DEV Community: Remi

SEO: How to optimize your ranking on ChatGPT Search

Remi — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 10:00:45 +0000

Discover some best practices to ensure good ranking on ChatGPT Search, OpenAI's new search engine.

With the launch of its search engine, ChatGPT Search, OpenAI has made a significant impact. While the tool is still far from matching the performance of Google, which has dominated the market for over two decades, it represents a competitor that the Mountain View firm hasn't faced in a long time. For SEO professionals, ChatGPT Search offers a new playing field that could generate substantial traffic to websites, especially thanks to the citations included in its responses.

Although all the specifics of its functionality haven't been revealed yet, there are still some best practices to adopt to improve your ranking. Here's what we know.

How does ChatGPT search works?

ChatGPT incorporates two technologies: Microsoft's Bing search index and OpenAI’s proprietary solution. The latter combines the chatbot's two latest language models: GPT-4o and o1-preview. OpenAI’s technical documentation lists three distinct crawlers:

OAI-SearchBot: This is the primary crawler for search functions, indexing content to improve site visibility in OpenAI's results.
ChatGPT-User: This crawler responds to user requests in real-time, enabling direct interactions with external applications.
GPTBot: GPTBot is dedicated to training the AI models.

Ensure your site's indexing by ChatGPT Search

Considering the previously mentioned elements, it is essential to facilitate the indexing of your site by ChatGPT Search. First, make sure to configure your robots.txt file to allow access for both OAI-SearchBot and ChatGPT-User. GPTBot, on the other hand, can be blocked without affecting your search visibility. A possible solution if you prefer not to have your content used for model training.

Bing’s technology could contribute a significant portion of traffic, as many SEO specialists have observed strong similarities between article rankings on both platforms. Therefore, it is also crucial to ensure good indexing of your site on Bing. A clear site architecture will also be beneficial.

'For search results, please note that it may take around 24 hours between a site’s robots.txt file update and our systems adapting,' specifies OpenAI.

Content: How to appeal to ChatGPT Search?

Send Signals of Reliability

When it comes to content, ChatGPT's new search engine emphasizes the reliability of sources. Aware of the concerns that an AI-based search engine could raise, particularly due to the hallucinations that the chatbot sometimes generates, OpenAI has partnered with numerous reputable media outlets to strengthen its credibility. Citing your sources and, conversely, having your articles referenced across various media outlets, websites, or social networks will send a positive signal to the search engine.

ChatGPT also prioritizes up-to-date content. Therefore, it is essential to regularly update your articles, especially if they cover trending news.

Optimize Your Content for Bing

If your articles rank well on Bing, there's a good chance they'll perform well on ChatGPT Search too. Fortunately, Bing's content recommendations are similar to those of Google. On its Webmaster Tools page, Bing suggests the following practices:

Create Content for Users: The priority is still rich content based on keyword research, meeting visitor expectations rather than catering to search engines.
Publish Unique Content: The content should be original to your site.
Use Optimized Media: Original images and videos relevant to the topic increase engagement. For accessibility, Bing recommends using captions and alt text. Optimizing formats will also help with page load times. Conversely, like Google, Bing warns against Black Hat SEO practices, such as cloaking, duplicate content, link buying, or affiliate programs without added value.

Consider Local SEO

For local searches, ChatGPT provides an interactive map. Places and establishments are selected based on articles from regional daily news, tourism offices, websites specializing in events and activities, or platforms like TripAdvisor. If you operate a local business, being featured in online rankings could secure a good position on ChatGPT Search.

Discovery: Screenity - A powerful open-source screen capture tool

Remi — Mon, 04 Nov 2024 10:36:41 +0000

Looking for a powerful screen capture tool that respects your privacy?

Let me introduce you to Screenity, an open-source Chrome extension that enables almost anything you can imagine in terms of video capture:

Record your current tab, a specific area, your entire desktop, any application, and even your webcam
Capture audio from your microphone or the internal sound from your computer
Annotate videos in real-time by drawing, adding text, arrows, shapes, and more
Use virtual backgrounds and AI-based blur effects to enhance webcam recordings
Smoothly zoom during recording to highlight specific details
Blur certain areas to hide sensitive information
Highlight clicks and mouse movements

But that’s not all! Screenity also includes a full video editor to refine your recordings after capture:

Trim, crop, and resize your videos
Add or remove audio tracks
Export in MP4, GIF, or WEBM formats
Directly upload to Google Drive for easy sharing

You can even set timers to automatically stop recordings after a defined period—handy for avoiding accidental hours of footage!

Since its launch, Screenity has gained great popularity, with over 100,000 users. The tool is available in 18 languages and is actively maintained by its creator, Alyssa X, with contributions from the community.

With this tool, your recordings stay on your machine, and no data is collected by any third party. You can even use the extension completely offline if you prefer.

To try Screenity for yourself, it’s simple. Head to the Chrome Web Store to install the extension in just a few clicks. It’s a lightweight tool, only about 17 MB.

Once installed, you’ll see the Screenity icon appear next to your address bar. Click it to open the control panel and choose your capture mode. Be sure to allow access to the microphone and webcam to unlock all features.

You can also self-host Screenity by downloading the source code from GitHub. In this case, you’ll need to manually load the extension in Chrome in developer mode. Detailed steps are provided in the repository’s README file.

In short, whether you’re a trainer, developer, marketer, gamer, or just curious, I encourage you to give Screenity a try!

Web Development with AI: Dismantling the Future

Remi — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 14:41:42 +0000

In today’s digital era, the rapid advancement of technology continues to drive innovation, with one of the most significant breakthroughs being Artificial Intelligence (AI). Across various industries, AI is making a major impact, especially in web development.

Traditionally, web development involved manual coding and extensive testing. However, the emergence of AI has transformed this process. By utilizing advanced algorithms and data analysis, AI helps create websites that are not only visually appealing but also functionally sound and user-focused.

