Tech

What is the Best Software Solution for Due Diligence?

Published

2 years ago

January 26, 2023

Corporate solutions like the virtual data room allow you to make a single centralized authority within the company that will work perfectly for any type of business. Your departments will work together quite efficiently, as this application increases the overall communicability of work system automation. It’s no wonder that most entrepreneurs choose virtual data rooms for their long-term use. Today we’re going to talk about just that, looking at some important aspects that most newbies are interested in.

Criteria for the best VDR for your company

In the virtual data room market, there are a huge number of different offers from different providers. This is not surprising, since the demand for these technologies has increased first since the pandemic and then since the crisis due to the war in Europe. At the moment, most large enterprises work exclusively remotely, increasing the optimization and availability of their services with the help of the Internet. It is difficult to list all of the criteria for better virtual data rooms, so we will try to summarize them:

The best virtual dataroom should be extremely secure, with advanced encryption and other tools such as security policy settings that are most effective for your business. The reality is that security is complicated because every company’s security requirements are different. For example, you may own a small company where security is not a big deal. That is to say, you may be satisfied with standard encryption security. That does not mean that you have nothing to hide from outsiders; it means that the proportion of your information in the company is not essential to making it very secure. On the other hand, larger companies are more demanding of security and flexibility in security policy settings, as they have tens of thousands of sensitive files that need to be properly organized and the right security criteria set for each employee.
Your ideal data room should have all the automation tools you need. As trivial as it sounds, all of the functions of data room software should be used by you. If you find that you are not using my feature in the data room that you just purchased, then you should reconsider your pricing plan with the employee who offered it to you. Generally, the data technology provider and developers will go out of their way to give you a discount if you give up a feature that only burdens your company. You should check out the https://data-room.ca/virtual-data-room-ma/ site to look at the best deals on the market.
The perfect data room software should hold all the documents and files you need. Consider the file storage capacity in terms of the size of this particular file storage. If the developer of a secure data room offers you to pay for his services with occupied hard drive space, then refuse such an offer. This is not a good marker because the price begins to float and you do not know what to expect at the end of the month or how much you will pay in the end. Run this by your prospective virtual data room customer manager right away.

You have to look at potential implementations in your company in terms of efficiency and cost. It is important to analyze all the activities of your company, deduce the weak points in that company, and think about how you can automate most of the tasks. You have to make something like a list of requirements that you will provide to the data room developers. They can help you automate your routine business processes. With today’s technology, like artificial intelligence, most tasks are easy enough. Data rooms, on the other hand, use artificial intelligence for just that purpose.

Specific examples in the VDR world for due diligence

It’s time to move on to specific examples that provide the best interaction between the business and the due diligence process. These solutions should significantly optimize and speed up the entire process of implementing this solution. For example, you can look at the following solution as a point of comparison:

iDeals

This is a classic choice for most entrepreneurs. It’s a fairly well-known company that has top-notch solutions that can help you with your daunting due diligence process. That works as well as cloud-based solutions and full-fledged software for different platforms like Windows or Linux. They have their own labs where they don’t investigate the various impacts of technological advances in the enterprise. They produce high-end products for their customers, according to these reports.

In any case, the iDeals price range is not that big, which is fine for short-term business transactions as well as long-term use. They have all the necessary security certifications that might come in handy if you have a branch or work in the US, Britain, Europe, or other countries that are worried about data privacy.

DealRoom

This data room for due diligence is similar to the previous one, but it is twice as expensive and has much more features. Quite often, this room is used as a short-term room for due diligence and possible mergers and acquisitions. It has ongoing technical support and all the necessary and even redundant security certifications. It works mostly as a cloud-only solution.

DD360

This is one of the most expensive and best data rooms you can find on the Internet. It has advanced artificial intelligence technology, the best technical support with a huge amount of material to learn, and some of the best encryption in the enterprise technology market. It’s only used by large companies that can afford to spend a huge amount of money.

If you have a small or medium-sized company, then this solution will not suit you, not only because of the price but also because of the huge number of different features that will be just useless for you. As a consideration for expensive VDRs, this M&A data room is a good example. Take it or leave it—it’s entirely up to you.

Compare these three data room providers, making sense of their functionality and operation. This is easy enough with third-party resources that allow you to do this. Look for real reviews from people, pay attention to their area of business, and compare the different features that these virtual data rooms have. This is necessary for your own benefit and convenience.

Tech

Ottawa orders TikTok’s Canadian arm to be dissolved

Published

3 days ago

November 6, 2024

Anne Joseph

The federal government is ordering the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform, but stopped short of ordering people to stay off the app.

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the government’s “wind up” demand Wednesday, saying it is meant to address “risks” related to ByteDance Ltd.’s establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc.

“The decision was based on the information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners,” he said in a statement.

The announcement added that the government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content.

However, it urged people to “adopt good cybersecurity practices and assess the possible risks of using social media platforms and applications, including how their information is likely to be protected, managed, used and shared by foreign actors, as well as to be aware of which country’s laws apply.”

Champagne’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking details about what evidence led to the government’s dissolution demand, how long ByteDance has to comply and why the app is not being banned.

A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the shutdown of its Canadian offices will mean the loss of hundreds of well-paying local jobs.

“We will challenge this order in court,” the spokesperson said.

“The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive.”

The federal Liberals ordered a national security review of TikTok in September 2023, but it was not public knowledge until The Canadian Press reported in March that it was investigating the company.

At the time, it said the review was based on the expansion of a business, which it said constituted the establishment of a new Canadian entity. It declined to provide any further details about what expansion it was reviewing.

A government database showed a notification of new business from TikTok in June 2023. It said Network Sense Ventures Ltd. in Toronto and Vancouver would engage in “marketing, advertising, and content/creator development activities in relation to the use of the TikTok app in Canada.”

Even before the review, ByteDance and TikTok were lightning rod for privacy and safety concerns because Chinese national security laws compel organizations in the country to assist with intelligence gathering.

Such concerns led the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill in March designed to ban TikTok unless its China-based owner sells its stake in the business.

Champagne’s office has maintained Canada’s review was not related to the U.S. bill, which has yet to pass.

Canada’s review was carried out through the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate any foreign investment with potential to might harm national security.

While cabinet can make investors sell parts of the business or shares, Champagne has said the act doesn’t allow him to disclose details of the review.

Wednesday’s dissolution order was made in accordance with the act.

The federal government banned TikTok from its mobile devices in February 2023 following the launch of an investigation into the company by federal and provincial privacy commissioners.

— With files from Anja Karadeglija in Ottawa

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

Source link

Health

Here is how to prepare your online accounts for when you die

Published

2 weeks ago

October 24, 2024

Anne Joseph

LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?

It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.

Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:

Apple

The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.

For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.

You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.

Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.

Google

Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.

When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.

You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.

There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.

Facebook and Instagram

Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.

When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.

The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.

You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.

TikTok

The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.

Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.

It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.

Passwords

Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?

Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.

But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.

___

Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.

Source link

Tech

Google’s partnership with AI startup Anthropic faces a UK competition investigation

Published

2 weeks ago

October 24, 2024

Anne Joseph

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.

The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.

The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.

“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”

San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.

Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”

“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.

The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.

Source link