In 2023, 35% of malware was delivered via email, making it the most common attack vector. Running an eCommerce platform means that your customers trust you with a lot of sensitive data. This, along with ever-increasing privacy regulations, makes cybersecurity increasingly important.   While many companies protect their internal systems, they don't consider how they exchange information with their clients. In this post, we look at how you can secure your email communications.   Establish Clear Security Protocols for Customer Support Emails   A solid cybersecurity strategy starts with well-defined security protocols that outline how customer support emails should be handled. This can include:   Limiting access to sensitive information to only those who need it. Ensuring emails containing sensitive customer data are handled by authorized personnel. Setting guidelines for what information can be shared via email and when other secure methods are necessary.   By providing customer support agents with clear policies and procedures, companies can significantly reduce the risk of accidental data exposure through email.   Use Encrypted Email Services   Using high-level encryption is not only a good practice, but it keeps you compliant with data protection regulations. These programs convert the messages into garbled code when in transit. The technology makes it impossible to read the messages if someone intercepts them. The only person who can read it is the person it's intended for.   Most email services today provide this protection. Gmail and Outlook offer good encryption for their business packages. If you need more, you can use a service like Protonmail.   Adopt Secure Communication Platforms for Customer Interactions   Secure customer communication systems can enhance email security even further, while encrypted email services provide strong protection. These systems' end-to-end encryption and variety of secure messaging features, including secure portals for exchanging sensitive data, allow customers to connect with confidence.   By incorporating a secure platform into your customer service process, you lessen the need for email and lower the security risks involved.   Some businesses also leverage chatbots and automated response systems, including security measures to enhance protection further.   Implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)   A password helps to secure an email account. However, hackers use sophisticated tools to crack passwords, so it makes sense to have additional security.   You can use a simple app like Microsoft Authenticator to generate a random code. When logging into your emails, you must open the app and type in the code. You can also use other apps or a security token. To amp up the security, you can also use biometric authentication.   Do you think it's overkill? Hackers often befriend someone in the company. They may also clone phones or use clever social engineering to get the randomly generated codes. Many people use simple passwords that are easy to guess, so using multiple authentication methods makes sense.   While it's a bit onerous, this approach reduces the risk of email breaches.   Regular Security Awareness Training for Support Teams   94% of companies reported email attacks in 2023. While anti-malware programs are good, they're not infallible. They're pretty much useless if someone clicks on the wrong link.   You need to ensure that your eCommerce team can recognize and respond to these risks. If you work with an outsourced support team, be sure that their training is up to date in this area.   They need to be well-versed in providing the best support while protecting your customer data.   The best way to do this is to conduct regular training. Explain the latest attack vectors and how to recognize dodgy emails. You can even send random phishing emails to see if they can recognize these attempts. It would help if you taught your team to verify suspicious requests and explain why to your clients.   Doing this will minimize the risk of human error leading to a breach.   Promote a Culture of Cybersecurity   In addition to training, companies should foster a culture of cybersecurity throughout the organization. This entails making certain that everyone, from entry-level customer service representatives to senior executives, is aware of their responsibility to preserve sensitive data. When cybersecurity is prioritized at all organizational levels, the probability of security breaches is reduced.   Encouraging open communication about security threats and the use of secure communication methods helps build a more resilient support team.   Use Strong Password Policies   Many people use simple vital phrases that are easy to remember. Unfortunately, these are also easy to crack. A strong password is:   At least 12 characters long Not used for any other account A random mix rather than words A mixture of letters, numbers, and special characters Using both upper and lower case   You should clearly define the rules for setting strong passwords and ensure that your employees know not to share them or write them down.   Rotate Passwords Regularly   In addition to setting strong password policies, it's essential to enforce password rotation at regular intervals. This means requiring employees to update their passwords every few months, reducing the risk of hackers exploiting old credentials. Implementing this policy across the board, including within your customer support teams, adds another layer of security to your email systems.   Use Email Authentication Protocols   These protocols make sure that the emails sent from your domain are legitimate and protect your domain from spoofing or phishing:   SPF: This verifies that senders of an email are authorized to send them from your DKIM: This attaches a digital signature to each outgoing email, verifying that it hasn't been altered during transmission. DMARC: This helps stop spammers from using your domain to send phishing emails. It also provides feedback on how your email authentication protocols are working.   These not only stop bad actors from misusing your domain but also prevent your emails from being flagged as spam.   Avoid Sharing Sensitive Information Over Email   You should never send sensitive information over email. Examples include:   Credit card details Social Security numbers Login details   Always assume that someone will intercept the information, so look for secure alternatives. These include secure web forms, customer portals, payment gateways, or encrypted messaging services. Just ensure that the products you use have better security than the typical email client.   Monitor for Suspicious Email Activity   Artificial intelligence is proving beneficial for bad actors. Fortunately, it works for the good guys too. You can use specialist programs to monitor unusual patterns like:   Mass email forwarding Login attempts from unknown locations Suspicious attachments   The system can alert your security team to these activities. It can also quarantine suspicious emails and attachments and take appropriate action. This regular monitoring can catch potential issues in the early stages, preventing further damage.   Set Up Email Retention Policies   How long do you need to store emails for? Keeping them any longer increases the risk of data loss due to a breach. What you want to do is minimize how much sensitive data you store. This is a good practice for all of your customer's records too.   Review and Update Security Procedures   Security threats are constantly evolving, and so should your procedures. Conduct regular reviews of your email security policies to ensure that they remain effective against emerging threats. This includes updating software, email retention policies, and employee training to keep up with the latest security challenges.   Regularly Update Software and Security Patches   It's easy to become complacent about those updates. They sometimes come through thick and fast. Unfortunately, cybercriminals are counting on you not doing that. They'll use malware that takes full advantage of bugs. Until you upload the security patch, you're vulnerable.   Establish a Response Plan for Email Security Incidents   It's essential to plan for all contingencies. If there's a breach, you need to act quickly. Having a response plan allows you to do just that. It explains what your employees need to do and who they should notify.   You should also run regular drills so that everyone can react quickly.   Conclusion   Data privacy regulations are becoming stricter. In addition, consumers are becoming less understanding of breaches. You'll not only face severe financial consequences, but also reputational risk.   Securing your email communications is a great place to start. Adopting the multi-pronged approach described above helps you safeguard your systems. Finally, you need to prepare in case the worst happens. The better your planning, the safer your data is.

