DEV Community: Ifeoluwa Bamidele

User Manual: How To Install Antivirus Software On Your Windows Or MacOS Laptop

Ifeoluwa Bamidele — Tue, 24 Jun 2025 09:23:34 +0000

USER MANUAL ON HOW TO INSTALL ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE ON YOUR WINDOWS OR MacOS LAPTOP.

INTRODUCTION.

This user manual will guide you on how to install anti-virus software on your windows or macOS laptop, to protect your laptop from malwares, virus, ransom attack and other cyber attacks.

STEP 1
Switch your laptop on through the power button.

Requirements
Before installation, make sure you have a good internet network.
Check if your laptop meets the requirements for the antivirus software.
Remove any previous antivirus installed on the computer to avoid conflicts.

Step 2
Choose An Antivirus Software
Some popular antivirus options include:
• Free: Avast, AVG, Microsoft Defender (built into Windows)

• Paid: Norton, McAfee, Bitdefender, Kaspersky.

Step 3
Download The Antivirus Software
For windows or macOS
Open your web browser (e.g., Chrome, Safari).

On your web browser, Go to the official website of the antivirus software.
Example: www.avast.com
Click on Download or Free Trial.
Save the installation file to your computer.

Step 4
Installing the Antivirus
For Windows:
• Double-click the .exe file you downloaded.

• If prompted, click Yes to allow changes to your system.

• Follow on-screen instructions:

• Accept the license agreement.

• Choose default or custom installation.

• Click Install.

• Wait for the installation to complete.

• Click Finish and Restart your computer if asked.

For macOS:
• Double-click the .dmg file you downloaded.

• Drag the antivirus icon into the Applications folder.

• Open the app from Applications.

• Follow setup instructions and grant necessary permissions.

• Restart your computer if prompted.

Step 5
Activating & Updating
• Launch the antivirus program.

• Create or sign into your account (if required).

• Enter license key if you purchased the software.

• Go to Settings or Update and check for the latest virus definitions.

• Enable automatic updates and scheduled scans.

Step 6
Running Your First Scan

• Open the antivirus app.

• Click on Scan or Full Scan.

• Wait while it scans your system.

• If any threats are found, follow the instructions to remove them.

Step 7
Tips for Ongoing Protection
• Keep your antivirus updated.

• Schedule weekly scans.

• Avoid downloading files from unknown sources.

• Use a strong password for your antivirus account.

Support
Visit the antivirus brand’s support page or contact their customer service if you encounter issues.

Conclusion
You’ve successfully installed antivirus software to help protect your computer. Make sure to keep it active and updated for maximum protection.

FRANEAN LUBRICANT REPORT

Ifeoluwa Bamidele — Tue, 17 Jun 2025 23:15:54 +0000

KEYWORD AND SEO RESEARCH

Several competitor lubricant brands operating in India are Castrol, Gulf Oil, Shell, BPCL,
and lots more.
Castrol is a manufacturer of automotive and industrial lubricants. They own around
twenty percent market share.
Gulf Oil Lubricant: They are fuel retail stations and lubricants for cars, motorcycles,
marine, agricultural, and industrial industries.
Shell India, Valvoline, Panama, Savita Oil – They are active in automotive and industrial
lubricants.
From my research, these brands often use high-intent, rich, transactional, and
commercial keywords. Short-tail keywords like best, share price, gears, buy, and price
are commonly used. Phrase metrics and question metrics like “best engine oil India”
with educational content, such as the benefits of gear oil.
How-to guides like What is the best engine oil for a bike or car are used by competitors
to get traffic.
KEYWORD STRATEGY

High volume, Low competition.  Engine oil near me  Gear oil change  Cheap engine oil in Tripura  Engine oil price  Engine oil for bikes
High volume informational long-tail keyword  Best gear oil for bikes in India  Best gear oil for cars in India  Synthetic gear oil  Best industrial gear oil  Transmission fluid replacements
Long-Tail rich keywords  Which is the best gearbox oil?

 What is a good gear oil?
 What gear oil is best for the gearbox in India
 What is the best lubricant for gear
 Difference between mineral and synthetic engine oil
 When to buy heavy-duty oil in Tripura
 What is the best automotive oil
 What is automotive gas oil
 What are the three main types of automotive oil

Location-Based keywords  Bangalore Automotive Oils  Noble Auto-SPARE and Engine Oil  Gear oil dealers in Tripura  Industrial dealers, Tripura dealers The keywords listed above combine transactional, local, informational, location, and purchasing intent, critically used by competitors in India. KEYWORD CLASSIFICATION KEYWORD GROUPS KEYWORD EXAMPLE SUGGESTED INTENT Primary Engine oil Tripura Transactional Primary Bangalore automotive oil Transactional Secondary Synthetic engine oil India, Bike and car engine oil, EP90 gear oil

Informational/
Transactional

Supporting keywords Which oil is used in engine
oil? What is the function of
engine oil? How to choose
engine oil, when to change
it

Informational

Supporting keyword Motor oil, Fully synthetic
engine oil, India oil,
Lubricant oil, Dry lubricant

Transactional

4
CONTENT STRATEGY AND STRUCTURE
CONTENT PILLAR CONTENT IDEAS
Engine oil guides Teach people about different types of
engine oil, when to change the oil, engine
oil for cars and bikes, the function of
engine oil, and which engine oil type is
the best.

Lubricants FAQs Educate users on the types of lubricants,
benefits of lubricants, dry lubricants,
grease, and what is known as lubricants.
Car maintenance tips What maintenance is required for a car?
What is the maintenance checklist?
What is the meaning of car maintenance?
What maintenance should be done at
100,000 km? Top maintenance tips for
cars

Gear box Which is the best gearbox oil, what is a
good gear oil, what gear oil is the best for
gearbox in India, what is the best
lubricant for gears?

RECOMMENDED CONTENT FORMAT
 Blog post - Focus on educational topics with rich SEO
 How-to-guides – Focus on a step-by-step, concise solution with a
visual image.
 FAQs – Interesting rich snippets
 Case studies – Include testimonials and the day-to-day running
of the business to gain clients' trust.
 Product highlight – Focus on transactional post
 Articles – Focus on articles that educate, inform, and engage
your audience.

CUSTOMER PAIN POINT
Pain point Content ideas
Excessive oil consumption Engine wear and tear
Choosing the right oil The best oil for cars and bikes, synthetic

oils

Declined engine performance Benefits, Signs you need a change
30 DAYS BLOG AND ARTICLE CONTENT CALENDAR
DATE TITLE OUTLINE TARGETED
KEYWORDS

AUDIENCE

DAY 1 Top five engine
oils for cars in
India 2025

Choosing the
right oil for your
vehicle

Synthetic Oil,
price, Grease,
Lubricant, best
engine oil in
India 2025

Car owners

DAY 2 - - - -
DAY 3 - - - -
DAY 4 Choose the
right oil for
your vehicles

Vehicle type,
Gear type

Gear oil, EP90
Gear oil

Truck, van or
bus owners-

DAY 5 - - - -
DAY 6 - - - -
DAY 7 - - - -
DAY 8 Franean oil
what makes it
unique

Franean
products,
benefits and
applications

Gear oil Commercial

DAY 9 - - - -
DAY 10 - - - -
DAY 11 Synthetic
versus mineral

Pros, cons and
cost

Synthetic vs
mineral oil,

General public

oil comparison engine oil
DAY 12 - - - -
DAY 13 - - - -
DAY 14 Car

maintenance
tips in India

Fluid check, Oil
types,
Overheating
tips

Car
maintenance
India summer,
Engine care
tips

Car owners

DAY 15 - - - -
DAY 16 - - - -
DAY 17 - - - -
DAY 18 How often
should you
change engine
oil?

General and
model specific
guides

Engine oil
change
frequency
india

All drivers

DAY 19 - - - -
DAY 20 - - - -
DAY 21 - - - -
DAY 22 Where to buy
quality
automotive oil
in Tripura

Local SEO
landing blog for
India or Tripura

Engine oil
supplies
Tripura, Oil
near me

India and
Tripura
residents
DAY 23 - - - -
DAY 24 - - - -
DAY 25 - - - -
DAY 26 Understanding
engine oil
Grades: 5w-30
versus 15w-40

Educational,
beginner-
friendly guide

Engine oil
grades
meaning, 5w30
versus 15w40

Beginners and
car owners

DAY 27 - - - -
DAY 28 Frequently
asked
questions
about
automotive oils

10 quick FAQs
with rich
snippet

Gear oil versus
engine oil, oil
color meaning

SEO-focused

DAY 30 How
franean
supports

Sustainability
,
performance,
Clean
engine oil,
eco-friendly
Eco-
conscious
buyers

clean
engine
technology

TOP FIVE ENGINE OILS FOR YOUR CARS IN INDIA 2025

Ifeoluwa Bamidele — Tue, 17 Jun 2025 23:05:43 +0000

TOP FIVE ENGINE OILS FOR CARS IN INDIA 2025
TOP SYNTHETIC OILS FOR CAR MAINTEN

CONTENT
 How to Choose the best engine oil for Indian road
 Factors to consider before selecting engine oil
 Best engine oil for your car in 2025
 Conclusion
As a vehicle or bike owner, I understand the confusion that might arise when deciding what oil
is the best for your vehicle. Looking for the best engine oil for cars in India 2025, This article will
guide and teach you about the type of oil you need to purchase, factors to consider before
buying engine oils for cars, and the best engine oil for your car in India and Tripura. Discover the
top 5 engine oil for Indian and Tripura cars in 2025. Compare the performance, budget and
protection. Find the best fit for your vehicle today.

HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST ENGINE OIL FOR INDIAN ROAD
As a vehicle owner in India and Tripura who is concerned about the best oil to choose for your
cars, These are things to consider when choosing the best synthetic gear oil and engine oil in
Tripura.

Operating status: As a vehicle owner that spends long hours behind the wheel, or stays in an environment that gets congested with traffic. It is advisable to choose a good oil with heat resistance and detergent properties which helps to maintain engine cleanliness, prevents unwanted deposit and ensure an optimal performance of your vehicle. Franean private limited an emerging brand in India and Tripura manufactures oil with thermal stability and detergent properties which is best for maintaining your engine.
Weather: The weather or climate condition is a critical factor to put into consideration before purchasing a new oil for your car. In Tripura the weather is characterized by 5 different climate change which includes spring, summer, autumn, winter, and monsoon. The weather during summer is moderately warm and moderately cold during autumn. Tripura is considered to have hot summers, due to this it is advisable for vehicle owners in Tripura to purchase oils synthetic oils with higher viscosity index. E.g the franean lubricant 15w50, 20w40 e.t.c.
Car model: To determine what oil suits your car, refer to your car manual to determine the model and the manufacturer recommendation on the type of oils and viscosity. You

can also check through franean catalogue on the website to determine what oil suits
your car model.
Link to franean website: https://www.franean.com

FACTORS TO CONSIDER BEFORE SELECTING ENGINE OIL
This are the factors to put into consideration before purchasing the best engine oils for your
vehicle, apart from driving condition, weather and car models. This essential criterial should be
addressed.
What are the three main types of automotive oil

Best oil to use for your cars: There are different types of oils that are been manufactured. The two major types are mineral oils and synthetic oils.  Mineral oils are a cheaper option but does not serve your vehicle the right protection against unwanted dirt. It does not offer the best services unlike synthetic oils.  Synthetic oil gives your car the best quality which will increase the optimal performance of your engine and protect its from unwanted particles. Some manufacturers might also offer you a much lesser option which is called semi synthetic oils. Semi synthetic oil is a combination of the two oil which gives your car maximum balance and does not offer full protection compared to synthetic oil. At franean private limited, an industrious dealer in Tripura, we focus fully on synthetic oil; the best quality your vehicle needs. Franean also sells EP90 gear oils for your gears, motor oils for your vehicle and fully synthetic oil. To purchase a good synthetic oil click on the link below. https://www.franean.com
Viscosity grades: Oils comes in different grades, This is why you need to be informed about the viscosity grade that suits your car. To choose the grade recommended for your car, check your car manual to determine the model then head on to franean website to discover the best grades for your car. The viscosity grades for example 5W-30 shows how your engine oil flows at different temperature when your car is operating or in driving mood.
Oil recommendation: Make sure you check your car manual or Industry standard recommendation from the manufacturer to determine which oil best suit your car.
Budgets: Franean lubricant offers good quality with a consumer friendly budget suitable for your vehicle.

BEST ENGINE OIL FOR YOUR CAR IN INDIA 2025
In the bustling street of India and Tripura, different engine oil brands is emerging with different
quality and performance in 2025. There are different options available to end users which

offers and guarantee consumers with the best quality. Different oil brands offers special
benefits and they produce different oils ranging from synthetic oils, semi-synthetic, mineral oils
and lots more. Before purchasing any oils for your car ensure you put the listed options above
into consideration. This helps determine if your car needs synthetic oil, semi-synthetic or
mineral oil. After making the best decision make sure you purchase from brands that offers
quality with consumer friendly price, unsure of where to purchase this oils from you can head
onto franean website to place an order. https://www.franean.com
CONCLUSION
Choosing the best engine oil for India road in 2025 does not have to be confusing. Choosing the
right brand isn’t just about the brand, its about what works best for your car, the climate
condition, and your driving habits. All the oils manufactured at franean lubricant offer a solid
protection for your vehicle.
Also make sure you always follow your manufacturer's recommendations before making a
decision of when to change it.
If you want maximum engine performance and savings on your vehicle's fuel consumption, pick
from the top synthetic engine oil in India that offers quality and car maintenance.

Shortcuts

Ifeoluwa Bamidele — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 23:01:51 +0000

On Microsoft Windows based machines, you can do many things very quickly using Windows Key.
Windows + ‘l’ - Locks the system
Windows + ‘e’ - Opens the explorer window
Windows + ‘m’ - minimizes all the windows…… but wait you might want to use rather the next one.
Windows + ‘d’ - Shows the desktop. Windows + ‘d’ brings up all the windows again.
Windows + break - Opens System properties window. Here you set the environment variables.
Windows + ‘TAB’- It is much much cooler version of ALT + TAB.
My favorite : Windows + ‘r’ - Opens the “Run” window.
In the Run window, you can type any application executable name and it opens for you. For example,
“notepad” - opens Notepad
“winword” - opens Micorsoft Word
“msdev” / “devenv” - opens Visual Studio.
In windows, shortcuts created for application act as soft links to the binary file. So every time I install a program into my system, I
create a shortcut to its binary executable and rename the shortcut to a single letter such as ‘n’ for Micorsoft OneNote.
move the shortcut to a common location such as “C:\vipin\install\”
add this common location to “PATH” environment variable.
………………………… and now Windows + ‘r’ opens “Run” window for me and typing ‘n’ in Run window opens the “Microsoft OneNote” for me. !!!
I must add that with #7, I have impressed many people in my office. It takes less than 2 seconds to open an application and people ask “whoa !! what did you just do to open that application..
Some non Windows key based one are :
CTRL + SHIFT + ESC : Opens the task manager. For the times when you want to kill unresponsive Chrome / Firefox web pages.

Technical writing

Ifeoluwa Bamidele — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 21:33:30 +0000

Understanding Technical Writing: Communicating Complexity with Clarity

In a world increasingly driven by technology, clear and precise communication is more important than ever. Whether you’re reading a software manual, following a user guide, or browsing API documentation, you’re likely engaging with technical writing. But what exactly is technical writing, and why is it so essential?

What is Technical Writing?

Technical writing is a specialized form of communication used to convey complex information in a clear, concise, and user-friendly manner. It bridges the gap between technical experts and everyday users, ensuring that information is accessible and understandable, regardless of the reader’s background.

This form of writing is used across industries such as software development, engineering, healthcare, finance, and manufacturing. The goal is always the same: to make complex information easy to use and act upon.

Key Characteristics of Technical Writing
1. Clarity: The writing must be easy to understand, with no ambiguity.
2. Conciseness: Every word counts. Unnecessary jargon or filler should be avoided.
3. Accuracy: Technical documents must be factually correct and up to date.
4. Audience-focused: Writers must consider the reader’s level of knowledge and purpose for reading.
5. Structured: Information is organized logically, often using headings, bullet points, tables, and visual aids.

Common Types of Technical Documents
• User Manuals – Instructions for using a product or system.
• Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) – Step-by-step operational guidelines.
• API Documentation – Technical references for developers integrating with software.
• Product Specifications – Detailed descriptions of product functionality.
• White Papers – In-depth reports that explain complex issues or technologies.
• Knowledge Base Articles – Help desk content for customers or employees.

Skills Required for Technical Writing

To succeed as a technical writer, you’ll need a mix of writing and technical skills:
• Strong command of language and grammar
• Research ability – to gather and verify information from subject matter experts (SMEs)
• Technical understanding – especially in specialized fields like IT, engineering, or biotech
• Tool proficiency – Familiarity with tools like Microsoft Word, Markdown, Confluence, Adobe FrameMaker, or content management systems (CMS)
• Information design – Knowing how to structure and present content for usability

The Technical Writing Process
1. Understand the audience: Who will read the document? What do they need to know?
2. Gather information: Interview SMEs, review existing materials, and research the topic.
3. Plan the structure: Create an outline to organize the content logically.
4. Write and revise: Use plain language, examples, and visuals to explain the content.
5. Review and test: Work with SMEs and editors to ensure clarity and accuracy.
6. Publish and maintain: Release the document and update it regularly as needed.

