Wrapping up 2023

Here I sit, and I am looking back over this year and seeing that I have been able to get back to doing more writing for my blog. It is something that I missed doing for a couple of years and now to see what 2024 is like. My blog is my way of expressing myself and things that I like and writing about things that have bothered me.

This year I have been able to spend some time working on writing about several different topics, but all these topics are things that I write about and enjoy doing that writing. As I sit and look back at the different things that I have written about, I feel lucky. I am lucky that I can sit and write about all these different things and share them the way that I do.

As I sit here and think through what has happened during this year, I can say that I am happy, and I am looking forward to seeing what is around the corner in 2024. Not everything that happened this past year has been happy, but we have been able to get through each thing and know that each day is a new day. I hope that I can continue to write my blog and continue to have fun writing about some of the silly things that have happened.

I hope everyone has a good holiday season if you do celebrate, and I look forward to continuing to get more blogs written in 2024.

How conferences have changed

We were recently at a conference, and I can honestly say that it has really changed since the Pandemic. What I was noticing was that there were a lot fewer people at it. I am not certain if it was weather related or the location of the conference. This conference was in downtown Toronto, and I figured it would have good attendance, or at least that is what I had hoped.

I know that, even for the two of us, it was a decision that we made the day of the event. When we first talked about the event, we were going to be heading down right after rush hour so that we could spend the day down there. The morning of the event we had a decision to make and that was are we going down as planned, going at all, or going for just part of the day? Sure, our own desire of going to this one event had changed, so we needed to sit back and figure out what was best for the two of us and our business.

The result of our decision was we went for just part of the day and spent the morning at home/office getting some work done. It was nice to be able to have that time to get some work done and then head down. When we got to the event, the first thing that we noticed that it wasn’t as busy as we were expecting. Of course, we arrived when some of the sessions were in, but even after the sessions let out it didn’t feel busy at all.

We did stay through to the end of the event and the prize draws, but didn’t win anything. The one thing that I did notice that even during the prize draws that wasn’t the normal crowd so that was very different. The event was pretty good, and I know that we didn’t talk to a lot of the vendors, as there weren’t the one there that were of a big interest to us. Now to see if there is going to be the fall event next year or not, I guess we will have to see next year what happens.

Events have changed since the Pandemic and the biggest things are the number of vendors that are at the shows but also the number of attendees. The price of running an event has increased a lot with insurance and all the other things, and when you must pay staff to travel and man a booth it can become too expensive if you don’t get the business from the show.

Events and conferences continuing to change since the Pandemic, and they will continue to change as businesses change how they find customers. For now, we will attend the events and conferences that we can if they feel that they will also be of an advantage to our business and customers as well.

 

 

 

 

 

Why cybersecurity awareness training is important

So many people, when you mention to them about cybersecurity awareness training, they think it is a waste of time. Cybersecurity awareness training is a good idea and not just for you at work but also for you as an individual and for your family as well.

Cybersecurity awareness training is a means of teaching someone what all the different ways an email account can be attacked. It also trains you to be aware of all those other techniques that someone wanting to get access to your information or your company’s information can do it. Yes, it is amazing how many people fall for those emails that sound too good to be true. Cybersecurity awareness training also educates you on what to be aware of when you are visiting websites as well.

There are so many different techniques that a scammer/bad guy can do to make it look like the email you are getting looks valid. It doesn’t matter the size of the company because attacks can happen to any size of company or any individual. Being aware of what you should look at to ensure you aren’t clicking on something you shouldn’t or replying to something you shouldn’t help a lot.

If your company provides you with this type of training, it is a good idea to step into the training and take full advantage of it. It may require you to watch some short videos and answer questions, but they are normally not very long but are required if the company has Cyber insurance. The other part of this training is you will be getting random emails that will be testing your knowledge. It is a great way of making sure that you have been paying attention to the training, and it also reinforces it. If you happen to be clicking on everything in these emails, you will get more training to take just to make sure you are learning the material.

One thing that is important to know is that it doesn’t matter how large or small your company is, this type of training is important. Also, anyone at home or at work can click on something that they shouldn’t or answer that question that they shouldn’t answer when it comes in an email. So, remember, if you have a credit or debit card or have internet access, you can get taken advantage of. The material that you learn at work through this type of training will also help you and your family at home. If you have learned something, remember to pass this on to those that you love because it will help them as well.

Cybersecurity awareness training may seem like a waste of time, but you don’t want to be the person that clicks on something that they shouldn’t and cost your company hundreds of thousands of dollars or worse they are forced to close because the information that was stolen meant they couldn’t get back to operating like they did before the attack. This training can also mean that it could help you prevent clicking on something at home and giving someone access to your banking information. So, remember it’s important to take that training when it’s offered as it is important to you as both an individual and an employee.