Accurate auditing and financial analysis are vital for organizations to maintain high operational efficiency and industry compliance. However, relying on manual processes like paper records or spreadsheet-only reviews often leads to errors and delays, potentially costing businesses 25% of staff productivity.   PDFs offer a modern and efficient platform for streamlining these processes, minimizing errors, and improving overall performance. This versatile format allows for easy sharing, searching, and annotation of complex financial documents while providing security and accessibility that paper files lack. PDFs can also be integrated with various software tools, enhancing collaboration and productivity.   Curious about using PDFs to enhance your auditing and financial analysis? This blog post offers practical tips for professionals at all levels. Continue reading to learn how to edit PDFs and improve your organization's financial practices.   1. Secure document handling   Handling PDF documents securely is vital to protect sensitive information. If financial data falls into the wrong hands, it can result in data breaches and compliance problems. To manage PDFs safely:   Use strong passwords: Always protect your PDFs with strong, unique passwords to prevent unauthorized access. Encrypt files: Configure encryption during transmission and storage to safeguard sensitive data. Only authorized individuals can access, view, sign, or edit the document. Access control: Set permissions to control who can view, edit, or print the PDF. This helps maintain the document’s confidentiality and integrity. Regular updates: Keep your PDF software up-to-date to protect against security vulnerabilities. Updating your PDF software ensures you have the latest security features and patches. When sharing financial PDFs, use secure file transfer methods rather than email attachments. Apply watermarks: Consider implementing watermarks or redaction tools to protect sensitive information within documents. Backup copies: Always maintain backup copies of all important papers. This prevents data loss in the event of system failure or inadvertent deletion. File security training: Keep your team regularly updated on financial security trends and tips. Set up regular training sessions on handling sensitive documents securely. Make sure everyone is aware of the importance of keeping financial files confidential at all times.   2. Annotating and reviewing   Using the right PDF annotation tools can boost accuracy, speed up auditing and financial analysis processes, and lead to better decisions. Here’s how:   Highlight key data: Use an online PDF highlighter to draw attention to data points, inconsistencies, or areas requiring focus. This lets reviewers quickly spot critical information quickly. Add comments: Insert comments to explain findings, note issues, or provide context for data. This ensures everyone is in the loop and moving forward with the review. Use stamps and symbols: Use stamps and symbols when you need to categorize the document (e.g., “Confidential”) or show its status (e.g., "Approved"), and symbols categorize sections or indicate status. Track changes: Utilize PDF tools that allow tracking of changes. This feature is handy for keeping a clear audit trail and analyzing document evolution. Organize annotations: Keep annotations organized to avoid clutter. Overloading a document with too many notes can be counterproductive.   3. Extracting data   Extracting data from PDF files is common in auditing and financial research, but it may be difficult if done incorrectly. Errors in data collection will compromise the validity of your audits or analyses.   Maintain the following procedures for efficient data extraction:   Leverage PDF extraction tools: Numerous free PDF editing software can help extract data from PDFs accurately. These tools can pull text, tables, and images into usable formats like Excel or CSV files, saving time and reducing manual errors. Check for accuracy: Always review extracted data for accuracy. Automated tools are helpful, but manual verification ensures data integrity and reliability. Ensure file layout is structured correctly: Ensure that the file is well organized and formatted. This makes the PDF easier to handle and process and improves the accuracy of automated extractions. Use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology: OCR is a PDF-to-editable PDF converter that transforms scanned documents into editable and searchable data. This is critical when dealing with older papers or files that were not received in digital format. Use ChatPDF tools: In this age of AI, tools like ChatPDF allow users to extract data or retrieve specific information from PDFs through simple commands. As a result, PDF handling and extraction have become even more efficient.   4. Collaboration and sharing   Effective collaboration and sharing of PDFs are essential for auditors and financial analysts. To ensure efficient teamwork, follow these best practices:   Real-time editing: Use a powerful PDF editor that enables multiple people to edit and comment on documents simultaneously. This tool improves communication and expedites the evaluation process. For example, team members may collaborate to modify financial reports, offer comments, and make changes that are immediately visible to all participants. PDF modifiers online also allow you to edit PDF pages online, making it possible for remote teams to work together smoothly. Version control: Maintain version control to track changes and updates. This helps avoid confusion and ensures all team members are using the most recent version. Cloud storage: Keep PDFs safe in a cloud environment. Cloud storage facilitates remote collaboration by making documents easily accessible from any place or device. Permissions management: Set appropriate permissions for team members. Control who can view, edit, or share the documents to maintain confidentiality and integrity.   5. Accessibility and searchability   When a document is accessible, it means that all members of your team—including those with disabilities—can understand and use it. To ensure accessibility, use software that supports screen readers and adds alt text for images.   