Why Technical Writing Matters
• Reduces user frustration by making products and processes easier to understand.
• Improves efficiency in workplaces through standardized documentation.
• Ensures safety by clearly outlining risks, procedures, and compliance guidelines.
• Enhances customer experience, particularly in self-service support models.

Final Thoughts

Technical writing isn’t just about writing—it’s about thinking critically, understanding deeply, and communicating clearly. As technology continues to evolve, the role of technical writers becomes even more vital in helping the world understand and use that technology.

Whether you’re considering a career in technical writing or want to improve documentation in your organization, mastering this skill can lead to better communication, stronger products, and happier users.

Introduction to HTML

Ifeoluwa Bamidele — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 21:31:41 +0000

Introduction to HTML: The Foundation of the Web

In the digital age, websites are the backbone of online communication, commerce, and entertainment. At the core of every website is a language called HTML—short for HyperText Markup Language. Whether you’re aspiring to become a web developer or simply curious about how web pages are built, understanding HTML is a great place to start.

What is HTML?

HTML is a markup language used to create and structure content on the web. Unlike programming languages such as Python or JavaScript, HTML doesn’t perform logic or calculations. Instead, it tells the web browser how to display text, images, links, and other content.

HTML uses tags (also called elements) to mark different parts of a web page. These tags are enclosed in angle brackets, like

for a paragraph or

for a heading.

Basic Structure of an HTML Document

Here’s a simple example of a basic HTML page:

• <!DOCTYPE html> tells the browser that this is an HTML5 document.
• <html> is the root element that contains the whole web page.
• <head> contains meta-information about the page, like the title.
• <title> sets the name of the tab in your browser.
• <body> holds all the visible content on the page—headings, text, images, links, and more.
• <h1> is a top-level heading, and <p> is a paragraph.

Why Learn HTML?
• It’s easy to start: HTML has a simple and readable syntax.
• Essential for web development: HTML is the foundation of every website.
• Works with CSS and JavaScript: Together, these three form the core technologies of the web.
• Great for building portfolios or personal blogs: Even with basic HTML, you can create clean and functional pages.

Conclusion.

Learning HTML is the first step toward building your own website or starting a career in web development. With just a few tags and some creativity, you can begin crafting your own corner of the internet. Once you’re comfortable with HTML, the next steps are to explore CSS (for styling) and JavaScript (for interactivity).

Start small, experiment often, and enjoy the journey into web development!

The Ethics Of Digital Surveillance

Ifeoluwa Bamidele — Fri, 30 May 2025 19:57:26 +0000

The Ethics of Digital Surveillance:
Walking the Tightrope Between Protection and Privacy in the Age of AI

Imagine this: You’re working remotely, sipping your coffee, writing reports, and hopping on Zoom calls. You open your email and suddenly hesitate was that message from your boss or a very convincing fake?
Cybersecurity is no longer just about antivirus software or changing your password every 90 days. In 2025, it’s about knowing who you are how you type, how you move your mouse, how you breathe.
Welcome to the era of digital surveillance:
A time where protecting data means tracking behavior, monitoring biometrics, and logging just about everything you do online.
Sounds a little dystopian? That’s because it is.
But it’s also necessary.
So where do we draw the line between security and surveillance?
How do we build systems that keep us safe without crossing ethical red lines?
Let’s explore this growing dilemma, one pixel at a time.
Why Digital Surveillance is Booming
Before we dig into the ethics, let’s start with the why.
Cybercrime has gone from shady emails with typos to sophisticated AI-powered attacks. We’re not just talking about phishing anymore we’re talking about:
Deepfake voice calls from “your CEO”

AI-generated spear phishing emails so accurate they know your dog’s name

Behavioral mimicry that fools systems into thinking hackers are you

In response, companies have ramped up digital surveillance, using:
Biometric authentication (face ID, fingerprints, retina scans)

Behavioral biometrics (typing speed, mouse movement, walking gait)

Keystroke logging and screen monitoring

Geo-location tracking

Real-time sentiment and productivity analysis

The logic is simple: The more we know about users, the better we can protect them.
And yes—it works.
Behavioral analytics have stopped insider threats. Biometric logins have reduced account takeovers. Keystroke patterns have helped detect imposters in real-time.
But here’s the catch…
The Creepy Factor: When Security Feels Like Spying
Ask most people how they feel about being monitored at work, and you’ll hear a mix of:
“I get it… but it feels like Big Brother is watching me.”
Even if surveillance is for security, perception matters. People don’t like to feel watched—especially when they haven’t done anything wrong.
The ethical challenge?
Surveillance done poorly creates mistrust.
Imagine this:
Your employer tracks every click, keystroke, and break.

Your webcam turns on for facial emotion analysis.

Your activity is rated by AI to predict productivity—or burnout.

Even with the best intentions, this kind of monitoring can feel invasive, dehumanizing, and deeply unsettling.

The Ethics: Where Do We Draw the Line?
Here’s the heart of the issue: Where does security end and intrusion begin?
Digital surveillance sits at the intersection of ethics, privacy, and power.

Informed Consent
Do users know they’re being monitored? And have they meaningfully agreed to it?
Too often, consent is buried in 40-page privacy policies no one reads. Ethical surveillance starts with transparency plain language, upfront communication, and real opt-in options.
Ethical Rule: If you can’t explain it to a 10-year-old, it’s not informed consent.

Proportionality
Are you collecting data just because you can? Or because you truly need it?
Surveillance should be purpose-driven. Monitoring web traffic to block malicious sites? Fair.
Using keystroke analysis to rank employees against each other? That’s surveillance creep.
Ethical Rule #2: If the data doesn’t protect people or systems, don’t collect it.

Data Minimization Collect only what you need, store it securely, and delete it responsibly. More data = more risk. Every new piece of biometric or behavioral info becomes a target for hackers—and a liability for your company. Ethical Rule #3: Just because data is useful doesn’t mean it should be permanent.
Accountability Who has access to surveillance data? How is it being used? Is there oversight? Ethical surveillance needs governance structures—think audit trails, third-party reviews, internal policies, and redress mechanisms for misuse. Ethical Rule #4: If no one’s accountable, everyone’s vulnerable.

The Workplace Dilemma: Productivity vs. Privacy
The remote work boom has added a whole new layer to this debate.
Employers are anxious. Productivity has become harder to measure. And cybersecurity risks have skyrocketed with people working from home, using personal devices on insecure networks.
So what do some companies do?
They turn to employee monitoring software.
Screenshots every 5 minutes.

Eye-tracking for screen engagement.

Keystroke counts.

Location pings.

And here’s the thing: many employees don’t know they’re being tracked at this level.
It’s one thing to prevent data breaches. It’s another to create an environment where workers feel watched, judged, and disposable.
Burnout by Surveillance?
Research is starting to show a backlash.
Invasive monitoring can lead to:
Lower morale

Higher turnover

Increased stress

Decreased innovation and risk-taking

Because when employees feel like every move is tracked, they’re not thinking about doing their best work.
They’re thinking about staying under the radar.
Beyond the Office: Public & Personal Surveillance
It’s not just businesses.
Governments, schools, and even social media platforms are expanding digital surveillance—sometimes in the name of safety, sometimes in the name of profit.
Facial recognition in public spaces.

Emotion-tracking AI in classrooms.

Targeted ads based on biometric cues.

The common thread? Most people have no idea how much data they’re giving up—or how it’s being used.
And in many places, the legal protections haven’t caught up.
So… Is There a Right Way to Do Digital Surveillance?
Yes—but it takes thoughtfulness, boundaries, and empathy. Here’s what an ethically sound surveillance strategy looks like in 2025:

Transparency First Tell people what’s being monitored, why, and how it protects them. Don’t hide it in fine print—be upfront.
Give People Control Let users opt out where possible. Let employees review or challenge data collected about them. Make privacy a choice, not a sacrifice.
Focus on Outcomes, Not Micromanagement Use monitoring tools to detect threats, not judge productivity. Watch for security risks, not “idle time.”
Secure the Data, Always If you’re collecting behavioral or biometric data, encrypt it. Limit access. Set clear retention policies.
Review, Revise, Respect Build in regular ethics reviews of your surveillance practices. Invite feedback. Create space for human dignity in every system. Final Thought: Security That Respects Humanity Let’s be clear: Digital surveillance can be a force for good. It can stop breaches before they happen. It can protect employees, customers, and entire systems from malicious actors. It’s a powerful tool. But like all powerful tools, it needs guardrails. Because when surveillance becomes habitual, automatic, and unchecked—it stops being protection and starts being control. The best cybersecurity strategies of 2025 aren’t just smart. They’re ethical. They’re respectful. They’re human. And in a world where your data is your identity, that kind of humanity might be the greatest protection of all.

Cybersecurity For Small And Medium Sized Business.

