How does DDoS threaten companies today?

DDoS attacks have the potential to take down entire company networks by controlled requests.

Servers, online services or entire networks are flooded with traffic or a large number of requests, which can lead to a complete system failure. Many computers or devices send as a so called “botnet” requests, against which most companies are not fully protected.

In the event of an attack like this time is one of the most important factors, because every passing second can lead to major damage – through manual assessments of incidents, unforeseen routing problems or outwitted defense mechanisms. In such a scenario, a time-to-mitigate (TTM) of just one minute is not enough to avoid a complete system failure.

How should companies protect themselves to keep the threat potential low?

 Because of the relative ease of creating DDoS attacks, for example with free booter scripts or cheap DDoS-for-hire services, organizations should have a solution in place that should be part of a larger security playbook to mitigate these types of attacks. Building the necessary digital resilience against DDoS is more than ever before a key feature of the IT security structures.

Companies in the transport, energy, finance sectors now need a well-functioning DDoS protection solution as attacks become more advanced and evolve. DDoS attacks can certainly be part of an attack campaign, where the attacker will use a DDoS to distract operations so the attacker can try a different type of security incursion like data exfiltration or malware infiltration.

Attack methods continue to evolve, and cybercriminals are able to add increasingly sophisticated amplification techniques to their repertoire. With cloud-based and automated DDoS protection solutions, organizations can keep pace.

Have there been any transformations of the attacks in recent years or has the threat potential remained the same?

What we can witness is that critical national infrastructure (CNI) is increasingly being targeted by cybercriminals. Energy operators, airports and financial institutions in particular are increasingly being targeted by pro-Russian hackers.

Well-known names here are NoName057, Killnet and Anonymous Sudan. British authorities warned in April that these groups want to destroy the national critical infrastructure.

The focus on politically motivated attacks has increased significantly compared to previous years. Above all the attacks have become more intense and more transformative. On average in 2022, DDoS attacks reached critical levels after only 55 seconds. However, compared to the 2021 average of 184 seconds, these turbo attacks reach critical volumes 3 times faster.

These DDoS attacks are usually shorter but reach a critical payload quickly instead of continuously increasing. As a result, network systems can be crippled before defensive measures take effect. With a packet rate of 3.3 million packets per second (2021: 990,000 packets), it is much more challenging to defend against them. And: attacks have increased again, in the first months of 2023. 

Do you notice regional differences (EU/UK) with regard to the intensity of attacks?

I think that both the EU states and the UK, as supporter countries of Ukraine, are equally affected by DDoS attacks. In addition, and according to the “Cyber security breaches survey 2023”, larger companies and their supply chains are becoming more and more targets.

This group of companies and the critical national infrastructure (CNI) sector are the main targets of hackers. A quick google of top DDoS attacks shows disruption to government websites and even disruptions to critical infrastructure. However, the question is not if, but when a DDoS attack will take place. Digital resilience then becomes the crucial point that determines economic competitiveness.

Is it possible to make a possible forecast for the threat potential? 

In fact, distributed denial-of-service attacks as well as their intensity are expected to increase in the future. Digitalization, the spread of IoT devices, and 5G networks will enable cybercriminals to reach the necessary data volumes. In addition, botnets and distributed denial-of-service attacks on the darknet are being offered as services at relatively low prices. In addition, we are currently seeing the use of DDoS attacks as a weapon in digital warfare.

In practice, a sophisticated DDoS protection of the companies involved should primarily address the weak points that are not yet sufficiently outlined in the current debates.

These include, for example, digital gateways within supply chains i.e., supplied hardware and software or even services from the engineering sector.

Since these components are provided by third parties, you need to be clear about this: Being digitally resilient only as an individual company is no longer sufficient today. In parallel, service providers, partners and subcontractors who, in the worst case, have outdated systems and no awareness of DDoS must also be protected.

Many homeowners wonder if it is possible to sell their homes for cash within a week without reducing the price too much.

Well, good news because the answer is yes! Let’s discuss what you need to do to sell your home for a reasonable price within seven days….

Research The Market

The first thing you need to do is research your local market to see the prices of homes similar to yours. This will give you a better idea of how much cash you can get for your home and what you can expect. Additionally, it will prevent you from overpricing your house, which can reduce the overall sales process because there will be no need to renegotiate the price with your buyer. 

Figure Out the Value of Your Home

Once you learn what other houses in your area sell for, you should evaluate your house to see whether its value is bigger or lower than other homes. 

And, when you compare and combine your home’s value with that of others, you will arrive at a competitive price that will be attractive to potential buyers while also providing you with a satisfactory amount of cash.