In contrast, searchability enables users to find relevant content quickly. Use descriptive file names and metadata to make your files more searchable. Additionally, tag content correctly to improve navigation. These approaches promote inclusion, facilitate data retrieval and review, and save time.   6. Automation and efficiency   PDF automation speeds up work for auditors and financial analysts. It handles repetitive tasks like data extraction, form filling, and report generation quickly and accurately.   For example, with an easy-to-use online PDF editor like Lumin, you can automatically and quickly scan large documents for specific data points. Automation also lets you quickly flag inconsistencies or any unusual patterns for review. Additionally, you can easily integrate your file with other financial software for smooth and convenient data transfer. Such intelligent document processing produces an accuracy rate of ≥ 99%.   Another automation capability in PDF document management is batch processing, which enables handling multiple documents simultaneously. For instance, batch processing may be used to extract data from several files at once. Automation saves time, but quality control still requires a quick manual scan of the result.   7. Audit trail and documentation   Clear audit trails and documentation are key for transparency and compliance in financial analysis and auditing. PDFs offer several useful features to support this aspect of document management:   Timestamps and user IDs: Include timestamps and user identity for all document actions. This helps to track who accessed or edited the document and when. Compliance tracking: Implement tools that automatically log compliance-related actions, such as regulatory approvals or internal audits. Metadata management: Include relevant metadata such as title, date, and author to contextualize information. Digital signatures: Verify document integrity with digital signatures. Secure archival: Securely store audit trails and documentation using encryption and access controls.   Conclusion   PDFs are the best format for financial research and audits because of their security characteristics and adaptability. Experts must learn effective PDF handling procedures to get the most out of them. This enhances collaboration, preserves data integrity, and increases productivity overall. As technology advances, financial operations will continue to benefit from remaining current with PDF tools and practices. For instance, tools like Split PDF Document File can help financial professionals easily manage large documents, extract relevant sections, and share them efficiently without compromising security or data integrity.

Global secondments essentially refer to temporary assignments at leading law firms, where lawyers are placed in foreign offices, partner firms, or corporate clients in other countries to broaden their expertise, foster collaboration, and enhance client relationships.   Such assignments are often crucial for firms involved in complex, cross-border transactions or multilateral projects. Beyond just facilitating large legal transactions across distances, they also play an essential role in building a young attorney's capabilities.   There are several ways in which legal teams can leverage global secondments. In this article, we uncover a handful of them and provide a brief overview of each.   Building Cultural & Legal Expertise   Working in different locations under new jurisdictions broadens the knowledge and perspectives of young legal professionals. There are few better ways to do this than immersing oneself in new cultures and legal systems.   Lawyers gain sharp insights and an instinctive awareness of legal systems other than those in which they have been schooled and licensed to practice, making such experiences vital for multilateral undertakings.   A lawyer seconded from a US-based firm to its European equivalent may obtain practical expertise with EU legislation to better advise clients on compliance with GDPR, competition laws, or trade rules.   Reading and research alone will never be sufficient to reach this level of proficiency. To comprehend a foreign culture's legal system, one must fully immerse themselves in it. This is one of the reasons why services such as Axiom Secondees have gained prominence in recent years.   Immersion in Foreign Legal Systems: Firsthand exposure to a new legal system can offer practical knowledge that books cannot provide. Real-Time Compliance Advice: Lawyers seconded to different jurisdictions can offer immediate guidance on local laws, making them highly valuable to their firms.   Seconded lawyers acquire a deep awareness of a country's legal system and unique cultural background, which helps their companies provide better service in future cross-border transactions. This allows them to bring invaluable abilities back to their home offices.   Fostering Cross-Border Collaboration   Multilateral projects often involve multiple stakeholders from different countries. By leveraging secondments, legal teams create stronger relationships between offices in various jurisdictions, which is essential for seamless collaboration.   Having a seconded lawyer within a foreign office breaks down communication barriers and streamlines processes that time zone differences or cultural misunderstandings could otherwise slow.   Secondments give legal teams a chance to coordinate their working styles. This is essential when overseeing major initiatives like international arbitration, cross-border litigation, or mergers and acquisitions. Thanks to establishing a standard working procedure, handling the complexity of multilateral engagements is simpler when all teams agree.   Cross-Jurisdictional Synergy: Creating uniform processes across different offices ensures smoother project management. Improved Client Service: Seamless collaboration between legal teams across borders allows faster turnaround times and fewer errors in high-stakes situations.   