Battle To The Death – Three Virtual Assistants Enter; Only One Will Survive

by Felicien | Mar 15, 2018 | Education

First, there was Siri, then Cortana, and then Alexa. Each virtual assistant comes equipped with a rich package of features and capabilities, but who is the best in the business?

Every April, organizations big and small all over celebrate Administrative Assistants Day as a show of gratitude for the staff that carries out the day-to-day administrative operations. These are the individuals that make sure communications reach the proper contacts, that calendars are maintained, and appointments are kept. Good administrative assistants are indispensable to an enterprise, and truly deserve recognition more than one day each year.
The job of an administrative assistant — or any assistant — is to support the position they assist; Sounds simple enough, right? Wrong. Typing, faxing, emailing, answering calls, scheduling appointments, and all duties that fall under this umbrella require great organization and attention to detail. Duties don’t always stay within the 8-5 workday, and responsiveness is key.
When the Palm Pilot launched as one of the earlier electronic mobile devices for mobile communication with features for schedules and task organization, followed by BlackBerry models, and then the iPod Touch among many others, artificial intelligence emerged as an economical option and valuable tool for consumers. These devices at the time were just an extension of administrative assistants, though.
Enter the virtual assistant. Artificial intelligence (AI) has truly enabled technology to support human activity. From machines helping build machines — think automobile manufacturing lines – to machines helping people fix people — think 3D printers creating a replica of a heart or other organ to assist surgeons in planning an operation – the common thread is that artificial intelligence enables us to improve the world through the use of machines. Do you wear a Fitbit or another activity tracker? From counting your steps to telling time to monitor your heart rate to tracking your exercise route with built-in GPS capabilities, the little machine on your wrist is pretty incredible. Virtual assistants offer support on a basic level, but with more sophisticated capabilities, like voice-enabled operations and support.
Apple launched Siri, the built-in intelligent personal assistant, in 2011. Siri was designed to answer questions and perform basic actions using Apple apps on the iPhone. Apple worked with voice actors from British, Australian and American backgrounds to offer support in native “accents” given the global use of Apple products.
Both Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s Cortana followed in 2014, bolstering an AI competition that is most beneficial to the consumer. A common misperception is that Amazon’s Alexa is tethered to devices used only in a home, enabling home automation services. Alexa is designed to work with several Acer, Lenovo, and HP desktop and laptop computers as well as the Fire tablet line-up and a handful of mobile devices – though none carry the mobile market presence as the iPhone.

For decades, roles in the administrative assistant capacity were relegated to females – perhaps this is why the default voice in the virtual assistant market is female?

Each of the virtual assistants offers an assortment of the same type of features: set alarms, provide weather reports, sports scores, Internet search results, and other real-time options like news, driving directions, and traffic alerts. But with so many AI virtual assistants on the market and consumers have more options, which brings the most bang for the buck? Which offers the most robust features? Which has the coolest capabilities? We break down the “Big Three” and let you decide.
Siri
Siri was the first and is thereby the model for all others that come after. Siri was the first voice-activated, voice-controlled virtual assistant, and dominated the market for three years before her first true competitor came along. With a quick “Hey, Siri!”, she was eager and waiting to help you out! Siri’s user interface was pretty basic initially, but considering the innovative concept of a responsive virtual assistant in your pocket, consumers were happy with basic. Siri has evolved into a much more robust and astute virtual assistant, though she still prefers to look things up on the Internet and just give you her search results. This is reported because of Apple’s dedication to user privacy, and a commitment to not collecting data from browser history or emails – like Google does – for Internet search results.
Siri’s lack of integration with non-native apps is rather frustrating. Some partner apps will offer more complex functionality, but with most apps, users are limited to basic “open” commands and exclude secondary commands – think “open Facebook and create new status update” or something along those lines. It’s not rocket science, but it’s not something Siri can help you with – yet.
Cortana
Cortana had a built-in cult following even before she was a reality! “Cortana” was the code name for the AI virtual assistant project from Microsoft, but once leaked Cortana was a wildly popular name in user forums and users initiated a petition to Microsoft to keep the name upon release – and we now know how that turned out! The code name was a reference to a synthetic intelligence character in Microsoft’s Halo video game, and the same voice actress lent her voice to the virtual assistant.
One area Cortana has others beat is language support. Rather than just English, Cortana also supports Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese.
The downside of Cortana? Depending on your browser preference, Cortana may offer limitation in this aspect, only offering Internet search results in Bing (not Google). But Bing offers users rewards based on search activity volume, so perhaps this default is beneficial. Side by side, Bing and Google search results can differ, which is why we consider this a ‘downside’. An interesting note for Cortana, too, is that it offers a built-in music recognition capability. Could Cortana have plans to take on fan-favorite music discovery app Shazam? In case you weren’t paying attention, Shazam was recently acquired by Apple (iTunes springboard, anyone?).