To value your home correctly, you can either contact a local real estate agent or use tools like OnTheMarket to get an instant valuation online.

Pick a Fast Selling Strategy

The traditional selling method, i.e., selling your home via a real estate agent, usually takes a long time and involves many additional fees. So, to sell your house faster, you can choose other avenues, including:

• Online auctions: This method is fast and does not require you to do a lot of work. Instead, all you have to do is find a reputable online auction website, list your home, and provide photos of your property. Also, you won’t have to wait a long time for your home to get on the docket because, in most cases, properties are displayed within 24 to 48 hours after being listed. However, it’s worth noting that selling your home via an online auction can sometimes take longer, mainly due to bids not matching your chosen price or because there are no interested buyers. In that case, you’ll have to adjust your price and re-list your home. 
• Cash property buyers: Selling your house directly to cash property buyers is probably the fastest selling method out there. Namely, cash property buyers include professional companies and individuals that buy properties as their primary business operation, making them ideal for all who want to get cash fast without preparing for home inspections. Additionally, with this method, you will not have to pay any additional fees, as most home cash buyers cover all of them. And, to seal the deal, you will get a cash offer within 24 hours. So, with a cash property buyer, your selling my house quickly dream becomes a reality.

By following the steps above and picking the right selling strategy, you can easily sell your home for cash without going through the lengthy process of preparing your home for inspections and repairing damages.

Being able to come up with creative ideas for businesses that are original and sustainable is not an easy feat, especially in the 21st century, when a lot of what we do is fully dependent on the existing business systems and competitors in the field.

However, businesses must incorporate education and training to combine and create successful business models for the company, society, and employees to thrive in. Here are some ways to create sustainable business models through education and training.

Creating sustainability in a business is good for many reasons. Using education and proper training to identify the need of the market and see where your potential business could fit in the existing system is highly necessary to help it thrive. Create metrics that communicate the needs of the business with internal stakeholders and meet your goals and those of the market.

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When trying to integrate sustainability into your business model, make sure it lies at the center of it and not on the sidelines. This is to make sure that the long-term goal is never forgotten and can be easily mobilized as well as transitioned into something else in the future. Focus on sustainability and achieve it using clear communication, recruitment, training, and full adoption through education.

Research. Research. Research. This is an unsaid rule. Any business looking to dip its toes in the business world will fail if it does not have enough knowledge. It will not be able to achieve its goals, at least in the longer run. Every employee, trainee, or intern you recruit must have the ability to research to help you reach your sustainability goals. The business model’s sustainable efforts will perform as a marketing strategy and sell the product on its own. Thus, research is key.

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Without innovation, any attempts to build a sustainable business will fail. In case of potential failures, you should be able to recover swiftly using the right education and training methods for your employees. Adjust your business’s goals to align with sustainable efforts that are a part of your long-term vision, and things will fall into place. Some ways to do the above are:

• Provide opportunities for top management to implement sustainability;
• Plan and develop products that elevate the concept;
• Market products and services to evoke sustainable efforts from customers;
• Use sustainable development to shape bigger goals.

Large multinational corporations know that the only way to work towards sustainability and actually achieve it is by incorporating diverse leadership. The team at the top is what makes or breaks your business with regard to sustainability and everything else. Diverse leadership can focus on providing employees with fair wages and equality, making environmentally-conscious decisions, and more. 

Sustainability is only achievable when the goals are implemented five years in advance or more. These goals are also well-researched and proven to be successful with the backing of data and predictions. Goals may include total sales, expanding opportunities for trainees, education for existing employees, number of new campaigns, etc. Making your business successful long term will also require localization. You can use the best translation websites to localize your website, products and marketing materials for the best business outcomes. With localized content, you will be able to attract customers from across the globe. This can be one of your long-term goals as a company.

If your business is not sustainable, it’s not the worst thing if you’re aware of it and consciously putting efforts to improve that. Coming up with a sustainable business takes innovation, and all business owners know that. Be as transparent and open with your company as possible. Try to exercise that honesty with external shareholders, including customers, wherever possible. Improve with transparency, accountability, and a vow to make the world a better place. 

Sustainability is not just a buzzword. It can be used to alleviate the problems your business is currently facing, and doing so may take you in the right direction. Study your existing issues, look to your competitors and work towards sustainability. Using education and proper training to reach this goal is the best thing you can do for your business and the world.

If you are someone who sees a lot of movies, you would have come across a movie depicting casino heists at some point.

And if, like many, you think it’s only in movies that these heists happen, let me tell you otherwise. Some of these films are based on true-life experiences while others are fictional. Some popular casino heists movies include:

• Casino Royale
• The Good Thief
• The Gambler

Even though nowadays most people play on online casino sites, where you can’t “break the bank”, in this article, we will discuss some real-life casino heists that made their mark in history as the biggest.