Additionally, secondments foster a culture of trust and openness. Collaborating in overseas offices enables lawyers to build personal and professional bonds that transcend the transactional aspect of practicing law. These relationships make collaborating easier on future projects where trust and communication are crucial.   Enhancing Client Relationships   From a client's perspective, secondments provide clear benefits. Clients prefer legal counsel who deeply understands their local market, legal frameworks, and business environment.   When a lawyer is seconded to a client's office abroad, they work directly with the client's in-house team, offering tailored legal advice that is more accessible and responsive to real-time needs.   Secondments help businesses build better relationships with their clients, which frequently leads to increased client trust. The customer not only profits from having a legal advisor on-site who is familiar with their particular problems, but the law firm also learns a great deal about the client's internal procedures and business operations, which improves its capacity to provide practical answers.   Increased Client Trust: Clients gain confidence when their legal advisors are well-versed in local laws and practices. Embedded Legal Expertise: Seconded lawyers are part of the client's internal team and offer highly specific legal advice. Tailored Solutions: The direct involvement of seconded lawyers in the client's operations allows for more precise, custom legal strategies.   Furthermore, secondments help law firms anticipate future needs by gaining a more profound understanding of clients' issues. This proactive approach can significantly enhance a firm's reputation and client retention.   Developing Well-Rounded Legal Talent   Secondments are not just about advancing the firm's or the client's interests—they are a critical part of career development for individual lawyers. Attorneys who take part in secondments gain priceless soft skills, including flexibility, intercultural communication, and problem-solving in many legal contexts.   These experiences also make lawyers more attractive candidates for leadership roles within their firms. Legal professionals who have navigated complex multinational cases during a secondment are better equipped for senior positions, where a broad and diverse skill set and cross-cultural experiences are required to lead large teams or manage global client relationships.   Leadership Development: Secondments offer unique challenges that prepare lawyers for leadership roles. Enhanced Problem-Solving Abilities: Exposure to various legal systems helps lawyers become better at developing innovative solutions. Adaptability: Lawyers learn to navigate unfamiliar legal frameworks, making them more versatile and confident in high-stakes situations.   Lawyers who have taken part in secondments frequently return feeling more mature as professionals because they have experienced scenarios that challenge them to step outside of their comfort zones. This advances their professional development and enhances the firm's overall legal practice.   Addressing Legal Staffing Shortages   Another way firms leverage global secondments is to fill gaps in legal staffing during high-demand periods. Multilateral projects often require specialized legal expertise or additional workforce that a single office may be unable to provide.   Firms can satisfy the needs of large, resource-intensive projects without sacrificing quality or timelines by hiring lawyers temporarily from other locations worldwide.   This adaptability guarantees that the right people are deployed at the right moment, wherever they may be, and enables businesses to build up their teams as needed.   Secondments help legal teams remain agile, whether dealing with an influx of arbitration cases or expanding legal counsel for regulatory changes in a specific region.   Agility in Staffing: Secondments enable firms to deploy the right talent where it's most needed quickly. Scalable Workforce: Legal teams can expand their reach without straining their local resources. Timely Expertise: Firms can access specialized legal knowledge promptly, ensuring that large projects stay on track.   This adaptability is especially crucial when managing large projects where delays or errors could lead to significant financial losses or reputational damage.   A Tool for Knowledge Transfer   Global secondments aren't just one-way learning opportunities. They also serve as an effective means of knowledge transfer within a firm. Lawyers who participate in secondments often return to their home offices with new insights, experiences, and legal strategies that they can share with their colleagues.   This knowledge exchange strengthens the firm as a whole, spreading expertise across offices and creating a more cohesive, globally informed workforce. It fosters a culture of continuous learning and development across all levels of the organization.   Firms that consistently engage in secondments cultivate a pool of lawyers with deep international experience, positioning themselves as stronger competitors in the global legal market.   Cross-Office Knowledge Sharing: Seconded lawyers bring back valuable insights that can benefit the entire firm. Building a Global Legal Network: Consistent participation in secondments builds a team of legal professionals who can work worldwide. Fostering a Culture of Learning: Knowledge transfer through secondments encourages continuous professional growth.   The ability to transfer knowledge within the firm not only makes the firm more efficient but also makes it more competitive in an increasingly globalized legal landscape.   Conclusion   Law firms have long operated in silos, aiming to be masters of their domains, the king of the hill, without considering the massive mountain on the horizon.   This approach no longer works in an increasingly globalized world, where clients expect solutions to complex problems from different legal jurisdictions, requiring unique and innovative strategies—not something an average run-of-the-mill lawyer can provide.   If you want your firm to grow and your lawyers to think like global professionals, you must use global secondments more effectively. Leverage them to stand out in an evolving, hyper-competitive legal landscape.

