Cryptocurrency is a relatively new concept that has gained popularity over the last few years. It’s safe to say that there are many different opinions on cryptocurrencies, with people claiming it’s just a scam and others saying it will change the world as we know it. This article is about finding the right training course for cryptocurrency, so you don’t get scammed or lose money due to a lack of knowledge.
1. There Are a Lot of Scammers Out There
The first thing to look for in a cryptocurrency course is the instructor. You have to be sure that whoever you’re going to learn from actually knows what they’re talking about and won’t take your money and run away with it. That being said, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If you see a course that promises to make you a millionaire overnight or guarantees success, you’re better off not buying it and finding another one. For instance, when selling your house, you have to follow the current market trends, the same applies when dealing with crypto.
2. The Platform the Instructor Uses
There are many different platforms to learn about cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, such as Coursera, Udemy, Skillshare, Udacity, etc. A lot of these are offered for free so that you can use them to your advantage. If the instructor only uses one platform to teach their course, it’s more likely that they have partnered up with this platform instead of creating their website where they could potentially earn a lot more money by offering you the entire course and not just a free preview.
3. Consider Paid Courses
You will be able find a cryptocurrency trading training course like this crypto course called the Plan by Dan Hollings handy as you dive into the crypto world. By looking at the reviews and seeing what other people have to say about this course, you can try it out.
4. Look into the Instructor’s Background
Although this isn’t necessarily something you should look for when choosing your course, it’s still good to know who you’re learning from. If you’re going to pay someone for a private lesson, it helps if they have some entrepreneurial background or experience in the field. If the instructor is, for example, a photographer teaching you about cryptocurrency, it might make more sense to look elsewhere as this person isn’t necessarily an expert.
5. Is The Platform Reputable?
Lastly, before buying any course, always make sure to check the reviews of the platform you’re planning on buying it from. What are other people saying about this specific platform, and is there anything that stands out for them as positive or negative compared to other platforms? If you can’t find any of this information on your own, just Google it, and you should be able to find something.
Because cryptocurrencies are still relatively new, it’s essential to make an educated decision when buying any cryptocurrency. If you don’t know much about them or want to learn more, the easiest way is to take online courses that focus on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. It can be hard to find reliable information. Still, some are worth checking out.
Conclusion
Before buying any cryptocurrency, it’s essential to do your research and make sure you’re investing in something that will stand the test of time. Otherwise, if you’re not careful, you can end up losing a lot of money when the price drops after purchase or even become a victim of scamming yourself.
By taking online courses on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, you can learn to make an educated choice when buying any cryptocurrency.
Managing any business market requires you to be careful and keep watching the finance market trends all the time. The market is very competitive, and everyone investor would want to be ahead of the others. The high competition in the market may make it challenging to keep up with the financial demand. Below are some of the things you need to do to keep up with the market.
1. Focus on Interest Rate and Commodity Trends
It may sometimes be boring and tiresome to track market changes daily. To be successful as an investor, all you need to do is to study the markets trends. This can provide you with enough information to guide you on the best way to invest and the best product to invest in.
What you hear from people or other investors may not be true because they can distort the original information. Also, some pay talk optimistic about a given product or market to lure you to invest in it. Therefore, you need to be very careful as an investor not to fall into such traps. By keenly observing the trends in the market, you will get the original information that has not been interfered with.
A higher interest rate indicates lower stock prices because the companies will spend more money on loans which depresses their earnings. You should be aware that most information about interest rates is being accounted for in the market prices. It can also help you predict future changes in prices in the market.
2. Keep Abreast of Market Trends
It is essential to keep updated on the latest world financial news from the financial media. You can also watch videos at least once every week from financial media to keep updated. You don’t need to buy a big television for you to stay tuned to the news. There are several ways you can access information. One of the most popular ways of getting tuned on the latest market news is through the online platform.
You can visit the different sites of financial companies to get more information about the financial market. Also, various online platforms are available such as Facebook and Instagram, where you can quickly get complete details about the product market. Through the online platforms, you can access the forex news wherever you are.
3. Review Financial Statements
Another best way to keep up with the market is to review financial statements quarterly. You need to discuss and analyze every section of the company’s financial report. Reviewing financial statements will provide you with enough information concerning any change that might have occurred in the market. Also, you will get to know the opportunities and risks available in the market.