Microsoft, lover of all things collaborative and integration, has plans for integrating Cortana into Skype, and we can’t wait to see how that pans out.

Alexa
Amazon’s Alexa is the exception to the rule in more than one way. Unique to the virtual assistant market, Alexa is standard on Amazon Echo devices – which are not smartphones but rather designed to primarily support home automation. This is rather genius in that Alexa supports orders and shopping through a user’s Amazon account with stored payment and shipping details, conveniently offering a built-in way for Amazon to monetize their virtual assistant.
Alexa is an audio-only voice-activated AI virtual assistant. She has to read all results out loud to you – but more importantly, interact directly with you. She is the foundation of a smart home rather than confined to a smartphone.
Alexa is also designed to work with third-party apps. Want to play a Spotify playlist? Alexa’s got you covered. Need a ride? Alexa can now order you an Uber. Alexa can help you order dinner due to integration with Pizza Hut and Domino’s, among others. Can Siri or Cortana do that? They can help you track down the phone number or website, but that’s the extent of their help. Alexa will also get you in (quick) shape — body or mind — with a daily 7-minute workout and a Jeopardy game.

Amazon wants Alexa to be essential to your home environment. Many households are already Amazon Prime members, relishing unlimited two-day shipping for a meager $99/year. This packages nicely with the Amazon Echo product line-up, each designed to work seamlessly with each other and integrate with your Amazon account while supporting home automation. Consumers notice weekly emails from Amazon with helpful tips on “what Alexa can do for you” details.

What’s the verdict?
Alexa is nice in your home or office, but for the power of the virtual assistant in your pocket and on the go, Siri was the first and is still the best! Setting up a to-do list, scheduling meetings and reminders, sending emails – it’s all pretty crucial for day-to-day mobile operations, and “mobile” is the keyword. Amazon is expanding what Alexa can do, but for now, it’s still second to Siri.
What will the rest of 2018 hold for the AI virtual assistant future? We can’t wait to see!

America Is Falling Behind…

by Felicien | Mar 15, 2018 | Education

Agony! My Phone Got Hacked at a Football Game!

by Felicien | Mar 15, 2018 | Education

My husband and I our local football team. We’ve been die-hard fans since we were children.  And as season ticket holders, we rarely miss any home games.  However, the last game was a nightmare for me.  Not because the my team played poorly, but because my phone got hacked.

