Password hashing algorithms are used to store and securely protect user passwords. They are a vital part of the authentication process and must be implemented correctly to ensure the system's security. In this article, we will discuss the various password hashing algorithms, their pros and cons, and how they can be used to protect users' accounts. First, let's take a look at what a password-hashing algorithm is. It is a mathematical process that takes a plain text password and transforms it into an unintelligible string of characters. This string, or hash, is then stored in the database instead of the plain text password. This process is known as one-way encryption, as the original plain text password cannot be retrieved from the hash, making it impossible for hackers to access the user's account. The most common password hashing algorithms are PBKDF2, bcrypt, and script.
Each of these algorithms has its pros and cons. PBKDF2 is simple to implement but is considered to be less secure than more advanced algorithms. Bcrypt is more secure but is more resource-intensive. Scrypt is the most secure but is also the most resource-intensive. When it comes to security, it is essential to choose the most secure algorithm for your system. Generally, bcrypt is considered to be the best choice. It is highly secure and is also relatively simple to implement. Finally, it is essential to note that password-hashing algorithms are not foolproof. If an attacker can gain access to the database, they may still be able to crack the hashes and gain access to the user's accounts. To prevent this, it is essential to implement other security measures, such as two-factor authentication and strong passwords. In conclusion, password-hashing algorithms are essential to the authentication process. They provide an extra security layer and help protect user accounts from unauthorized access. When selecting a password hashing algorithm, it is crucial to choose one that is secure and simple to implement. https://bit.ly/3itUk38 https://guptadeepak.com/content/images/2022/12/hashing-algorithm-deepak-gupta-com.jpeg https://deepakguptaplus.wordpress.com/2022/12/06/what-is-password-hashing-algorithm/
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Using social media for personal brand building is an excellent practice that no entrepreneur nowadays can afford to go without. Building a strong personal brand on social media isn’t just for influencers and young creatives. On the contrary, every single individual can find benefits from it – whether you work in corporate or creative settings. Let's jump right in and explain what a personal brand is and how you can leverage social media for branding and positioning yourself on the market. What Is a Personal Brand?In theory, you already have a personal brand. We all do. Your personal brand is the public perception or image that people have of you. A personal brand shows people who you are, what you stand for, what you do, your values, and more. Just like every business has a brand, every individual has one also. Why Is Building a Personal Brand Important?You might think that building a strong personal brand is only for freelancers, bloggers, or writers. Well, think again! A personal brand is essential even if you're a 9-to-5 employee and don't have your own business. What's the first thing that every HR manager or boss will do after your interview? You guessed it, Google you and try to find your social media profiles. And what will they see there? You guessed again – your personal brand. And this can be decisive in whether or not the recruiter hires you for the job. Here's why you should consider building a personal brand:
8 Tips for Using Social Media for Personal Brand BuildingWe researched and put together this list with the most valuable pieces of advice on using social media for personal brand building. 1. Define your areas of expertiseWhen establishing a personal brand, you always have to define your specialties or areas of expertise. Ask yourself what you want to work or be known for. Don't expect to be a successful jack of all trades. Drill down until you define a narrow niche and find what you do best. For instance, being a digital marketer is simply not enough to stand out nowadays. There are many digital marketers out there, so what makes you stand out? Let's take this example to drill down on possible sub-niches: Digital marketing → Lead generation → Inbound lead generation (still too broad) → Inbound B2B lead generation in healthcare – now you've got it! A broad niche means a larger search volume but also competition so high that it's impossible to stand out and get noticed. On the other hand, more narrowly targeted niches have less search volume and less competition saturation, making it easier to establish yourself and your brand as an authority. 2. Craft your personal brand statementA personal brand statement is the same as a unique value proposition (UVP) for a brand. It's one or two sentences at most that sum up who you are and what you can do for people. Your personal brand statement has to be eye-catching and grab the attention of potential clients, customers, or employers right away. Here are some great tips for creating a killer personal brand statement that leaves an immediate impression on people: Be authenticPeople have a love/hate relationship with brutally honest people, but that's precisely what increases their authority, so don't be afraid to be opinionated. Not everyone will agree, but the people who do will become your most loyal followers. Be preciseA brand statement should be two sentences maximum, so remove any filler words and make it more concise. Let's see some examples. Bad: Hi there! I'm Samantha, and I'm here to help you rank in your area with the help of local SEO best practices. I have 5+ years of experience and will do my best to optimize your business page. Good: Helping local businesses rank higher on search engines for 5+ years. You probably didn't even finish reading the first example, if we're honest. The second one, however, is catchy and straightforward. You know what this person does and how they can help you right away. Be truthfulOf course, you can use fancy words to fit into a community and leave a good impression. However, don't exaggerate when stating your capabilities. If your personal brand statement says that you can help SMEs increase their revenue by 30%, your audience will expect to see some proof, not just hear about it. Reevaluate regularlyYou're allowed to change your personal brand statement as you upgrade and find yourself. You might have started as a Canva designer but have now mastered Photoshop and InDesign. Naturally, you'd want your personal brand statement to be current with what you do at the moment. That's why you must often reevaluate your statement and see if it still fits your personal brand. 3. Design your brand identityThe fact that you're a personal brand and not a company doesn't mean that you shouldn't have your own brand identity. A great example of this is Neil Patel. He started as a personal brand, sharing genius SEO tips and content that brought so much value that people were asking why he gives it for free! But, it was this free content that established him as an authority in his niche. Although he's a personal brand, Patel still has his brand identity, brand colors, logo, theme, tone of voice, etc. Here's why brand identity is essential:
Having a consistent brand identity, including tone of voice, image, and values, is critical for building a following. People follow you for a reason, and they expect to see and hear more of what they like. Can you imagine what happens if a personal brand account famous for promoting veganism suddenly posts about the benefits of eating meat? They would lose most of their followers. The same applies to your personal brand. Find your brand identity and the values you stand for, and stay consistent with your posts. 4. Be present omnichannelDon't be intimidated using different social media networks. Even if you've never used them before, there are tons of free resources out there that can help you. With that said, you don't have to use every single social media platform out there, only the ones that fit your brand. And, how to know if a platform fits your brand? Easy! Check where your audience hangs out. For instance, if your audience is C-level executives of SMEs or large corporations, LinkedIn would be your best bet. If your audience is mainly teenagers and young adults, check out Instagram or TikTok. If you're good at writing and have strong opinions on a topic, join Twitter and establish yourself as a thought leader. Let's see how to build a brand on some of the largest social media networks. Twitter Personal BrandingOften, individuals with corporate job roles are put off by social media platforms like Twitter, assuming they're too childish or not serious enough for their business needs. But, according to a recent Statista report, 38.5% of Twitter's users are aged 25-34, while the second-largest age group is 25-49 with 20.7%. Surprised? Keep reading. What better way to bust this myth than TESLA and the Twitter revolution of Elon Musk – TESLA spends 0$ on marketing! Yes, you read that right. They managed to sell more than half a million custom electric cars with zero marketing costs. How is that possible? Well, because of Musk's strong Twitter game! Twitter seems to be Elon Musk's platform to vent out and give his opinion on controversial topics. People either love or hate him. There's no middle ground. But, no matter what group you belong to, his goal is achieved – people talk about him! Here are some principles Musk uses in his personal branding strategy on Twitter that you can also implement:
Facebook Personal BrandingFacebook is the social media with the largest audience, so it's a great place to start building your brand. However, there's one issue with using Facebook as a platform for personal branding – the lack of engagement. Facebook's algorithms became notorious since they changed to show only the posts with the most engagement. That means that not all of your followers will see your content unless you're creating something valuable that people want to see. To increase your personal brand exposure on Facebook, here are some practical tips you can implement:
LinkedIn Personal BrandingWhether you belong to the corporate or tech world, LinkedIn is one of the best platforms to connect with like-minded individuals professionally. Unlike Facebook or Instagram, LinkedIn is a professional network where people seek jobs, find clients, or establish connections. Compared to oversaturated social media networks like Facebook, LinkedIn still has a pretty solid reach, allowing you to enrich your posts with hashtags to gain exposure. Here are some tips for your LinkedIn personal brand:
Instagram Personal BrandingInstagram is great for building a personal brand for most individuals but not all. For instance, Instagram is the perfect platform for photographers, models, influencers, artists, musicians, architects, cooks, travel bloggers, and anything else that's esthetic and advertised through visual media like photos or videos. However, if you're offering legal services or software development, it might not be the right platform for you. Let's see some tips to help you build your brand on Instagram:
5. Share valuable contentContent is king! And that remains the case as you're trying to build your personal brand with social media. When we say content, we don't mean written content only. Instead, we refer to content as a broader term, including videos, infographics, pictures, GIFs, eBooks, blogging, etc. In fact, according to a 2021 Contently report, video is the type of content format that people enjoy the most (at 30%), preceding visuals like memes and photos (28%), and written content (25%). Here are some content format types you can choose, depending on your needs:
Creating this content is the first part. The next equally important one is distributing all those bite-sized pieces of content all over social media. Social media scheduling tools and content repurposing can help you with that. Some other great platforms you can use to distribute your content and increase your reach are:
On the subject of creating content, it isn't just about any content. We're talking about content that your audience would find valuable. Content that will teach your connections something or show them a new perspective on something. Or content that provokes and raises questions. All in all, you have to post content that would engage your audience. 6. Use tools to automate postingCreating and posting content is one of the most time-consuming activities for marketers and copywriters. We're all aware of the importance of regular posting and engaging your audience. But, if you're present on four different social media platforms, that means that you have to post content at least once a day on one of them. Being consistent in your content creation and posting is difficult if you try to do it manually. You can use social media automation and scheduling tools like Hootsuite, Buffer, Later, and similar to make your job easier. Most of them integrate with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other major networks. You can use some of these social media scheduling tools to prepare your posts in advance by choosing a date, time, and platform where to post them. With this practice, you can just spend half a day creating and scheduling your entire content for one or two weeks ahead and free some time off your hands. 