AI's evolution marks a major shift in web development, affecting everything from design and user experience to accessibility and search engine optimization (SEO). This shift unlocks new possibilities, enabling developers to build more engaging, interactive, and personalized digital experiences.

The Role of AI in Web Development

Incorporating AI into web development is more than just a trend—it’s a necessity in today’s fast-paced, digital-centric world. AI tools offer numerous advantages for developers and businesses, such as automating routine tasks, thereby reducing the time and effort required for web development.

More importantly, AI tools elevate website functionality by offering personalized user experiences. They can analyze user behavior to present tailored content, recommend products or services, and even respond to real-time queries via AI-driven chatbots.

That’s not all. AI tools also enhance a website’s search engine visibility by assisting developers in following SEO best practices. As a result, integrating AI into web development is essential for building dynamic, user-friendly, and highly optimized websites that promote business growth.

Understanding the Role of AI in Web Development

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has opened up a new world of opportunities in web development, offering far more than just a technological trend. It's about improving efficiency, productivity, and user experience, with AI tools playing a pivotal role in this transformation.

These tools enable developers to automate repetitive tasks such as code generation, error detection, and even layout design. For example, AI-powered design assistants can create visually appealing, responsive web templates based on user preferences.

In terms of coding, AI tools can autocomplete code, drastically reducing development time. By streamlining web development processes, AI allows developers to focus on more complex tasks, ultimately improving the quality of the final product.

Applications of AI in Web Development

AI extends its reach far beyond design and coding, influencing many other aspects of web development. One notable application is the AI-powered chatbot, which enhances customer service by providing real-time, personalized responses to user inquiries.

With the integration of Natural Language Processing (NLP), these chatbots can understand and communicate in human language, offering an experience that feels natural and conversational.

Another key area where AI is applied in web development is in creating personalized user experiences. AI-driven tools analyze user behavior, preferences, and interaction patterns to deliver tailored content and recommendations. This not only increases user engagement but also boosts the likelihood of conversions. As AI continues to evolve, its applications in web development will likely expand, redefining the way websites are built and experienced.

In-Depth Look at AI in Web Development

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its tools have become crucial elements in modern web development, revolutionizing the industry. AI-powered chatbots, for example, play a key role in enhancing user engagement by offering real-time assistance, answering questions, and even processing transactions, ultimately improving the overall user experience.

AI tools are also instrumental in optimizing website design and performance. By automating repetitive tasks, they enable developers to concentrate on more complex aspects of the project. For instance, AI can analyze user interaction data to suggest layout and design improvements, helping to boost user engagement and conversion rates.

Additionally, AI-powered analytics offer valuable insights into user behavior, paving the way for a more personalized and engaging experience. As we explore the various ways AI improves web development, it’s essential to recognize that effectively implementing AI requires a thorough understanding of the technology and its potential applications.

This is where the expertise of a professional web development agency comes into play. A skilled agency with AI knowledge can help you harness its full potential, ensuring your website not only looks great but also performs optimally while delivering an exceptional user experience.

AI Tools in Web Development

AI tools have evolved in web development from being used primarily in large-scale projects to becoming accessible resources for developers at all levels. Machine learning algorithms, a key component of AI, are commonly employed for tasks like data analysis, trend forecasting, and understanding user behavior, enabling the creation of more personalized and user-friendly websites.

AI-driven development tools, such as automated design systems, use machine learning to generate design templates tailored to users' specific needs and preferences. AI coding assistants can offer code optimizations, detect bugs, and even anticipate where developers might require support.

In addition, AI-powered testing tools can identify and diagnose issues more quickly and accurately than manual testing, drastically reducing the time needed for debugging and quality assurance.

Will AI Replace Web Developers?

A frequently debated topic in the realms of Artificial Intelligence and web development is whether AI will eventually replace web developers. However, it's important to recognize that while AI can automate many tasks, it cannot replicate the creativity and problem-solving abilities of a human developer.

A deep understanding of business objectives, the ability to address complex issues, and the innovation required for unique solutions are all aspects of web development that AI currently cannot replicate.

As a result, while AI can greatly assist developers in their work, it's unlikely to fully replace them. Instead, the future of web development lies in the collaboration between AI and human expertise, combining the strengths of both for optimal results.

The Importance of Web Developers Learning AI

As AI continues to play a significant role in web development, it is becoming essential for web developers to understand and utilize this technology. Gaining knowledge in artificial intelligence enables developers to take advantage of AI tools, such as automating repetitive tasks, enhancing code quality, improving website functionality, and optimizing user experiences.

Moreover, familiarity with AI can create new opportunities for developers, including AI-driven app development and AI model training. Consequently, learning AI has transitioned from being a choice to a necessity for web developers.

Tips for Web Developers to Use AI Effectively

As web developers begin their journey into AI, here are some strategies for effectively integrating AI into the web development process:

Utilize AI Assistants: AI assistants can aid developers in various tasks, from debugging code to generating snippets. They enhance the speed and efficiency of software development.
Incorporate AI in Design: AI can help create dynamic and responsive designs, leading to improved user experience and engagement.
Employ AI for Testing: AI tools can swiftly identify and resolve bugs in the code, significantly reducing the time required for testing.
Enhance Personalization with AI: AI can analyze user behavior to deliver personalized experiences, boosting user satisfaction and conversion rates.

Integrating AI into web development does not signal the end of the profession. Instead, it presents an opportunity for developers to refine their skills, increase efficiency, and create more advanced and user-friendly websites.

AI is simply a tool, and like any other tool, its effectiveness is determined by the user's expertise. Thus, for web developers, understanding and skillfully leveraging AI is essential to remain competitive in this rapidly evolving industry.

Will AI Take Over Web Development?

AI is steadily making its way into the field of web development. In the future, we can anticipate a more personalized user experience as AI algorithms become adept at understanding individual behaviors and preferences.