I used the public Wi-Fi at the stadium to purchase a tee shirt for my granddaughter.  Of course, I had to key in my credit card number like I always do. But, because I was using public Wi-Fi, my card number was revealed and stolen.  I didn’t find out until my statement came through with charges for items I never purchased.  Luckily, I was able to file a claim with VISA, so I didn’t have to pay for the false charges. They canceled my card and issued me a new one.  However, now I wonder what else the hacker found.
I learned my lesson.  I’ll never use public Wi-Fi for shopping or anything else that could jeopardize my privacy. I also did some research about using public Wi-Fi.  This is what I learned.
When using public Wi-Fi, you should only send information to websites that are fully encrypted. Most Public Wi-Fi hotspots don’t encrypt the information you send over the Internet and aren’t secure. A secure wireless network encrypts all of the data you send over that network.  Public Wi-Fi doesn’t.  Encryption keeps your personal information secure when you’re online. It scrambles the data you send over the Internet into a code so others can’t view it. Don’t send you confidential information over public Wi-Fi unless the website you’re visiting is encrypted. An encrypted website protects the information you send to and from that site.
Whenever you send an email, share photos and videos, or use social networks over unsecured public Wi-Fi your information can be exposed.  Wow, I didn’t know this, did you?  I upload photos to Facebook all the time using public Wi-Fi. And emails too!  I’ll be very careful now to only do this over a secure Wi-Fi network.
The way to know that a website is encrypted is the https at the beginning of the web address. Sites with HTTP aren’t encrypted.  Most banking sites use encryption to protect your information as it travels from your computer to their server. However, it’s important to know that some websites only use encryption on the sign-in page and not the rest of their web pages. If you provide confidential information on a page that isn’t encrypted your account can get hacked.  So, make sure every webpage has https at the start of the web address.
Mobile apps don’t have an indicator like https, so you know that a website is secure. Another “Wow.” I never thought of this when accessing websites from my smartphone. I check for https when using my computer, but not when using my phone. Many mobile apps don’t encrypt information properly, so you shouldn’t use your mobile apps on unsecured Wi-Fi. If you want to use a mobile app to send confidential information, make sure you use a secure wireless network. You can also use your phone provider’s 3G or 4G data network.
If you use an unsecured network to log in to an unencrypted site other people using the same network can see what you’re entering.  They can even “hijack” your session and log in as you! Evidently, the hackers have access to free tools to do this.  They don’t need to be “computer geeks” to do this. They use these free tools to steal login credentials, personal information and even documents you send via email or messaging. Even worse, the hacker can use your accounts to scam other people on your contact lists. What a nightmare! I’ve emailed everyone I know to warn them that this might happen.
Remember to use two-factor authentication. This requires two pieces of information (a private password and code) before you can log in to your account.  The best websites and services support two-factor authentication. This way, even if a hacker gets your password due to a security gap in public Wi-Fi, they still won’t be able to log into your account.
Make sure the public Wi-Fi name is legitimate. Hackers set up fake ones to trick you into signing onto their fraudulent site. The name will look similar to the real one. So, scrutinize the name and make sure you’re not signing onto a malicious network.  If you do, your device is literally in the hands of the hacker. When I’m in a coffee shop or doctor’s office, I always double check with an employee to make sure I’m signing onto the right network.
The US Government’s Federal Trade Commission has some great info on how to protect your information when using public Wi-Fi.  Here’s what they say you should know:

When using a hotspot, login or send personal information only to websites you know are fully encrypted. To be secure, your entire visit to each site should be encrypted – from the time you log in to the site until you log out. If you think you’re logged in to an encrypted site but find yourself on an unencrypted page, log out right away.
Don’t stay permanently signed into accounts. When you’ve finished using an account, log out.
Do not use the same password on different websites. It could give someone who gains access to one of your accounts access to many of your accounts.
Many web browsers alert users who try to visit fraudulent websites or download malicious programs. Pay attention to these warnings and keep your browser and security software up-to-date.
Consider changing the settings on your mobile device so it doesn’t automatically connect to nearby Wi-Fi. That way, you have more control over when and how your device uses public Wi-Fi.
If you regularly access online accounts through Wi-Fi hotspots, use a virtual private network (VPN). VPNs encrypt traffic between your computer and the internet, even on unsecured networks. You can get a personal VPN account from a VPN service provider. In addition, some organizations create VPNs to provide secure, remote access for their employees. What’s more, VPN options are available for mobile devices; they can encrypt information you send through mobile apps.
Some Wi-Fi networks use encryption: WEP and WPA are common, but they might not protect you against all hacking programs. WPA2 is the strongest.
Installing browser add-ons or plug-ins can help. For example, Force-TLS and HTTPS-Everywhere are free Firefox add-ons that force the browser to use encryption on popular websites that usually aren’t encrypted. They don’t protect you on all websites — look for https in the URL to know a site is secure.

I learned my lesson about using public Wi-Fi the hard way. I hope this information helps to keep you safe when online.

CRA Issues Urgent Warning To Canadian Business Owners

by Felicien | Mar 14, 2018 | Education

Phishing Season Is Here – Do Your Employees Know What To Look For?

Tax season is one of the most active times of the year for cybercriminals – without the right IT security support, your business could be an easy target.
It’s that time of year again – the CRA, tax agencies, and finance professionals across the country are once again urging everyone to be on the look-out for scams as they file this year’s taxes.
The most popular and effective type of cybercrime scam this time of year is phishing. Phone calls are made, and emails are sent to targets that appear to be from reputable sources in order to access and steal sensitive information such as passwords, account details, credit card numbers, social insurance numbers, and more. It doesn’t take as much as you may think for a cybercriminal to convince a target that they are a superior in order to persuade employees to give them money, data, or crucial information.
How Can You Pick Out A Phishing Call Or Email?
Effective IT security often comes down to simply knowing what to look for. The most recent trends and patterns in phishing scams include:

Phone calls from a “CRA employee” asking for personal information the agency already has on file.
Phone calls that advise that money is owed to the CRA and should be paid immediately using pre-paid credit cards or gift cards.
Emails that appear as urgent warnings telling recipients to update their online financial accounts as quickly as possible.
Emails that tell recipients to click a hyperlink and download important documents or contracts.
Emails that offer a tax refund once that recipient has verified their identity with private information.

