Inception of React

In 2011, Facebook was facing a challenge. The company needed to develop a new newsfeed feature for its website that would be able to handle a large amount of data and update in real-time. The existing technologies were not suitable for this task, so the team at Facebook started working on a new solution.

The team was led by Jordan Walke, a software engineer at Facebook, who created a prototype of a new library called “FaxJS”. The library was designed to render UIs on the server-side and provide real-time updates to the client-side without reloading the page.

FaxJS was later renamed to “React” and was open-sourced by Facebook in 2013. It quickly gained popularity among developers due to its simplicity, flexibility, and performance.

Evolution of React

React’s initial release was focused on server-side rendering, but the framework evolved over time to become a comprehensive UI library for building web applications.

In 2015, React introduced a new concept called “React Native,” which enabled developers to build mobile applications using the same principles and syntax as React. This was a major breakthrough for developers, as it allowed them to build high-performance mobile applications with native-like performance.

React also introduced “JSX,” a syntax extension that allows developers to write HTML-like code inside JavaScript. This made it easier to create UI components and increased code readability.

In 2016, Facebook released “React Fiber,” a new version of React’s core algorithm that significantly improved the library’s performance and made it more suitable for building complex applications. React Fiber introduced a new concept called “Fiber,” which is a lightweight thread that can be paused, resumed, and prioritized by the browser’s rendering engine. This enabled React to handle complex UIs more efficiently and provide a smoother user experience.

Impact of React

React has had a significant impact on the web development industry since its inception. Here are a few key ways in which React has influenced the industry:

Declarative programming: React’s declarative programming approach has made it easier for developers to reason about and maintain their code. React’s component-based architecture enables developers to create modular UI components that can be reused across multiple applications.

Improved performance: React’s efficient rendering algorithm and use of virtual DOM has significantly improved the performance of web applications. React’s focus on performance has encouraged other frameworks and libraries to adopt similar approaches.

Increased developer productivity: React’s simple syntax, modular architecture, and extensive documentation have made it easier for developers to learn and use the library. This has resulted in increased developer productivity and reduced development time.

Mobile app development: React Native has made it easier for developers to build high-performance mobile applications with a single codebase. This has significantly reduced development time and costs for mobile app development.

Conclusion

React has come a long way since its inception in 2011. It has evolved from a server-side rendering library to a comprehensive UI library for building web applications and mobile apps. Its focus on performance, simplicity, and modularity has made it one of the most popular and widely used frameworks in the web development industry.

As we move forward, it will be interesting to see how React continues to evolve and adapt to new technologies and trends in the web development industry. But one thing is clear: React has left a lasting impact on the industry, and its influence will continue to shape the way we build web applications and mobile apps for years to come.

One of the key strengths of React is its ability to simplify complex UIs by breaking them down into smaller, reusable components. This modularity makes it easier to build and maintain large-scale applications, as developers can focus on creating and testing individual components rather than having to deal with the entire application as a monolithic structure.

Another key feature of React is its use of a virtual DOM, which enables it to render changes to the UI more efficiently. Instead of directly manipulating the browser’s DOM, React creates a lightweight representation of the UI called a virtual DOM. When changes are made to the UI, React compares the virtual DOM to the actual DOM and only updates the parts that have changed. This results in faster and more efficient rendering, especially for applications with complex and dynamic UIs.

React’s impact on the web development industry has also led to the emergence of a vibrant ecosystem of tools and libraries that support and enhance React development. This includes popular tools like Redux for managing application state, React Router for handling routing and navigation, and Styled Components for styling React components.

In addition to its impact on web development, React has also influenced the broader tech industry in other ways. For example, the concept of a virtual DOM has inspired other frameworks and libraries to adopt similar approaches, including Vue.js and Angular.

Overall, the history of React is a testament to the power of innovation and collaboration in technology. What began as a solution to a specific problem faced by Facebook has grown into a versatile and widely used framework that has had a significant impact on the web development industry. As we look to the future, it will be exciting to see how React continues to evolve and adapt to new challenges and opportunities.

The post The History of React: From its Inception to Present Day appeared first on Wolf.

Video Codecs

The first technology to consider when building a video converter is the video codec. Video codecs are used to encode and decode digital video streams. They are responsible for compressing video data so that it takes up less space, and for decompressing video data so that it can be played back on a device.

