In the digital age we live in, technology is all around us and impacts almost every aspect of our lives. From the smartphone we use every day, to artificial intelligence changing entire industries, technological progress is inevitable and increasingly weighs on strategic decision making, at a personal and especially business level.

But is this progress beneficial to the human condition and to the society in which we live?

Progress: the benefits of technology

There is no doubt that technology has brought countless benefits. Almost any information is now just a click away, thanks to the internet. Communicating at a distance in a globalised world has become easier and more efficient. Moreover, technology has opened doors to greater social inclusion. People with disabilities, for example, benefit from tools that make their lives easier and allow them to better integrate into society. And the examples certainly don’t stop there.

But what are the main, undeniable advantages of technological progress?

Increased efficiency is certainly the first that comes to mind. Technology can automate processes and tasks, leading to increased efficiency in many areas, from manufacturing and business to healthcare and education. As he said, technology has made global communication more accessible and faster. People can easily interact with others around the world via the internet and mobile devices, and access to information is constantly improving learning and informed decision-making.

Beyond all that, technology is driving innovation and development in many areas, including medicine, energy, transport and many others. And all of this converges into time savings and elimination of repetitive tasks.

Regress: The dark side of technology

However, we cannot ignore the negative impact that technology can have on us. Reliance on technology and social networking, for example, is a growing problem, while automation and artificial intelligence threaten the stability of jobs in certain specialisations. On top of this, technology has also had an impact on human relationships. Face-to-face communication is becoming increasingly rare, replaced by virtual interactions.

The loss of privacy poses more and more challenges. With all the benefits that connectivity brings, it also comes with the risk of privacy breaches. Technology can be vulnerable to cyber attacks, which can put personal data and information at risk.

People can become addicted to technology, which can lead to health problems such as eye conditions or psychological problems. What’s more, research suggests that young people spend an average of 7 hours a day in front of screens, which is not good for the long term. Social isolation also comes into play as the overuse of technology can lead to a decline in the quality of human relationships.

“The ‘information bubble’ is another aspect that is attracting increasing attention. Algorithms in social platforms often only present us with information that confirms our pre-existing beliefs, amplifying divisions and misunderstanding of complex realities.

The environmental effects are not negligible either. The production and disposal of e-waste has a negative impact on the environment. Last but not least, we are witnessing a rising tide of technological unemployment. Automation is gradually leading to job losses in some industries as machines and robots take over human tasks.

The future: the balance between progress and regression

Balancing the advantages and disadvantages of technology can be a challenge, as each person and situation may have different needs and priorities. The solution is not to reject technology, but to use it responsibly for the good of humanity.

Education and information are key. We should learn to use technology in a way that improves our lives without alienating or harming us.

In conclusion, technology can be both a blessing and a curse. There are, however, a few strategies to achieve a healthy balance, starting with awareness, prioritisation and evaluation of the intrusion of technology into everyday life.

Here are a few more ideas that show the blessing of technology:

1. Personalised education: Technology can revolutionise education by providing teaching materials tailored to each student’s pace and learning style. This could reduce school drop-out rates and increase the quality of education.
2. Technology in medicine: From 3D printing of organs to personalised gene therapies, the future of medicine looks promising. These innovations have the potential to eradicate disease and extend life.
3. Clean energy: Investment in renewable energy technologies, such as more efficient solar panels or wind turbines, could lead to a future where dependence on fossil fuels is reduced, with a positive impact on the environment.

In the book Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty”, written by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson, explores why some nations prosper while others remain in poverty, and it all starts from 2 categories of “institutions” – inclusive and extractive, the formation of which depends overwhelmingly on how technology is used.

The authors argue that inclusive institutions facilitate innovation, economic growth and development, while extractive institutions inhibit these processes and perpetuate poverty and inequality.

Inclusive institutions are characterised by openness and participation, where power and resources are relatively equitably distributed in society. These institutions create an enabling environment for innovation, individual initiative and sustainable economic development. On the other hand, extractive institutions are characterised by the concentration of power and resources in the hands of a small elite. They systematically exploit society and limit opportunities for most people, leading to poverty and economic stagnation.

But regardless of the approach, it is important to note that technology can significantly influence the direction a society takes in various ways.

