to try out this feature themselves first need to have Chrome Canary since it is only available on it. Once you have Chrome Canary, type Chrome://flags in the address bar section. By typing this, the system will display a menu that will consist of a menu with the title “hide media metadata for the flags menu when in incognito” settings. From there, you have to change the settings to enabled.

H/T: WindowsLatest

Read next: The 2023 iPhone Index Reveals How Many Work Days Can Buy an iPhone Around the World
by Ahmed Naeem via Digital Information World

WhatsApp Rolls Out Innovative Video Avatar Calling Option For Better User Privacy

The creativity never stops at WhatsApp as proven by the platform’s latest video avatar calling feature.

The unique and innovative rollout is a part of the recent beta for the Android update that was previously announced to be in the developmental phase. And now, we’re getting the chance to see the dynamic launch in beta.

The new rollout means saying hello to keeping users' identities masked at all times. So you’ll be in disguise in terms of your appearance with the latest avatar but will still be engaging in video calls.

As per WBI, the exciting new update is currently limited to beta testers but we’ll soon be seeing it roll out to the masses as unveiled today.

Through the latest endeavor, video callers can replace their looks with avatars, when and if necessary. Moreover, we can see how this adds an innovative and exciting touch, not to mention something that’s more personalized for your chats.

This just gets the conversation going in a new direction and makes interactions fun. After all, it’s never been done in the past. And if you’d like to see how it works when it rolls out, simply video call your friend or loved one and click on the avatar button seen across the calling screen.

If you’re sick of the disguise, feel free to switch to your normal self by pressing on the video mode. How’s that for some unique flexibility?

We can how the platform has really worked hard in terms of bettering the whole user experience with this method. After the user selects the avatar switch button, it’s going to mimic all the expressions and movements done by the user in real time. As you can imagine, it just includes a more realistic approach to ensure your chat isn’t overshadowed by the avatar itself.

Hence, it’s not dramatic but certainly very interesting. Before we forget, when you do opt-in for this new experience, you’ll be saying yes to privacy notices regarding how data is made use of to better the service and also how you remain safe at all times.

Just remember all the calls will continue to be protected with the end-to-end encryption feature. And that is true when you make use of this avatar mode for all video calls.

Hence, be prepared for something new in the world of video calls for WhatsApp as the beta test is now live, while a global release will take place in the next few weeks.

Read next: AI, the Not-So-Dystopian Hero and Why Reid Hoffman Disagrees with the Pause Button?
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World