You need to dig deep and find any relevant information that may be of great importance to you as an investor. You need to decide on the best means that will enable you to get the full details of the company. That will help you keep up with the market.
4. Interview Firms
Interviewing a financial firm is another way that can help you extract relevant information that is important to you as an investor. However busy you may be, dedicate some time of the year to interview a financial firm. That is the best opportunity to ask all the questions that you may need an answer to.
5. Listen in on Conference Calls
It would help if you took some time to call up investors or representatives in the company where you own stock. You need to perform that every year to confirm if you can listen to their conference hall.
Conclusion
As an investor, it is essential to keep up with the market. The only way to do that is by getting enough information on the trends in the market through the practices mentioned above.
The question of how to increase your business revenue is a difficult one. There are many factors that go into this, from marketing and advertising to the products or services you offer. In this post, we will review eight ways that might help you get started on increasing your revenue.
Hire an SEO company
Find the best SEO Company that knows how to do SEO with perfection, and start taking advantage of their expertise in SEO. They can be an offshore SEO company or an SEO company in your area. They will be able to lead you through the complex world of search engine optimization so that it’s easier for people to find you on Google and other sites when they’re seeking something similar to your product or service.
Imply new technology to improve performance
Sometimes people are hesitant about making these changes because they feel like it is too much work or they don’t understand how to use them. However, that shouldn’t be a concern if you hire someone who knows what they’re doing. Research for tools to help improve your business. For example, investing in new technology like this OCR library, azure OCR to save time and energy or buying new tech to increase your business revenue by providing you with more information that will help you make better decisions. This will make it easier for your customers to interact with you, and therefore improve the performance of your business.
Add a membership plan.
Offer something that people can’t resist, like creating the first month free for new members. This will provide increased value and even bring in some extra cash as well. If they don’t want to continue on, then they won’t have lost anything, but if they do stay, then it’s another customer who is paying money each month.
Focus on one thing at a time
Don’t try too hard to be everything for everyone. This doesn’t mean that there are not many things you can offer or ways that you could improve; just focus on being excellent at only one specific area of what you’re trying to accomplish.
Take advantage of social media marketing.
Social media marketing can also help bring in more revenue by allowing users to share their experiences with friends on various platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. With so many ways for businesses to connect through social media now, there’s no reason why every business wouldn’t want some sort of presence online through sites like LinkedIn.
Make more sales calls.
While this might not seem important, making cold calls is one way that can actually help increase revenue faster than just about anything else if done correctly.
If someone sees your name pop up enough times via phone call, then there’s a chance he/she could eventually become a customer rather than just ignoring your efforts. This method may take some time before seeing any noticeable results, but using an autodialer can help speed up the process.
Try in-person marketing and advertising.
Instead of just relying on your web presence, try expanding into in-person marketing and advertising. This could include things like attending trade shows with promotional materials or offering free samples for people to test out at a mall kiosk. These methods might cost you more money, but they can get people talking about your company which is an important step towards increased revenue over time.
Get a loan from the bank or other lending institution.
This option isn’t for everyone, but if you have been in business long enough to establish yourself as a legitimate company, then it might be something worth looking into.
Getting an SBA (Small Business Association) Loan is easier than ever before and can help fund your efforts of getting more customers over time so that revenue will increase by itself while also allowing you to expand on what’s being offered at your establishment.
Summing up, these are the ways you can increase your revenue by six months. By following these steps, it will allow your business to grow and become more profitable over time which is what we all want. Do not forget that there may be other options available depending on how much money you’re looking for and where you feel like spending it would bring in a better return.
Travel insurance is a credential similar to a passport essential when travelling overseas because it covers an individual or a family financially; if things go wrong in whichever way in the place, you will save a bit of money.
One should keep in mind that not all travel insurance cover all things in all countries; one should ensure that they do travel insurance comparison and travel insurance you take suits your needs as described below.
Check and relate where you are going
The rate of travel insurance can depend on the region that you are travelling for the trip. Some risks in some places might be of more significant concern than others to the insurer. Therefore, choose a travel insurance comparison that protects you at every point travelling to, including the stopovers and transit points. Consider the current risks in every moment of the destination’s travel advisory and subscribe to the updates. Examine whether your policy covers you for cancellations if the advice rate goes up after you have booked.