In a nutshell? Cybercriminals will do whatever it takes to seem like they’re an official or familiar source. They will research you and your employees on social media, copy a superior’s email signature, scare the employee into action with a false sense of urgency, and more, just to get the recipient to act without thinking. Once the target has divulged private information, clicked a malicious link, or downloaded malware, the cybercriminal has won. This inevitably leads to extensive damage to the business where the recipient works, or to the recipient themselves.
How Can You Keep Your Business Safe?
So what’s the answer? What can the average business professional do to keep themselves and their company safe when criminals are employing sophisticated and sneaky methods designed to get targets to cooperate quickly? Your smartest move would be to educate and test your employees on your business’ IT security best practices and general cybercrime knowledge. Make sure they understand that they need to:

Stay Alert: No task is ever so urgent or so important that they can’t take the time to confirm the request first, especially if it involves giving out information or executing a potentially risky task.
NEVER Give Out Private Information: Entities like banks, government agencies, and the CRA will never under any circumstances contact anyone to confirm sensitive information. They already have your account numbers, social insurance number, and your passwords. If an email from a superior or external contact asks for that info, it is likely a scam, so always take the time to confirm the request by phone or in person, using contact information from a source other than the suspicious email.
Check Before They Click: Hovering your cursor over a link will show you where that link is actually taking you. Often, cybercriminals will send out what looks like the right link (www.YourBank.com), but when you hover over the link with your mouse, it actually will show something different (www.YourBank.2340937fvt5.com). If the two links don’t match up, do not click.
Check Up On Unexpected Email Attachments. If an email pops up from a familiar sender with an attachment that you weren’t expecting, call them or send them an email to confirm that they actually sent the file. Be sure to send a new email – if you reply to the suspicious one, you’ll be contacting the hacker, not your colleague.

All of this isn’t to say the security of your business falls entirely on your teams’ shoulders. As a business owner, you need to:

Invest In Advance Cybersecurity: Employee awareness may be a key component of good overall security, but that doesn’t make solutions like spam filters and firewalls any less vital. Tools like these can help keep dangerous emails out of your employees’ inboxes in the first place and protect your network from infections and intrusions that can compromise sensitive data and lead to thefts and fraud.
Enforce A Strong Password Policy: More often than not, employees choose to stick with passwords that are simple and easy to remember, which leaves them more vulnerable to hackers. Ensure that your staff is using passwords that include letters, numbers, symbols, multiple cases, and are at least 8 – 10 characters in length. Don’t just trust your employees to follow these guidelines; make sure they understand why you’ve put these policies in place, and that there will be consequences if they’re not followed.

Remember – cybercriminals keep going back to the same old tricks because users keep falling for the same scams over and over without ever learning from the experience.
Making mandatory network security education routine for your entire team – management included – has proven again and again to be the most reliable and effective way to stop a phishing attempt.
Don’t wait for another major scam or cyber attack to start making the rounds to decide it’s time to work on your staff’s cybersecurity awareness. The sooner you make scam and fraud awareness part of your company culture, the further ahead of the next phishing attempt your team will be.
Give us a call or email us to learn more about how these scams work, and what expert cybersecurity support can do to ensure you and your staff stay safe this tax season.

Get Into the Game!

by Felicien | Mar 14, 2018 | Education

The Competition is Fierce in the World of Sports and Wearable Devices.

