tech news
Apple Unveils the ‘Over- Ear’ AirPods Max
Image sourced from Apple Apple has officially introduced the AirPods Max – a wireless ‘Over-Ear’ headset that features high-fidelity audio, Adaptive EQ, Active Noise Cancellation and spatial audio. The headset supports up to 20 hours of high-fidelity audio, talk time, or movie playback with Active Noise Cancellation and spatial audio enabled. “AirPods are the most popular headphones in the world, beloved for their effortless setup, incredible sound quality, and iconic design. With AirPods Max, we are bringing that magical AirPods experience to a stunning over-ear design with high-fidelity audio,” says Greg Joswiak, SVP of Worldwide Marketing at Apple. “The custom acoustic design, combined with powerful H1 chips, and advanced software enable AirPods Max to use computational audio to wireles...
How COVID-19 is Shaping Financial Inclusion
The COVID-19 pandemic had forced companies and individuals to rapidly adapt to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) to remedy the unprecedented socioeconomic challenges faced by consumers. A key facet of 4IR is a shift towards digitisation, and the vulnerable communities across the globe find themselves trailing even further behind in their endeavour for financial equity as a result. Migrants and foreign nationals trapped in the cash economy, who utilise analog means of transacting funds, are the hardest hit as lack of access to cash means that they are rendered unable to support their families both locally and abroad to make ends meet. The festive season in particular is a capital intensive time for consumers. To provide for their families, many find themselves using informal meth...
Tips for Managing Large Intergration Projects
There are multiple departments within a company, each of which has a way of doing things. Project integration management brings all aspects of a project together in one cohesive place. As a project manager, it’s important to ensure all aspects of a project stay on track and have the tools and support system necessary to perform. Each piece of the project needs to seamlessly integrate with the other to result in a complete project. Here are some tips for managing large integration projects. Project Charter There is a certain skill and finesse needed to piece all the working parts of a project together. Successful project managers use their professional experiences as well as the advice of industry experts when working on a new project. Drafting a brief project charter do...
Managed Detection and Response Services – An Effective Defence to Knockout Sophisticated Cyberattacks
The accelerated adoption of cloud, digital transformation and remote working, in the wake of the ongoing pandemic, has expanded the attack surface for cybercriminals. Adversaries are also changing their tactics, techniques and procedures to increasingly launch cyberattacks that combine automation with active human interaction or “hands-on keyboard” hacking. In these types of attacks, adversaries attempt to manually circumvent preventive solutions, such as firewalls and endpoint security, and leverage administrator tools, pen test tool kits, and poorly designed or easily exploitable applications to escalate privileges and move laterally. Due to the increased use of these attack methods, IT leaders need to ensure their current cybersecurity defences can stand up against active cyberatt...
3 Cybersecurity Trends for 2021
Sourced from International IDEA In 2020, there were many rapid changes on a global scale as organizations across the world attempted to adapt to a new normal caused by the pandemic. Amid this shift, there were significant developments seen across the cyberthreat landscape. Going into 2021 and beyond, we face another significant shift with the rise of new intelligent edges, which is about more than just end-users and devices remotely connecting to the network. The intelligent edge is a target Over the past few years, the traditional network perimeter has been replaced with multiple edge environments, WAN, multi-cloud, data centre, remote worker, IoT, and more, each with its unique risks. One of the most significant advantages to cybercriminals in all of this is that while all of these edges...
Facebook Launches JoziPlug – a Community City Guide
Facebook has officially launched JoziPlug – its first Community City Guide on the African continent. The Johannesburg edition of the initiative has been compiled and co-created by local Facebook Groups featuring unique and inspiring content about the city. The JoziPlug is aimed at showcasing Johannesburg’s “hidden attractions to visitors and members of the local community whilst supporting small businesses with their economic recovery” in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since March 2020, more than 1.5 million people became new members of a group related to the city of Johannesburg. The guide compiles “the best tips and recommendations to some of the city’s local attractions, known and unknown through the eyes of these locals”. Themed around exploring hidden attractions and ‘plugging’ pe...