There are several video codecs available, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Some of the most popular codecs include H.264, H.265 (also known as HEVC), and VP9. When building a video converter, it’s important to choose a codec that is widely supported and produces high-quality output.

H.264 is currently the most widely used video codec and is supported by most modern web browsers and video players. It is also relatively efficient in terms of file size and produces high-quality output. H.265 (HEVC) is a newer codec that is more efficient than H.264 but is not yet widely supported by web browsers and video players. VP9 is an open-source codec developed by Google that is designed to compete with H.265 in terms of efficiency and quality.

Multimedia Frameworks

In addition to video codecs, multimedia frameworks are also an important technology to consider when building a video converter. A multimedia framework provides a set of tools and libraries that developers can use to build multimedia applications, including video converters.

Some popular multimedia frameworks include FFmpeg, GStreamer, and Libav. These frameworks provide a wide range of features, including video and audio decoding and encoding, video scaling, and format conversion.

FFmpeg is a popular open-source multimedia framework that is widely used for video conversion and streaming. It supports a wide range of video codecs and formats and provides a set of command-line tools that can be used to perform various video conversion tasks. GStreamer is another popular multimedia framework that is designed for streaming media applications. It provides a set of libraries that can be used to build multimedia applications, including video converters.

UI Frameworks

Another important technology to consider when building a video converter is the UI framework. A UI framework provides a set of tools and libraries for building user interfaces. When building a video converter, a UI framework can help developers create a user-friendly interface for selecting and converting video files.

Some popular UI frameworks include React, Angular, and Vue.js. These frameworks provide a range of tools and libraries for creating UI components, managing state, and handling user interactions.

React is a popular UI framework that is widely used for building web applications. It provides a declarative programming model that simplifies the process of building user interfaces. Angular is another popular UI framework that provides a set of tools and libraries for building complex web applications. Vue.js is a lightweight UI framework that is designed for building user interfaces quickly and easily.

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is another technology that can be used to build a video converter. Cloud computing enables developers to offload the processing of video files to remote servers, which can be useful when working with large or complex files.

Services like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure provide cloud computing platforms that can be used to build video converters. These platforms provide a range of tools and services, including computing resources, storage, and network connectivity.

Machine Learning

Machine learning is another technology that can be used to build a video converter. Machine learning algorithms can be used to analyze video files and automatically apply settings like resolution, bit rate, and codec to achieve the best possible output quality.

Services like Google Cloud Video Intelligence and Amazon Rekognition provide machine learning tools that can be used for video analysis and processing. These services can be used to extract metadata from video files, identify objects and scenes within videos, and even generate automatic subtitles.

APIs

Finally, APIs are another important technology to consider when building a video converter. APIs provide a set of tools and services that can be used to integrate different technologies and platforms.

For example, a video converter can use APIs to integrate with cloud computing platforms like AWS or Microsoft Azure. APIs can also be used to integrate with machine learning services like Google Cloud Video Intelligence or Amazon Rekognition.

Conclusion

In conclusion, creating a video converter requires a deep understanding of video encoding and decoding, as well as knowledge of the different technologies involved in the process. Video codecs, multimedia frameworks, UI frameworks, cloud computing, machine learning, and APIs are all important technologies to consider when building a video converter.

When choosing the technologies to use, it’s important to consider factors such as efficiency, quality, compatibility, and ease of use. With the right combination of technologies, it’s possible to create a powerful and user-friendly video converter that can handle a wide range of video formats and settings.

The post What technologies should be used to create video converter appeared first on Wolf.

The studio was founded in early 2016 by former employees of Zynga, Glu, and Kabam. We are a team of experienced game developers who have shipped over 50 titles across multiple genres and platforms.

Yuga Labs and NFTs

In March 2021, Yuga Labs launched an NFT development platform called “Bored Ape Yacht Club” (BYC). The platform allows users to create, buy, and sell digital art and other collectibles.

The BYC team is composed of artists, designers, and engineers who are passionate about games, art, and blockchain technology. We believe that NFTs will revolutionize the way we interact with digital content.

NFTs are a new type of asset that can be owned, traded, and sold like traditional assets such as stocks or real estate. However, unlike traditional assets, NFTs are stored on a blockchain – a decentralized ledger that is immutable and secure.

How Did Bored Ape Yacht Club Get Started?