Determine the period you are going for the trip
Travel insurers give out the policies depending on the time that you will be away. If you are travelling abroad long-term to live or run some businesses, some policies may not cover you. You may need to get property insurance and domestic health insurance in your destination. But depending on the fine print in your policy, some may allow you to pay for extra days. Again, if you often travel for extended periods, consider an annual multi-trip policy that might be a more convenient and better value.
Examine your daily chores in your place of destination
Travel insurers exclude many duties in their standard policies, or else you need to pay more to ensure you cover what you are planning to do. If you are living in another country as an ex-pat and working overseas long term, you may have additional insurance requirements to meet, like a local health insurance policy. Therefore, observe the list of activities that travel insurers include or exclude. It is cheaper to pay your extra cover through your insurer than by getting another policy from another company.
Purchase your travel insurance policy early in advance
Don’t rush to the last minute because if you leave it to the last minute, you are most likely to forget or not have enough money to pay for it or compare the best and preferred one to cater you in the travel, therefore you may not be covered. Again, if an emergency happens before your trip and you have to cancel, you will be covered to a certain extent. Therefore, ensure that you examine what the policy covers in this case before you purchase.
Relate and think about your age and medical conditions
Your age and health condition will determine the kind of cover you require and how much it will cost you. These mainly occur in individuals with pre-existing conditions. Other policies have age limits; hence you have to pay extra for a cover. In health conditions, you ask your insurer if they will cover your situation automatically, or you will need an assessment. It is crucial, to be honest with your insurance provider about any complications you may have.
In conclusion, purchasing travel insurance is very important in your travelling to any destination and can save you a lot of money. In some cases, it may cover everything you take with you on your journey, whether expensive or not, if you have declared it to the insurer—policies better travel, no matter who you are and where you are going.
NaijaVibe is an entertainment site where you get all things entertainment first!
NaijaVibe covers music and entertainment news from all across Africa. Since our beginning, we have maintained a top entertainment spot for Africans to find breaking news stories. With unparalleled reach, NaijaVibe has become a go-to destination for Africans for its unique blend of celebrity interviews, lifestyle coverage, and popular entertainment news.
Also, NaijaVibe is your place where you can connect with influencers, trendsetters, and your ideal consumers.
What Sets NaijaVibe Apart?
The entertainment industry is a hard nut to crack when setting yourself apart from the competition. But, NaijaVibe knows their job well, and there are a boatload of reasons why you should join us…
Reliability: It’s harder to find out and track every latest happening all over Africa but even harder to find out which information sources are reliable, but NaijaVibe does a great job providing reliable information to its visitors. Also, we have a great team of editors who verify everything we publish.
Ease of Access: We are your one-stop entertainment site where you’ll find everything about entertainment in the form of blogs, videos, and podcasts.
Get the Best News from Nigeria: We cover lifestyle, entertainment, and news from Nigeria. Additionally, we cover different events, festivals, and film festivals in the different cities of Nigeria. Believe it or not, there’s no better site than NaijaVibe that covers the different aspects of Nigerian life so beautifully in one place.
Our Mission
At NaijaVibe, we are on the mission to be an entertainment hub for Africa where you find all the latest entertainment news, trends, and other stuff before they are revealed anywhere else – that too at your fingertips!
Our Story
NaijaVibe is the only entertainment platform Africawide that focuses on putting its finger at the pulse of entertainment.
NaijaVibe was founded with two main objectives…
To provide news on what’s trending in the world of entertainment in Africa and beyond and ensure that Africans know what’s trending all over Africa.
We eat, sleep, breathe entertainment, and thrive on delivering the latest and greatest news in the industry, improving what you should know, and bringing creative ideas to the table.
This same approach made us popular all over Africa. And, today, we are honored with 1.5 million monthly visitors on our site, and we are humbled and proud at the same while announcing that we are one of the top sites of Nigeria that you’ll come across with regards to entertainment.
The massive exposure became the motivation behind conceiving another worth-implementing idea – CONNECTING pop culture lovers regardless of where they belong.
We have a huge online presence that will help you reach your ideal clients the quickest way and will provide you with the exposure you’ve always wanted (and deserve).
CEO of NaijaVibe
Stephen Nzurum is the CEO of NaijaVibe and manages the whole platform to ensure that his audience get authentic and engaging content. Stephen is also the author of two books, “Start a Small Bussiness Online” and “Nigeria Music Streaming Market: Stream Music In Nigeria”.