How COVID-19 has Changed the Shape of African Cybersecurity
Sourced from IDG Connect The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed how people live, work and approach security. According to the 2020 KnowBe4 African Report – which collated insights from across South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritius and Botswana – found that attitudes and behaviours had shifted as a result of the pandemic, but problem pockets of risk remain that need to be addressed in order to ensure both business and individual security. “Nearly 50% of the respondents will continue to work from home; 24% indicated that they were affected by cybercrime while working from home, and only 30% believed that their governments prioritised cybersecurity in their policies,” says Anna Collard, SVP of content strategy at KnowBe4 Africa. “This year, respondents were ev...
Google Stadia could Rollout New YouTube Streaming Feature
Image sourced from Games Radar Google is expected to roll out a new Stadia feature which would allow users to directly stream to YouTube. According to 9to5Google, the tech giant has already started a “slow rollout of direct YouTube live streaming for its Stadia platform with the button no longer showing a ‘coming soon’ banner for some users” – but “only on the web app, not Chromecast or Android”. Writer, Ben Schoon says “I was able to briefly test this feature after getting streaming to work on my account.” “After tapping the “Stream directly to YouTube” button under the livestream button in Stadia’s friends menu, Stadia asks for a title for the streaming video as well as privacy options, the audience (for/not for kids), and the option to show a viewer count while you’re playing. You can a...
Why POPIA Compliance is not just an IT Problem
Since its implementation in 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has become a global standard in protecting end-users from the unlawful use or dissemination of their personal information. South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), set to commence in July 2021, is modelled on GDPR, and it affects all businesses. While many organisations believe that POPIA compliance will not affect them, or that it is just an IT problem, this is a short-sighted attitude that could see them falling foul of the law. Compliance requires business and IT to work together to manage data effectively, which at the same time provides a number of business benefits. The buck does not stop with IT POPIA is an umbrella data protection law that governs how businesses need to handle data...
Instagram Unveils 5 New Features
Image sourced from Time Instagram has revealed that it would introduce five new features of the coming months. According to the social media giant, over the last ten years, its users have “come to Instagram to connect with their friends, explore their interests, and be entertained”. “From this, a global community was born, a community that did more, and mattered more, than we ever dreamed possible. From fashion to food, to entertainment, to travel, to the emergence of #weeklyfluff, people on Instagram have shaped the world around them, making new friends, reconnecting with people from their past, and sharing their lives with the world.” “We’ve also seen how people all over the world can rally around each other for support and connection – and how our community has used Instagram to speak o...
Discovery Introduces Prepaid Healthcare Service
Image sourced from EWN Discovery is launching a prepaid health platform – available online or through WhatsApp. The service will allow users to buy vouchers towards high-quality, primary healthcare services in the private healthcare sector, at “highly competitive rates”. The first offering within the Discovery Prepaid Health range of private primary healthcare products is the R300 GP doctor consultation voucher, including the medicines dispensed by the doctor after the consultation. This voucher can be redeemed at any dispensing GP within the Discovery Prepaid Health network. “We are very excited about this platform. Discovery Prepaid Health broadens access to high-quality treatment and medicine for all people in South Africa,” explains CEO of Discovery Health, Dr Ryan Noach. “Our vision i...
HP Appoints New MD for Africa
HP has appointed Bradley Pulford as the new vice president and managing director of Africa – effective immediately. Pulford joins the printing and PC devices company from Dell Technologies where he was the executive senior director for channel and distribution in Africa. In a statement, HP says that Pulford will “lead several ongoing strategic initiatives for HP in Africa. Among these are advancing the company’s diversity and inclusion vision across the continent, supporting education projects that removing barriers to doing business for young entrepreneurs, and broadly deploying future technologies and innovations, including virtual reality and 3D solutions.” HPE South Africa Appoints Two New Roles Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) South Africa has recently appointed Sandile Dube and ...