7. Synchronize your contactsHave you noticed that social networks ask you to import your phonebook or Gmail contacts? If you're one of us that always skip this step, pay attention to it next time. You'll be surprised to see how many people you already know are on the same network. By connecting to these people, you increase your exposure to other connections in their network with a higher likelihood of knowing you. Growing your following is an undeniable part of building a personal brand on social media, so it's a pity not using the contacts and connections you've already got. 8. Carefully mix private and businessOf course, when we're talking about a personal brand, showing your face is expected and a given. People want to know who's behind the content, and they want to be able to put a face to it. In fact, due to how active we are online, you can’t make a sharp cut anymore between private and business. However, be careful when mixing private and professional if you're working on your personal brand. Depending on the industry you're into, there are unwritten rules on how much "private" stuff you can allow lurking on your profile. The nature of your posts or whether they're private or business-related will also depend on the platform you're using. For instance, we all know Facebook isn't exactly LinkedIn. On Facebook, people typically post content like their summer parties and birthdays, and these are things that would probably be inappropriate to share on LinkedIn. Be careful when building your personal brand on Facebook since it's discoverable by your clients and potential employers. Be aware of that and adjust the privacy setting on posts that shouldn't be publicly visible. To Wrap UpA 2021 DataReportal research shows that there are currently 4.20 billion social media users, which equals 53.6% of the entire world population! Incredible, right? Numbers like this show us that there's an audience for everything, and every personal brand can succeed with a well-thought-out social media strategy. Hopefully, we've managed to help you use social media for personal brand building and getting the most out of it. Have any other tips to share with us on using social media for personal branding? https://bit.ly/3unNEX6 https://guptadeepak.com/content/images/2022/03/AdobeStock_283452126_Editorial_Use_Only.jpeg https://deepakguptaplus.wordpress.com/2022/12/05/social-media-for-personal-brand/ Before understanding why passwordless authentication is better for businesses, let's list essential factors that define authentication effectiveness for businesses:
Decades of studies, experiences, and data show that password authentication has lacked in all these essential aspects of authentication for business, and here is a glance at how:
Passwordless authentication solves all the problems mentioned above for businesses, which is why it has been proven a better choice for business environments. As a result, businesses today are progressively shifting towards passwordless authentication, eventually leading to a password-free future. Now that we have discussed why passwordless authentication is better than password authentication, let's discuss what it is exactly and how it benefits business environments. Passwordless authentication enables users to log in and access IT resources, systems or applications without using passwords. The user instead offers another form of authentication, like a biometric, proximity badge, OTP, magic link login or hardware token code. Passwordless authentication can increase security and simplify user authentication since these factors don't need to be remembered and are nearly impossible to copy or steal. Here are the benefits of passwordless authentication for businesses: Enhanced cybersecurity approachPasswordless authentication improves the cybersecurity approach for businesses since it can effectively reduce the data and identity theft caused by unauthorized access compared to password authentication. Password security risks rely highly on user password authentication, and passwordless authentication successfully reduces this dependency. Also, the absence of passwords eliminates the business need for managing password storage and fulfilling password regulation requirements. Prevention of password-based attacksPasswordless authentication uses various authentication techniques that lessen the possibility of being the subject of password-based attacks. The absence of passwords automatically reduces the attack vectors and protects against brute force attacks, dictionary attacks, rainbow attacks, credential stuffing, phishing, and keylogging. Business environments are the primary targets of password-based attacks to gain access to sensitive and confidential data. Nearly 91% of all reported cyberattacks start with phishing scams, making it the most common type of password-based attack. Lower long-term expensesPasswordless authentication eliminates unwanted password-related expenses for businesses. Password-related costs are the amount of money and effort businesses spend on password storage and administration. This also includes the time IT spends addressing the frequently altering legal requirements for password storage and handling password resets. According to Forrester Research, U.S.-based businesses set aside more than $1 million yearly for password-related support expenses. Microsoft collected its cost data before and after passwordless and found that it reduced authentication costs (hard and soft) by 87%. Also, with passwordless authentication, cybercriminals' cost of authentication attacks went up. Seamless user experienceUsers have several accounts with various businesses depending on their needs, and remembering all these passwords has become impractical. As a result, they often forget and reset passwords, making it an unpleasant user experience for them. Contrarily, users no longer need to create or memorize complicated passwords when using passwordless authentication. Instead, they can use their mobile, email or biometrics to authenticate, making logins more seamless and boosting the overall experience. It is safe to conclude that businesses will ultimately gain from passwordless authentication. However, while adopting passwordless authentication, businesses must follow a step-by-step approach and adhere to regulatory standards and compliances. Depending on the business requirements of implementing passwordless authentication, they can choose from in-house development and deployment of passwordless authentication systems or SaaS passwordless authentication solutions available in the market. Passwordless authentication is becoming more popular among businesses prioritizing their users' and employees' security and digital experience. According to a Statista report, passwordless authentication market revenue is anticipated to reach $25.2 billion by 2025 and rises steadily to around $53.6 billion by 2030. Based on this estimation, many businesses are becoming aware of the vulnerabilities of passwords and are working towards eventually achieving a password-free future. Even though the overall transition to a password-free future may appear to be difficult, the benefits and positive impacts it offers businesses are enormous. Originally published at Entrepreneur https://bit.ly/3FapZiY https://guptadeepak.com/content/images/2022/10/GettyImages-1286541364.jpg https://deepakguptaplus.wordpress.com/2022/11/29/heres-why-passwordless-authentication-is-better-for-the-business-environment/ A decade back, when the big data trend began, the mantra was to collect more and more data — then glean insights from it to better understand consumer behavior, market trends, and demand. Even today, big data is key to better decision-making and operational excellence; however, two phenomena challenge the notion of “collect as much data as possible”: data privacy and regulations. The enforcement of major data regulations — such as GDPR and CCPA — has meant that data collection, processing, and management attract additional compliance costs, in addition to securing the data from insider threats and cybercriminals. Moreover, more and more jurisdictions are only introducing new regulatory frameworks to protect consumer data, limiting enterprises in what data they can collect and where they can store it. On the other hand, average consumers are paying more attention to and are conscious of their online privacy and being selective about what enterprises they interact with and share information with. While enterprises have technology solutions at their disposal to collect data about every consumer interaction on their apps and digital ecosystems, today’s data privacy concerns and regulatory landscape require enterprises to rethink:
In essence, information security and data privacy are two different aspects — however, a few aspects of security and privacy are interdependent. For example, data breaches almost always affect consumer privacy governance inside an enterprise. In this paradigm shift, collecting and storing more data can increase costs exponentially without justifying the positive impact on enterprise profitability, growth, and sustainability. The strategic thinking and decision-making around data management should essentially be turned around. Rather than collecting data at first and later embedding it into analytics, decision-making, and research and development, enterprises should map their goals and opportunities and then collect the data needed to achieve them and pursue opportunities. In analogy, this is more like building a reliable combustion engine and then focusing on extracting oil more efficiently rather than extracting oil first and then focusing on where it can be consumed. Originally published at DataVersity https://bit.ly/3i4u1Aj https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1434626881859-194d67b2b86f?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=MnwxMTc3M3wwfDF8c2VhcmNofDM2fHx1c2VyJTIwZGF0YXxlbnwwfHx8fDE2Njc0NDc5NjI&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&w=2000 https://deepakguptaplus.wordpress.com/2022/11/22/why-just-collecting-more-and-more-data-is-no-longer-productive/ As a startup, maintaining cybersecurity is difficult. You have a small team and a small budget, and you probably don't know much about cybersecurity. But there are a few things that you can do! First, some of the systems that you're using within your company—like authentication systems—can be done through cloud-based solutions that are low code or no code. These solutions are easy to manage and easy to implement. You can use a CRM or database—many cloud-based solutions available could help protect your data! Second, create an IT policy for your team with basic structures of how information is being shared within the company and what kind of password complexity should be used by team members. They should be using true federal authentication and not storing work data on PERS devices or work laptops. Third, back up all customer, employee, and all data you have! You never know when something like a cybersecurity incident will happen, but if it does happen and you have a backup, you can get it back up and running very quickly. Many of these cloud-based or SaaS solutions already have backups in place—you need to enable them! Fourth, keep up with the latest software updates—you must stay on top of security patches for your operating system, antivirus solution, or other third-party solutions. Security researchers often find vulnerabilities in these systems, so you must install those updates as quickly as possible. Lastly, look into implementing a bug bounty program. Many security researchers are out there looking for vulnerabilities in apps and services like yours, so if you invite them to test your product and offer a small reward when they find something, they'll help you fix it! This is another way to outsource your cybersecurity needs. https://bit.ly/3Xc4KVe https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1503676260728-1c00da094a0b?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=MnwxMTc3M3wwfDF8c2VhcmNofDF8fGxlYXJuaW5nfGVufDB8fHx8MTY2ODU2OTk2Ng&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&w=2000 https://deepakguptaplus.wordpress.com/2022/11/17/5-things-to-improve-cybersecurity-for-startup/ Whether booking a flight or shopping online, we must go through multiple authentication processes to prove our identity. And that’s quite important from an infosec perspective. However, proving our identities doesn’t necessarily need to be a complicated process, as the slightest bit of friction in authentication could be the reason for customers to switch vendors. So, what could be the best way to ensure a frictionless authentication method without compromising authentication security? Here’s where the critical role of verifiable credentials comes into play. Verifiable credentials ensure individuals have total control over their personal information and need to verify their data instead of providing it. Let’s understand the aspects of verifiable credentials and how it’s swiftly becoming the need of the hour for business privacy, security, and growth. What Are Verifiable Credentials? Why Are They Crucial for Online Platforms Today?The credentials or identity proofs we use today, including ID cards, user IDs, passwords, or other identification cards, don’t blend with the digital world since everyone expects a great user experience. But the authenticity and trustworthiness of a physical ID card can’t be compared since it’s a document released and verified by the government authorities. Verifiable credentials are based on a web standard approved by W3C back in 2019 and are considered secure digital equivalents of paper documents that users carry in wallets to prove their identities. They allow seamless and smooth authentication through a combination of public key cryptography and privacy-preserving methods. Verifiable credentials help disclose specific information about a user required for authentication without exposing the real (sensitive) data. Users can quickly authenticate themselves online without using their physical identification cards or credentials in a way that ensures sensitive data isn’t directly shared and the user is authenticated. Cybercriminals are already finding loopholes and new ways to breach networks. And physical documents can be easily forged, and hackers can access sensitive user data. On the other hand, verifiable credentials could be easily stored in digital wallets (just like other documents stored in a physical wallet) and can be used to prove identity. Users can present these digital credentials to authenticate themselves on various platforms without any security risks since their data isn’t floating or stored on the cloud or other databases. Digital Privacy and Selective Disclosure of InformationSince