Consider moving business banks. Whatever you decide, take your time.
May you want to consider changing the bank? You don’t want to be fooled into believing it’s easy.
While it may seem like just another task, transferring banks might be more involved than you think. Your payroll is tied to your bank account, and you may have several automated withdrawals. It’s not necessarily a trivial task.
For some business owners, it may not be worth the bother; for others, it may be. Maybe you need a more extensive bank. Perhaps you dislike the customer service and want a more responsive bank. Maybe your present bank charges high maintenance costs.
But there might be a lot of difficulties and hidden fees involved. So, if you’re considering changing banks, here are some factors to think about.
#1. Accounts with credit cards
With your bank, you most likely have a merchant account where your revenue from credit card transactions is deposited, as well as a separate account where your transaction fees are deducted. The simplicity with which you may rebuild a merchant account at a new bank might vary based on the bank you choose. However, for some business owners, it may be a significant source of frustration.
#2. Payroll
Your payroll provider can handle most of the hassles associated with transferring banks, so that’s a given. However, you may still be required to use the internet or make a phone call to complete your task. (When McDonald switched banks, she contacted her payroll firm because she had three employees.)
What’s up with the aches and pains? For that reason, if your employees get their paychecks by direct deposit, you or your payroll provider will need to ensure that the new bank knows your employees’ account and routing information.
Forms for authorizing automated payments or direct deposits may also be required. Prepare in advance, so your employees don’t discover they haven’t been paid when the time comes.
#3. Time
Time is money, as they say. You may want to consider changing the bank, but is it necessary right now? Especially if you’re the one performing the work rather than a CFO or an accountant, you might be better off waiting until things calm down before making a decision.
Wrap Up
Don’t allow the difficulty of moving banks to deter you from making the transition. If you need to switch banks, you need to change banks immediately. Although moving banks can be a hassle, with careful planning, you may reduce some of the stress that can accompany the process.
You may get an auto loan from a dealership, a bank loan for an apartment, an installment arrangement for a new phone with just one click, and you may want to consider changing the bank. Is this something you’ve heard before? One or more significant loans and several smaller ones are all weighing heavily on the shoulders of the average borrower.
You may grow accustomed to using a loan agreement palette if a specific bank continues to do so out of habit. Moving a loan or loans from one place to another might lower borrowing expenses and consolidate many loans into a single one.
Businesses and to develop their personalities as well. Company culture is usually strongly associated with this personality. As core values, goals, and principles, predefined by the business managers and owners, are the essential features of such a personality.
But while the executive leadership and business owners may have a deep understanding of the company values, a vital task of a good HR is to ensure that this understanding trickles down to all employee levels.
There is a direct interdependence between understanding and sharing company values and working toward company goals. Here are several actionable tips to make even an email signature generator communicate your values to every single employee within the company.
Find a place on the corporate website
Company values are guidelines and shared beliefs that help people effectively work together toward common business goals. From a business perspective, a clear set of company values helps to make decisions easier and sets a particular tone in communication and relationships with employees and customers.
Therefore, finding a place for a company’s values on the corporate website is an excellent option to make sure they are well communicated to both. Creating a business is similar to creating a community. If you want it to function well, you need to share a standard code.
The company values define who you do business with and who you do not. Therefore, it is always better to make this point clear right from the start. The more clearly and openly you state your company values on the corporate website, the more accurate and committable they become for the employees.
Add a banner to the internal email signature
Emails signature is a powerful tool often underestimated by people. An average office worker daily receives 121 and sends 40 business emails. Thus, the company business correspondence is an excellent way to communicate the company values inside and outside the company itself.
Your image is your selling point, so why not use it to benefit from inner company culture? Thus, the incorporation of the ad banner into internal signature systems can considerably contribute to value awareness.
For instance, an inspiring quote shared using the corporate signatures system creates a lasting impression and strikes an emotional chord.
Humans are emotional. Therefore, they tend to remember things that have emotional appeal. Many businesses have already experienced the benefits and proved the efficiency of this hint. Numerous email signature examples are demonstrating an elegant yet powerful utilization of email signature banners for brand values spread.
Promote them through all internal communication channels
Creating a positive company culture and workforce is essential for proper business functioning. After all, a diverse workplace and an appealing corporate culture can attract top talent, engage and retain the most productive employees.