Ifeoluwa Bamidele — Fri, 30 May 2025 19:53:00 +0000

Cybersecurity For Small And Medium Sized Business: Affordable Strategies That Actually Works.
From extortion to robbery, small and medium sized businesses are mostly targeted by cyber criminals. Today small businesses greatest threat is cyber attack. According to statistics several cases has been reported on cyber attack among SMB over seventy seven percent of all cybercrimes are focused on small businesses. Only 42 percentage of small business owners are concerned about this attacks.

How small and medium sized businesses can defend themselves without enterprise budget.
We often talk about cybersecurity and how to protect industries and businesses from cyber threats with valid measures to prevent cyber threat. A very good topic which should be addressed with practical measures but this measures are mostly focused on big businesses owners that can afford high technology and infrastructure leaving small business and medium business owners to figure things out on there own.
Startups with a budget trying to pay employees, build the right infrastructure, get computers, devices, systems and network with little to no support. Some startups get money from the bank and they have to pay loans back combined with all this expenses listed above, it can be overwhelming and frustrating on the business owner. Big companies might hire security analysts, cyber security teams and high profile individuals to protect themselves from cyber threat, they hire them because they can afford it and still run the company in the long run without one departmental issues affecting another.

Start ups sometimes hire remote workers to cut down cost and reduce expenses. In a world that tend to neglect small businesses and focus on the big ones, small business owners have to figure things out on their own. They look out for themselves in the best way they can to keep the company or business going. There are some budget friendly and affordable strategies that still work and will make you one step ahead of cyber threats. Even though cyber criminals nowadays are utilising high and advanced technology to their advantage.
Cyber criminals don’t send quack emails anymore, they draft a persuasive and compelling mails to trick their target and avoid suspicion. They utilise generative AI to mimic voice, impersonate video communication and messages to get the trust of their target and attack when they are more vulnerable. Cyber criminals nowadays don’t just sit around dark rooms with hoodies, they are out there learning new skills, making use of new technologies and looking for new tricks that will scale there game from one percent to hundred. Cyber threat should not be addressed with levity especially among small and medium business owners. They don’t have enough capital to run the business and one big cyber attack could stop the business, shorten the life span or kill a dream that could help nations. It could lead to high financial loss which could results to debts, when the business owners starts paying huge amounts of debt, they sell properties and when they can’t pay it off the CEO either get depressed or get themselves killed. A bad situation that should be avoided, a lot of people have died because of one cyber threat that striped them of every they have ever worked for.
This is literally every thing that could go wrong, now let us focus on the positive aspect. How do we avoid this and stop it from happening this takes us to the next phase

Affordable Preventive Measures Small And Medium Size Business Can Enforce To Protect Themselves From Cyber Threat.

Listed below are some effective and affordable strategies small and medium businesses can enforce to protect themselves. This strategies are budget friendly strategies. No worries it won’t cost you a fortune

Educate your employees: The first step to protect yourself from cyber threats is awareness, you can only find solutions to a problem you know, something you are aware of this gets you prepared, you would be able to spot tricks and schemes and you would know how to strike or avoid them. In a traditional business setting, the training offered to employees are quack video, long and boring one hour video that everyone will forget after few weeks, it not educative enough, does not reveal the danger cyber criminals pose it just a video. As a small business owner if you are still using that technique in 2025 ditch that immediately. In a world where technology is evolving and revolving you don’t want to stick to the past. It’s like using the past to solve the present, building 18th century house in 21st century or carrying a table fork to World War Two. How do you expect to protect yourself when you are still stuck with traditional technology. In a world where generative AI has taken over, they could impersonate the CEO create a video of the CEO asking an employee to forward money to an account for a business partner, it’s your CEO ordering you to do that obviously you would do it. Does not sound realistic? It has happened to a finance company in 2024. The company is in Hong Kong, they lost millions of dollars in a short period of time. This is as a result of lack of awareness or quack video training.
The question now should be how do I step up the game when it comes to employees training about cyber security.
Create short and concise videos, a two to three minute TikTok video that is well educative and professional should be used instead of long boring hours video
Trainings should be divided in batch, they learn and practice what they’ve learnt
Trainings should be more of practical than theoretical
Don’t rely on annual training, stay updated and informed, cyber security training should be done regularly.
Use strong passwords and multi factor authentication: Some small business owners use their date of birth or child’s date of birth to secure website, systems devices or networks that secures sensitive information to the organisation. If you are still doing that in 2025 stop it. Hackers have cracked that strategy a long time ago they are ahead now. A strong password should be at least 12-14 characters which includes numbers, alphabet, signs or dots, these are combined to create a unique password that is hard to crack. Example of a unique password (2{^gh:&£LP/£&Gh<~.)

This password is hard to crack as it consists of different characters which does not include date of birth or names. After creating your killer unique password, the next thing is to use multiple factor authentication, there is two factor authentication but right now we are trying to protect sensitive informations like our life depends on it because it does with affordable strategy. It can be fraustrating putting passwords, biometrics, face recognition, passcodes and lots more to just open a server, device, system or network but this is better than been scammed of your hard earned savings. Ensure you use things that are very personal to you to secure your data, your voice, fingerprint, behavioural pattern, face recognition and lots more. Once the is put in place if there is any weird or suspicious activity on your account, they system automatically block the activity. Game over and you are protected. This strategy is cost effective, some devices or systems have most of this features inbuilt in them.
Update systems and software regularly: Outdated systems and softwares might pose an higher risk and make you vulnerable to a cyber attack. Updating systems and software ensures end to end encryption of data, new security patches which will help protect your data from cyber criminals. It would cost you less or nothing to update your softwares and systems. Do it now and be safe.
Back up your data: Ensure all your data are backed up which eliminates loss of important data. Cyber criminals now use a strategy called Ransomware, they encrypt important information and ask for ransom from the company to unlock this data. If your data is backed up you will be able to have access to your data which will help you escape this new tactics used by cyber criminals to get money from there target. Apart from that, theft or burglary attack could occur, but when data’s are backed up you would be able to access important informations without your lost device. Files can also be transferred to flash drives another means to recover lost data on a system or device.
Invest in a reliable anti virus system: Cyber criminals send malware’s, virus like Trojan, links, files and more to corrupt the system. Investing in reliable anti virus systems like firewalls, antivirus been installed in your system will protect your network, systems, devices and computers from antivirus attack. This antivirus detects virus and notify the user immediately. It also adds as an extra security patch on your system. This antivirus can be installed as software’s or hardware and both software and hardware antivirus can be used on one system. You do not need to spend a fortune to get a good and reliable antivirus system, there are affordable antivirus systems that are affordable that gets the job done just like the expensive ones. Look for the one within your budget that is also reliable and install them on your system.
Limit access to sensitive information: Not every employee working in your organisation should have access to all files and documents. A remote worker or intern should not have access to the financial records of the company, the receptionist should not have access to the CRM records. Limit access to files and documents based on responsibilities assigned to each department or employee. As we focus on outsider threats and unauthorised users, you should also monitor the activities that goes on inside the organisation, employees with malicious intent can attack within.
Phishing and social engineering attacks: Phishing and social engineering attack is one of the most popular threats affecting small and medium size businesses. Cyber criminals utilise emails, messaging app or softwares used for day to day work related communications to trick employees to spill sensitive information. Cyber criminals try to impersonate someone else to get target spill important information like credit card details, passwords or company financial record. In other to avoid this attack use advanced email filtering and anti phishing tools to block suspicious emails before they get their way through the inbox, use generative AI to detect AI generated fraud messages, voice or videos (They use AI technology against you it’s fair that you fight back as well), and confirm urgent calls demanding for urgent transfer of funds before you send the money.
Human defence and suspicions: Even with the advancement and development in technology, human vigilance still plays a massive role. Human vigilance is an everyday defense that still works.
Human defence and suspicions: Even with the advancement and development in technology, human vigilance still plays a massive role. Human vigilance is an everyday defence that still works.

Here are your best bet. Use multiple factors authentication to secure your account, verify every request before taking action, see your boss physical before sending any money. Lastly make sure employees are trained regularly not annually, be updated with the new tactics and schemes criminals use and always put prevention measures to counter their attack. Long boring training video should be scraped, instead of theoretical training let there be practical training.

Conclusion
Have you been scammed before? The worrisome trends you might have encountered in the previous year and the years ahead of been attacked is understandable. You want to protect your business from cyber attacks but you don’t know how to start. The best thing is to be aware of the preventive measures that are available for you and also affordable. What are your essential documents, data, assets and what you are doing currently to protect them from unauthorised user or intrusion? This exercise is very essential to identify potential gaps in the security measures you use presently and how to add extra security patches. When the right measures are put it in place, it would relieve you of security vulnerabilities and will also illuminate persistent productive challenge. I understand it can be hard to get started, and you are not alone in this. Adding preventive measures against cyber security to your small or medium business does not require spending thousands of dollars or hiring your own security analysts, or IT experts you just have to utilise the preventive measures I highlighted in this article and be aware always. Read articles that educate you on cyber threats.