Bored Ape Yacht Club was founded by a group of experienced game developers who left their jobs at major publishers like Zynga, Glu, and Kabam to start their own studio. The team is composed of engineers, artists, designers, and producers who have shipped over 50 titles across multiple genres and platforms.

What Is Bored Ape Yacht Club’s First Game?

Bored Ape Yacht Club’s first game is “Yugo & Lala”, a puzzle game that has been downloaded over 10 million times. “Yugo & Lala” was released in 2016 and is available on iOS and Android.

What Games Is Bored Ape Yacht Club Working On?

Bored Ape Yacht Club is currently working on two games: “Sprinkle Islands” and “King of the Hat”. “Sprinkle Islands” is a sequel to the popular water physics puzzler “Sprinkle”, and “King of the Hat” is a new IP that is a 2D puzzle platformer. Both games are scheduled for release in 2017.

What Other Games Has Bored Ape Yacht Club Released?

In addition to “Yugo & Lala”, Bored Ape Yacht Club has also released the following games:

“Golf Story” (2017) – A sports adventure game that combines golf with RPG elements, available on Nintendo Switch.

“Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove” is a 2D platformer that includes the original “Shovel Knight” game and its two additions, “Plague of Shadows” and “Specter of Torment,” for Nintendo Switch, Wii U, 3DS, PS4, Xbox One, PC, Mac, and Linux.

“Cyberdimension Neptunia: 4 Goddesses Online” (2017) – A JRPG set in the world of Gamindustri, available on Steam.

“Sparklite” (TBA) – An action-adventure game set in a procedurally generated world, currently in development for PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch.

Bored Ape Yacht Club is also working on two unannounced games. The first is a 2D platformer, and the other is a 2D puzzle platformer.

Awards

Best Indie Game of the Year – “Shovel Knight” (2014)

Best Debut Indie Game – “Shovel Knight” (2014)

Outstanding Achievement in Design – “Shovel Knight” (2014)

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction – “Sparklite” (TBA)

Outstanding Character Design – “Sparklite” (TBA)

Bored Ape Yacht Club has won several awards for their games, including “Best Indie Game of the Year” and “Best Debut Indie Game” for “Shovel Knight.” Their upcoming game “Sparklite” has also been nominated for several awards, including “Outstanding Achievement in Design” and “Outstanding Character Design.”

Press

Bored Ape Yacht Club has been featured in several publications, including IGN, Kotaku, Rock Paper Shotgun, and Gamasutra. They have also been featured on popular podcasts such as Indie Game Radio and Indie Game Enthusiast.

FAQs

Q: Where can I buy Bored Ape Yacht Club games?

A: You can purchase Bored Ape Yacht Club games on their website, as well as on Steam, GOG, Humble Bundle, and itch.io.

Q: What is the refund policy for Bored Ape Yacht Club games?

A: If you are not satisfied with a Bored Ape Yacht Club game, you can contact them within 14 days of purchase and they will issue a refund.

Q: How can I stay up to date on Bored Ape Yacht Club news and announcements?

A: You can follow Bored Ape Yacht Club on social media, or sign up for their newsletter on their website.

The post What’s The Story Behind Bored Ape Yacht Club Creator Yuga Labs? appeared first on Wolf.

There are a growing number of cryptocurrencies that are specifically designed to be eco-friendly and support sustainable development. These “green” cryptocurrencies can be used to finance renewable energy projects, reward people for conserving energy, or simply offset your carbon footprint.

What are Green Cryptocurrencies?

Green cryptocurrencies are digital assets that are designed to promote eco-friendly and sustainable development. There are a number of different green cryptocurrencies in existence, each with its own unique purpose and use case.

Some of the most popular green cryptocurrencies include:

SolarCoin (SLR) – SolarCoin is a rewards program that incentivizes solar energy production. Solar producers can earn SolarCoins for every MWh of solar energy they generate. The SolarCoin Foundation then uses these funds to finance new solar projects around the world.

EcoCoin (ECO) – EcoCoin is a carbon offsetting cryptocurrency that allows users to offset their carbon footprint. ECO can be used to purchase carbon credits which are then used to offset emissions from polluting activities.

GreenCoin (GRE) – GreenCoin is a cryptocurrency that rewards users for sustainable living practices. GRE can be earned by participating in green activities such as recycling, composting, and using renewable energy. The GreenCoin Foundation then uses these funds to finance new green projects around the world.