The entire process of website creation—from design to deployment—could be streamlined with AI-powered website builders and development tools. These tools have the potential to automate much of the web development process, altering the role of developers and making web development more accessible to those without technical expertise. Nonetheless, the human element in creativity and decision-making will continue to be irreplaceable for now...

AI in Data Analytics: Transforming Decision-Making

Remi — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 11:03:24 +0000

Have you ever considered just how much data is produced on a daily basis? The numbers are staggering—over 2.5 quintillion bytes every day! That’s right. From social media updates to e-commerce transactions, sensor data to digital imagery, the digital world is growing at an exponential rate, overwhelming businesses with an immense flood of information.

In this age of data explosion, companies face a critical question: How can they tap into this massive wave of information to make smarter, data-driven decisions? While traditional data analytics have been useful, they often fall short in handling the sheer scale, diversity, and speed of data being generated in today's digital environment.

Enter Artificial Intelligence (AI), a game-changing force that's transforming the field of data analytics.

In today’s highly competitive and data-centric world, businesses aren’t just overwhelmed by data; they’re actively seeking ways to dive deeper and extract meaningful insights that can drive innovation, streamline processes, and foster strategic growth. Organisations are now investing in AI to enhance their analytics capabilities and secure a competitive advantage in their industries.

But what exactly does AI bring to the table, and how is it fundamentally changing the way organisations make decisions?

In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into the world of AI-powered data analytics, uncovering its transformative impact, key advantages, and practical strategies for successful implementation. From revealing hidden insights to forecasting future trends, and from automating mundane tasks to creating personalized user experiences, AI is set to revolutionize decision-making in the digital era. Get ready to explore the exciting convergence of AI and data analytics, where the opportunities are as limitless as the data itself.

Understanding The Role of AI in Data Analytics

Understanding AI’s role in data analytics involves a deeper look at how AI techniques enhance and extend traditional data analysis. By introducing advanced algorithms, AI empowers organizations to gain deeper insights, detect hidden patterns, and build predictive models. Here's how AI is reshaping the landscape of data analytics:

Task Automation

AI streamlines time-consuming tasks like data cleaning, preprocessing, and transformation. Using machine learning and natural language processing, AI efficiently manages these tasks, allowing data professionals to concentrate on more strategic work.

Improved Data Processing

AI excels at processing large volumes of both structured and unstructured data at incredible speeds. Whether analyzing customer transactions, social media interactions, or IoT sensor data, AI can seamlessly handle varied datasets, making it easier for businesses to derive insights from complex data.

Pattern Recognition & Prediction

AI, particularly through machine learning, is highly effective at identifying patterns and trends in data. By analyzing historical data, AI can detect correlations, anomalies, and predictive trends, helping businesses anticipate future developments, forecast demand, and make proactive decisions to stay ahead of competitors.

Extracting Insights from Unstructured Data

While traditional analytics struggles with unstructured data like text, images, and video, AI-powered technologies such as natural language processing (NLP) and computer vision allow organizations to uncover valuable insights. For instance, sentiment analysis can gauge customer feelings from social media, and image recognition can detect patterns in visual data.

Real-time Decision-Making

AI enables real-time analysis and decision-making by processing live data streams. This ability is critical for dynamic industries like finance, manufacturing, and supply chain management, where quick insights can drive operational efficiency and strategic decisions.

Personalization & Customer Insights

AI facilitates personalized experiences by analyzing customer data and behaviors. By segmenting audiences, predicting preferences, and tailoring marketing efforts, AI helps organizations enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Risk Management & Fraud Detection

AI analytics platforms are skilled at spotting potential risks and identifying anomalies, helping companies detect fraud, monitor cybersecurity, and ensure compliance. AI’s ability to flag unusual patterns provides timely alerts for decision-makers.

In summary, AI elevates data analytics from being just descriptive or diagnostic to becoming predictive and prescriptive. By embracing AI, businesses can unlock the full potential of their data, driving innovation and gaining a competitive edge in the data-driven world.

Benefits of AI in Data Analytics

The advantages of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in data analytics are broad and impactful, touching various facets of data processing, analysis, and decision-making. Here’s a closer look at how AI transforms this field:

Greater Accuracy and Precision

AI algorithms can process large datasets with exceptional accuracy. Using advanced statistical models and machine learning, AI identifies subtle patterns, correlations, and anomalies that human analysts might overlook. This heightened precision minimizes errors, ensuring that insights are both reliable and actionable.

Accelerated Insights and Real-time Decisions

AI processes data at remarkable speeds, allowing organizations to gain insights and make decisions in real time. Whether analyzing live data from IoT devices, monitoring social media activity, or detecting financial anomalies, AI algorithms handle data streams swiftly, enabling timely and decisive actions.

Cost Efficiency and Resource Optimization

By automating repetitive tasks, AI reduces the need for manual intervention, cutting down on time and labor costs. Additionally, AI-driven analytics platforms optimize resource allocation by identifying inefficiencies, streamlining processes, and ensuring optimal use of resources.

Smarter Decision-making and Strategic Planning

AI-generated insights equip decision-makers with critical data and recommendations. By analyzing past data, predicting future trends, and simulating various scenarios, AI helps businesses make informed, strategic decisions—whether it’s refining marketing campaigns, optimizing resources, or discovering new business opportunities.

Personalized Customer Experiences

AI can analyze customer data to tailor products, services, and marketing based on individual behaviors and preferences. Through segmentation and predictive analytics, AI enables businesses to deliver personalized experiences that drive engagement and customer loyalty.

Risk Management and Fraud Detection

AI analytics are effective in identifying risks, detecting fraud, and addressing cybersecurity threats. By recognizing patterns and anomalies, AI can proactively flag potential threats, ensuring compliance and protecting assets in real time.

Fostering Innovation and Competitive Edge

AI helps organizations explore new avenues and uncover insights that lead to innovation. By analyzing market trends, customer preferences, and emerging technologies, AI reveals opportunities to develop cutting-edge products, capitalize on untapped markets, and maintain a competitive edge in a fast-paced business environment.