Cybersecurity For Remote And Hybrid Team

Ifeoluwa Bamidele — Fri, 30 May 2025 19:42:01 +0000

Cybersecurity for Remote & Hybrid Team

In 2025, a lot of people work from home, they are called remote or hybrid workers. People are been employed all over to work to work in a particular organisation that could be close to their living residence, far or could be from another country. This has helped reduce the high rate of unemployments and has given people with the right skills and ideas connect with big organisations to share their point of view and help scale the business from the comfort of their home. Due to high cost of transportation in some countries this has helped remote and hybrid workers save money which could have been spent on commuting themselves to work daily.
Remote work involves working completely from home while hybrid work involves working from home and working from a precessional office settings, which means hybrid workers commute to work a few days in a week and work remotely for the rest of the week.

As a remote worker you get to work at your own pace and deliver an efficient result to the organisation. Unfortunately cyber criminals are the biggest threats to everyone literally, they target high profile individuals, CEO’s, employees, white, black and lots more. They are ready to do anything just for their malicious intents to work out. Due to this businesses and industries are been cautious of who they hire, where the employees resides, their device, systems, network and more. Everyone is living on the edge been cautious and careful, putting protective measures to protect themselves from cyber threat, no one is letting their guard down which is understandable. Cyber threats has caused more damage and still causing more damage. Remote workers are not trusted anymore, due to this they lose their jobs or act as a watch dog to their systems, devices, or networks.
If a remote worker falls victim to cyber threat which results to loss of financial resources, this could put the employee at higher risk. They might serve jail term if the reason is not justified enough. This is why we need to learn and keep updates of the new trends or schemers this scammers are deploying. They are not sending quack and suspicious emails or messages anymore, they use generative AI to draft persuasive and compelling mails that would not raise any suspicion. Cyber criminals go as far as cloning and impersonating people voice, mimic videos and make it look real, but it’s deep fake.

Hybrid work model; How it works

Remote work involves working completely from home while hybrid work involves working from home and working from a precessional office settings, which means hybrid workers commute to work a few days in a week and work remotely for the rest of the week.
These are some hybrid work model to consider for your work space this includes:

Week by week work model: If you decide to choose the week by week work model make sure you assign a different team who will come into the office when the other teams work from home this helps manage your office space which might not be big enough to accommodate all employees at the same time and also increase efficiency as well. The disadvantages in week by week work model is lack of flexibility which may cause problems. This model can be implemented gradually to avoid challenges and it might work well for bigger companies

Office first hybrid work model: The office first hybrid model allows employees to make a decision on their working technique, whether the employee choose to work from home or work in the office space. This work model requires employees to be more present in the work space rather than working from home, If your company efficiency and productivity relies heavily on joint collaboration the office first hybrid work model would work perfectly for you company. The office first hybrid model enables efficiency, flexibility and productivity it also encourage joint collaboration but may not be the most effective and efficient for some companies.

Split week hybrid model: This model encourage flexibility as it assigns specific days for remote workers and specific dates for office or on-site workers. One team can work out of the office space during the first part of the week while the other teams work remotely, they get to work from home and also execute task efficiently and efficiently. The split week hybrid model helps businesses with small space utilize the limited space and also deliver the same quality in a professional office settings. This model ensure your company is not over crowded which could lead to congestion and each team get to work collaboratively every week. The split week hybrid model could cost more as more workers would be required which increase onsite expenses.

Remote first or self will hybrid work model: The remote first or self will hybrid work model supports employees to work from home remotely, if the employee decides to work onsite, the office workspace is available for the employee to work. This give employees a choice, they get to choose which one works best for them according to their preference. The remote forst or self will hybrid work model promotes, efficiency, collaboration, flexibility and effective results. This also increase productivity and cater to all the employees. The disadvantages of the remote first or self will hybrid work model is it can be unpredictable and lead to overcrowding or underutilized space.
Top Cyber Security Challenges For Remote And Hybrid Workers.

Unsecured networks at home and public space: Remote employees mostly rely on their home wifi or router, the wifi or router can have a weak password, outdated software, or a default setting that makes it easy for hackers to access important informations through the wifi. Unlike wifi used in a professional business setting which is secured with softwares like fire wall and monitoring tools use to track high traffic which is meant to disrupt network. The wifi in an office space has a proper security configuration with strong passwords that is hard to hack and detect by cyber criminals. Remote employees may rely on public wifi to work. They could use a close friend wifi, coffee shop wifi, hotel wifi and more, this is very risky because it can allow cyber criminals to intercept data through man in the middle attack. To avoid this risk business owners should enforce remote workers and hybrid teams to put prevention measures in place to avoid this attacks. Preventive measures such as
Encouraging remote and hybrid workers to use VPN virtual private network to stop internet traffic
WiFi and router passwords should strong and hard to crack, which will secure the wifi settings
Enforcing strict policies that restrict employees from accessing important and sensitive information to the business with public wifi.

Protect data and sensitive information in remote work settings: Remote workers should be enforced to treat important business documents with care, in work settings, workers are allowed to access files, download, share and store the files across multiple device or location. Any file meant for the business should not be stored on the employees phone or transferred to another device which is not used for execution of business tasks. Weak data management such as sharing business files via unsecured platforms can lead to data breaches. The data could leak and get in the hands of an unauthorised source.

Secured communications for remote and hybrid team: Remote and hybrid workers use mails, messaging app, face time for video calls or other apps like zoom, WhatsApp and more. If the platform been used lack end to end encryption, cybercriminal can attack and they become a point for entry for hackers to have acesss to informations and sensitive conversations. If the app been used is outdated or the software is not secured this is a bigger risks, it makes it easy for unauthorised access to get sensitive informations. For secure communication the following protective measures should be put in place:

Softwares or app used for day to day communication must be secured. Messaging and video meeting app should use end to end encryption
Enforcement of strict policies regarding the apps and software’s been used daily for work related communication or execution of tasks
Software’s should be updated regularly and security patches should be addressed to avoid vulnerabilities.

Protecting sensitive information in remote and hybrid work settings: Remote and hybrid workers have access to some sensitive information, to access this files they need to download the file into a device or computer. This file is also shared, and stored on a particular device. Apps and devices used for downloading, storing and sharing informations should be secured and have high security. Sharing files to different location increase the risk of data leaks and access by an unauthorised user, this could lead to serious security breaches. Preventive measures to enforce are:
Strong passwords that cannot be easily cracked should be used. Unique passwords and passkeys is highly recommended.
Apps that are used for daily work related storage or file sharing platforms must have end to end encryption to ensure secure data
Limited access: Not all employees should have access to all files and informations relating to the business. Limit file access based on the staff responsibility. A virtual assistant should not have access to the financial records of the company.

Phishing and social engineering attacks: Phishing and social engineering attack is one of the most popular threats affecting remote and hybrid workers. Cyber criminals utilise emails, messaging app or softwares used for day to day work related communications to trick employees to spill work related sensitive information. Cyber criminals also send malicious link and corrupted files to devices and computers, a single click on this link or file could disrupt an entire network. Preventive measures to be enforced are:

Cyber security training should be treated with high importance, employees should be educated and well informed of the schemes and tactics cyber criminals use. Cyber security training should not be a boring long one hour video, it should be practical instead of theoretical.

Ensure multiple factor authentication on devices and sofwares. Strong and unique passwords, face recognition, biometrics, voice recognition, unique code sent to devices for verification and more should be enforced.

Use advanced email filtering and anti phishing tools to block suspicious emails before they get their way through the inbox.

Secured devices: Employees in remote work settings use personal device and work recommended devices to carry out day to day work related tasks. Endpoint security is a growing concern, devices or computers that are not secured are vulnerable to malicious wares, ransomwares, unauthorised access, virus, corrupted links or files. Especially if anti virus software is not installed on the computer or device and it lacks security patches. Lost or stolen devices can increase risk and loss of important informations relating to the company. Preventive measures to enforce are:

Employees should install softwares like anti virus or firewalls to protect the devices from malware’s
Device used for work related task should be encrypted to protect sensitive information from unauthorised users
Lost or stolen devices should have remote wipe capabilities to ensure important informations are wiped from lost or stolen devices.

Conclusion
Cyber security for remote and hybrid workers is no longer optional it is highly essential to incorporate safety measures to protect your company from cyber threats, by implementing end point security management, using strong and unique passwords securing access to the companies network, utilising generative AI to your advantage, training and educating employees about cyber threats and preventive measures, ensure end to end encrypted softwares, apps and devices are used and lots more. conducting risk accessment regularly with this you will get to protect your business from cyber threats. Hackers don’t send quack and suspicious emails anymore they are using technology to their greatest advantage, this is why business owners and employees should stay updated and read articles about cyber threats that will educate and teach them the schemes and tricks cyber criminals used to attack their target. Be one step ahead of cyber threats today, don’t wait for the next cyber attack before you take action.