Crown Casino – 2013

For the biggest casino heist on this list, the Crown Casino heist was discovered to be an insider job just like with most other heists. However, the insider was an employee in charge of the CCTV camera who was delivering top-security information to a high-stakes player at the card tables.

An incredulous $32 million was involved in this pinch but the two-member gang was unable to transfer all of the money out of the casino as they got caught. However, their punishment was more or less a slap on the wrist. The employee simply got laid off while the high roller returned to his home country with no legal penance.

Soboba Casino – 2007

This story is shocking and amusing because the perpetrators confessed they were inspired by the “Oceans 11” movie. A heist executed by two considerably insignificant security workers, Rolando Ramos and Eric Aguilera of the Soboba casino led to the theft of $1.5 million.

Rolando used his technical knowledge of the CCTV cameras to access stacks of cash while Eric acted as the driver of the getaway car. Rolando got the cash by holding his fellow employees at gunpoint, and this is where it gets amusing – he used a BB gun and not a real gun.

Although they succeeded in getting away from the crime scene with the cash, they got caught after a short car chase with the police. After they got caught, Rolando asked the police if their heist was good enough to rival that of Oceans 11. They were taken to court on multiple charges with bail set at $250,000 each.

Circus Circus Casino – 1993

In October 1993, a female armored car driver for the Circus Circus Casino, Heather Tallchief carted away with $2.5 million cash that was meant for the casino’s ATM. Unknown to the casino, they initially assumed she got stuck in traffic. but after a while, they initiated a search, by which time she was long gone. She planned and successfully carried out this heist alongside her lover who was also an ex-convict.

After this theft, Heather and her ex-convict lover were never found, at least not until over a decade after when Heather surrendered to law enforcement. According to her, her lover, Roberto Solis left her with nothing but $1000 and their son and fled with the remaining money. Ever since, she had been living in hiding. But for the sake of her son whom she said she wanted to have a normal life, she decided to surrender.

Heather claimed she had no idea where the money was. Many conspiracy theorists believe that she hid the money secretly somewhere.

From the above stories, you can see that while Hollywood does its best to depict casino heists as well as possible, the reality is a lot more dramatic. And it becomes even more impressive when you consider how little the possibility of success is.

Financial transactions are essential for companies; they range from exchanging money for goods and services to exchanging foreign currencies to facilitating international trade and cross-border business activities. But beyond financial activities involving currency trading, many companies have dedicated teams to one task: trading.

Trading forex within a company setting may be common to financial institutions controlling huge trading portfolios. Many companies across various industries also trade forex for multiple reasons. This article explores five key advantages that forex trading affords enterprises.

Diversification of investment portfolio

Forex trading is a viable option for business enterprises looking to diversify their holdings and portfolios. Spreading investments across various industries is a creative way to diversify a portfolio – real estate, government bonds, and forex trading are commonly used for that purpose. And when it comes to trading forex, companies can also diversify by trading a range of currency pairs, choosing from major pairs with the most liquidity and volatility and minor pairs with less volatility.

A portfolio diversification strategy for a major company may look like this:

• Identify asset classes
• Allocate assets
• Diversify within asset classes
• Rebalance portfolio
• Adjust

Forex trading makes this more accessible because it provides a wide range of currency pairs that enterprises can trade to spread for diversification.

Access to global markets

Forex trading is not limited to retail trades; most enterprises trade foreign currencies at a higher level, typically using huge funds considered institutional trading. This is a critical factor for the success of companies in accessing global markets. The forex market is the largest financial market, and forex trading provides access to international markets from anywhere in the world.

So, companies looking to trade with international clients and partners can easily buy and sell currencies from different countries to facilitate transactions. For example, a company based in the UK can easily trade with a company in China, Japan, or Canada and pay with the Chinese  Yuan, Japanese Yen, and Canadian Dollar, respectively.

This flexibility allows companies to enter different economies, diversifying their trading options and investments. For example, if raw materials are expensive in Country A, a UK-based company can easily buy from Country B, where the same grade of materials is less expensive.

Forex trading also allows companies to access foreign capital markets to raise capital to finance operations in a foreign country. This is especially important when dealing with countries only accepting investment funds denominated in their native currencies or countries with dominant currencies. In reverse, companies can also raise capital from foreign investors and convert the foreign currency to the currency of their base country.