In essence, AI unlocks the full potential of data analytics, driving efficiency, agility, and innovation. By leveraging these capabilities, organizations can gain actionable insights, make well-informed decisions, and meet their strategic goals in today’s data-driven world.

Best Practices of AI in Data Analytics

Successfully implementing AI in data analytics requires adhering to best practices to ensure solutions are effective, reliable, and ethically sound. Here’s a breakdown of key considerations:

Data Quality Management

High-quality data is fundamental for AI-driven analytics. Ensure that the data is relevant, accurate, and consistent through processes like data cleansing, normalization, and validation. Implementing strong data governance practices ensures data integrity throughout its lifecycle, from collection to analysis.

Interdisciplinary Collaboration

AI solutions benefit from the input of diverse teams, including data scientists, domain experts, business leaders, and IT professionals. Collaboration among these groups ensures AI models address real-world challenges effectively and align with business objectives, enhancing both the design and deployment of AI-powered analytics.

Ongoing Learning and Improvement

AI models require continuous refinement to remain effective. Regularly update and optimize algorithms to reflect evolving data patterns and business needs. Continuous education for your team on the latest AI developments ensures they remain capable of maintaining and improving AI systems.

Ethics and Transparency

It’s crucial to address ethical concerns such as privacy, fairness, and transparency. Following data privacy regulations and promoting transparency in how AI models operate builds trust. Organizations must also work to eliminate biases within AI algorithms and ensure responsible handling of sensitive information.

Culture of Innovation

Encourage experimentation with new AI technologies and techniques to enhance data analytics capabilities. Allocate resources for research and pilot projects to explore emerging trends, novel algorithms, and potential use cases, positioning your organization at the forefront of innovation.

Scalability and Integration

Design AI systems with scalability and adaptability in mind. Modular architectures allow for seamless integration with existing data infrastructures and workflows, supporting the expanding data volumes and changing business needs. Scalable AI platforms enable broader deployment across business units.

By following these best practices, organizations can maximize the impact of AI in data analytics, driving better decisions and staying competitive in a data-driven world.

User Training and Adoption

It’s essential to educate users and stakeholders on the capabilities, limitations, and advantages of AI-powered analytics to encourage widespread adoption and maximize its potential. Offering training sessions, workshops, and ongoing learning opportunities helps users become proficient in interpreting AI-driven insights and using AI tools effectively. By incorporating these insights into daily decision-making, organizations can create a more data-driven culture. Engaging users and gathering feedback are key to refining AI solutions and ensuring continuous improvements.

By embracing these best practices, organizations can fully leverage AI in data analytics while minimizing risks and promoting ethical use. Proper implementation of AI tools can lead to innovation, better decision-making, and measurable business outcomes in today’s data-rich environment.

Conclusion

AI has truly transformed the landscape of data analytics, fundamentally changing how organizations make decisions. Its capacity to analyze extensive datasets, uncover complex patterns, and provide real-time actionable insights enables businesses to make informed, data-driven choices with confidence. By implementing AI algorithms, organizations can improve not only the accuracy and efficiency of their data analysis but also their competitiveness and agility in the rapidly changing business environment.

Nevertheless, as organizations begin their journey into AI-driven analytics, it is crucial to proceed with caution by following best practices and ethical guidelines to effectively manage potential risks. Prioritizing data quality, encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration, and fostering a culture of continuous learning and innovation will allow organizations to maximize the benefits of AI in data analytics while addressing biases and ethical issues.

At Pixium Digital, we recognize the transformative potential of AI in data analytics, and we are dedicated to helping organizations leverage this power to drive growth and innovation. With our expertise organisations can derive actionable insights, enhance decision-making processes, and gain a competitive advantage in the digital age. If you’re ready to begin your AI-powered analytics journey, partner with Pixium Digital to unlock the full potential of your data.

How much does a web or mobile application costs in 2021?

Remi — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 09:37:45 +0000

The million-dollar question asked by most project owners is: How much does it cost to develop this app? Our answer is: Between 15k USD to 500k USD. You want a car, but we need to know if you want a Ferrari or a Toyota. Putting a price tag on any project can become complicated and is often misunderstood.

In this article we will try to provide an overview and understanding on how much such may costs, what are the key factors influencing the price, and how to select the right partners for the job.

Surely, spending a fortune might not guarantee you success, but trying to save money either. You have to find the right balance in order to select a team that you can trust and that will guide you through this journey.

App Development - checklist

Here is a typical list of things you need to take into consideration in order to put a price range on any app. This is what your development team (internal or external) will have to cover:

System architecture and associated scalability
Database creation and schema.
Target Medium compatibility & responsiveness (mobile and / or web).
Target OS compatibility (Android, iOS for mobile).
Complexity of the logic to implement.
User experience and design (UX / UI).
Technology stack to be used.
Project management.
Cyber security.
Data Privacy compliance.
Quality assurance.
Development operation to automate the deployment.
Automatic testing to automate the testing of all the features before deployment.
Third party API integrations.

These are the minimum elements to be addressed. Some additional modules may be added depending on the platform you are trying to build:

IoT module (gateway registration & management, data flow from gateway to cloud, data quality & connectivity, data storage, ...)
Machine Learning for data classification, recommendation system or forecast.
Hardware / Middleware integration and security

Realistically to cover the minimum mentioned above an app could take from 250 man hours (for a very simple one) to 10,000 man hours and above (for the most sophisticated and complex ones). Price range can therefore range from a mere 15,000 USD to 600,000+ USD.