digital privacy is the priority for businesses embarking on a digital transformation, selective disclosure of information through verifiable credentials could be the best way to ensure greater privacy. Selective disclosure helps users to ensure they share only specific information with online platforms without affecting sensitive information. And verifiable credentials provide a more robust and sophisticated approach where users can have complete control over the details that they wish to share and what they don’t. Hence, overcoming the barriers of data privacy and data redundancy. For instance, users can share details about their age or address and hide further information about their physical appearance. But the question is, why is it necessary to reinforce privacy for overall business growth? The digital era has offered endless possibilities but has given rise to specific threats to digital privacy. And this means businesses that aren’t thinking about user privacy lag behind their competitors. Apart from this, users are now more concerned about how brands collect, store, and manage their personal information and are hesitant to disclose all details the first time they interact with a brand. Hence, enterprises must ensure they collect and store the required information, and users quickly offer consent for the same. Benefits of Incorporating Verifiable Credentials for Online PlatformsSince renowned brands already leverage verifiable credentials through a robust customer identity and access management (CIAM) solution, businesses ignoring its potential would face growth consequences. Here’s the list of benefits that a business could embrace by incorporating verifiable credentials: #1. Privacy and securityMany businesses are facing identity theft issues, which is perhaps why the need for a robust authentication mechanism becomes crucial. Cybercriminals could easily bypass the conventional authentication mechanisms that use the user ID and password authentication since they aren’t backed with multiple authentication systems. On the other hand, these issues are nonexistent with verifiable credentials since every bit of information is digitally signed. The issuer properly encrypts data through the holder’s public key, and the login credentials can only be viewed by the user (holder). Hence, no third person could get a hint about your credentials/details, which otherwise increases the threat vector. #2. Complete control over dataBusinesses can get total control over their data and ownership through verifiable credentials. This helps them analyze non-sensitive data and filter it from critical data that can be used to authenticate securely. Also, brands can achieve a granular level of control over user data and use just one credential for authentication rather than complete details. #3. Helps meet complianceAnother great benefit of incorporating verifiable credentials is that it helps businesses maintain global data privacy and security regulations. With global privacy and data protection regulations, including the GDPR and CCPA, becoming more stringent, brands that aren’t incorporating adequate privacy and security measures could face hefty fines. And when a business incorporates verifiable credentials into its platform, it helps comply with several data privacy and security regulations. Hence, to avoid fines and reputational damages, brands should quickly put their best foot forward in adopting verifiable credentials for their websites/applications. In ConclusionThe rapid adoption of technology has helped businesses thrive and succeed but has also increased risks regarding privacy and security. Moreover, customers are now concerned about their privacy and how brands collect and store their personal information. Hence, a little loophole in managing crucial user information could be fatal for a business. Verifiable credentials can help businesses seamlessly authenticate users without collecting heaps of information. Users must prove their identities by validating the data and not sharing actual information, which helps maintain adequate privacy. Originally published at DataVersity https://bit.ly/3TBllOU https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1617704716344-8d987ac681a4?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=MnwxMTc3M3wwfDF8c2VhcmNofDF8fGlkZW50aXR5fGVufDB8fHx8MTY2NjkwMTUwNQ&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&w=2000 https://deepakguptaplus.wordpress.com/2022/11/15/are-verifiable-credentials-paving-the-way-for-reinforced-digital-privacy/ I'm excited to share my new video: The 5 Things You Should Be Doing to Keep Your Cybersecurity in Check. In this video, I'll walk you through the steps you need to take to ensure that your startup takes care of its cybersecurity. The video covers the following: Check the full video ? below to learn more, and let me know what you think! ? Thanks for watching, and don't forget to follow for more updates. ?⏰ https://bit.ly/3tiQbkI https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1484480974693-6ca0a78fb36b?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=MnwxMTc3M3wwfDF8c2VhcmNofDE3fHxjeWJlciUyMGNoZWNrbGlzdHxlbnwwfHx8fDE2Njc5NDM3NDI&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&w=2000 https://deepakguptaplus.wordpress.com/2022/11/10/5-things-to-keep-cybersecurity-in-check/ A product-first culture can help you build better products, improve customer loyalty, and boost the company’s bottom line. However, how can you implement this type of culture in your organization? And what can you do to ensure that your team embraces it? This article will explore how to develop a product-first culture in your organization. Let’s start. What is product-first culture?A product-first culture aims to create a more cohesive and aligned organization focused on building the best possible product for customers. This approach includes everything from customer research and design to development and launch. Every decision made should be based on what’s best for the product. Implementing and maintaining this can be challenging, but it’s worth it if you want to create a world-class product. This culture appears to have a higher likelihood of a successful end product as other departments actively participate in the product's planning, implementation, and decision-making process. Plus, the management also sets up the organization in a way where everyone working on a given task has a reason to want the product to succeed. The product-first culture has become popular in recent years to describe how some companies approach product development. In a product-first company, the product team is responsible for driving all aspects of the product strategy and roadmap. This culture typically leads to better outcomes because all team members work towards the same goal: to create a product that customers will genuinely want, need, and love. Key Elements of a product-first cultureA product-first culture includes three essential elements: team, alignment, and ownership. TeamAs the name of this culture suggests, the mindset of a product-first organization focuses solely on the product from start to end. This ethos means all team members, from the CEO to interns, should only be thinking about one thing: how to make the best product possible. Adopting a product-first mindset begins at the beginning of the product development process. As early as customer research and design, brands with this type of attitude ensure that the product is :
