Ethical hacker/ "Food industry needs tech partner as close ally"

Jul. 4, 2018 Ethical hacker: Today I found this article by Jared Lindzon in the Globe and Mail:

Job: Ethical hacker

The role: While hackers seek to exploit holes in cybersecurity systems for malicious purposes, ethical hackers are employed by the creators of those systems to help identify vulnerabilities before they can be breached. 

“An ethical hacker is a security expert that basically tests systems or software for potential vulnerabilities that would allow them to break through the system, but they do it on behalf of the owner, so the owner of the system is aware of it,” explained Abdul-Aziz Hariri, a Montreal-based senior security researcher at Zero Day Initiative, a “bug bounty” program established by multinational cybersecurity company Trend Micro. 

Mr. Hariri explains that most major technology vendors have similar bounty programs that offer cash rewards to those who report vulnerabilities in their system. While such programs offer one way for ethical hackers to earn an income, many are employed full-time by larger organizations to test systems and software internally, both before and after it is released to the public. 

“There’s freelance jobs, there’s jobs as part of a consulting firm and there’s companies that have specific teams in-house who are only built of ethical hackers to test internal systems,” he said. 

Although ethical hackers are often required to submit a report on any liabilities they discover, they are typically not responsible for fixing vulnerability themselves. 

Salary: According to Mr. Hariri, ethical hackers typically begin their careers earning between $40,000 and $50,000 a year, while those at the top of the field can earn $150,000 to $180,000 annually. 

“It doesn’t really matter if you have a computer science degree or a master’s degree, it just matters if you have the skills, if you have a good reputation and you’re constantly finding [vulnerabilities],” he said. 

Mr. Hariri explains that when major technology vendors update their systems to protect against a newly discovered gap in their defense, they publicly announce the name of the ethical hacker that identified the vulnerability. As a result, salary expectation in the industry is often tied to reputation. 

Mr. Hariri adds that technology vendors often host events and challenges that offer cash prizes as high as six figures to those that identify previously undiscovered vulnerabilities, which some ethical hackers use to supplement their income.

Education: Those who are yet to receive public recognition for their abilities can instead pursue internationally recognized certification, such as the Certified Ethical Hacker designation offered by the International Council of Electronic Commerce Consultants. 

“This can be a good start for someone who wants to learn about ethical hacking and get exposed to different types of network attacks and the tools that can be used for that purpose,” said Mr. Hariri, adding that formal education is not a requirement for working in the industry. 

“Most of the skilled researchers that I’ve seen are self-taught, but I’d recommend starting with the basics, like computer science, and then branch out from there,” he said. 

No matter how they establish themselves, Mr. Hariri emphasizes the importance of continuous, self-directed learning for anyone that wants to be successful in such a quickly evolving field.

Job prospects: As more companies utilize more advanced technology systems, both within the technology industry and beyond, the need for ethical hackers is only expected to grow, Mr. Hariri said. Furthermore, as a job that can typically be completed remotely, 

ethical hackers are often not bound by geography or local economic conditions.

Challenges: Playing defence against increasingly sophisticated and well-funded opponents requires ethical hackers to stay on top of quickly evolving industry trends. As a result, Mr. Hariri believes “the hardest part is actually just staying up to date.” 

He adds that the best way for ethical hackers to do so is by participating in industry events and conferences. 

Why they do it: While staying up to date on a complex and ever-changing threat landscape has its challenges, Mr. Hariri says most are motivated to enter the industry out of a love for solving complex puzzles and making a positive impact. 

Misconceptions: Mr. Hariri says that even with the word “ethical” in the title, many mistakenly associate it with illegal hacking. “Ethical hackers are out there to help make things better, help vendors fix their bugs and help technology owners find vulnerabilities in their system,” he said.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/careers/career-advice/article-i-want-to-be-an-ethical-hacker-what-will-my-salary-be/

9 months ago

Expect to be paid in Rubles

"Food industry needs tech partner as close ally": Today I found this article by Andreas Liris and Glenn Sawyer in the Globe and Mail:

It’s no secret that global food production is heading towards a crisis. The system is unsustainable, and things will only get worse unless we figure out a way to feed what will be nine billion people on Earth by 2050.

This is not a time for food producers to pretend all is well. On the contrary, they must set ambitious and determined goals to do better. Maple Leaf Foods has set the goal of becoming the most sustainable protein company on earth. The company aims to reduce its footprint in water and natural gas by 50 per cent by 2025, while finding ways to create a food system that can help to feed all those new mouths.

Only with intelligent and aggressive use of technology can this be achieved. Precision agriculture is showing great promise in reducing the environmental footprint while increasing production, and advances like high-tech lighting and alternative energy-powered battery storage are helping to make greenhouse production more efficient. 