In the current world, fast internet connection, privacy, and the ability to access what is prohibited online are crucial to a satisfying internet experience.   With a demand for better connectivity, the use of ISP proxies to improve browsing is increasing.   These proxies are well-equipped tools that enable users to achieve better control of their internet usage in various ways. ISP proxies are a perfect solution for a better browsing experience, from enhancing performance to anonymity or avoiding geo-restrictions.   Therefore, to let you know more about these ISP proxies, below are five ways you can benefit from using them.   Improved Internet Speed and Reduced Latency   ISP proxies can speed up your Internet, which is especially useful for tasks like streaming, gaming, and handling big files. They can also store data from popular websites; thus, when a person revisits the website, the data is easily accessible as it is stored in the proxies.   This eliminates the need to download the same information repeatedly, resulting in increased loading and smooth browsing. Additionally, ISP proxies are helpful in minimizing latency because your traffic will pass through the nearest server to the destination server. This process can enhance your internet connection and reduce the delay, making it perfect for gaming and watching high-quality videos.   How It Helps   Using caching to speed up website loading times Decreased lag and latency for internet activities Enhances gameplay and streaming performance   Additional Benefits for Speed and Latency:   Prevents bandwidth throttling: ISP proxies help in bypassing ISP throttling, allowing users to enjoy consistent and high-speed Internet. This is especially beneficial when ISPs intentionally slow down specific types of traffic, like streaming or downloading large files. Reduced congestion: During peak hours, internet traffic congestion can lead to slower speeds. ISP proxies help route your traffic through optimized pathways, avoiding congested routes and delivering faster connection times.   Bypassing Geo-Restrictions and Accessing Blocked Content   ISP proxies are helpful if you ever come across a situation where you attempt to stream a website or a series but find out that it is not accessible in your region. Almost every site, service, or platform uses geo-restriction to handle access rights according to the user's location.   As for restrictions, ISP proxies allow users to control their connection through servers located in different geographical locations or in other countries. For instance, if you are in Europe and wish to view content that is only available to the United States, you can use an ISP proxy with a United States IP address. By doing this, you may get around the limitations and view the necessary content by making it look as though you are visiting the website from or within the United States.   How It Helps   Access websites and streaming services that are prohibited by the region Get around firewalls and censorship Makes browsing more accessible and unhindered   Additional Benefits for Bypassing Geo-Restrictions:   Accessing exclusive promotions: Some websites offer region-specific promotions or deals. By using ISP proxies, you can access these offers as if you were in the intended region. Unlocking global marketplaces: If you're involved in e-commerce or global trading, ISP proxies can allow you to access region-specific marketplaces that may otherwise be restricted.   Increased Anonymity and Privacy   Perhaps the most significant benefit associated with the use of ISP proxies is the fact that it fosters the protection of online identity. People's awareness of the importance of protecting their personal information remains relevant today since the modern world is struggling with data leakage and tracking constant problems.   An ISP proxy works as a mediator between your device and the Internet, allowing you to hide behind a different IP address. When a user employs an ISP proxy, it is the proxy's address that any website or online service will recognize. This allows your identity to be hidden, making it hard for third parties, advertisers, or hackers to monitor your activities or gather any personal details that you may feel are sensitive.   Such anonymity is essential for people who consider privacy a concern, including journalists, political activists, or those who constantly experience tracking while browsing the Internet.   How It Helps   Maintains your anonymity Stops websites, marketers, and cyber criminals from tracking Protects critical information and personal data   Additional Benefits for Anonymity and Privacy:   Avoid price discrimination: Some e-commerce websites track your browsing habits and increase prices based on perceived demand. ISP proxies help maintain anonymity, preventing price hikes when making multiple visits to the same site. Anonymous research: Researchers and investigative journalists can benefit from ISP proxies by conducting searches anonymously, protecting their identity, and avoiding tracking.   Optimized Web Scraping for Market Research   Personal proxies from ISPs are indispensable for web scraping, an automated procedure for gathering information from the Internet. Web scraping is widely used to collect market intelligence and its competitors, price intelligence, and lead acquisition. However, most web pages interfere with or limit the requests coming from one IP address to avoid scraping.   To reduce these restrictions, ISP proxies use IP address changes to make the requests seem like they are from several people or locations. This enables much quicker and more effective web scraping, as the process does not get halted by the website.   How It Helps   Strengthens the security of financial transactions Protects against hacking attempts and cyberattacks Safeguards information when utilizing unprotected public Wi-Fi networks   Additional Benefits for Web Scraping:   Scalable data collection: ISP proxies allow for large-scale data scraping without being detected, providing a steady flow of valuable market data. Enhanced competitor analysis: ISP proxies enable businesses to track competitor pricing and inventory across different regions, allowing for better market positioning.   Better Control and Monitoring for Network Administrators   Network administrators in charge of corporate or organizational networks might benefit significantly from ISP proxies. By offering a centralized point of control over internet access, proxies enable administrators to keep an eye on and impose restrictions on particular activities.   Limiting bandwidth for non-work-related activities, banning harmful websites, and enforcing acceptable usage regulations can all benefit from this.   ISP proxies also allow companies to monitor how their employees use the Internet, ensuring Internet company resources are being used effectively. By limiting access to particular websites and services, businesses may increase productivity, lower security concerns, and prevent staff members from seeing harmful or unsuitable content.   How It Helps   Centralized management of network administrators' Internet access Keeps an eye on workers' internet usage Blocks websites that are hazardous or unrelated to work   Additional Benefits for Network Control and Monitoring:   Enhanced data security: ISP proxies allow companies to monitor and control data flow, preventing sensitive information from being shared outside the network. Reduced legal risks: By blocking access to harmful or inappropriate content, businesses can mitigate the risk of legal issues arising from improper internet usage by employees.   Bottomline   ISP proxies provide several advantages, such as increasing internet speed and privacy, avoiding geo-restrictions, and guaranteeing safe transactions. By giving anonymity, lowering latency, etc., ISP proxies improve your surfing experience, regardless of whether you're a corporation trying to optimize your online operations or a casual user.   Start using ISP proxies to unleash a quicker, safer, and more flexible online world instead of settling for a sluggish, limited, or unsafe internet experience.