These are just a few of the many different green cryptocurrencies that are currently available. Each one has its own unique purpose and use case. So, if you’re looking for a way to support the transition to a more sustainable future, consider investing in one of these green cryptocurrencies.

How Do Green Cryptocurrencies Work?

Green cryptocurrencies typically use one of two models to reward users for their participation: proof-of-work (PoW) or proof-of-stake (PoS).

Proof-of-work requires users to solve complex mathematical problems in order to verify transactions on the network. This process, known as “mining,” requires a significant amount of energy, which is often sourced from fossil fuels.

As a result, proof-of-work green cryptocurrencies are not as environmentally friendly as proof-of-stake green cryptocurrencies. However, they are more secure and have faster transaction times.

Proof-of-stake, on the other hand, does not require users to perform any computationally intensive tasks. Instead, users can validate transactions by simply holding coins in their wallets. The more coins a user holds, the greater their “stake” in the network, and the more likely they are to validate a block of transactions.

Proof-of-stake green cryptocurrencies are more environmentally friendly than proof-of-work green cryptocurrencies, but they are less secure and have slower transaction times.

So, which is better? Proof-of-work or proof-of-stake?

It depends on your priorities. If you’re concerned about security, then proof-of-work is probably a better choice. If you’re concerned about environmental impact, then proof-of-stake is probably a better choice. And if you’re concerned about transaction speed, then again, it depends on your priorities.

In the end, it’s up to you to decide which is the best green cryptocurrency for you.

What is the most popular green cryptocurrency?

The most popular green cryptocurrency is Bitcoin. Bitcoin was the first proof-of-work green cryptocurrency, and it remains the most popular and valuable green cryptocurrency today.

Bitcoin’s popularity is due in part to its environmental friendliness. Because Bitcoin miners are rewarded with bitcoins for verifying transactions, they have an incentive to keep their energy consumption low. As a result, Bitcoin mining is more energy-efficient than traditional banking systems.

What are some other popular green cryptocurrencies?

There are many other popular green cryptocurrencies besides Bitcoin. Some of the most well-known include:

Ethereum: Ethereum is a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts. Like Bitcoin, it is powered by a proof-of-work consensus algorithm. However, Ethereum’s mining algorithm is designed to be ASIC-resistant, meaning that it can be mined efficiently with consumer-grade hardware.

Litecoin: Litecoin is a fork of Bitcoin that uses a different proof-of-work algorithm. Litecoin miners can validate blocks faster than Bitcoin miners, which makes the Litecoin network more scalable.

Dogecoin: Dogecoin is a meme-based cryptocurrency that was created as a joke but has since grown to have a large and active community. Dogecoin miners help to secure the Dogecoin network while also earning rewards in the form of Dogecoins.

Bitcoin Cash: Bitcoin Cash is a fork of Bitcoin that uses an improved block size limit. This allows for more transactions to be processed per block, which makes the Bitcoin Cash network more scalable.

Ethereum Classic: Ethereum Classic is a fork of Ethereum that maintains the original blockchain. Ethereum Classic miners help to secure the Ethereum Classic network while also earning rewards in the form of Ether Classic coins.

Zcash: Zcash is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency that uses a unique zero-knowledge proof construction called zk-SNARKs. Zcash miners help to secure the Zcash network while also earning rewards in the form of Zcash coins.

The post Can Crypto Go Green? How To Invest In Eco-Friendly Cryptocurrencies? appeared first on Wolf.

On average, BAs start their careers at $ 500-665 per month. In 1-3 years they might calculate a salary of $ 1100-1500. Of course, the numbers may vary in different countries, companies and of course the level of expertise.

In most cases, the vacancy BA (Business Analyst) is often understood as Information Technology business analytics. But there are lots of such experts in other areas. Such BAs can do in the company, other than writing technical documentation and communicating with the customer.

There is a whole range of BAs, especially in the field of creating digital products. Who they are, their difference, and what is common among these types we will discuss in this article. At the end you will find a checklist for pumping soft skills, important for any specialist working with BAs.

Let’s start with basics

A BA is an expert who collects, processes data and draws conclusions from them. Regardless of a project size, domain or approach to software development, a typical workflow of a Business Analyst looks like this:

• meetings and communication,
• the analysis of data,
• systematization or documentation of decisions,
• ideas visualization and presentation.