1. Innovation: Inclusive institutions are usually innovation-friendly. They promote research and development, giving people the freedom and resources to innovate. In contrast, extractive institutions may limit innovation, as it could threaten the status quo and elite power.
2. Technology diffusion: Inclusive institutions tend to facilitate the rapid diffusion of technology, benefiting society as a whole. In extractive systems, the technology can be controlled or limited to keep power concentrated.
3. Education: Access to education, especially in technological and scientific fields, is crucial for technological progress. Inclusive institutions promote an accessible and quality education system, essential to keep pace with technological innovation.
4. Infrastructure: Technological development requires an appropriate infrastructure. Inclusive institutions invest in infrastructure such as internet, transport and energy networks, facilitating the adoption and use of technology.
5. Regulations: Inclusive institutions create a regulatory framework that supports entrepreneurship and innovation, while in extractive systems, regulations can be used to inhibit competition or protect the interests of certain groups.
6. Collaboration: Inclusive institutions encourage collaboration between different sectors, such as universities, industries and government, thus facilitating technology transfer and innovation.

If we look at a much smaller scale, at a limited ecosystem such as a company, we have to be aware that the same principles apply. How you manage and consume technology is critical to the long-term health and growth of your organisation.

From the way you facilitate access to information for educational or procedural purposes to the implementation of IT services or solutions that ensure data security, not employee monitoring and control, with the goals of functionality and productivity, all of these aspects define what kind of company you are or will become, what employees or customers you attract.

For example, if you want adaptability, scalability and the latest technology, opt for data-center IT solutions on a subscription basis rather than a one-off purchase, eliminating constraints and the perception of “out of data”.

And if the way you plan for the future of the company you run involves caring about employees and focusing on sustainable business development, you need to consider building an IT ecosystem where employees feel protected, included and where communication is easy.

Want to protect your identity? Think in terms of prevention and ensure business continuity by being able to restore your critical data.The sense of ownership is as present as it gets in on-premises acquisition decisions, but it hides a few pitfalls on which your company’s growth depends. One is that the allocated budget is perceived as a cost, not an investment, attracting maintenance costs. Another pitfall is that of being trapped in a “sedentary” technology.

In conclusion, technology is a powerful force that can change the direction of a society, a company, an individual in a variety of ways. It brings with it both significant opportunities and complex challenges. The benefits of technology can include economic growth, innovation, improved quality of life and global connectivity. However, it is essential to manage and regulate technology responsibly to minimise the downside.

Ultimately, technology is just a tool and it is up to us as a society, individuals, managers, employees to decide how we use it to shape the world we live in.

In an era defined by digital innovation and interconnectivity, protecting businesses against cyber attacks has never been more crucial. Our infographic serves as a wake-up call to the ever-growing threat landscape that can wreak havoc on any size business. As our world becomes increasingly digitised, cyber attacks have become alarmingly common and more sophisticated, posing significant risks to both data integrity and financial stability. Cyber attacks are more common than we might imagine, and just because it hasn’t happened to us (yet) doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, and the costs of an attack can bankrupt almost any business. Understanding and recognising this is vital for entrepreneurs and decision-makers to take appropriate action to protect their organisations.

Watch the infographic below and catch up on the latest global, European and national data when it comes to cybersecurity, as well as what measures can be used to protect your business. 👇

It is becoming clear that protecting your business against cyber attacks is not just an option, but an absolute necessity for survival in the digital landscape. The increase in cyber attacks, both in frequency and sophistication, underscores the urgency for businesses to strengthen their defences.

The infographic explored the latest studies when it comes to cyber security, trying to show that attacks are happening, even in Europe, not just in a global landscape that we are not part of. With a disaster response team equipped with the right technologies, businesses can effectively reduce potential damage and gain the ability to recover from cyber incidents.

Sources mentioned in the infographic:

• IBM: Cost of a Data Breach Report 2022
• Barracuda Networks Survey, 2023
• Verizon, 2023 Data Breach Investigations Report
• Surfshark, 2023
• IBM: Cost of a Data Breach Report 2021
• European Council data, 2023

You need a reliable partner when it comes to cyber security?

For over 14 years, HyperCubic has been a strategic partner to over 100 businesses of all sizes. We offer a full range of managed IT services in the cloud: IaaS (infrastructure as a service and own data centre), BaaS and BCDR (Backup as a service and Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery), cyber security (Firewall as a Service) and ITSM (IT Services Management level 1, 2, 3 and 4).

If you want to accelerate your digital transformation and grow your business at your own pace, we’re just a message away.

The book “The Black Swan” by Nassim Nicholas Taleb explores the concept of rare, highly improbable events with enormous impact on our world. Not surprisingly, this philosophy can also be applied in the world of technology and IT solutions such as data center or cybersecurity. In this article we explore how the concept of the Black Swan translates into IT and how we can manage risk in such a dynamic and ever-changing world.

What is a Black Swan in IT?