Development price / hours / region

Before going any further, let's have a look at the average Developers' salary across a few selected countries / sub-continent.

https://www.businessofapps.com/app-developers/research/ios-android-developer-salary/

Price / hour can range from USD 30 to USD 150 and sometimes even more. Key factors for such price variation are obviously the seniority of the developer, the living costs per country / region and the size of the company you are dealing with. If you work with a large corporate, they will most likely have higher price than if you go with smaller agencies. Smaller agencies tend to be also more flexible and agile over time for you to adjust your platform and cover a better market fit.

Price per hours in USD per region.

Region	Min	Max
North America	120	180
Australia	80	150
Europe	80	150
Singapore	60	150

App development is commonly carried out using one of the 4 following methods, for which you consider the pros and cons.

Independent Freelancer: It might be the most affordable solution, however you will have to manage him/her yourself on a regular basis. If you have limited knowledge of the development process, you will have to rely on his/her judgement. Often those relationships are based on trust. One of the risk is the "One man show" effect. The understanding and development of the system is done by one person. If this person leaves you, all knowledge is lost for your company. You are also limiting your knowledge access range. You leverage on one developer's skills rather than a pool of individual with different expertise.
Development Company: Often the most cost effective way. They have affordable price, and are agile in their process by not having to go through many management layers to validate a feature or change an order. You will also be able to leverage on the skills of a few engineers (security, dev ops, system infrastructure, technology stack, mobile dev specialist, web dev specialist). Once the scope of the contract is defined, each module is done by the best person up to the task. Knowledge is dispatched across a multitude of individuals, reducing the "One man show" risk. It is also the company's best interest to build a long term and strong relationship with you, so they can scale up as you need.
Large corporation: Often highly priced. You pay for their reputation, and management layers. Process might be quite tedious, having many stakeholders in the process. They are less subject to accept your changes of orders. Their main advantage might be speed as they are able to pull dozens of developers into 1 project whenever they have too. Having said that 9 women cannot make a baby in 1 month. Lining up 10 times more developers does not necessarily mean your project will be delivered 10 times faster. The more IT engineers working on a project, the higher the overhead is for the code merging and the project management.
In house team: Some companies hire dedicated in-house team. That implies additional cost for your business, recruitment, management, HR overhead, Bonus, medical insurance, medical leaves, holidays, office space, equipment, up skilling of your employees, etc... In Addition you may have to hire various experts to cover the whole aspects of your project. Once the project is delivered, you end up with a large teams of IT engineers that could become redundant.

Project Specification Phase

For the development team to work efficiently, it is crucial to write proper functional & non functional specifications. Various methods and methodologies can be applied such as:

UML
User stories
Story board
Design thinking

The more detailed your specifications are, the more accurate the price estimation will be. Leave no stone unturned. Do not hesitate to share as many information as possible such as your business model as it might imply additional development required to integrate the monetization component. Your provider might even share some expertise with you which could help you fine tune it.

If you do not have a proper specification document, you should consider contracting your provider to write it for you. From our experienced, this is money well spent. You are most likely to get the solution you want if specifications are clear. Lack of clarity in project definition is one of the top 3 reason for project failure.

Features and Functionalities

Let's now have a look at the basic features and functionalities. These are the minimum you will need to develop a basic web or mobile application.

For the sake of simplification, we have merged together the cost of the Web Server / Web App or Mobile App into 1 table. They are normally estimated separately. The dev unit price has been set at USD 60/hour on the table below.

Acronyms:
CRUD: Create Review Update Delete
PSP: Payment service provider
UAT: User Acceptance Test
RBAC: Role Based Access Control. Limit access to functionalities based on the user type (ex: Seller vs Buyer)

Feature	Min Time (hours)	Max Time (hours)	Cost (USD)
Create the Dev & Live environment with various domain name setup and SSL certificate setup	4	16	240 - 960
Development operation setup (Docker / Git / repositories...)	4	16	240 - 960
API development for the mobile app to access the data	40	80	2400 - 4800
Login stack (login - sign up - reset password - forgot password	4	16	240 - 960
User Management (CRUD User)	8	24	480 - 1440
Payment Integration (Stripe or other PSP	16	32	960 - 1920
Emailer Integration with about 10 user flow emails	24	32	1440 - 1920
Notification System	24	32	1440 - 1920
Basic functionality to exchange messages	20	40	1200 - 2400
Multi Language	16	32	960 - 1920
Cron Jobs (background tasks such as reminders)	16	32	960 - 1920
System Security (architecture)	16	32	960 - 1920
RBAC	16	32	960 - 1920
Data Privacy Policies / encryption	24	48	1440 - 2880
Final Design Integration	24	48	1440 - 2880
Testing and UAT	16	32	960 - 1920
Final Deployment	4	8	240 - 480
TOTAL	280	560	16,800 - 33,600

As per the example above, the price range can go from 17,000 USD to 34,000 USD for a very basic mobile application to exchange messages between users.

How much did famous apps costs ?

Now let's take a quick look at the estimated numbers of hours required to build the first version of some famous app that we all use, and then estimate their costs.

Price: 60 USD / hour

App	Hours	Price
Tinder	1500	90,000
Netflix	800	48,000
Asos	1,200	72,000

As you can see, a Tinder like app that did not use to have a lot of functionalities could easily cost 90k USD. On top of the front-end features, you also have to think about the data processing, matching system, recommendation engine and data storage which could increase your development price.

Great ! My App is live. What now?

Once your app is released, let's discuss support. It is always highly recommended to go with a maintenance contract. It can be pre-paid hours, pay per use or fully dedicated resources that you can use to maintain and upgrade your system. As your user base grows, issues might arise, server monitoring and patches installation will become necessary. Your system is a living one. It will behave and react when users are using it so it is a good idea to have a team ready to act when things are happening.

The industry standard is to spend about 10-15% of your development budget in maintenance per annum. Additional funding might be allocated if you need to add features.

But do not over-engineer it. Better to release an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) and develop it further through iterations rather than building something over overly complex from the start. Too many functionalities create confusion for a newly launched product or service. Be ready to A/B test your features and learn from your customers feedbacks.