Wearable technology in sports is now commonplace as multiple teams and coaches look for ways to gain an advantage over their competitors. These wearable devices also allow non-professional athletes to track, monitor and improve their performance and well-being. Across all levels and types of sport, wearable device technology has a prominent presence, and it’s growing.
Sports teams are getting smarter. Their coaches and players have embraced wearable technologies to help them track and improve performance. Team coaches use the data from these devices to train athletes and to make tactical decisions. No longer do they have to rely on their gut instinct to coach a player.  They now have hard data at their fingertips to improve their decision making. Wearable technology is now heavily ingrained into professional sports throughout the world.
As a result, the sports and fitness clothing market have quickly emerged as key industries “jump into the game” of wearable technology. Mind Commerce a research and strategic analysis organization for the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry, predicts that wearable technologies in sports and fitness will reach $9.4 billion globally by 2020.
Technology has changed both professional and amateur sports. Participants and coaches alike can make calculated decisions from metrics that can be taken into account and utilized. Although mainly used for performance monitoring, this wearable device technology is also being used to mitigate the risk of injury and player safety.
American Football:  Today, improving speed and running ability requires careful analysis of technique, and the Sensoria Fitness Sock is designed to do just that. It’s sensor-filled sock, attachable anklet, and a smartphone app helps athletes and their coaches monitor running techniques. The sock contains e-textile sensors that measure speed, count steps and track calories, altitude, and distance. It also does something no other type of smart footwear does–track cadence, foot-landing technique and weight distribution on the foot. The electronic anklet snaps onto the sock and communicates real-time data to external devices like smartphones. And now, the NFL is now able to not only track their players’ performance via wearable devices but broadcast these stats to their TV viewers if they wish.
Baseball: Similarly, Major League Baseball has incorporated technology and data-based companies to help improve performance aspects for their players. The Whoop Strap 2.0 was approved by the league in 2017. The WHOOP device is designed to be worn day and night. It can be worn on various parts of the body, and it measures sleep, recovery, and strain. Before this approval, players could use these devices at any other time, but not during games. The sport’s playing rules committee recently approved two additional devices for use during games: The Motus Baseball Sleeve that measures stress on elbows and the Zephyr Bioharness that monitors heart and breathing rates.
Track and Cycling: Running and jogging are the most common form of cardiovascular fitness in the US today. However, a whopping 70% of runners, unfortunately, suffer from foot-related injuries. The team from Sensoria Fitness Sock hopes to help. Just like they do for football players the smart sock provides feedback that the runner needs. This comes in the form of audio when they’re running. It acts like a coach who analyses the way they take each step. If they exhibit heel striking or unequal weight distribution that can cause injuries, the runner is alerted. This way he or she can make corrections right away. Both professional and every-day runners and cyclists can benefit from this technology. Radar Pace, a joint effort between Oakley and Intel, developed glasses with earbuds attached to the temples that connect the athlete to their coach who advises them in real time about stride length and pace (for runners) or cadence and power output (for cyclists).  And the Under Armor SpeedForm Gemini 2 Record Equipped shoe brings in the new era of the smart shoe with smaller sensors and batteries. Lumo Run gives all these a “run for their money” with their Running Coach that also provides audio feedback to help runners stay “on track.”
Basketball: At present, the National Basketball Association doesn’t allow the use of wearable technology during official games. However, when training, professional basketball teams are using them to track workloads and movement to prevent injuries.  The Golden State Warriors’ record this last year serves as proof of the value that exists in data from wearable devices. They’ve gained a reputation for experimenting with wearable devices like the Catapult Sports and OmegaWave to assess a player’s functional readiness. Perhaps this is why the franchise has become one of the best teams in the league?
Winter Sports: Snowcookie is popular with skiers and was one of the finalists of the Make it Wearable Challenge by Intel. It’s a project from a Polish team to help improve skiing skills that utilize an Intel Edison to compile and process the massive data that skiers generate. Snowcookie connects skiers to a network of distributed devices that can improve skiing performance. The result is a better, safer, and more connected skier.
Water Sports: For all you “water babies,” Wearable Tech has rated the best fitness trackers for water sports. Some of them include the Nokia Steel HR, the TomTom Spark 3, Garmin Vivoactive 3, Fitbit Ionic, Fitbit Flex 2, Moov Now, Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro, Misfit Shine, and Apple Watch Series 3. They also rated these devices based on how much pressure they can withstand (not how deep they can go).
Wearable devices have demonstrated great success for any athlete who needs feedback on performance. They also hold great promise in minimizing sports-related injuries and helping to provide not only training but recovery platforms.  The number of professional and consumer fitness devices that are available is growing every day. Today there are more than 300 wearable fitness devices on the market. Not only is the competition fierce when it comes to sports, but it’s also growing more so amongst the companies that market and sell these devices. This is good news for all of us. Having more choices is always a good thing!