Building a sense of corporate values is a challenging task. However, it always starts with simple actions. Internal communication gets vital in this process. Consider applying the following strategies:
Use messaging to encourage collaboration.
Ensure a direct communication line between leadership and employees
Keep all conversations on one platform
Encourage feedback.
Thus, there are tremendous opportunities to communicate and promote corporate values via internal communications tools, which employees use to share ideas, give and receive feedback, set and assign tasks.
Conduct regular employee training
To successfully promote your corporate values throughout your organization it is essential to incorporate them into every employee-related process. To help your values stick to the employees’ minds, some time, effort, and training will be required.
Formal training on core values is a simple way to make sure your employees are adequately onboarded right from their first day. Besides, putting effort into this process shows the company appreciation and respect for its values and every employee.
For instance, if teamwork is one of your corporate values, planning team-building training is an excellent way to emphasize the importance of this value. The values of tolerance, diversity, and inclusion may be promoted via such training as well.
The employees of organizations who undertake training often feel like a supportive and friendly work environment. This encourages the feeling of being valued and welcomed. As a result, you get more productive, loyal, and motivated employees eager to learn and improve for the company’s benefit.
Make your values visual
Making your core values visual is the most efficient way to make them memorable and strongly associated with the company. However, to make them popular with your employees, you need to think of the places with high traffic or the objects often used within your work environment.
Making your values a prominent feature in the workplace will keep them at the forefront of the employees` minds. Here are some actionable ways to promote your values in the workplace:
Printed materials
In the world of digital everything, printed materials can still make a difference, especially when we are talking about the office working environment. There are several simple tips to consider before putting printed materials into action:
printed materials are a direct reflection of your business values, therefore avoid cheap, low-quality, or simply meaningless printing.
focusing solely on the will hardly bring the desired effect. Make your values something like bullet points and recognizable phrases, not just logos, and images.
creativity is the only reliable way to make the message comprehensive and catchy.
Corporate merch for employees
Picking corporate merch for employees is not as it seems to be if you want to promote your company values. The secret is – focus on the why behind the product. Make sure you pick an item that somehow relates to your company values, not just because it is good-looking or valuable.
Thus, if one of your company’s values is sustainability, make sure your corporate merch relates to a sustainable promotional products group.
Conclusion
The company values reflect the spirit of the company in general. Crating, reinforcing, and keeping up to date is an ongoing process. What is more important, to successfully promote the company values, HR specialists need to spare no effort and work creatively.
If you are looking for some fresh ideas in revealing the company values, start with writing an action plan following these tips. And don`t forget to add some personal touch and creativity so that everything would work great.
We are specialists in supplying office furniture online to businesses and offices across the UK. We offer a wide range of items including desks, chairs, tables and more at affordable prices. If you’re looking for an online marketplace for office furniture in the UK then look no further than A1 Office Furniture!
Our furniture for sale is available in a range of styles and designs to suit your individual taste. If you’re looking for something contemporary, we have light oak desks with black detailing that are available in various shapes including L-shaped and U-shaped options. We also stock other office essentials including filing cabinets, storage solutions and bookcases so please get in touch if you cannot see what you are looking for.
This means that everything we sell will last a long time in the office without losing any of its quality or comfort. We also have plenty of ex-corporate items including restaurant furniture for sale, perfect for businesses that are looking to create a stylish yet professional environment.
The items we offer are all listed at affordable prices so you don’t have to worry about breaking the bank when outfitting your office or business with new furniture.
A1 Office Furniture online is a family-operated business that has been up and running very smoothly. We have nearly three decades of experience in supplying and installing office furniture, so you can be confident that you are purchasing items from experienced professionals who only supply the highest quality pieces.
Our wide range of office furniture is available for delivery across mainland UK so please enquire about costs if you would like us to send anything your way.
All of our items are affordable but you don’t have to sacrifice quality to find what you’re looking for! We carefully inspect everything before it is put on sale so each item has been tried and tested by us at A1 Office Furniture. To learn more about the process of supplying and selling office furniture in the UK, please get in touch. A1 Office Furniture have a wealth of experience so you can be sure that we know what we are talking about!
We have a huge selection of furniture to choose from so finding the perfect pieces to buy will be easy for you. We also offer our customers great discounts on each product, so if you’re looking for cheap office furniture online in the UK then look no further than A1 Office Furniture!