The Hacker’s New Assistant: How AI is supercharging Cyber crime In 2025

Ifeoluwa Bamidele — Fri, 30 May 2025 19:29:23 +0000

The Hacker’s New Assistant: How AI is Supercharging Cybercrime in 2025
Generative AI and big language models in particular has taken over the world and gained so much popularity. The rise of this technology has offered more potentials to industries, organisations, tech expert and unfortunately cyber criminals are utilising this great tool with a lot of high potential to solve problems and think like human to attack people and defraud organisations.The technology has show great potentials which help automate day to day task in different fields from IT help desk to sophisticated user. The automation is carried out by AI, a software has been created and inputted to carry out tasks and execute projects. Businesses and industries are adopting the use of AI to carry out task that human could do, they adopt this strategy to reduce cost of running a business and receive faster and efficient results in a short period of time.

AI has a lot of advantages but unfortunately the disadvantages are increasing daily and has a lot of bad side effects to industries, businesses and individuals in general. Cyber criminal, hackers and con artist are utilising the technology to their own advantage which results to attack from this criminals with the help of AI agent. This attacks are automated and tailored to their target audience. The increase in this attack has opened up a new perspective about cyber security and has changed the cybersecurity landscape.

How Generative AI Is Used As A Weapon For Social Engineering

Emails is one of the biggest scams cyber criminals use to target their attackers, lately they have deployed the use of social media, text messages, voice call and lots more to aid their expertise. This is why cyber security education should be taken seriously especially with the invention and popularity of generative AI which has become a powerful tool In the hands of hackers and con artists. Attackers use AI to generate text, images, audio, videos to avoid suspicious and make them look real and authentic to their target. Their operations and schemes are now automated which increases their chance of success in a mission. There are different ways in which scammers use this technology to deceive people some are:

Fake profiles and post: We’ve talked about how AI help generate Videos, audios, images and text. They use generative AI to generate realistic images, create fake profiles with this images, impersonate real individuals on social media and use this to defraud people. They also generate compelling text that their target audience want to hear with generative AI. Their main goal is to gain people trust so they can attack when they become vulnerable.
Deep fakes technology: With the help of NLP natural language processing, generative AI can enable attackers manipulate videos and audio to create an hyper realistic impersonation of a real individual. They can create videos impersonating the CEO of a company, imagine receiving a message from your CEO requesting for some data and informations to be sent urgently. The video looks authentic, same voice and behavioural pattern but it’s deepfake. It was fabricated through digital creation. This videos and also be created within a short period of time which aids efficiency and shortens the time to execute their malicious intent. Attackers can easily create persuasive and convincing content to gain trust and familiarity with the target.
Phishing campaign: This is one of the most common types of social engineering attack. Attackers shows the target a more convincing information or data then persuade them to click a malicious link, download a corrupted file or reveal important information like credit card number, bank verification details, passwords or important codes. They attack a large number of individuals and aim for at least one to fall prey to their tactics.
There are different forms of social engineering attacks that has been recorded recently such as
Personalised business email attack, vishing and lots more.

Real world examples of cyber attack in 2025; AI the biggest con artist

Imagine the ceo of your company called you and informed you there is an urgent meeting to attend to, you joined the life chat your ceo was speaking to you about a new development going on in the company and you were asked to send a sum of 25 million naira to a business associate account to seal the transaction you got an account details and forwarded the money. Or

You got a message from your CEO requesting for a urgent transfer of data; here is the conversation
CEO: Hello Tony this is your CEO I lost my phone recently, had to get a new one. The information about our client’s financial details was on that phone can you send it to this number I need it urgently.
A message from your ceo, you called to confirm and you heard the voice of your ceo, you sent the file to the number but here is the trick it’s all fake. All of this was generated with the use of AI to defraud you and your ceo or sell relevant informations to your competitors. They might go as far as asking for ransom before they release the information back to the company. All of this tricks and tactics has been made easy with the use of AI to generate malicious informations in a short period of time which increase efficiency and gain the trust of their attacker in a short period of time without any suspicion.

Why The Traditional Cyber Security Training And Protection Is Dead In 2025

If we been realistic the training offered to employees to educate them about cyber crime is a generic power point, which include an hour long boring video and a quick quiz at the end that no one remembers after few weeks or even month. It’s time to do better, cyber criminals are utilising technology, getting tools and improving with their tactics and schemes. Obviously they train themselves, learn new malicious acts to put in their work just to attack their target. And your business is meant to stand up to AI crafted phishing, deep fake technology, Ransomware and malware attack.
The problem here is using the past to solve the present. Emails in 2025 don’t come with grammatical blunders or obvious red flag that could raise suspicions.
Chat GPT write well crafted emails that are up to standard and looks professional.
Deep fake videos and voice clone impersonate high profile individuals
Malwares that adapt to real time which eliminates suspicion.
Meanwhile industries and organisations are still relying on techniques that are used in the past to solve and tackle new technologies, tactics and schemes of cyber criminals. It’s like going to the sea with storms without a life saver coat. Changes needs to be made by businesses and industries if they want to survive the attack posed by this criminals. Training should be more practical not theoretical, the next cyber attack will not wait for your annually training videos. Act now.

How To Protect Yourself From AI Powered Attack In 2025: Outsmarting The Greatest Scammer

We’re living in a time where an AI can impersonate your boss’s voice and face on a video call, and ask you to transfer $25,000 immediately. The order is from your boss obviously you would do it. But it’s all fake. Here is how you can fight AI and cyber criminals with smarter tech and smart strategy.
Prevention measures to put in place for your business in 2025.

Biometrics: Behavioural biometrics is a strategy that makes you one step ahead of AI and hackers, use your body as your password. Ditch weak passwords and security questions that can be easily detected. Hackers already crack that code a long time ago, they are ahead. Instead, companies are turning to behavioral biometrics tech that knows how you type, swipe, move your mouse, or hold your phone. If an unauthorised user suddenly logs into your system with your username but types like a robot from tesla it will be detected easily. If they go as far as cloning your voice but the behavioral cues don’t match your usual patterns, they are blocked instantly. It’s like empowering with a digital human instinct.

Limited access: Trust no one including yourself, not all employees in the company should have access to sensitive informations or files. An intern in the company should not have customers financial file. Insider threat also occurs, employees with malicious intent strike like wildfire. Zero trust means every device, user, app, network, system, emails or message should be constantly verified.

Utilise AI to your advantage: The scammers and bad guys are using AI for malicious intent you can also fight back and protect your organisation with AI, it fair that you use this new technology to save your self and your company. Use anomaly detection systems this simply use AI to learn what normal procedures looks like in a digital environment and instantly detect any suspicious and flags it immediately. If an employee tries to download the entire client data base after working hours from a suspicious location, example an employee works in the united state and the location of the employee shows Berlin when they try to access the company file. AI detects it out in real time.

Human defence and suspicions: Even with the advancement and development in technology, human vigilance still plays a massive role. Human vigilance is an everyday defense that still works. Here are your best bet. Use multiple factors authentication to secure your account, verify every request before taking action, see your boss physical before sending any money. Lastly make sure employees are trained regularly not annually, be updated with the new tactics and schemes criminals use and always put prevention measures to counter their attack. Long boring training video should be scraped, instead of theoretical training let there be practical training. Hire the best cyber security team, it might cost more but it will safe you a fortune.
Hackers are not just criminals in hoodies typing in dark rooms anymore. They are in labs using AI to impersonate your CEO’s voice, automate phishing with generative while trying to bypass defenses used in the past in seconds. But that doesn’t mean you can equip the best measures to protect your organisation. So stay curious, they attack with deceptive measures, Stay skeptical, be extra cautious and trust your instincts or digital guts.
AI versus the law: who gets sued when deep fake steals and defraud people.
Let’s say a deepfake version of your CEO asks your finance team to send $10 million to a business partner in Canada. The finance team transfers the money, the money is gone, the company lost, the finance team are in a big mess. Who will be charged by the law. Do you sue the software developer that made AI, The finance team for failing for the scam or the platform where it was shared ?
AI has advanced but the people, organisations and the laws are still living in the past. AI can clone your voice, impersonate your face and mimic you in a video call. To defend an organisation against AI generated threats, companies are using tools like continuous behavioural monitoring, employee voice recognition, smart surveillance. It sounds like a smart move but are we protecting employees privacy or are we violating it. There is a growing debate among the masses about how there is too much security measures that monitors employees especially in the remote or hybrid work environments. Smart and defensive measures shouldn’t come at the cost of employees privacy and trusted client trust.

Conclusion.
The rise of AI-generated threats is not just a technical issue, it is a legal and ethical time bomb. And right now, most businesses are not ready for the explosion. As AI develops and gain more recognition, so must our rules, rights, and responsibilities. Because when the next deepfake attack hits, the question won’t just be “What happened? It will be who is the next person to blame.