In IT, a Black Swan is a rare event, but with a major impact, that can negatively affect, partially or irreparably, the operations of a data center or an IT system serving a business activity, the responsibility in the case of a supplier being a double one. A rare event may be a cyber security incident, a critical failure of key equipment, an earthquake, flood or other natural disaster. It can also be a surprising innovation or breakthrough that completely revolutionizes the way things are done in the IT industry.

Risk management in the data center.

Risk management means minimizing losses and ensuring continuity, and this can only be achieved by building an IT ecosystem, the strategies that need to be applied are the following:

I. Redundancy:

Implementing redundancy in the infrastructure can help minimize the impact of major failures and consists of duplicate equipment, duplicate power supplies and duplicate internet connections, which is a primary and perhaps the most important advantage of outsourcing these types of services to a specialized company. If you find yourself in the situation of contracting such a specialized supplier, here is a checklist of requirements (to be ticked according to the budget allocated):

Uptime Institute TIER Standard

A data-center classification system is a way to evaluate and define the level of availability, redundancy and quality of services offered by a data-center. This rating system helps users to understand how reliable and robust the data centre is in providing services and to make comparisons between different facilities. One of the most popular classification systems is the TIER standard developed by the Uptime Institute. Here is a brief description of the TIER classification system for data centres:

Uptime Institute’s TIER standard:

TIER I: A Tier I data center has a simple architecture with no redundancy. Any of the critical components, such as power supply or cooling, do not have a full backup. Therefore, the data centre cannot ensure 24/7 availability.
TIER II: A Tier II data center adds some redundancy in critical components, such as power, but in general, planned maintenance operations still require services to be shut down. This level can ensure 99.741% availability (approximately 22 hours of downtime per year).
TIER III: The Tier III data center has a basic architecture with redundancy in all critical components. It includes two independent sources of power and cooling, allowing planned maintenance without shutting down services. This level can ensure 99.982% availability (approximately 1.6 hours of downtime per year).
TIER IV: The Tier IV data center offers the highest availability and reliability. It has full redundancy and duplicated components in all aspects. It can support planned maintenance or even component failure without affecting service availability. This level can ensure 99.995% availability (approximately 26.3 minutes of downtime per year).

II. Backup and recovery plans:

Creating well-defined and regularly tested backup and recovery plans can help you recover data and services quickly in the event of an unexpected incident. Make sure you have enough space allocated to store at least 3 versions of critical data.
Here are the main forms of back-up:

• Full backup: This type of backup involves copying all critical data to a separate storage medium. Full backup is useful to ensure quick data restoration in the event of a major failure, but can take up a significant amount of storage space.
• Incremental backup: incremental backup copies only new or changed data from the last backup, reducing the time needed to backup and the storage space required. Restoring data may be slower because it takes several backup iterations to restore the system to the desired state.
• Differential backup: Similar to incremental backup, but only copies data changed since the last full backup. This type of backup can be faster during restore than incremental backup, but requires more storage space.
• File-level backup: This type of backup copies individual files that are considered critical to the organization. It is useful when you need to recover only certain files and not the whole system.
• Image-level backup: This type of backup creates a complete image of the system or part of it, including the operating system, applications and data. It allows a quick restoration of the entire system in case of a major failure.
• Backup at virtual machine level: For organizations running virtual machines, this type of backup copies the entire virtual machine, including all its components. Allows quick and easy restoration of the entire virtual machine.
• Off-site backup: off-site backup involves storing backups in a physical location separate from the source location. This provides protection against natural disasters or other events that could affect the main data centre.
• Cloud backup: Cloud backup involves storing backups on cloud storage servers. It offers affordability and redundancy and is a popular solution for many organizations.

III. Prevention – constant monitoring and analysis:

Using advanced monitoring systems and predictive analytics can help identify potential problems before they become catastrophic. DON’T just rely on standard monitoring to confirm only what you want to see, but constantly seek an external IT audit to give you an objective view of your security level.

IV. Flexibility and adaptability:

Building a modular and scalable data center can allow you to adapt quickly to changes in the IT environment and minimize the risk of getting stuck in outdated technologies. DO NOT turn your experience into prejudice.

Innovation and opportunities in the Black Swan

In addition to risks, the Black Swan concept can also bring unexpected opportunities and innovation in IT. Unexpected breakthroughs and revolutionary technologies can radically change working paradigms and offer significant advantages.

Learning from previous Black Swan events

An important aspect of risk management in the data centre is learning from previous Black Swan events. Careful analysis of past incidents and how they were handled can provide valuable lessons for improving processes and safeguards.