Benefits of using online A1 Office Furniture marketplace:
A wide range of products available
Same day delivery nationwide
Guaranteed quality and furniture for less cost than high street prices.
Our quality assurance team tests every product before it is sent to customers, so you can rest assured that your items will be in perfect condition for you to use straight away.
Our quality assurance team tests every product before it is sent to customers, so you can rest assured that your items will be in perfect condition for you to use straight away.
our furniture company staff are highly motivated, high quality workers who care deeply about what they do. We make sure you always get exactly what you need to maintain your facility in top condition.
We’ve worked hard to gather the best suppliers and manufacturers across UK to provide you with best-in-class service at unbeatable prices . They come highly recommended because they share our dedication to quality and value.
Your satisfaction is important to us so we do everything we can to make sure every purchase is exactly what you ordered and everything it should be. But if you do need to return your items, we’ll make it as easy as possible for you.
We hope you find this site a useful source of information about us and the products we sell . We have worked hard to build a company that our customers can have faith in, so please let us know if you have any questions or comments, and we’ll do our best to help.
For online marketplace for office furniture in the UK visit A1 Office Furniture where we have a wide range of products available to order today!
If you are looking for durable, used office chairs in UK then look no further. Kings Office Furniture is the leading supplier of quality office furniture to businesses and offices around the world. We have a wide range of new and used office chairs that will suit your needs perfectly.
At Kings Office Furniture, we understand that every business is different and consequently there is no one-size-fits-all approach to office furniture. Instead, our professional team provides customized solutions to ensure your workplace runs as smoothly as possible. We will work with you to find the ideal floor plan for your office, which includes arranging space for the correct number of work stations, includes allocating an area for storage and creates a layout that is ergonomically suitable for your employees.
Once you have approved the design there are plenty of ways we can customize office furniture to suit your requirements. You can choose the fabric, color and finish so it matches with existing décor. We have all of the essential furniture items required by an office, including filing cabinets, bookcases and coffee tables.
Our range of used office chairs is constantly being updated with fresh stock that has been sourced from businesses across the UK. You can browse our catalogue online to find the ideal model for your business. If you have any questions or would like help finding what you are looking for, do not hesitate to contact us today.
Benefits of buying used office chairs in UK:
Meeting your budget.
More variety to choose from.
A wide range of quality products available for you to select from, which means you can find the perfect chair for any size and type of workplace, with all the options to match your needs. There is no need to settle for the first chair that you see.
Buying used chairs is eco-friendly, because it reduces your carbon footprint by helping you minimize your waste.
We supply only quality office furniture that has been refurbished and tested thoroughly before being offered to customers at highly competitive prices. Our refurbishing process ensures that your office furniture is of high standard and will give you great value for money.
Our used chairs come from professional companies with a range of new models available on the market, so if any employees are looking to upgrade their chair, they have an opportunity to do so without having to fork out a lot of money.
If you need some advice on choosing the correct chair for your office, our professional team are on hand to answer any of your questions. Many customers choose to use this service so they know that their new chairs will perfectly suit their requirements.
We can help you refurbish your old chairs and make them look like new again, if you would prefer not to purchase a brand new model.
Buying used chairs is one of the most cost effective choices you can make, especially if your budget is limited.
We put together packages that give your office an entire new look at reduced prices for all types of furniture items. You can choose to refurbish or buy new items; it all depends on what suits your business the best.
We source chairs from a wide range of different sources. Once we have finished with them, they are checked and tested thoroughly before being sold to our customers, so you can be sure that the quality is always top notch.
Our range includes leather and fabric models, which look great in any type of workplace setting. This means you can have elegant chairs for an office that provides services to clients, or simple plastic ones that are easy to clean for a busy factory floor.
We carry all of the essential items required by any business, including desks, filing cabinets, bookcases and coffee tables .
If you are looking to save money on your next purchase but do not want to cut corners when it comes to quality, we can help you find the office furniture that will perfectly suit your requirements. Buying second hand items is a cheaper option than buying new and investing in top of the range products.
We only supply high quality refurbished chairs that have been carefully tested and checked before they are offered for sale to our customers.
The development of information technologies has accelerated the growth of all spheres of the economy. For the automotive industry, the creation of autopilot systems has become one of the key areas. In this context, ensuring automotive cyber security is one of the major challenges manufacturers face. Let’s take a closer look at the current state of autopilot’s reliability, whether AI can be trusted to control your car, and whether it is possible to safely drive on modern roads.