Technologies such as artificial intelligence, sensor technology, and the Internet of Things are showing huge potential and will surely provide some of the solutions that make up the sustainable ecosystem.

Alongside these advances, one of the most exciting developments is the integration of traditionally consumer-based technologies with B2B software. A recent project at Maple Leaf Foods serves as a good example: the company kitted out its production supervisors in 10 factories across Canada with iPads loaded with an app that digitizes and mobilizes dozens of previously paper and office-based tasks.

The goal was simple: find a way for production supervisors to do on the shop floor everything they do in their offices, including keeping track of materials and inventory, making process orders, scanning labels, and staying in touch with others.

The act of moving between the floor and office was an inefficient process for production supervisors, and they had to decontaminate every time they entered the production area. Furthermore, if they, for example, found a problem with a piece of equipment, the process of logging it involved e-mailing a picture and entering data into clunky forms. It all felt very early 2000s.

With the new app, things like this can be done quickly and efficiently by just pressing a few buttons, as can barcode scanning, transactions, and dozens of other tasks. Production supervisors now spend 50 per cent less time in the office, which has helped the company improve overall efficiency by 20 per cent.

 Not a bad result from a few iPads and an app.

It’s now clear that every business-process-creating chief information officer must take Apple and its devices seriously. Since the company began partnering with business software makers such as SAP to support the development of enterprise apps, the opportunities to create elegant solutions that improve efficiency have become too powerful to ignore.

Many companies are reaching the point where they’re no longer solving IT issues. They have the plumbing in place – a cloud platform and a consolidated database of information – and can begin turning their attention to finding new efficiencies from emerging technologies.

The sheer number of opportunities to use technology in enterprise today is dizzying, and technology is changing so quickly that keeping on top of it is a major challenge. This is where technology partners come in. Don’t underestimate their ability to understand your business, your customers, and the challenges in your industry. In today’s digital world, they should be your closest allies.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/careers/leadership/article-food-industry-needs-tech-partner-as-closest-ally/

"Communicating effectively in the new world of work"/ "How to become an investment-worthy startup"

Jun. 25, 2018 "Communicating effectively in the new world of work": Today I found this article by Naomi Titleman Colla in the Globe and Mail:

Mastering workplace communication in this new world of work takes practice. Most of us work with and lead teams that are both remote and on-site, and sometimes even in different countries and time zones. Thanks to technology, we have a plethora of media with which to communicate, both in writing (e-mails, texts, social media) and orally (phone, video conference, video streaming, good old-fashioned in-person meetings). 

Using the right channel for the right interactions with the appropriate “body” or non-verbal language is key to successful team dynamics and productivity. 

We’ve been taught that the majority of any message is conveyed through non-verbal elements (facial expressions, posture, gestures, etc.). You can tell if someone is lying through shiftiness or lack of eye contact, you can tell if an audience appreciates your presentation by their smiles, furrowed brows or yawns. 

In this new world of work, how can we decode each other’s messages when we spend less time face to face? Are we in jeopardy of missing the important nuances? Think about the last time you were on a conference call – did your body language come through on the other end of the line? Have you ever written an e-mail that was misinterpreted and, if so, was there a better way to use “non-verbal” communication to prevent this?

Transitioning to a world of work where much of our work force is now working at least partially remotely, it is important that we acknowledge the modernization of “body” or non-verbal language and learn how to practice it and decode it most effectively, so that we don’t constantly operate with partial information.

Written communication

When the colon followed by a closing parenthesis became the universal symbol of a happy face, we were taught by our leaders that it was not professional to use this “emoticon” in workplace communications. Now, emojis and #hashtags are often used to convey tone of voice in e-mails, texts and memos. Absent these useful characters, tone can be completely misinterpreted, which can compromise work product and relationships.

Timing can also serve as non-verbal communication. E-mails and texts that are sent late at night or on weekends can lead to misinterpretation by employees, suggesting “this is urgent” or “my time is not respected.” 

Since written channels are easiest to abuse, because they mostly don’t require the other party to “consent,” it is important to proceed with caution and pay close attention to non-verbal elements of these communications. 

Particularly in the world of texting, where messages are more rapid-fire, emojis and appropriate use of punctuation (!!! indicates urgency; ??? indicates “why haven’t you responded?”) and use of CAPS (which indicates yelling) can prevent misunderstandings.

Phone calls

It can be challenging to decode messages on phone calls, because of the lack of helpful cues that tell us whether people are aligned, confused, finished speaking, etc. A couple of tips for more effective body language on phone calls:

• Pretend that you are in person: Walk around the room, use hand gestures, articulate clearly. Imagine you are a voice-over actor – it’s amazing how in animated films, we can feel the actors’ body language even though they are not physically on the screen.
• Let pauses happen: Dead air, especially when you can’t see people’s expressions, can be awkward. In many cases, participants are simply processing and reflecting – so allow for a couple of moments of silence before prompting to check for understanding or alignment.