Once the product is available, a product-first organization tracks engagement to gain and analyze whether customers are utilizing the product as intended so they can make all the necessary changes to improve it. A product-first culture is also data-driven, meaning it has a feedback loop in place to give its customers the ability to provide their input on their product experience and suggest ways to improve it. And then, they discuss this information amongst themselves and decide how they can implement it in the product. AlignmentA product-first culture cannot exist without alignment between the various departments within a company. All team members must be on the same page about the product's goals and facets. They also need to understand their role in achieving these aspects and how it contributes to the product's success. Hence, there are no silos between departments because they understand that these divisions will only lead to a product that is disjointed and difficult to use. Instead, all team members collaborate to create a polished and seamless product. OwnershipA product-first culture requires ownership from each team member. Everyone should be intensely passionate about the product and how they can help promote its success, which means they should constantly strive to improve the product and make it the best version possible. This level of ownership ensures that everyone is always thinking about ways to enhance the user experience. Furthermore, a product-first culture also creates a sense of ownership among team members, as they all feel like they are a part of something larger and that their work is genuinely making a difference. As product-first businesses gain pride and conviction in what they have created, a low barrier to entry happens. This tendency often occurs in brands running freemium business models as they believe that customers will like the free experience so much that they'd end up purchasing it. Being willing to take risks in this type of engagement highlights the laser focus of these organizations on long-term rewards over immediate profits. This strategy also holds for businesses that use flexible pricing, month-to-month agreements, and free trials. How to develop a product-first culture in companiesCreating a product-first culture can be challenging. It requires buy-in from all levels of the organization, including executive leadership. It also takes time to change people's work and build new processes. Thus, implementing this culture might take time, especially if you build it from the ground up. However, it's worth every effort as the benefits are significant, so if you're thinking about instilling this type of culture in your company, here are a few things to keep in mind: 1. Start practicing relevant valuesAs your business grows, it's important to start living by the values that will be most relevant to the product-first culture, including: InnovationInnovation is the process of creating something new with real business value, like a new product, service, process, or way of thinking. It's vital to foster a culture of innovation in your company, as it will be essential to other traits involved in a product-first culture, such as the succeeding ones below. Creative thinkingCreative thinking is the ability to come up with new and original ideas. This kind of thinking is essential in a product-first culture as it allows you to constantly improve and iterate on your products. Customer focusIn a product-first organization, the customer is always at the forefront of decision-making. Decisions made by the company regarding the product must depend on what is best for the customer to ensure that they remain satisfied and engaged with the brand's products and services. Agile mindsetAn agile mindset is the ability to adapt to change rapidly. Obtaining this perspective is vital in a product-first culture, as the product landscape is constantly changing and evolving. Your organization must learn to adjust to your industry's trends and updates. Plus, to be able to respond quickly to user feedback, agile processes need to be in place. Hence, the product team should be able to make changes and iterate on the product quickly. Continuous learningIn a product-first culture, it's essential never to stop learning. You should always seek new information and knowledge to help you improve your products. You should encourage your team to learn and grow to handle the ever-changing product landscape. After all, everyone can develop the necessary skills and abilities through effort, good teaching, and perseverance. 2. Create a cross-functional teamA product-first culture requires a strong cross-functional team. This team should include members from all disciplines, including design, development, marketing, sales, and customer success. With different knowledge and expertise, you will obtain diverse perspectives that can help you create informed product decisions, which is essential to success. 3. Encourage collaboration and communicationIn a product-first culture, it's important to encourage collaboration and communication across all levels of the organization. This way, everyone can freely share their ideas and opinions to develop the best product possible. Be open enough to hear your employees' insights and let them have a say in product development, so they know the organization values their voice and perspectives. Employees are 4.6 times more inclined to feel motivated and inspired to do their jobs best when the company listens to them — so creating an open, collaborative, and inclusive atmosphere in your company is essential. In addition, encourage employees to give feedback on the product regularly. This way, you can obtain honest and unbiased opinions that can help improve the product. Make it easy for employees to give feedback by setting up a system where they can do so conveniently. 4. Make data-driven decisionsA product-first culture requires all decisions to be data-driven. This way, you can ensure that the product is heading in the right direction by basing it on customer feedback and user data. In addition, you should take advantage of data to guide every step of the product development process. This way, you can be sure that the product is meeting the needs of your target market. 5. Invest in training and developmentIncessant training and development for all team members will help everyone be more effective and efficient in their roles. Investing in their learning helps team members understand the company's products best. It also teaches them how to create products in a way that truly benefits the customer. Additionally, training provides employees with the skills and knowledge necessary to improve the product. Lastly, it helps team members keep up with the changes in the product landscape, which would allow them to produce high-quality and in-demand products consistently. 