Today’s situation
Today, self-driving systems are not only devices that give drivers some tips but also control units that fully release a person from the need to drive a vehicle. Many years of experience in the aviation industry played a significant role in the appearance of such tools. However, creating an autopilot for land transport turned out to be more challenging since there were many more factors to consider. Some of them are difficult to analyze, for example, the behavior of other drivers on the road.
Currently-produced vehicles are unique cyber-physical systems. That means a built-in autopilot must not only be resistant to internal failures but also protected from outside interference. Researchers providing cyber security assessment services conduct increasingly sophisticated tests of such systems.
Nevertheless, at any major conference on self-driving systems’ development, one can hear a report on newly identified vulnerabilities. Not all car manufacturers pay attention to them, which leads to ignoring severe problems for years. At the same time, there remains a threat to the life and health of drivers and passengers.
Periodic media reports of accidents involving self-driving cars have undermined public confidence in these systems. Over the past five years, it has decreased from 64% to 53%. The study results, conducted with about 23,000 respondents worldwide, were presented in December 2020 at the latest Urban Mobility online forum.
How countries introduce autopilot systems
The use of self-driving systems brings economic advantages, improves road safety and vehicle handling, minimizes the load on transport networks, and improves infrastructure. All this allows us to speak of the industry’s development priority and the need to work out and modernize technical standards, techniques, and regulations.
In most countries, the law still requires a driver to be behind the wheel of an autonomous vehicle. That is mainly due to unresolved technical and legal issues. Both car manufacturers and state authorities are not yet ready for the full-fledged introduction of self-driving vehicles.
So, in 2020, 53 states, including members of the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and African countries, approved common rules for self-driving vehicles of the third level of driving automation. In such systems, even when the autopilot is turned on, a person must be there in the driver’s seat to take control in an emergency. The agreement stipulates the speed at which the vehicle should drive on autopilot mode (no more than 60 km/h), the mandatory presence of a black box in the car, and other conditions.
The tests of the systems specified above are actively being carried out in Russia too. In March 2020, the country’s government approved the Road safety concept that took into account the introduction of self-driving cars. According to Sber Automotive Technologies’ press service, such vehicles are given all necessary permits to move on public roads.
Current threats
As follows from the latest sociological surveys, respondents are scared by the likelihood of the autopilot’s technical failure. These fears are not unfounded: now and then, North America and Europe’s media publish reports of accidents involving self-driving systems.
For example, in 2018 in California, the navigation device of a Tesla car failed to detect the lane lines on the highway. The car accelerated instead of braking and drove into a concrete barrier. That resulted in the death of a 38-year-old Apple engineer. Many still remember the accident in Russia in the summer of 2019 on the Moscow Ring Road. Then the system didn’t identify an obstacle, which led to a collision and subsequent vehicle fire.
The danger to the driver and passengers can also come from malefactors. Employees of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel carried out a series of experiments and discovered vulnerabilities in Tesla autonomous cars. One of the latest studies has shown that anyone can deceive them by projecting an image of a road sign on an advertising billboard.
A projection of just 0.42 seconds has appeared to be enough to cause the system’s malfunction. Experts developed a special algorithm that automatically identifies the area of an image undetectable to the human eye in the course of a drive. That made it possible to mask the phantom sign in the video effectively.
The technology can also be provoked with stickers, graffiti, or projections of specially prepared images, such as pedestrians, trees, poles, etc. Some owners of autonomous cars note that the risk of an error increases in the dark, when driving is the most dangerous.
Moreover, one doesn’t need expensive equipment and other devices to disrupt the system’s operation in the ways described above. After all, digital billboards are easily subject to cyber attacks. A potential malefactor with the necessary skills only needs to display the right image on the screen to provoke a collision on a busy highway.
The need for the interaction of self-driving vehicles with each other is also a risk. The networks are designed to analyze the optimal traffic schedule, speed within the flow, distance, route, etc. In a real-case scenario, they can become an easy target for hackers.
Self-driving car manufacturers are dealing with safety issues in different ways. For example, in 2014, Tesla launched its Bug Bounty program. The company is willing to pay researchers up to $15,000 for vulnerabilities found in autopilot systems. Tesla’s official website even has a Hall of Fame of those who contributed to improving the safety of this manufacturer’s vehicles.