Face-to-face communication

We exchange information every day using the channels above because in many cases, it is more efficient and productive. But it is important to recognize when in-person interaction is necessary to capture the full essence of the conversation through real in-person body language. 

For example, difficult, sensitive and personal conversations (performance reviews, termination discussions, etc.) as well as meetings that serve to motivate (onboarding, project kickoff, global town hall meetings, etc.) benefit from in-person presence.

When you do have face-to-face interactions, don’t get tripped up by conventional wisdom when it comes to non-verbal language. According to Mark Bowden and Tracey Thomson, authors of Truth and Lies: What People are Really Thinking, using the simple SCAN method (suspend judgment; take in context; ask what else; form new judgment) allows us to get the most accurate information out of our face-to-face interactions.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/careers/management/article-how-you-can-communicate-more-effectively-in-the-new-world-of-work/

"How to become an investment-worthy startup": Today I found this article by Brent Halverson in the Globe and Mail:

CEO of Conexiom, a sales order automation processor that recently received growth investment from a Silicon Valley private equity firm.

One of the fundamental responsibilities of a startup leader is to attract funding and investment to grow the business. Without the lifeline of capital investment, survival as a startup can be a constant uphill struggle. As a result, new businesses need to become as investment-worthy as possible and maximize the funds they receive.

Becoming an investment-worthy company must start first and foremost with your team. Rather than focusing on numbers and rapid development, a company’s primary emphasis should be on building a team that can represent, support and contribute to a strong foundation for growth and progress. Investors seek businesses that have depth, strength and who can ultimately uphold the added pressures and demands of a growing business.

Collaborating to achieve success

There is a fine balance between collaboration and operational inefficiency in the workplace.

In order to achieve strong team morale, it is important to create a collaborative culture that encourages open communication. 

Establishing an environment where each employee not only understands their role, but more significantly how their role is integral for the operation of the business reinforces the principle that everyone is imperative to the company’s success.

As a business leader, it is equally important to acknowledge the value of dialogue with customers to gain insight into their needs and how the company can improve on service and product development. This insight is what ensures we remain sticky and in lockstep with client needs. Collaboration with both the team and customers establishes a strong business position where leaders and managers understand the value of insight.

As owners or heads of any business, we don’t have all the answers, but our employees might.

The team is valuable and perceptive; after all, they were hired because of this. Fostering a collaborative culture where leaders regularly connect and establish a two-way dialogue with every department not only develops innovation and teamwork, but provides a confidence boost to staff and enables them to feel safe to express themselves.

Business leaders should use their team’s expertise to aid in decision-making and brainstorming when faced with challenges. Knowing and admitting that you, as leader, don’t have all the answers is an important part of establishing effective business and team communication, a key characteristic that investors appreciate.

The value of recognition 

Ultimately, recognizing that every person is an integral piece of the business puzzle will have positive implications on employee morale.

Highlighting the contributions of each staff member isn’t just rhetoric; it is critical to success.

Understanding and communicating the unique value each employee brings to the company establishes a foundation for a healthy and cooperative work environment. This in turn motivates the team to deliver at their highest capacity, not because they are thinking of their paycheque but because they are fully invested in the business.

While conflicts and challenges are inevitable in the workplace, ensuring employees know they are valued and respected encourages them to be devoted and committed to delivering at 100 per cent despite difficulties that may arise.

Thus, team members inherently become the company’s biggest supporters and ambassadors, and this motivates them to keep delivering on both good and bad days. That’s vital to building a positive and strong business reputation.

Slow and strategic wins the race

Contrary to popular belief, success doesn’t always have to be loud. A frequent downfall for startups is the rapid acceleration into the marketplace and in turn, the inability to maintain this speed of growth to meet customer and investor demands.

Success is all about stability and ensuring the business is prepared to meet the challenges that it will inevitably face.

Establishing an investment-worthy business requires careful evaluation and the ability to stay humble. It is not only about celebrating the wins and riding the success, but also about steady strategic planning.

Every achievement is an opportunity to learn what went well and what can be replicated to realize future goals so that solutions always remain relevant. Identifying what works and what doesn’t takes time and effort from the entire team, and requires support and expertise from every level. 

Taking the time to establish and maintain strong business processes will inspire a high level of confidence in your startup and investors will inevitably follow.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/careers/leadership/article-how-to-become-an-investment-worthy-startup/

3 days ago

Some pretty sound business advice.