Top 5 Cybersecurity Threats Targeting Your Business In 2025

Ifeoluwa Bamidele — Fri, 30 May 2025 12:56:09 +0000

Top 5 Cyber Threats Targeting Your Business In The Year 2025

Don’t wait for a breach in your system, network or device, verify your defense system and make sure you are ahead of the threats posed by cyber criminals. Your peace of mind should be your utmost priority. Learn more about the most significant cyber threats in 2025.
Cyber crime is the biggest enemy of business in 2025, with high rate of corruption worldwide, hackers or cyber criminals are developing new means and tactics to disrupt business, defraud, steal informations and important data to either stop the continuity of a business, sell them to competitors in the same niche or demand for ransom. The rate at which hackers increase daily is alarming, they are persistent and use any means to get what they want.

Businesses have to be well informed to protect themselves from unforeseen circumstances that could lead to financial debt or loss of important information. Employees of the companies need to be well informed about the tactics and means in which cyber criminals operate so as to avoid any suspicious link, codes or malicious software that could be sent to the network, system or device.

As technology progresses and advances, cybercrime also increases, cybercrime is not only increasing but the incidents reported by several organisations are getting more sophisticated and dangerous day by day. Cyber criminals deploy new means and new techniques to attack, this is the main reason why a business owner should be well informed and updated of their techniques and schemes.
Wondering what are the top cyber threats in 2025 and how to protect yourself from them, you are in the right place.

Cyber crime is one of the biggest challenges successful business owners, startups and small brands face most of the time. Every business, especially startups, believe only 40% of new businesses and developing businesses will face a cyber threat but 72% of these businesses face or expect an attack from hackers. Cyber criminals target small businesses more because they believe they do not have all the adequate resources to protect. Small businesses are easier for hackers to breach unlike big businesses and they are not well recognised by the media.
Let dive right into the main topic

Top 5 cyber threats faced by small businesses

Let’s address the meaning of cyber crimes and cyber threats to give new business owners who has little to no knowledge about what this might mean or the threats this could cause to their brand.

Cyber crime is any criminal activity that involves a computer, network device or a network. Most cyber crimes are carried out in order to generate profits for hackers or cyber criminals. These crimes are carried out against computers or devices directly to damage or disable them, spread malware, steal secret information and more.

Cyber threats is a destructive act which seeks to steal, disrupt or defraud the target. They steal vital information, disrupt networks and systems which might result to business espionage.

These are the 5 significant cyber threats in 2025 every business owners should be aware of.

Ransomware attack: The revolution of ransom ware in 2025 is one of the highest and most persuasive form of cyber threat. Ransom attack is predicted to be more sophisticated which will target more businesses in 2025. This attack is meant to attack critical infrastructure, cloud environments and infrastructure. Cyber criminals are adopting more tactics to extort businesses by threatening to leak encrypted informations to the public. Ransomware attack can be referred to as the encryption of essential data relevant to the company, cyber criminals encrypt information and demand for ransom to unlock the files and data in their systems.
Insider threats: Insider threat is getting significantly high either by malicious intent of an employee or unintentionally clicking a link that exposes the system, network or device to threat. This cyber crime originates from within the organisation, it could come from a previous employee, customer, contractor, vendor or business partner who is an authorised user that misuse their secured access which could negatively affect the organisation and disrupt system, data and devices. Motives behind this threat could be for fraud, theft, espionage, sabotage, violence, routine violations of organisation policy and more.
Phishing attack: Phishing attack is when a cyber criminal impersonates a real individual to deceive the end user in reavealing delicate information, it could be passwords, card details, data and informations. Cyber criminals often use fake emails, messages or websites link to penetrate and get access to sensitive informations. The goal of the cyber criminals is to defraud, access important informations or install malicious malware on a system, network or device. Cyber criminals also use voice phishing, to attack their target by impersonating an authorised entity voice. Phishing is not only targeted to businesses, they also target high profile individuals like CEO, celebrity or governmental parastatals. Cyber criminals using phishing as a form of attack uses urgent call to action or threats on their targets.
Denial of service: Denial of service is done by an attacker to disrupt an organization's network or system, they send a lot of traffic to the website which makes it crash and temporarily available to use at that time. They use botnets to generate a lot of traffic to the website which leads to slow performance, disruption of service on the website and difficulty accessing the online services. They render the online service useless for the main time and attack during this period.
AI and machine learning in attack: Artificial intelligence can be used for good cause by defenders but cyber criminals are utilising it to their advantage, it has become a destructive weapon in the hands of hackers. The attacks are become more sophisticated, they use AI to draft compelling messages that could convince their target, they create mails with AI that looks professional enough to convince anyone without any suspicion. AI attacks has increased over 300 percent in the past years targeting big and small business owners through phishing. Business owners must stay updated to combat the trick and tactics deployed by this scammers which is a big threat to business owners.
There are a lot of threat cyber criminals use to achieve there aim, for the purpose of this newsletter five has been explained in layman terms to inform business owners of the danger ahead.
Here are some list of various cyber threat that is detrimental to the growth and development of business owners with a pictorial example of what this threat looks like and how they can be identified.

Malware attack
Deep fake technology
Cloud configuration errors
Cryptojacking
Supply chain attack
5g network security
AI governance
Talent shortage
Data governance and privacy and lots more
This is why business owners should educate themselves and put prevention measures in place to protect themselves from cyber crimes.

How To Prevent And Protect Business Owners From Cyber Threats.

These are practical step you can take as a preventive measure to protect your business from cyber criminal and reduce your vulnerability to cyber threats.

Use strong passwords and two factor authentication: A strong password should consist of 12 to 14 alphabet, number and sign, it could be more than that but make sure it is strong enough and cannot be easily cracked. Don’t use important dates like date of birth, make sure you use unique and strategic passwords. After securing your password, use two factor authentication which means after putting in your password you need something else the authorised user has such as fingerprint, face identity, voice recognition before anyone could have access to the system computer or network. This serves as an extra layer of protection to your devices. Two factor authentication also send code to an authorised user device before access is allowed. It could be sent as a mail, message or a voice call to verify if the user is an authorised user and not a scammer. This gives business owners an edge against scammers.

Update softwares regularly: Business owner are strong advice to update every software and system used for the day to day running of the business, cyber criminals often exploit vulnerabilities in outdated software and systems. It is advisable to update apps, system software, operating softwares to ensure you are updated with the latest security patches.

Backup important data: Important data relevant to the company should be backed up, so it will be accessible to the business. Cyber criminals might encrypt important informations and threaten the business to pay ransom to unlock the information. This attack is called Ransomware attack. Backing up information essential to the business will enable you restore and access the information without falling victim of the threat, ransom or fraud. Back up files regularly with an external hard drive or use a trusted cloud service. Also develop and test a recovery plan.

Secure your network: Use antivirus, firewalls, intrusive detective systems and other softwares and hardwares to secure your network from malicious wares like Trojan, virus, botnet and more. Cyber criminals attack with dangerous malware and target it to the system, computer or device, when your system is secured it prevent this malware from affecting your networks. Also monitor network regular traffic for irregular activities. Cyber criminals use malicious wares like botnet to send huge traffic to the network which will lead to slow productivity or it can disrupt the network and make it inaccessible to authorised users.

Security awareness training: Business owners should provide regular security awareness to employees, to help them identify a threat and equip employees to recognise and know how to respond to such threats.

Limit and manage access: Not employees, client, vendor or business partner should have access to some files, some should be only accessible to high officials in the business that makes the biggest decision. An intern for instance should not be able to access the financial report of the organisation and a receptionist does not need access to the entire CRM of the organisation. Make sure sensitive data are only accessible to authorised employees in the organisation. Make sure permission to certain file is adjusted when someone leaves or there is a change in the organisation. By doing this you ensure important information are safe and it will not end up on the street or in the hands of cyber criminals.

Have a clear roadmap when an incident occurs: While preventive measures are put it place, cyber criminal are developing new trend daily, if an incident happens make sure you establish an incident response plan. Know the right things to do when things go wrong - The right person to call, the right measures to put in place, what system to shut down, investigate to know if it’s an insider or external crime. Detect the responsible party for the crime and organize a cyber fire drill.
Cyber security is a step by step process not a one time action. Apply this tips listed above will help protect your organisation from cyber threats and ensure your informations, system, network or devices are safe and resilient in the digital age.

What are some of the danger of not having the right and proper cyber security measures in place for businesses
If the right protection measures are not put in place, it could affect the organisation in the long run. cybersecurity measures should be put in place for businesses to avoid several danger, including:

Data breaches: Without the right protection of informations, network, devices or systems delicate customer and company data can be compromised, which could lead to financial loss, reputational damage, industry espionage and legal consequences
Financial loss: Cyberattacks can result in financial theft, ransom demands, or disruption of business operations, leading to significant financial losses that could end the business.
Reputational damage: A cybersecurity incident can erode customer trust and damage a company's reputation, making it difficult to regain customer confidence. A business without customer base will not stand the test of time.