Every BA should clearly understand the problems related to managing stakeholders, possible development needs and areas of improvements in terms of delivering agreed scope of work. He helps top management to achieve business goals, stay focused and to understand the effectiveness of a solution based on analytics. A typical BA (medium/senior) should be able to turn an idea into a list of specific tasks that will help stakeholders to achieve their goals. And then evaluate the effectiveness using constantly monitored metrics.

Here is the workflow of an IT BA: to understand the current situation, to help form the desired result and make a plan of action from the present to the future.

Depending on the tasks and data types that BA works with, there are several types of them. But they are all united by soft skills. Let’s walk through them.

Types of BAs and do the do in software development process

Based on the tasks or issues that such experts solves, here are seven types of BAs:

• IT BA – collects customer requirements and prepares terms of reference for the software development vendor/team, offers a solution to the customer’s problem;

• Business Process Analyst – studies and improves processes related to business (especially when it comes to very complicated domains like insurance or finance): recruitment, HR, teamwork performance. The vacancy may be called an operations manager or process BA;

• Business consultant – among common tasks of such candidates are all related to researching and visualizing possible ways of business growth;

• System analyst – the main goal of such a position is to collect and deliver business requirements to software developers, they are also actively involved into designing Information Technology systems and architecture at the very early stages of the project or during modernization.

• Investment analyst – assesses the investment attractiveness of businesses;

• Data analyst – obviously they work with a huge amount of data, using lots of scrips, they are also involved in conducting researches and they are responsible for information visualization;

• Product analyst – studies product metrics, explores growth points and offers management solutions.

Where BAs involved in software development

A common position in outsourcing companies. In short, the BA analyzes and solves customer problems. Moreover, BA understands both the technical part and the business part. He translates business needs into technical language and makes sure that the team equally understands the final decision.

Typical BA’s responsibilities:

• communication with clients;
• collection and analysis of customer requirements;
• drafting a solution concept;
• formation of specifications (technical documentation);
• writing terms of reference and prototyping;
• requirements management – documentation, analysis and prioritization of requirements throughout the project;
• communicating requirements to the development team, including programmers, designers and testers.

How to become

To become an IT business analyst, you do not need to have a technical background, but you must have the soft skills listed above. You can get basic technical knowledge and go to the company intern or Junior position, thus gaining practical experience.

What you need to know:

• product development cycle;
• requirements management process, requirements classification;
• business process diagrams, such as BPMN;
• how the project is built, depending on the methodology – Waterfall, Agile;
• how to write technical documentation.

The post Business analyst in modern software development appeared first on Wolf.

But why are small and large businesses afraid to go digital if it’s empowerment? What are the problems behind this? NGN.agency struggled to deal with this.

Thus, the digitalization of business is the driving force behind its development. Its main advantages are:

• optimization and improvement of communications – both internal and external;
• cross-selling / upsell sales opportunities;
• customer service and encouraging them to purchase more products;
• competitive opportunities by improving the customer experience and overall optimization of the workflow;
• saving time and increasing productivity – automation of production and other internal processes of the company.

According to forecasts published 3 months before the start of the pandemic, global investment in digital technologies and services by 2023 should amount to $ 2.3 trillion. But the crisis has changed everything. COVID-19 is an event that divided the moderate and gradual process of digitalization of business into “before” and “after”. At present, companies are simply forced to switch to technologies they did not plan to implement for some time and reconsider their strategic priorities.

“Implement digital – or die” is the reality of the COVID-19 epidemic.

But small and large businesses have 4 main obstacles.

1. First, the owners do not understand what digital is, and they are afraid that they do not need this “new”.
2. The second is the fear that it is very expensive. This is an important point, because a business that does not calculate what budget it spends on employee services per month, believes that digital is expensive. But if you divide the cost of the digital solution by 12 months, and then for each employee, you will get a fairly small price, clear and normal for business, given that the result it can bring during the year is quite high.
3. Third – there was already a negative experience, or top management took over the negative experience of others.
4. The fourth is thinking like, “It’s all later, and now there are more important things.” This “then” came to quarantine, but even so many still put in a long box. Most likely, those who postponed for a long time have already gone bankrupt

What business needs digitalization?

The speed at which business must operate today is too high. And businesses that do not go online are left without customers. There is a clear algorithm for how businesses go completely digital:

First of all, you need to take the processes that take place within the business and prescribe them. This section will help you understand what tasks are performed within the business. Also list here the people who perform these processes and whether they perform what is required.