6. Be willing to experimentA product-first culture should be open to experimentation. However, this step doesn’t mean disregarding potential risks. Risk takers should also learn to try new things and learn from mistakes to improve the product. When experimenting, take calculated risks. Try small and safe experiments first before moving on to bigger ones. Doing this can reduce the chances of making costly errors that could impact the product negatively. 7. Always seek feedback from customersIn a product-first culture, businesses should seek feedback at every stage of the product development process. This feedback can come from surveys, interviews, focus groups, or social media listening. Customer feedback is essential in helping you understand how to improve the product and make it more user-friendly. Additionally, it can help you assess the product's marketability and meet customer needs and expectations. Implementing this customer environment helps your customers understand that you are always open to how they feel about your products and brand. It also shows that you are willing to consider their feedback to make changes that would improve their experience. That way, they'd be willing to tell you first about any negative impressions they have and work with you to provide suggestions on how you can make the product better. 56% of clients claim that a firm's response to a review altered their opinion of the company. And nine out of ten customers read reviews before buying a product, so embedding this practice in your culture could significantly impact your product's success. 8. Get the entire executive management on boardGaining the support of the whole upper management is critical to ensuring that a product-first culture resounds throughout the entire company. All managers should be aware of this approach and be able to embody it at every stage. Plus, this type of culture is difficult to implement without the support of your executives. By getting them on board, you can be sure that everyone in the company is working towards the same goal: making a product that provides value to the customer and developing an environment that supports it. 9. Set key performance indicatorsKey performance indicators (KPIs) are quantifiable measurements that help you track the progress of your product-first culture. Your team can use them to track anything from customer engagement to product improvement. Some common KPIs for a product-first culture include:
These KPIs should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. By doing this, you can easily track their progress and ensure they are on track to achieve their goals. 10. Be patientA product-first culture takes time to develop. There will be bumps along the way, but as long as you are patient and persistent, you will eventually succeed. It also requires a lot of dedication and hard work. However, it is worth it in the end, as it will help you build a strong product development team that can create high-quality products consistently. In addition, following these steps can result in more positive company culture, increased employee satisfaction, increased profits, and improved customer retention rates. 11. Celebrate your success.After all your hard work, it is essential to celebrate your success to stay motivated and focused on your goals. It will also show your team that you are committed to the product-first culture and are willing to invest in it. How to measure a successful product-first cultureThere are a few key indicators that you can use to measure whether or not your product-first culture is thriving.
These are just a few of the ways you can measure success. If you see positive results in these areas, it's a good sign that your product-first culture is working. ConclusionCreating a product-led culture requires dedication and effort from everyone. It may take time and effort to implement. However, the benefits that come from it are more than worth the investment. Remember, a product-first culture can help you build better products, improve customer loyalty, and boost your company's bottom line. If you're unsure where to start, use the tips in this article to help you get started. https://bit.ly/3WGm8Rp https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1512758017271-d7b84c2113f1?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=MnwxMTc3M3wwfDF8c2VhcmNofDR8fHByb2R1Y3QlMjBmZWVkYmFja3xlbnwwfHx8fDE2NjU1MjY3NDU&ixlib=rb-1.2.1&q=80&w=2000 https://deepakguptaplus.wordpress.com/2022/11/07/how-to-develop-a-product-first-culture-in-your-organization/ Data compliance is swiftly becoming the need of the hour for businesses thinking to step ahead of the competition. However, building the future of data compliance requires stringent data privacy and security policies and best practices. We live in a digital-first era where data is the fuel to keep businesses up and running. But the way brands use this data makes all the difference. Unlike the conventional times when brands used to collect heaps of customer data without their consent, organizations must first build trust in clients before expecting even a bit of detail. Customers are already interacting with brands like Google, Amazon, and Apple, so they know what a great user experience is. Also, they’re aware of their privacy rights since global data and privacy regulations are becoming increasingly stringent. So, if a business isn’t building trust in potential clients by offering reliable data security and privacy, it would lag behind its competitors. Let’s look at some aspects that can help organizations stay ahead of the curve by leveraging digital privacy for compliance management. What is Data Compliance? Why Must Businesses Adhere to Data Compliance?Data compliance could be defined as identifying the applicable governance for customer/user data security, protection, management, storage, etc., and helps establish strategies with protocols to ensure data is secure from unauthorized access and usage. In a nutshell, data compliance law states how organizations (regardless of their industry) meet regulatory and legal requirements for collecting, processing, and maintaining personal information. A breach in data privacy can lead to legal consequences and may be followed by investigations and fines. But why do organizations need to immediately think about invoking the true potential of data compliance and privacy? Well, consumers or employees can respond with civil lawsuits whenever their privacy is compromised while an organization collects and processes personal information. Apart from this, data and privacy compliance laws and regulations help protect consumers in different countries by ensuring data is handled appropriately. Why is Data/Privacy Compliance Crucial Today?One of the biggest reasons organizations must comply with privacy regulations is to avoid heavy fines. The ones that don’t implement the privacy regulations could be fined up to millions of dollars and face