We spend most of our days immersed in the internet and connected apps, particularly social media. Smartphones offer easy one-click access to apps for shopping, learning, and more. We use them knowing that we're trading some personal info to use apps and online services.   But did you know that hundreds of companies you've never heard of receive your data every time you open an app or visit a website? Your data feeds an entire digital ad ecosystem worth over $700B per year, where companies like Meta and Google sell ad space to advertisers and media agencies.   When you learn just how much data they're collecting and where it goes, you'll want to follow our tips to make your social media more private.   The Dark Side of App and Website Tracking   Data collection can help companies improve user experience because your clicks show how you use their apps and websites. And, by tracking your clicks, they can show you more of the things you want to see.   But that's where things get out of hand. They also share the data with "associates" and "business partners" through ad networks like Google Ads.   It's common for hundreds of advertising companies you've never heard of to benefit from a visit to a single website or opening one app. Some data may be anonymized, but not enough to make you unrecognizable to modern trackers. When next you visit a website that uses Google's web tools or Meta Pixel, they'll know about it. They will continue to add your clicks to their database.   Privacy Notices Have Misleading Choices   Most privacy policies urge users to accept the terms in full or not use the service at all. Social media user's agreements are too long, vague, or open to misinterpretation. For example, the TL;DR wording of Facebook's (and Google's) cookie banners suggests that if you reject their cookies, they'll stop tracking you.   That's not true. When you click "Decline," you're only denying permission for them to use third-party cookies for targeted content when you close the app. Meta will still track you on and off-platform by cookies and other means.   The Worst Privacy-Invading Mobile Apps   Some data collection is useful. For example, location matters if you order takeaway food. It's reasonable for a messaging platform to ask for access to your contacts and retrieve network information.   However, some apps also collect info about the other apps on your smartphone. It includes your browsing and search history, your content preferences, health conditions, financial info, the files on your phone storage, and even what times of day you're most active.   Even if they claim they will never "sell" your data, they may still "share" it with selected partners. And here's the nasty twist: the "selected partners" are data brokers and advertising networks.   A recent pCloud study examined how much data the world's most popular apps collect and share. Instagram was ranked the worst, sharing 62% of the data it collects. Facebook was second at 55%, with UberEats at 50%. eBay, LinkedIn, and Twitter each shared 40% of personal data.   The study has missed data horrors such as the controversial Temu and Shein apps, which the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission has named a threat.   The Tracking Doesn't Stop When You Close the App   You don't even have to have a Facebook account for Meta to know all about you. Online tracking is unavoidable when most websites use the Meta Pixel, Google Pixel, and other social plugins—or when you use a different Meta app like Instagram.   They've been gathering as much information as possible under a nebulous blanket authorization, knowing that the hovering ad networks will snap up everything they don't need.   Avoiding the Common Privacy Pitfalls of Social Media   The current situation could change for the better if more people would know the meaning of a VPN. A virtual private network (VPN) with a tracker blocker is one of the best protection tools against online tracking, regardless of your device.   A VPN is a software tool designed for privacy. It will disguise your IP address and obscure your location from websites and social media platforms. It also encrypts the data between your device and internet servers to make it indecipherable to hackers. For example, when you open a phone app, it will protect your login credentials against interception.   After installing the VPN, take further control of data harvesting with a two-step approach. One step is to make your phone more secure against app data harvesting. The other is to change your privacy settings on the platform itself.   Step One: Make Your Phone More Private   It's better not to load your smartphone with unnecessary apps, but considering how popular they are, it may not be an option. Fortunately, there are other ways to increase your privacy without denying an online presence.   