About Us

Pixium Digital Pte Ltd is an agile software development company with their headquarters located in Singapore. We focus on shaping our clients project from ideas to successful project launch.

Cyber Security Introduction (part 5: Bruteforce)

Remi — Fri, 08 Jan 2021 02:19:16 +0000

Fifth post of the Cyber Security Introduction series. Let's talk about Bruteforce attacks. Looking at how it happens, how you can prevent it and the impact it can have on businesses.

What is a Bruteforce attack?

A Bruteforce attack is when a perpetrator will test many username and / or password combinations to gain access to a system. A good analogy would be trying out every combination on a four digit padlock with the exception that a computer can do it much faster.

This kind of attack can be used to gain access to various services.

For example:

Modem / Router configurations
WiFi Networks
Decrypt passwords of encrypted storage
Protocol logins (FTP, MySQL, SMTP, Telnet)
User accounts (online storage, emails, banking)
IOT Devices

Let's take a look at the various types of Bruteforce attacks:

Simple Bruteforce Attack - This will use no logic and just try every possible combinations.
Hybrid Bruteforce Attack - This will use basic logic to figure out what combinations to use. For example trying all combinations longer than 5 characters and containing at least one number.
Dictionary Bruteforce Attack - The attack will try combinations coming from a list. Usually this would be a list of the most common usernames and passwords.
Rainbow Bruteforce Attack - This attack uses rainbow tables which are a list of pre-computed hash results and reducing functions. This helps determine various possibilities for passwords when a hash is accessible.
Reverse Bruteforce Attack - This attack is based on knowing a parameter and trying to find a match. This will usually be used when the username is known.
Credential Recycling - Here an attacker would use already available credentials (from past data breach, hacks, etc.) to see if they will authenticate the user successfully.

How to prevent it?

As an Individual

Don't use personal information - It can be tempting to use names of family members, animals or birthdays as it makes passwords easier to remember. But keep in mind that this information is very easy to find through Social Engineering or online searches.
Make your password original - Try to use variance and include letters, numbers and symbols. This forces attackers to try numerous combinations which can be very time consuming.

Example below of the time required to Bruteforce a password depending on complexity.

Don't re-use passwords - Try to never use the same password as if it is leaked once then all your accounts are compromised. This can be very dangerous especially if your e-mail account gets compromised as it is used in most password recoveries. You can look into using password managers to help you manage all variations. You can try to check if your email has appeared in past breaches here: https://haveibeenpwned.com/
Use Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) - Most big services have implemented the MFA principle. This means if there is an irregular login you will be required to authorize it through an alternative system (usually SMS).
Don't use common passwords - Passwords that are in the most used password list should never be used. This list can be found here: https://nordpass.com/most-common-passwords-list/

As a Developer / Administrator

Encrypt Data and Hash Passwords - Important user data in database should be encrypted and passwords should always be hashed! Here are the recommender algorithms by OWASP: Argon2id, PBKDF2, Bcrypt.
Implement 2FA or MFA - Whenever possible enable / implement two-factor authentication or multi-factor authentication. You can then force this to be triggered when there has been one failed password usage for the account.
Account Lockout - Consider blocking access to accounts after a certain number of failed connection attempts. The user would then have to access an email to unlock the account.
Captcha - Yes the devil is here! But you don't have to have the captcha active all the time you can require it after X failed attempts to mitigate any Bruteforce attacks.
Geo-loc - It is good to track the location (IP lookup) of your users. If you detect someone trying to login from another country you can then require 2FA or MFA to kick in to make sure it is the owner connecting. This could also trigger a lock out protocol as seen above.
Change default passwords - Many services come with root accounts that have a default password (admin:admin, mysql:root, etc.). These passwords should ALWAYS be changed.
Check on compromised users - You may want to look at APIs like Have I Been Pwned, Breach Alarm, DeHashed to see if your users or employees appear in new breaches and force them to update their passwords.

Impact of Bruteforce Attacks?

Depending on the type of account that is successfully accessed a breach via Bruteforce Attack can be devastating. For instance if the root account of a MySQL service is hijacked this can lead to database dumps and modifications.

In some cases such as IOT the device could be hijacked and then used as part of a Botnet. Through the course of 2020 the infection of IOT devices has grown by more than 100%. A lot of these attacks are successful due to unchanged default credentials.

As Bruteforce attacks in some cases require the trial of millions on combinations, it may lead to a unintentional Denial of Service or Distributed Denial of Service attacks which could also harm your services.

About Us

Pixium Digital is an agile software development company with their headquarters located in Singapore. We focus on shaping our clients project from ideas to successful project launch.

Cyber Security is a big part of any project we have to deliver. Very often we have been the witness of lack of awareness or caution from various providers or clients we have worked with. We aim to share those little tips to the community so that with everyone's effort, we can make the web a safer place.

Cyber Security Introduction (part 4: Denial Of Service)

Remi — Thu, 31 Dec 2020 06:50:30 +0000

Fourth post of the Cyber Security Introduction series. Let's talk about the Denial of Service and Distributed Denial of Service attacks. Looking at how it happens, how you can prevent it and how you can recover from it when possible.

What is DoS / DDoS?

A DoS is an attack whose goal is to render the target (machine, network, etc.) inaccessible. This is done either through flooding traffic or through a tailored payload that will cause the machine to crash.

In a DoS attack the point of origin will be one machine.

With a DDoS on the other hand the attack originates from multiple sources. This is usually more powerful and destructive.

These attacks may be used as a way to ransom an entity by requiring a payment to stop the services from being unusable. The goal can be to force secondary and backup services to kick in, which themselves may be vulnerable to other types of attacks.