In conclusion, Nassim Taleb’s book “The Black Swan” teaches us that, in the world of technology and IT solutions for the data center, we need to be aware of the existence of highly improbable events with a huge impact. By properly managing risk and adopting an attitude of adaptability and innovation, we can protect our IT infrastructure and turn these challenges into opportunities for growth and development. If you are looking for data center solutions, contact us here.

The current situation in cyber security

In recent years, more and more types of cyber-attacks are emerging, and they are now more frequent and sophisticated, posing a significant threat to organisations. A recent study by Barracuda Networks This spring even demonstrates this: 45.7% of HTML files scanned in March 2023 were found to be malicious, compared to 21% in May 2022. Attackers frequently use this HTML cyber attack technique to compromise any cybersecurity strategy using humans.

Through well-crafted messages, compromised websites and/or HTML file attachments, employees can easily be tricked. This approach is used by hackers to hide phishing or credential theft attacks and more.

It is impossible to be 100% protected and you shouldn’t make it an end goal, but a proactive, effective, evolving and well-supported strategy is essential. To achieve this, there are four important steps to follow.

Where do you start to create a strategy for cybersecurity strategy?

First of all, think about this: the goal of a cybersecurity strategy is to improve everything that your company stands for. This usually requires moving from a reactive to a proactive security approach, where the focus is on prevention of cyber attacks and incidents rather than responding to them retroactively.

👉 Read more about reactive and preventive cybersecurity solutions here .

Developing a cybersecurity strategy for your business is essential both for long-term success and to ensure business continuity no matter what the circumstances. Here are the basic steps you should follow to design and implement an effective security strategy.

• Understand what types of attacks your business is vulnerable to.

To understand the vulnerability of your business, you need both external and internal analysis. Starting with the external analysis, you should analyze your business environment to see what kind of cyber attacks are most common and how they can affect your business. Notice if any of your competitors have experienced security problems in the past and make sure you take the right measures. Your security solutions provider will suggest optimal cybersecurity solutions, but it’s up to you to know best what your business needs.

• Determine your vulnerability with an IT Audit

An internal analysis is done quickly and easily with an automated IT audit. In this phase, you will see exactly what technical gaps and vulnerabilities your business is facing across your entire IT system. As soon as you have a clear overview of your business security, you can start to put your shortcomings in place.

👉 We help you get started with cyber security measures by offering you a free IT audit. See more details here .

• Determine how to improve your cybersecurity practices

You have to think about the future. Given that you have analysed the external environment and know what problems you might encounter, it would not be bad to take preventive measures. If you’ve noticed that ransomware attacks have affected an increasing number of businesses, you should consider data backup and recovery solutions at this time. Given the flexibility of your work, you may want to extend your employees’ remote working hours in the long term, in which case you need cybersecurity solutions that protect your employees’ devices, such as firewall as a service. In such situations, we should approach it with a utilitarian mindset, and find the solutions that will provide the greatest long-term good.

Every improvement needs to be approached realistically, so think carefully: do you have the resources in-house? Is it more advantageous to outsource? We can support you with comprehensive cyber security services, tailored to your specific business needs. See more details here.

• Analyse and improve your practices constantly

As I said at the beginning of this article, there is no cybersecurity strategy that guarantees you will never be attacked. There are only strategies that will guarantee that in the event of a disaster, you will be able to respond and your business’ existence will not be threatened.

• In order to maintain a cybersecurity package that reflects the real needs of your company, our specialists recommend that your business goes through an IT audit every 6 months. This is the only way you will be able to have a clear and real overview to update your strategy.
• Consider employee training to minimize any company’s biggest risk: human error. Remember, 88% of security breaches are caused by employee error, according to a recent study, Psychology of Human Error.
• Clearly establish or re-establish what your company’s responsibilities are and what your cybersecurity provider’s duties are. Everyone has a role, make sure duties are always clear!
• To improve your cybersecurity strategy, address your users’ two main concerns: fear of being monitored, which generates discussions about individual rights, and excessive concern about security that affects productivity and maintains a paranoid atmosphere in the company. Ensuring adequate implementation without compromising these concerns can be assessed by considering the budget allocated.

You need a reliable partner when it comes to cyber security?

For over 14 years, HyperCubic has been a strategic partner to over 100 businesses of all sizes. We offer a full range of managed IT services in the cloud: IaaS (infrastructure as a service and own data centre), BaaS and BCDR (Backup as a service and Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery), cyber security (Firewall as a Service) and ITSM (IT Services Management level 1, 2, 3 and 4).

If you want to accelerate your digital transformation and grow your business at your own pace, we’re just a message away.