The second step is to translate everything into flowcharts. Outline the stages of the process – what is behind it. See how the client communicates with the company, and vice versa – how the company communicates with the client. Then you need to think about how to shorten and speed up this path. Competition in the market is who will “process” the client faster and better.

The third stage – put yourself in the lead of your (or maybe not your) market in terms of digital solutions. See what they do with you as a customer: how the application is processed, how messages are received, how the chatbot works with you and technical support, you can view the delivery.

This is the basic and easiest way to digitalize.

Does digitalisation always help increase profits?

It is important to understand that digital will speed up and streamline business, but it will not replace the fact that there is your product, there is your market size and there are people who help the system work.

Therefore, first of all, you need to refine the product so that in digital it was as effective and useful for the client as in offline. In the long run, digitalization increases the volume of everything that happens in business, helps to scale and, in fact, brings more profit.

Thus, no modern business will be able to survive in the long run without developing a digital transformation strategy. The digitalisation of services, as well as the digitalisation of the state and technology in general, has already saved millions of jobs, helped slow the spread of the virus and allows businesses to cope with the new reality.

If you are just planning to digitalize your business, you need to do it as soon as possible. The long-term future of each company depends on it.

The post Fear of digital transformation appeared first on Wolf.

In a nutshell, deepfake is the name that has emerged from “deep learning” and “fake.” It uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to create a believable, synthetic human voice or video. A deep learning model is trained to the extent that it can generate the imitation of a real person’s voice or image and fool people.

Deepfakes are the reasons for multiple cyber frauds and compromised scams. The main “advantage” of deepfakes is that they’re hard to detect, hence have endless possibilities. And this fact bolsters people’s concerns because the threat is real, and they need to find ways to fight it to avoid being subjected to disinformation.

As a result, businesses now pay closer attention to their cybersecurity measures. They hire security leaders in-house or cooperate with offshore software development centers like Qubit Labs because it’s a more cost-effective option. If you consider outsourcing cybersecurity services as well, you can check out the rates in different countries to choose the most suitable one.

Getting back to the topic of deepfakes, let’s see how exactly they influence cybersecurity and how companies can fight them.

What is the impact of deepfakes on cybersecurity?

Thinking from the point of view of media manipulation, deepfakes are just a new “edition” of the well-known ruse. This is a new way to manipulate people, which is a substitute for using photoshop to edit photos or splicing audio and videotapes. Deepfakes have a lot of potential to go viral and catch the attention of the targeted audience. They’re aimed at impressing people with something, be it controversial speeches from politicians or questionable videos from the heads of the companies.

Deepfakes are often compared to phishing because they make people click on links that have malicious components inside. Also, these links can redirect users to malicious websites.

Some experts mention that the criminals don’t like wasting too much time on coming up with such complicated methods and usually opt for well-known phishing rather than deepfakes. Nevertheless, there still are reported cases of fraudsters using deepfake voice to persuade the company’s employees to send money to criminals’ accounts.

This means that the fraudsters sometimes opt for something more sophisticated than phishing, using the voices of managers and senior team members to convince other workers to do something. Sometimes, deepfakes are used to make false statements and claims about the company to undermine its reputation. Such events have negative consequences, dealing with which requires time and money, as well as efforts focused on restoring the brand’s trust.

How can businesses fight deepfakes?

Since the usual cybersecurity tools aren’t designed to fight deepfakes, the companies face many challenges, trying to reorganize the activities of the departments responsible for their security.

Large companies, in particular, Facebook and Microsoft, are now developing solutions that can help detect deepfake files. They cooperate with the top US universities to establish a significant database of fake videos and make their research more comprehensive. As for Google, it already came up with a database of 3,000 deepfakes, which is aimed to help researchers and cybersecurity specialists fight such recordings and videos.

Here are some valuable tips for the businesses that want to prevent themselves from deepfakes:

Educate your employees

Since employees are the ones who are more exposed to clicking the questionable links, it’s necessary to put their training and vigilance as your top priority. Consider purchasing or developing cybersecurity training. It will help the team members understand the principles of deepfakes, see examples, like an unexpected call from the CEO asking to send money urgently, and know what they should do and how they need to react in such situations.

Stay transparent

In case you’re a victim of a deepfake attack, consider making this news go public. This will help to make your audience aware that it wasn’t your company’s fault that such an event occurred, and they won’t perceive it negatively. Don’t ignore the attack, and don’t think that your audience won’t find out. Truth always comes out eventually, so take your chance to avoid backfire.