Below are the most common types of Dos / DDoS attacks:

TCP CONNECTION ATTACKS
This type of attack if often used through SYN Flood. The target receives a SYN packet to start a three way handshake and sends a reply. The attacker however does not reply which leaves the connection hanging and proceeds to repeat the following process.
APPLICATION LAYER ATTACKS
This attack is usually slower than the precedent as it targets issues directly in the application. These tend to be harder to detect as they do not necessarily surge the traffic. They are often used in conjunction with TCP CONNECTION attacks.
FRAGMENTATION ATTACKS
Here the attacker will look into splitting the traffic into multiple packets that are then reassembled on the victim's network. However the packets contain falsified payloads that break the reassembly process and thus overloads the server.
VOLUMETRIC ATTACKS
This is the most common type of attack where a network of bots controlled by a perpetrator will be used to send numerous request to one target specifically causing the network or server to be overwhelmed. The more bots the more powerful the attack.

How to prevent it?

Pre-Attack

Configure routers and firewalls to reject fake traffic. It is also important to make sure they are up to date with the latest patches.

Check that all devices are secured with antivirus, launch regular security scans and update software and firmware. Also make sure you change default passwords on IOT devices as they are the common source for bots.

Make sure you have extra network bandwidth as well as network redundancy. This will help mitigate surges in traffic at the beginning of DDoS attacks until active measures kick-in.

Use an anti-ddos service like Cloudflare or Advanced Amazon Shield they will help you identify and block non-legitimate traffic.

During Attacks

Contact you Internet Service Provider (ISP) as fast as possible as they might be able to re-route traffic into a null route where the fake traffic will get lost.

If your business is critical you can look into having a backup ISP to let you switch over in case of a DoS or DDoS attack.

Impact and how to recover from it?

The critical part to recovering from a DoS / DDoS attack is to analyze the details of the attack. Here are a key points to look at:

Which assets were attacked?
This will help you identify the goal of the attackers and the weakest point in the infrastructure.
What were the attack characteristics?
Was it a DoS or a DDoS? Was it using complex multi level attacks?
Is you application recovery ready?
Keep in mind that if a DoS / DDoS renders your services offline then all the users that have been denied access will try to re-access it as soon as it is back online. Are your services ready to handle large traffic?

This information will help you identify the areas in your infrastructure that needs a security review to be able to handle and mitigate DoS / DDoS.

Depending on your business nature you may disclose the attack to either clients or users of the platform. In some country, a police report might be compulsory.

Live DoS / DDoS Map

Have a look at live information on DoS and DDoS major attacks!

https://www.digitalattackmap.com/#anim=1&color=0&country=ALL&list=0&time=18625&view=map

About Us

Pixium Digital is an agile software development company with their headquarters located in Singapore. We focus on shaping our clients project from ideas to successful project launch.

Cyber Security Introduction (part 3: Man in the Middle )

Remi — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 05:53:30 +0000

Third post of the Cyber Security Introduction series. Let's talk about the Man in the Middle attack, how it happens, how you can prevent it and how to can recover from it when possible.

What is Man in the Middle?

For a Man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack to take place you need three actors: the victim, an entity the victim is trying to communicate with, the man in the middle which intercepts the communication.

MITM attacks are a tactical means to an end. The outcome could be spying on a target (individual, groups, companies), redirecting traffic, stealing credentials / sessions and more.

How to prevent it?

Make sure that any website you visit uses the HTTPS protocol and that the certificate is valid. This will often be represented by a closed lock in the address bar.
Try not to connect to public Wi-Fi like Starbucks, Airports, etc. Instead use a Mobile Hotspot and connect directly to your phone as this is a lot harder to spoof.
If you need to connect to a public Wi-Fi make sure that you use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) that encrypts the data as this will limit the MITM possibilities.
Make sure that your home Wi-Fi network is secured. This can be done by using the latest Wi-Fi security (WPA2 or WPA3). Make sure your home router is up to date with the latest firmware. Change the default Wi-Fi password and default router login to something complex.
Regularly check the connected devices on your network and kick out any unknown or old devices. This can be done from your router management page. Also check for hard-wired connected devices; there have been cases of attackers plugging small devices that siphons and records all communications on a network (example below of a device hidden in plain sight).

Finally whenever possible make sure that you have Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) activated. If your login information are stolen and MFA is activated you will be notified of any login attempts.

Impact and how to recover from it?

MITM attacks can be devastating as they let attackers access many types of data such as: logins and passwords, visited websites, session tokens and cookies, personal information and more.

From the moment you discover that you have been a victim of a MITM attack you should deem all data compromised. From this point you will need to connect to a secure network and rotate all passwords, keys and any confidential information.

You will then have to identify where the attack took place and which network was compromised and why. This is typically where the police might be involved and other cyber-security agencies working with the police.

In conclusion always be wary of where you connect to. also keep in mind to regularly check for anomalies in your network.

About Us

Pixium Digital is an agile software development company with their headquarters located in Singapore. We focus on shaping our clients project from ideas to successful project launch.

Cyber Security Introduction (part 2: Phishing)

Remi — Fri, 11 Dec 2020 09:23:02 +0000

Second post of the Cyber Security Introduction series. In this article we will talk about one of the most common and simple cyber attack; Phishing, how it happens, how to prevent it and how to recover from it.

32% of confirmed data breaches involve phishing. So what is this exactly?

What is Phishing?

Phishing is the simple practice of sending fraudulent communications that appear to come from a reputable source. It is usually performed through email. The goal is to steal sensitive data like credit card, login information or to install malware on the victim's machine.

Here is a flow example of a email phishing attack:

You receive a fake branded email.
Email has fake branded link (ex: facebok.com with one 'o').
You click and land on a falsified branded page.
Page asks you to login, change your password or provide other information.
Hackers capture your data and automatically redirect you to the official (real) website.
You have been hacked and you don't even know it. If you use the same authentication across various platform, you are fully exposed.

How to prevent it?

Here are a few tips and best practices you can apply in order to reduce the chances of phishing. Remember that 90% of attacks come from human errors; The more careful and aware you are, the easiest to prevent it.