Final Thought:
In a world where cyber threats is becoming a norm and threats evolve by the hour, cybersecurity cannot be an afterthought. Whether you are a startup or an enterprise, securing your endpoints and training your team is no longer optional, it is your first defense.

Cyber Security Basics

Ifeoluwa Bamidele — Wed, 28 May 2025 15:36:59 +0000

INTRODUCTION TO CYBER SECURITY

Cyber crimes has cost businesses a minimum of $4.88 million dollars in 2024. Cyber crimes consist of a huge number of criminal activities performed online by hackers which includes theft, data breach and espionage.

Which brings us to through study of cyber security.
How can these crimes be prevented?
How to help business owners ?
How to detect different forms of cyber crime and how to avoid them.

What is cyber security
Cyber security is a technology created to prevent cyber crimes, it is designed to protect networks and devices from attack, damage or unauthorized access by hackers.

Cyber Security provides a term called CIA which stands for:

C - Confidentiality

I - Integrity

A - Availability

This term CIA has served as cyber security industry standards for computer safety and security against external attack since the time of first mainframes.

Confidentiality: The principle of confidentiality asserts that information and functions can be assessed only by authorized parties. Example: A secret file created for the military.
The file is confidential and should be protected from unauthorized damage, attack or threat from hackers that could try to steal confidential information.

Integrity: The principle of integrity asserts that information and function can be added, altered or removed only by authorized means and people. This means when an incorrect information is added to the file it can be corrected by an authorized user.

Availability: The principle of availability asserts that systems, functions and data must be made available on demand according to agreed upon users based on the level of service.

Advantages of cyber security

Protect business owners: Cyber security protects business owners from hackers who try to steal important information to the business. The hackers might sell the information to criminals, ask the business for ransom or cause industry espionage.

Increased productivity: When an organization is safe from hackers and scammers trying to steal critical information from a particular industry and use them for dubious means it promotes high level of productivity. The organization will be able to perform well without threats from unauthorized external sources. This also applies to networks and devices.

Inspire customer confidence: Customers willing to invest in an organization or buy a product from an organization need to be sure they can be protected from unauthorized users that might get access to their information which could lead to financial loss, data breach or espionage.

Stop websites from crashing: Cyber security secures website from hackers tricks

Protects your customers or clients

Cyber crime

Types of cyber crime.

Computer assisted crimes: This types of crimes are criminal activities that are carried out using computer as a mere tool and are not specific to computers. Examples of computer assisted crimes are Denial of services (DOS), Fraud and more.

Targeting computers for crimes: This types of cyber crime focus on systems, servers, networks and data stored on the system. Cyber criminals target a particular network or system using viruses and they also sniff into a particular network.

Computer incidental to the crime: These are crimes when a computer is related or incidental to the crime. This crime occurs without the use of a computer, this means a crime could occur without the use of the computer. Example of this crime is list of customers for traffickers

Motives Behind Cyber Crime

Disrupting business continuity

Demanding ransom

Theft of information

Manipulation of data

Financial loss to the target

Damage the target reputation

Propagating religious belief

Propagating political belief

Achieving state military objectives

Creating fear and chaos

Disrupting critical infrastructure

Types of hackers

Hacktivist: This type of hacker is an individual who promotes a political agenda by hacking especially defacing or disabling websites

State sponsored hackers: This type of hackers are Individuals employed by the government to penetrate and gain access to top secret information and to damage the systems of other governments. Information gotten from the other system of government is used to destroy the other government or country. Top countries do this alot.

Cyber terrorist: Cyber terrorist are Individuals with wide range of skills motivated by religious or political beliefs to create fear by large scale disruption of computer networks

Script kiddie: This is an unskilled hacker who compromises systems by running scripts, tools and softwares developed by real hackers. They do this without any bad motive in mind they are either doing it for fun or they are doing it to practice skills learnt

Suicide hackers: Suicide hackers are Individuals who aim to bring down critical infrastructure for a cause and not worried about facing jail terms or any other punishment. Unlike destructive hacker that hides their identity, suicide hackers do not hide their identity they are willing to die or serve jail term if caught.

Security analyst: Security analyst are Individuals professing hacker skills and using them for defensive purposes. They can be called hackers for good cause. This type of hacker is trained to detect cyber crimes and protect the organization from losing information or data which could be detrimental to the growth of the organization. They are schooled professionals with certificates, they pose a threat to cyber criminals and stop them immediately they identify cyber crime.

Destructive hacker: This type of hackers are Individuals with extraordinary computing skills that resort to malicious and destructive activities.

This type of hackers work both offensively and defensively at various times.

Most common attack in cyber crimes

Malware attack- Malware are software created and developed by hackers, this malware is sent to the target computer, network or devices to disrupt, attack, steal information very essential to a business which could lead to financial loss on the target end. Malware softwares are also called malicious software. Examples of softwares like this are Trojan, worm, Spyware, virus, ransomware and more. When this are sent to a network or device it corrupts the data network, which will make your network or device down completely. They kidnap your network to get and damage the business network infrastructure, they use your system network to send spam emails, crypojacking or run botnets.

Phishing: Phishing is a type of cyber crime mostly targeted to the end user. The attacker acts as a trusted person or entity to steal the user details either credit card number, bank verification number or password. They also send emails and messages to the end user to have access to the user data and information.

Denial of service: Denial of service is done by an attacker to disrupt an organization's network or system, they send a lot of traffic to the website which makes it crash and temporarily available to use at that time. They use botnets to generate a lot of traffic to the website which leads to slow performance, disruption of service on the website and difficulty accessing the online services. They render the online service useless for the main time and attack during this period.

Middle man attack: This is when an attacker poses as an authentic individual, they get in between two individuals and steal information and impersonate the other individual. This type of attack works in different ways such as eave dropping which means the attacker listens to the two parties communicating by intercepting the communication stream to steal information, another way is impersonation, data Manipulation and more.

Password attack: This type of attack is targeted to get weak or compromised passwords. This type of attack is pretty much simple, the attacker tries to guess the user password by combining common words and using an automaton for a large number of password combinations.

Drive by attack: This involves a download of malicious code to your computer which disrupts your system.

Cross site scripting attack: This type of attack is done using a malicious code, this code is sent to the website to steal the user information and direct the user to a different website.

Eavesdropping attack: This is when the attacker intercepts communication between two parties to steal information. The attacker then poses as one of the party involved in the communication process to steal information and data which could lead to financial loss, data breach or espionage.

How does cyber security work

Two factors authentication: This is also called 2FA, it is a type of security which requires not just password but another form of verification to help protect your account from unauthorized users. This allows the user to verify their identity before they gain access to a system, computer or device. The first step is for the user to generate a strong password which cannot be easily detected, the second step is to verify with something the user has such as fingerprint, face identity or voice recognition before verification which is sent through a code to the user personal number, mail or through an app to complete the authentication process.

Secured password: A user password should be strong and hard to detect, it should include alphabets, words and signs and it should be up to 12 words in total or more.

Regular update: The system should be updated regularly to help detect phishing, malwares or attacks sent to the system, computer or website.

Anti virus: There are anti-virus softwares that prevents a computer from a virus that could attack the computer, it detects the virus and sends a notification to the end user to be aware of the danger ahead.

Firewall: This is a security device that acts as a barrier from the end user or authorized network and an unauthorized source. It monitors and controls the traffic that comes and goes out of a network based on a specific rule. Firewalls come in both hardware or software which can be installed in the computer or both can also be used on a particular network.

No phishing: This allows the system to recognize emails, text messages or links sent by a scammer to disrupt the network.

Cryptography: This is also known as encryption, this is a form of security that protects systems, network and devices essential information with coded keys and algorithms that only authorized sources can understand and identify. This enhances secured communication, data storage, authentication, digital signature, block chain technology and more.

Who is a cyber security expert

A cyber security expert is an individual employed by an organization to protect their data,They do this through a variety of technique such as

Finding weakness: A cyber security expert or data analyst finds where the problem comes from. He analyzes and detects the main cause, either through phishing, malicious wares or unsecured password. After they find the weakness they repair and then strengthen the areas where an attack might have occurred and make sure the system is updated regularly to prevent any form of threat in the future.

Monitoring systems: They monitor the system regularly to detect a new tactic developed by the hacker to disrupt the service of the system or devices and make sure all it is blocked and all devices are protected from unauthorized sources.

Network breach: Network breach is when an unauthorized user gets access through a system, website or device to disrupt the general performance and steal information. Cyber Security analyst prevents network breach by incident response planning, data loss prevention measures, employee training, regular security audits, strong security protocol, vulnerability assessment and more.

Domains in cyber security

Asset security

Identity and access management

Communication and network security

Security architecture and engineering

Security operations

Security assessment and testing

Software development security

Security and risk management