Verify every user

It happens that a person who just logged in isn’t the person you think this is. To prevent such situations, make sure to confirm each user via implementing different authentication methods. Although this takes time, you’ll be confident the right person is accessing your company’s resources.

Think twice before giving access and privilege

The more individuals have access to some vital business attributes, the harder it will be to detect the fraudster in case of a deepfake attack. So, before granting access to the user, take time to validate their device, check-up authorization, and verify the network. Also, don’t forget about detecting and remediating threats. You can leverage AI and ML tools to facilitate these processes and not sacrifice the organization’s productivity.

Conclusion

Since there are many tools for creating deepfakes, literally anyone who has a goal to harm a certain company can achieve it. The organizations that don’t want to fall victims to deepfakes should start with the basics, namely educating their employees on the course of action in case of such attacks. A zero-trust approach and greater control over cybersecurity can keep companies safe from dealing with deepfake’s negative impact.

The post How do Deepfakes Affect Cybersecurity? appeared first on Wolf.

1. Analyze

It is necessary to analyze the network and find out the industry standards and the position of the site in relation to competitors. For example, information technology is a highly competitive sphere, there are several hundred software companies in the Russian Internet. And there are no more than forty gold mining companies in Russia. We choose 5-10 resources on similar topics (the more the better), evaluate their structure, design quality, and content, and look at the best ones.
Next, we analyze the number and geography of visitors, as well as the reference base. If our site is being referenced by “toxic” resources, it may be easier to create a new site that is not spoiled by low-quality links. On the contrary, links from popular profile sites improve ranking.

2. Choosing a promotion method

Depending on the activity and goals of the company choose: search engine optimization or contextual advertising.
Contextual advertising (Google AdWords) guarantees the first positions for the chosen search queries. Each user’s click on an ad is paid for and the price per click is set by the advertiser. Several companies are placed in Direct for one keyword phrase, the set prices are taken into account for the distribution of display places: the one who pays more is the first.
We recommend contextual advertising for seasonal sales, short campaigns and special offers. In the output the site is marked as “advertising”, and the ads are read by users who are ready to buy immediately. Direct works quickly, is expensive and does not require any special site adjustments.
Search Engine Optimization – a more complex promotion for businesses aimed at long-term existence. The first sites in the output without the label “advertising” users trust more. The resource is visited not only for the sake of purchase, but also for information, because for SEO you need valuable professional content.
Search engines suggest the page to users, and if the latter stay on it, the article rises in the ranking. Meaningless and uninteresting texts will not attract traffic. For example, our article “Software Warranty and Technical Support” has been occupying the first lines in search results for many years: users read it regularly.
It is difficult to create high-quality content, and you have to post new texts regularly. Unupdated sites rank poorly.

Setting up site profiles in search engines.

When registering services will show a number of errors and recommendations for correction, which is important to implement.

4. Check the server location and language versions of the site

The server on which the site is located – it’s hosting, which is tied to the IP address of the data center. Search engines determine where the server is located and show the site to a geographically relevant audience. Therefore, the server must be located in a city with a target audience. If we are interested in several cities, you need to cache the site at different IP addresses in each city.
If you put several language versions on the same domain, it does not mean that the site will be seen by foreigners. Each language is a separate SEO project. You have to buy different domains and put the appropriate language on each. Then the site will start to rank in the right country. If the Polish market is of interest, the server should be Polish, the address and phone number should be Polish, and links should be from Polish sites.
The search engine consists of search clusters that work for a particular country. If the company works for Americans, the server must be in the United States. For example, only 15% of the visitors to the English version of the site were Americans; when we moved the server to San Francisco, visitors from the US accounted for 60% of the traffic.
Then there is segmentation by city. If we work for the whole country, the server must be located either in the geometrical center or in the capital.

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Hire programmers on staff

01 Team You need to be able to hire the “right” programmers. In fact, 80% of the work is done by 20% of the staff. If you don’t find those who do and can set tasks for the rest, the budget will be wasted.
The motivation of programmers is also quite a serious task. This category of employees is very specific, and the ability to motivate is a special talent.
03 Disk in a box and case It is necessary to protect your product from theft. So that it does not happen that for your money will develop and transfer information to competitors or open a rival firm themselves.

