Blockchain Technology As a way to increase data security for transaction, a new system that allows these transactions to occur automatically more securely and without an intermediary has been conceived. Blockchain or (Distributed Ledger Technology) was developed in the aftermath of the 2008 recession to deliver transparency, security, and efficiency in managing transactions between multiple parties. This concept is now being implemented or considered in many business models worldwide. What really is Blockchain? In its simplest form, Blockchain can be described as a private, secure network that uses cryptography to keep exchanges secure, provides a decentralized database, or digital ledger, of transactions that everyone on the network can see. This network is essentially a chain of computers that must all approve an exchange before it can be verified and recorded. Following figure illustrates the Basic Blockchain Process. One of the benefits of this system is that once a record is Continue reading
Information Technology
Reasoning in Artificial Intelligence
The reasoning is deemed as the key logical element that provides the ability for human interaction in a given social environment. The key aspect associated with reasoning is the fact that the perception of a given individual is based on the reasons derived from the facts that relative to the environment as interpreted by the individual involved. This makes it clear that in a computational environment involving electronic devices or machines, the ability of the machine to deliver a given reason depends on the extent to which the social environment is quantified as logical conclusions with the help of a reason or combination of reasons. The major aspect associated with reasoning is that in the case of human reasoning the reasoning is accompanied by introspection which allows the individual to interpret the reason through self-observation and reporting of consciousness. This naturally provides the ability to develop resilience to exceptional situations Continue reading
Email Security Best Practices to Keep Your Business Safe
The most pervasive means of communication today for businesses and private citizens, Electronic mail or Email, was not designed with security in mind. Today, Email application is built into almost all smart devices from phones to computers to gaming and sensor devices. however, the Email message that this device send and receive is transmitted in plain text format in almost all cases. with ever-increasing cybercrime, sending plain text message that can potentially contain sensitive data is a risky undertaking. This weakness in security in Email systems, has made Email the primary attack vector for criminals. Cybercriminals use Email as simplest and cheapest method to ship their malicious payload to targets. The three core principles when it comes to information security, Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability (CIA) holds true in Email security as well. However, there is one other principle to consider in Email security, Non-repudiation meaning that the sender of the Continue reading
Case Study: Cisco Systems Inc.’s ERP Implementation
Introduction Cisco Systems, Inc. is a big player in the Internet technologies field, manufacturing their primary product – the router. Two Stanford computer scientists founded the company in 1984, unbelievably by 1997, Cisco became a fortune 500 company and in the following year Cisco’s market capitalization was over $100 billion dollars. With the gigantic growth experienced Cisco needed to look into their future regarding their existing Enterprise Resource Planning package. Unreliability and common outages brought into question the validity of trying to enlarge the current system to meet the Cisco’s constantly growing needs. The current system was a UNIX-based software package that supported financial, manufacturing, and order-entry systems. An upgrade was made available to Cisco, but would be a fix that offered more reliability and redundancy without maintainability or room for growth. The management structure in 1993 provided that each functional business unit make its own decisions regarding the future of their IT Continue reading
Data Mining – Meaning, Processes and Models
Data mining involves the use of sophisticated data analysis tools to discover previously unknown, valid patterns and relationships in large data sets. These tools can include statistical models, mathematical algorithms, and machine learning methods such as neural networks or decision trees. Consequently, data mining consists of more than collecting and managing data, it also includes analysis and prediction. The objective of data mining is to identify valid, novel, potentially useful, and understandable correlations and patterns in existing data. Finding useful patterns in data is known by different names (e.g., knowledge extraction, information discovery, information harvesting, data archaeology, and data pattern processing). The term “data mining” is primarily used by statisticians, database researchers, and the business communities. The term KDD (Knowledge Discovery in Databases) refers to the overall process of discovering useful knowledge from data, where data mining is a particular step in this process. The steps in the KDD process, Continue reading
Advertising in the Ubiquitous Age
Ubiquitous computing, which is also referred to as pervasive computing, is about the notion that as a result of continuous advances in engineering, information technology, communications, integrated circuit chip technologies and sensors etc. computer technology devices will become smaller, cheaper, more capable and better able to weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they become indistinguishable from it. It was Mark Weiser, chief scientist of Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Centre, who first presented the concept of ubiquitous computing, the third wave in computing and predicted that technology will recede into the background of our lives as computers evolve into quite, invisible servants that will help people to calmly do all kinds of tasks in a manner that will prevent them from becoming overloaded by interactions with computing. Thus, computers will extend the human unconscious and enhance their ability to productively control, interact and sense their environment. Unlike the Continue reading