Hedging against currency risks

Business enterprises are always at risk of interest rate fluctuations, which can significantly increase operational costs and costs of goods and services. Companies engaging in international trade can either gain or lose money depending on the change in currency rates. To mitigate risk, companies must analyse economic conditions and predict price fluctuations, using that information to make critical financial decisions.

Forex trading helps companies to mitigate this risk through hedging. Various hedging strategies include forward contracts, options contracts, and trading diversification.

Forwards contracts provide a way to lock transactions at a fixed price or exchange rate. In contrast, options offer a flexible option, allowing companies to fulfil or pull out of contracts if conditions don’t favour them.

But the best hedging strategy is entering different currencies, effectively converting one currency to another to preserve or increase value. Companies engaging in forex trading may predict the fall of the USD against the GBP, for example, and quickly convert and sell some of their USD portfolios for GBP. If the GBP/USD pair moves as predicted, they make profits and preserve the financial value that would have been lost if they held the USD.

Potential for profitability

Banks and financial institutions, hedge funds, and brokerage firms are the best examples of businesses that rely on forex trading to generate funds for their operations. Many multinational companies engage in forex trading, but many others offer their expertise as a service to others.

Either method allows companies to profit from the forex market to fully or partially fund business operations. A tech company, for example, may have a dedicated forex trading team or hire professional firms to trade forex for them.

HSBC is Europe’s largest bank by assets; the bank holds 3.49% of the global forex market by dominance and posted a $5.2 billion Q4 2022 profits. This gives a perspective of how banks make profits trading forex.

Cost savings

Cash flow management, competitive pricing, and lower fees are effective strategies that companies use to improve their profit margins. Two companies generating similar revenue may have a wide profit gap if one manages to lower its operational costs more than the other.

Forex trading can help in this regard. It allows companies the flexibility of exchanging currencies when the exchange rate is low, trading directly without intermediates, and bargaining for better prices for goods and services. All these may help a company lower its running costs.

This is a crucial reason why multinational companies prefer to exchange funds directly in the forex market without going through brokers that charge exchange fees.

Enterprise forex trading

Companies looking to trade forex can do so through various means. The best is finding a reliable forex broker with a strong reputation for providing secure, stable, and fast access to the global forex market.

Portfolio diversification is easier at enterprise levels when there’s a clear plan to locate asset classes. Once that is sorted, companies can use strategies such as positional trading to trade the forex market.

Specialty coffee roasters Allpress Espresso has announced its move to Manchester city centre neighbourhood NOMA, as it opens its first café and barista training hub in the North.   

After five years of having a strong presence of stockists across Manchester city centre already, including Trove, Erst, Carhartt, Patagonia and Campanio, the iconic coffee specialist has taken 2,500 sq ft space on the ground floor of the Redfern building at NOMA – which is asset managed and developed by MEPC. The space is set to be designed by Deidra Hodgson.  

First launched in Auckland, New Zealand in 1989 before opening its first UK store in London in 2010, Allpress roasts for almost 400 of the best independent cafes across the UK, and 1,200 independent cafes in some of the most intresting neighbourhoods of the world. 

NOMA will be the latest addition to Allpress’ international portfolio of districts, with sites in London, Melbourne, Tokyo and Sydney. 

Agnes Potter, General Manager at Allpress Espresso in the UK, said: “Already having over 40 customers based throughout Manchester and the North, we are excited to open a space designed to provide support and a base for those customers, and to open our first UK café outside of London to grow our community. 

“Having enjoyed great success at our Shoreditch and Dalston sites in London, growing our presence in the similarly eclectic NOMA neighbourhood is a great next step for us as we look to engage with new and pre-existing partners across the UK. 

Like its three London sites, the new café, based in the Grade II listed Redfern building, will provide a holistic coffee experience with a fresh menu using locally sourced products, including products from local partners, in line with NOMA’s own sustainability commitments. There are also plans for hands-on coffee workshops, community events, and tasting experiences at the flagship Manchester café.

Redfern will also become the new home for Allpress’ Manchester-based team supporting their business’ partners. It will also be used as a training facility for internal and external Allpress baristas and a technical workshop for supply and maintenance of coffee equipment. The new site is expected to open in late Summer 2023.  

Alice Bolton-Gough, Asset Manager at MEPC, said: “The team at Allpress share our way of thinking when it comes to connecting with customers and communities. There is a clear synergy here and we look forward to welcoming Allpress to NOMA in what will be a great addition to our amenity offer and to our growing business community.  

“Allpress will support NOMA’s wider hospitality selection, joining New Century, Sadler’s Cat and Pulp Coffee, and sit alongside the latest development 4 Angel Square which is set to complete in May.”   

Richard Lyons from LTL acted on behalf of MEPC with Will Tate from Colliers as joint agent.