If the project is small, and its development will take up to six months, it makes no sense to hire programmers. The employer has to give the employee certain social guarantees, pay taxes, pay for sick leave, vacations, etc. This is irrational.

Find freelancers.

In this case, first of all, you are deprived of all the burden of the employer. Secondly, this is the cheapest way: freelance programmers cost less, because they usually have no experience working on serious projects. But they can easily complete a typical template project. Freelancers who work well usually have several customers and several projects at the same time. Therefore, 95% of those who complete the task are likely to blow the deadline. There are often unscrupulous freelancers. Some like to supplement their portfolio with other people’s work. Others take an advance payment and disappear. On the exchanges a lot of newcomers who are little of themselves, but know how to advertise. And even if you manage to find decent professionals, they are unlikely to work on your project 20 hours a week. The probability that the project will be delivered on time – about 5%.

You can save on software development in two cases.

If the project is small (for example, on man-week labor, then it will be completed in about three to four weeks).
If the implementation of the task is not critical.

If the project will require five man-years, calculate what a mistake in selecting the performer can cost. Suppose you hire five programmers, and only a year later, when the result is supposed to be delivered, it will be found out that the task was assigned to unskilled people.
For large projects, freelancers with no experience in multi-year projects are not suitable. Their prerogative is small one-time tasks.

Freelance team

Essentially the same as hiring multiple freelancers. If there is no legal entity, no management, and no backbone in the team, at the first force majeure the team falls apart. Co-working teams tend to be just as unstable, unmanageable, and unpredictable in their behavior as solo performers.
In order to keep the organization from serious failures, you need a highly paid, experienced manager who can solve the problems that arise without harming the customer. Often “free artists” neglect the managerial component. And in a team of solid performers, there is no one to analyze tasks, change people, find new ones, motivate them, and bring development to completion when the slightest difficulty arises.

Professional organizations

There are many software companies and they have different degrees of reliability. When considering them, you should pay attention to the following aspects.
01 How the project management function is implemented.
02 The substitutability of employees.
03 The company’s reputation, customer feedback.
04 Developed products similar to yours.
05 Ready-made developments in the form of knowledge or, possibly, source code.
06 Availability of experience in implementing similar projects.
07 Organizational points: availability of ready legal documentation, professional contract, speed of interaction, etc.

When negotiating with a company, it is not necessary to evaluate the qualifications of individual employees. First, programmers exchange knowledge in the course of their work. Secondly, it is possible to form a team with people of a certain focus: one, for example, to develop video surveillance, another – to create a payment system.
A specialized company is the most expensive, but the most reliable solution. The price is determined by the presence of additional overheads and a permanent team of professionals. The company’s profitability and longevity are a testament to sound management and the repeated fulfillment of commitments made in terms of cost and timing.
This option is for those who need serious software products, who create high-loaded unique projects and complex services from scratch. In order not to make a mistake, choose either a specialized organization, or a multidisciplinary one, but necessarily one that has experience in creating similar products.

The post How to create a software product? appeared first on Wolf.

We are ready to cooperate on such terms, but the cost increases. If the customer pays for complete confidentiality, the increased measures are used to ensure its observance.

Ways to ensure confidentiality

01 Man and tick Only verified specialists with high ratings, who are aware that complete secrecy is a principal condition of cooperation, are involved in the development. Appointed programmers sign a special agreement providing for penalties.
02 Page protected In the case of a leak of information, the managers are obliged to take measures: to conduct an internal investigation, to check the executors.
03 Spy The project management system and the source code repository are isolated from the main resources of the company. Materials are accessible only to the assigned specialists and are not transmitted publicly over the network. Anti-virus and anti-spyware software is installed on employees’ computers, protecting them from information theft.

Compensation for advertising costs

When making up a standard website, the question of privacy does not arise. It makes sense. An extra link to the site is not a nuisance, but on the contrary, will attract additional traffic.

For more serious projects, customers often demand complete confidentiality. It turns out that a software company invests a lot of time, effort, knowledge and labor to create a complex and unique product. Such valuable experience, in theory, should increase sales, because the company often chooses a performer with specific competences. But strict compliance with NDA prevents this and requires additional marketing expenses.

That is why confidentiality costs money: in order to attract new customers you cannot show off your existing expertise. When ordering software development, you need to weigh all the arguments and decide whether absolute secrecy is so important, whether it will be beneficial for both parties.

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