Check the email and domain name of the sender.
Check that it is not a generic email.
Don't give any personal information via email.
If there are links in the email, check the security of the website URL (https, little lock on the left).
Do not use phone numbers present in emails and use the one present on the official website.
Pay attention to details, phishing emails often have typos.
If you have any doubts, contact you tech support who might be able to advice you.

Alternative: Voice Phishing

A voice phishing is similar to the previous one. The only difference is that the perpetrator will impersonate a company, or institution over the phone.

Example:
You receive a call from your Internet Provider.
They explain that they noticed strange activity over your network and that they will help you resolve it.
They ask you to open your laptop and run a few actions. They will often start with simple.
Once they got your trusts they will ask you to execute more complex ones that will for instance:

Open a backdoor to give the attacker access to the computer
Encrypt all your files and blackmail you to decrypt them
Download malware to your computer
Steal sensitive or personal information

How to prevent it?

Always ask for the identity of the person who calls you.
Never run or do anything on your computer that you do not know or fully understand.

Example of Phishing Campaign

Let's take a look at the above image and how we can recognize it is a phishing attempt.

Looking at the sender email we already see something out of the ordinary.
The sender email is: no-reply_msteam2@outlook.com
As much as the outlook.com is real the first part no-reply_msteam2 clearly shows that this was a registered email. Most official emails come from simple addresses such as support@outlook.com
The title of the email is very generic Windows Error Report. Most sign-in attempt will usually have email title such as We have detected unusual activity on your account
The email head is also very generic Windows User Alert any big company will always be able to identify you either through your username, name or even email. For example Hello Mr.Doe or Hey @cool_username
Language! Just looking at the first sentence we can see some language and sentence structure issues We detected something unusual to use an application to sign in to your Windows Computer
The email also contains nonsensical logic. This might be hard to spot by non-tech people. If you have any doubt about an email it is best to ask your tech support. The whole idea that Microsoft has officers looking at a sign-in attempt from every user is not feasible. The whole sentence a prohibited connection on your network which can corrupt your windows license key also doesn't mean much in IT terms.
In the email there is also a fake phone number. Looking at the official Microsoft support page we can see that there are no numbers similar to the one in the email: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4051701/global-customer-service-phone-numbers
This is why it is important to go through the official support channels if you get an email asking you to contact the support team.

**This email is classified as a typical phishing attack. If services or companies require you to update some personal information about your account it is always best practice to go through the official website. Any issues with your account will be flagged in your personal dashboard.

About Us

Pixium Digital is an agile software development company with their headquarters located in Singapore. We focus on shaping our clients project from ideas to successful project launch.

Cyber Security Introduction (part 1)

Remi — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 09:07:03 +0000

Introduction

Cyber-Security is a hot topic. Because of COVID-19, there has been a shift to work-from home policies. This had led to a drastic increase of cyber attacks over the past few months.

KEY NUMBERS:

On average a cyber attack happens every 39 seconds.
90% of cyber security breaches are due to human errors as opposed to technical mis-configurations or lack of technical security tools setup up by companies.
77% of organizations do not have cyber security incident response plan.

It is one thing to be hacked, but it is another thing to be able to respond promptly in order to mitigate the action, or activate your recovery plan.

This series of articles aims to briefly introduce cyber security, but also provide general knowledge and advises on what each individuals can do to prevent such event from happening.

Attacks? But Who, Why and How?

Who

When an attack occurs it can target different entities depending on the various objectives.

A specific person can be the primary target of an attack. In that case the attacker might have a grudge against that specific person or might need something in possession of that person (access). In this case the hackers know who he wants to hack.

The target of an attack can also be a company. In this case, the hackers could be trying to do corporate espionage or simply get revenge against it.

A filtered list could also be the main focus for an attack. This would include target groups like an email list of gamers or a leaked list of logins and password from a specific website.

There are cases where a global accessible malware is used. For example a mass phishing attack could be executed using a website that is publicly available for everyone. Attackers will wait for users to fall into the trap and will sometimes even use classic advertising techniques.

Finally, you could be hacked as part of collateral damage. In the event of that one of your connection's email is hacked, any information you exchanged with this person will now be available to the hacker. This is why it is always important to never share authentication (email & password, encryption key, etc.) via email, as you will be exposing yourself.

Why

Let's take a look at the main reasons Hackers would attacks a website or system:

Money (ransom-ware, blackmail).
Information theft (identity theft, corporate espionage).
Disrupt services.
Fun (make a point, contest or simply because the are bored).
Driven by a cause (anonymous, hacktivism, terrorism).
Or simply because they just can, so why not ?! :)

How: Most common attacks

We will now take a look at the most common types of attacks regardless of the platform or system targeted.

Phishing
It is used to impersonate an entity usually this comes under the shape of emails, websites. An attacker will send a well crafted email asking you to follow a specific link or to send a password. In terms of websites the attacker might use a website that looks exactly like a real facebook or google sign-in to try and steal credentials.
Man in the middle
In this type of attack the perpetrator will be sitting in between a client and a server and syphoning or analyzing all the traffic going through to see unencrypted content or hijack sessions. This is often used in public places such as starbucks, macdonald where traffic is not encrypted.
Denial Of Services (DoS / DDoS)
A Denial of Service (DoS) is usually when you spam packets on a certain protocol with the goal of overloading the service. Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) refers to a DoS but instead of coming from one source it comes from multiple sources.
SQL Injection
Here an attacker will try to either directly inject, extract, delete, modify, data from the database through modifying forms, queries, requests.
Brute Force
This is the act of trying to authenticate, identify using a high number of combinations. It might be from spaming number sequences to bypass an One Time Password (OTP) or using a list of common usernames and passwords to try and access a service.

If the next articles we will be tackling each of the most common attacks previously mentioned and provide quick tips for you to be more careful and prepared.

About Us

Pixium Digital is an agile software development company with their headquarters located in Singapore. We focus on shaping our clients project from ideas to successful project launch.