penalties for years. Due to increased regulations, including the EU’s GDPR and the United States’ CCPA, that protects unauthorized access to crucial data, privacy compliance is now crucial for every business. Also, the increased number of cybersecurity threats pertaining to customers’ crucial information has impacted businesses; businesses must incorporate a robust security mechanism for better protection. Incorporating a Customer IAM For Quickly Adhering to Global CompliancesA customer identity and access management (CIAM) platform help businesses comply with every data regulation and privacy compliance, including the GDPR and the CCPA. A CIAM could be the best way to stay ahead of the competition since it offers endless business opportunities that help enhance leads and eventually improve conversion rates. As a leading GDPR-compliance-ready CIAM platform, LoginRadius works seamlessly for any business model. LoginRadius simplifies data compliance by bringing all the consumer data under a single roof, which enables complete profile management of an individual consumer in a single intuitive admin console. Our platform ensures you remain compliant with GDPR and stay ahead of your competitors when it comes to securing essential consumer data. In ConclusionThe surging number of data breaches and customer identity thefts have given rise to the need for a more robust compliance management system. Incorporating a customer identity and access management solution can be a game-changer for businesses striving for digital excellence by adhering to all the legal compliance requirements. And with LoginRadius CIAM, businesses need not worry about getting compliant with global data and privacy regulations, including the GDPR and the CCPA. The cutting-edge CIAM offers a seamless user experience reinforced by robust security and privacy. Originally published at LoginRadius https://bit.ly/3fkFTx8 https://guptadeepak.com/content/images/2022/10/compliance.jpeg https://deepakguptaplus.wordpress.com/2022/11/01/what-brands-need-to-know-for-building-the-future-of-data-compliance/ The dawn of cloud computing created endless business opportunities for organizations seeking substantial growth by delivering a flawless user experience backed with robust security. Regardless of the niche, enterprises are now leveraging the public cloud to its full potential and ability to stay ahead of the competition. Moreover, public clouds have significantly increased the deployment of virtual machines since it offers flexibility and is quite affordable, even for startups and small enterprises. However, the rapid adoption of the public and hybrid cloud doesn’t necessarily mean that sensitive information stored on remote servers or shared clouds is secure. A recent survey revealed that phishing is one of the most common cloud attacks, with 73% of respondents agreeing that their organization faced a phishing attack. And phishing is just one risk; plenty of other underlying risks can affect your cloud security. Hence, businesses must understand the risks associated with public cloud security and take timely action to avoid financial and reputational losses. Let’s understand the risks associated with the public cloud and how businesses can take timely action to avoid the risks. Risks Associated with Public Cloud InfrastructuresSince several risks can impact a business, here’s the list of some of the most common risks that every business should be aware of: #1. Lack of data control.One of the biggest challenges with the public cloud infrastructure is that the data is stored outside the enterprise’s IT environment. And this can be pretty risky from an information security perspective. Hence, most public cloud providers suggest enterprises create backups of their sensitive information to deal with any risky situation. Besides, privacy risks, especially in shared cloud infrastructure, can't be overlooked. And the sensitive data is beyond the control of the organization. So, businesses need to invest in cloud security best practices, including multi-factor authentication (MFA) and risk-based authentication (RBA). #2. Shared access data privacy risks.Since most enterprises aren’t relying on renowned cloud providers, including Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, the risk of data privacy and identity theft lingers. Moreover, cybercriminals are always searching for ways to breach security by bypassing the poor line of defense. In a nutshell, they exploit destructive authentication mechanisms. So, how should an organization protect the privacy and security of its consumer information? Users may be misusing their account verification. It's in these cases that the Zero Trust Model works. The zero trust model believes no user can be trusted, and verification is no longer an option. It supports the theory that all users must be authenticated, authorized, and regularly verified to ensure they can be trusted with the data in any business hierarchy. #3. Availability risks.Another major issue that can affect the overall security of your cloud is connection failures and cloud server downtime. Many businesses have faced DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks in the last couple of years, leading to identity theft and financial and reputational damages. And the number of such attacks is surging exponentially. DDoS attacks are pretty common in private cloud infrastructure, and one robust way to avoid such attacks is to choose servers offering 100% uptime. A cloud-based CIAM (customer identity and access management) solution like LoginRadius, has set up automated failover systems in all layers of our architecture, which is why it ensures 99.99% uptime every month. Final ThoughtsThe increasing number of enterprises leveraging the cloud has increased the risk of data breaches and identity thefts. Businesses considering leveraging the private cloud shouldn’t overlook the security aspects and must consider relying on n robust security infrastructure. Enterprises thinking about accelerating business growth through cloud adoption shouldn't miss the aspects above. Originally published at LoginRadius https://bit.ly/3DfxjaX https://guptadeepak.com/content/images/2022/10/public-cloud-risks.jpeg https://deepakguptaplus.wordpress.com/2022/10/28/public-cloud-risks-is-your-organization-prepared-for-cloud-threats/ |
AuthorChristopher Reardon, PhD, is a computer scientist and experimental roboticist. He joined the faculty at the University of Denver in late 2020 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science. Prior joining DU, Dr. Reardon spent over four and a half years as a research scientist at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, where his research focused on enabling better human-robot teaming for autonomous mobility and maneuver contexts. Dr. Reardon has published over 25 peer-reviewed journal and conference articles to date. He is an IEEE Senior Member. He is actively involved in the greater robotics research community, regularly serving in organizational leadership roles at conferences and workshops. ArchivesNo Archives Categories |