Read before you click: Before you install a new app, please read the terms of service and privacy policy information. Only grant essential permissions for apps. Check if your phone has a one-time access feature. It will grant each app only enough permission to function properly when the app is in use. Change the default privacy settings: Turn the camera, microphone, location, and advertising or data sharing off by default. It could stop apps from broadcasting your location or recording without your knowledge. If you need something delivered or when you use online maps, you can give a specific app temporary access to your location, in which case you should click your VPN on/off. Alternatively, give them a delivery address so there's no need for the app to access your location. When you have some extra time, it's a good idea to go through all the apps on your phone. Uninstall the ones you no longer use, and set some limits on the rest. Lock your mobile screen: You don't want random strangers to use your phone without your permission. To set a password, go to Settings > Security > Screen Lock and add a pattern, PIN, or password. Use at least twelve characters that contain a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols. Avoid one-click logins via mobile apps: When you use complex passwords (as you should), a one-click login quickly becomes a very attractive option! But if someone else gets hold of your mobile, they, too, could click on your apps and get instant access to your most intimate secrets. If it's too much hassle to enter your username and password each time, secure your handset with a very strong password. You'll be grateful for the protection if it gets stolen or lost. Use a password manager: It's the only secure way to create (and remember!) passwords that are strong enough to protect against all but the most determined hackers. Use security tools: Install a reliable, well-known antivirus with a firewall. Your VPN adds another security layer. Set all software to auto-update. Add multi-factor authentication. It requires you to approve logins via an authenticator app.   Step Two: Change the Privacy Settings of Each App   Each app has separate tabs or sections where you can control what you share. We have some specific instructions for Facebook and Twitter (X) in the next section, but in general:   Disable geotagging on social media: The default setting is usually to share location, which pinpoints your physical location. While a VPN will give the platform a false location, it's better not to give it away. Strip metadata: Some platforms automatically strip metadata, but check it before you upload photos. Stripping metadata takes only a few seconds. Decline data sharing between apps and services: Many apps allow you to connect with a Gmail or Facebook account. Each has its own privacy policy, but each also has separate data agreements with several other parties. The maze of fine print becomes impossible to untangle. The only way to avoid a minefield of data harvesting is to take registration into your own hands.   How to Change Your Privacy Settings on Twitter and Facebook   The default setting for most social media apps is that everything is public.   How to Change Facebook Privacy Settings   Facebook has a dedicated Privacy tab, but it doesn't cover all the options. You should also change the settings on the Profile and Photo Settings tabs.   Go to the Facebook Privacy Tab >> Settings & privacy >> Settings >> Privacy >> Privacy Settings and Tools. Here, you can limit/share older posts and future posts with the same audience—public, friends, or custom. You can also choose who can look you up, send a friend request, and who may view personal details like your email address and phone number. Next, go to the Facebook Profile Settings >> About >> Basic Information to change who may view your work, contacts, education, family, relationship status, and life events. Lastly, go to Facebook Photo Settings. You can change the privacy of entire albums with one click or change the settings on individual images.   How to Change Twitter (X) Privacy Settings   Tweets are public, which makes them searchable on the Internet, but you can change this by making your account private or changing the 'Protect my Tweet' setting.   To limit your Tweet's visibility, on the left panel, click on the 'More' button >> Security and Privacy >> Your account >> Account information. You'll have to enter your password to continue, then click 'Protected Tweets'>> Protect your Tweet. Twitter has an important additional security feature that allows you to add or remove your location from tweets. Twitter stores the information when the location is set to 'On.' You can change each tweet's "location on/off" setting. You can change what information is visible in your profile and whether people may search for you with your email address or phone number.   More Privacy on Social Media Is Possible   Apps and websites, particularly social media platforms, collect far more data than we are aware of—or they need. Once the data is out there, you have no control over who gets it and how they use it. First of all, you can tone down your online footprint with a VPN. Additionally, you can decrease the amount of data your mobile shares by default and change the privacy settings on social media platforms.