Uber began experimenting with self-driving systems in 2013. Safety experts Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek managed to lock the brake pedal, turn the wheel, and in some cases even accelerate the car – all this via an Internet connection. For example, they successfully tricked the collision avoidance system in a Toyota Prius, which activates the brakes. The researchers also turned the wheel in a Jeep Cherokee (which was going at 80 mph) by remotely turning on the parking mode.
Autopilot technical features
The level of risk of hacking may differ depending on the system’s design. According to Charlie Miller, an expert in cyber security services, phantom attacks are mainly faced by self-driving vehicles using video cameras. On the contrary, cars with installed laser rangefinders controlling distance and speed have a reduced likelihood of outside interference.
The systems for determining fake signs and obstacles (Ghostbusters and analogs) can be used to solve the above problem of self-driving vehicles with video cameras. Their operating principle is based on recognizing illumination around the object and analysis of the “context of space.” That minimizes but doesn’t eliminate the risk of hacking.
Experts from Trend Micro and Linklayer Labs note that manufacturers won’t be able to fully protect their cars from hacker attacks, even by getting rid of emerging system vulnerabilities. The reason for this is the use of the outdated CAN protocol that unites all components and sensors into a single network.
Mikhail Lisnevsky, a representative of the Softline group of companies, emphasizes that modern self-driving vehicles use the same CAN bus. The difference is that previously, to access it, one had to access the interior, but now one only needs to use the update channel. The introduction of a great number of additional sensors, automated mechanisms, etc., also complicates the protection.
In Charlie Miller’s opinion, the danger is also represented by the OBD2 diagnostic connector, through which one can give commands to the car systems. This can become a problem for driverless taxis, where a malefactor can easily gain access to the interior and dashboard. To improve the situation, the expert suggests the methods used for secure infrastructures: mutual authentication of individual components and internal segmentation. It is also necessary to develop an intrusion detection system that will alert the driver in case of anomalies in the internal structures (a prototype of such a system was demonstrated by Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek in 2014).
System development trends
The world experts’ forecasts regarding the future of the above technology can’t be called optimistic. On the one hand, the cost of self-driving cars is expected to decline in the short term. According to Igor Levitin, the aide to the Russian Federation president, one vehicle’s price will be from three to five thousand dollars. On the other hand, the large-scale availability of such transport will inevitably lead to new ways of hacking the system.
That means ensuring road users’ safety will require constant modernization of traffic regulations and infrastructure and the emergence of new trades. Among them are a Driving Situation Scriptwriter, Specialists in Information Security, Data Analysis, Driverless Car Maintenance, etc.
Yet today, we can speak of the complexity of collecting and processing data coming from the system. Intel analysts suggest that during a trip lasting about 1.5 hours, a vehicle equipped with autopilot will generate no less than four terabytes of information.
Storing data about the operation of sensors, traffic, geolocation, etc., requires enormous computing power. This information must also be well-secured. Blocking access to important data for security purposes will limit the capabilities of vehicles connected to the network.
According to The representative of Cognitive Technologies, it is necessary to develop a certified and regularly updated mechanism in such a situation. Otherwise, manufacturers have to eliminate the possibility of external control of the autopilot.
Over the past years, the problem of adversarial examples remains relevant. Modern neural networks haven’t yet learned how to identify deliberately distorted data accurately. That regularly leads to difficulties in recognizing objects.
The integration of self-driving cars with an intelligent transportation system creates opportunities for the emergence of new vulnerabilities. This, in turn, increases the risk of successful hacker attacks. A representative of the StarLine association reported that work on creating high-level protection is carried out by both large private companies and the UN Economic Commission for Europe.
The future of car autopilot
Today, technologies for protecting self-driving cars are developing much more slowly than hacking tools. The development of any driverless system model takes several years. During this time, ideas that were progressive at the beginning of research often become critically outdated.
Self-driving car manufacturers can help address emerging automotive security issues. To that end, they need to regularly collect data on discovered vulnerabilities, quickly troubleshoot, and share such information with the professional community. For this purpose, in 2014, the Auto-ISAC – global Information Sharing and Analysis Center – was created.
Experts in cyber security consulting services believe that a car ecosystem’s comprehensive protection will shortly be available. Thus, the main task of future cyber immunity will be to block the access of malefactors to the car’s primary units, even if they hack the accessory components and reach the diagnostic connectors.
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