Piracy is an issue that is faced by content-creating companies all around the world, whether they create movies, songs, books, art, or even software. All content is at risk of being stolen and then sold off at a cheaper rate or being shown for free at the cost of ads being displayed.   Pirates have become more creative and have come up with different ways to rip others off of their creations and steal their profits for their own good. Companies that suffer the most are software companies. They sell licenses to their customers and let them subscribe to the software for up to a year.   It is more common for individuals to obtain illegal access to such software as they are unwilling to pay the amount it costs to use it.   Organizations tend to be more careful as they have to follow compliance laws and can be sued if their system is based on piracy. This is often why a lot of organizations are encouraged to understand, implement, and regulate the use of efficient software license management to upkeep the functionality and tracking on which licenses they have subscribed to and when they need to be paid off.   In this article, we are going to outline what software piracies are and what are some of the various ways software companies can look after their data protection.   What is Software Piracy?   Software piracy is the illegal means of distribution and usage of software without obtaining its original license. Installing an end-user on multiple devices, and a holidaymaker buying a pirated copy are some of the most commonly practiced software piracy issues. Some of these might be done unintentionally which is why it is crucial to educate IT-led industries to understand what software piracy may mean for their company.   An unlicensed software puts companies at an increased risk of malware infections. Not to forget the data breach and other cybersecurity threats that put companies at constant risk. In fact, BSA reports estimates malware attacks to cost companies $2.4 million in losses that may take up to 50 days to resolve, not to forget that the same report highlighted software companies to experience a whopping $46 million loss in software assets if software licensing is not involved or practiced.   How Companies can Protect Themselves against Malware Infections?   To help companies understand their stance on software licensing functioning, there are multiple ways in which software companies can protect themselves against piracy:   1. Incorporating Ironclad Licensing   Many companies give out restricted access to people by having several steps in place to ensure only authorized users are getting access to the software. They come up with complicated activation keys that only users have access to and can only be used on one device.   Any software company thinking of giving free trials should only do so by making very limited features available so that the chances of piracy can decrease even further.   Users should then be made to go online to activate the software so that the legitimacy of the installation can be confirmed and double-checked. Taking them to the webpage of the software can help companies track them down and see if they are eligible to use the software. This also helps to see what sort of server is being used for the said application, which is crucial in identifying pirates. Adding a licensing agreement tab to the software also helps to check the customer’s intention.   2. End to End Encryption   Software that is easy to decrypt is an easy target and can be circulated very conveniently. Companies should use codes that are unique to them and cannot be decoded by a third party, otherwise, this is how they gain access to a certain software’s coding and then create their copies which are then illegally distributed amongst potential customers.   Encryption keeps unwanted editors as well as predators out of the software which prevents them from making pirated copies. Any software that is not encrypted enables pirates to skip the process of activation and get straight to piracy, which then ruins the chances of them getting caught and traced down too. Having a unique code takes reverse engineering from the equation and diminishes the chances of piracy.   3. Management of Digital Rights   Users should be given limited permission with regard to how they can use the software or interact with it. They should not be allowed to download, copy, print, or do anything that threatens the integrity of the software and allows them to go ahead with suspicious activity. Giving consumers too much access to too many features is not advisable.   To truly implement digital rights management, developers can incorporate the use of invisible watermarks so that if it ever comes down to it, they can track pirated copies back to where they originated from. This is a great way of having full control of who gets to use and access the software.   4. Frequent Updates   Frequent updates ensure that any bugs within the software can be fixed immediately since pirates can leverage such bugs which in turn can create a pathway for them to take advantage and create unauthorized copies of the software and then illegally distribute it within the market.   Smaller updates are known as patches which are self-explanatory since patches are smaller and lighter updates that try to bridge the gap between more serious updates. Frequent updates can also help filter out regular users and idle users which is also a good indicator of what purpose the software is being used for.   5. Data Analytics   Developers can keep a close eye on who exactly uses their software so that they can easily point out anomalies which is usually an indicator of piracy. This is why multiple applications have the option to send back a report and also state that data is collected so that users do not feel as if their privacy is being breached and their data is being sent without their consent.   Data is extremely precious in this regard and should be analyzed every month to filter out customers who could create copies. This can be done by highlighting users with the most unusual activity. Another way of figuring out who could be pirating the software is to see which user is not completely interacting with the software and making use of its features.   6. Legal Notices   Even though all developers add a legal notice during the time of activation of the software, the font that is used is too small to be read properly and has the option to be skipped too quickly. Users have a very short attention span which causes them to skip whatever they think is too inconvenient for them to go through.   Instead, these warnings should be more prominent so that pirates are deterred from distributing the software freely. Such notices are very clear about all the consequences of piracy and this is one thing that gets people arrested even though it does not seem like that big a crime. Punishments and consequences that are stated should also be implemented strictly.   7. Offer Incentives   Customers only become regular and are retained if they are offered any discounts or promotions while they subscribe to certain software. The main reason why customers also find it easier to use prorated software is the price point. Many of them either cannot afford to buy the license or they just don’t think it is worth their money.   Developers should come up with a lenient pricing plan for returning customers which would make them want to buy the software instead of getting it through dishonest means. Student discounts, family discounts, and business discounts can attract customers who would be impressed by the prospects of large discounts if they frequently buy the license for the software.   Conclusion   Piracy is a calamity that has hit not just the IT industry but also the entertainment industry where music, movies, and shows are stolen quite easily and are frequently distributed among third-party illegal websites. In developing countries, it is much worse as not only are these websites not banned but are also encouraged since people do not have enough disposable incomes to subscribe to expensive licenses. It is said that software companies are losing approximately $46 billion annually, which is a huge number and firms should be worried about it since they are losing profits and incurring expenses that they may not be able to pay off.   Software developers lose the most amount of money since creating copies and distributing the same copies is very convenient and helps them save money. What pirates don’t realize is how much of someone’s hard work and efforts are being wasted.   People are also not legally well-versed and are not aware of the consequences of piracy. There should be stricter implementation to tackle this problem. Developers also don’t clearly state the terms and conditions and the legalities of the software during the time of activation. If they do this, they can deter those pirates who are not too educated on this.