בעיכוב קליל ואופייני שנמשך שנים, אושר בקריאה ראשונה בישראל התיקון לחוק הגנת הפרטיות. החוק מגדיר את נושא הגנת המידע, מבטל תקנות מיושנות ומקנה סמכויות משמעותיות יותר לרגולטור באופן שמתקרב לחוק הפרטיות של האיחוד האירופי (GDPR), אך עדיין לא מעניק לאזרחים שליטה מלאה בשימוש שנעשה במידע שלהם.

במאמר זה אעסוק בעקרונות החוק, במטרותיו ובהשפעותיו על הארגונים והעסקים שמשתמשים במאגרי מידע. היערכות נכונה תאפשר לכם לכבד את פרטיות הלקוחות שלכם ולחסוך מעצמכם קנסות כבדים, אישום פלילי ופגיעה במוניטין

Your customers live, buy and hang out online and on social networks and you, as marketers who know how to leverage their consumer behavior, benefit from valuable big data, which allows you to get to know your customers and sell more to them. But all this goodness has a price: the possibility of violating their privacy.

Privacy protection - a law with teeth
"A person shall not harm the privacy of another, without his consent." This is the language of the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Freedom from 1981 which states that violation of privacy is a criminal offense and a civil wrong. In 2017, the Knesset approved the privacy protection regulations, which detail the manner in which the information security obligation is applied to any entity that manages or processes a database of personal information.

In fact, the privacy protection regulations are a revolution in information security regulation in Israel. They impose on you, business owners, companies and organizations that hold databases containing personal information, administrative, technological and legal obligations regarding the way you secure the information - and this according to the sensitivity of the information in your possession:

· Security level for the database with a single authority.
· Basic security level for information, such as: full name, phone, address.
· Medium security level - social security number, medical information, financial information, consumption habits, political opinions, beliefs and more.
High level of security - business and public databases that are designed to collect information for the purpose of providing it to others, or that contain sensitive information about 100,000 people or more, or that the number of authorized persons to access this information exceeds 100.

For each level of security, the law defines regulations detailing the manner of application that will ensure the privacy of the record holders:
Writing an information security procedure, performing physical controls to protect the information, such as access control or security cameras, response procedures to information security incidents, mapping the computer systems connected to the databases, how information security is managed, and more.

Do not meet the requirements of the law? You will find that his bite hurts.
The enforcement of the Privacy Protection Law is already felt on the ground and the members of the Authority for the Protection of Privacy are no slouch... The authority has administrative enforcement capabilities in all sectors of the economy and the authority to investigate criminal investigations, up to the point of filing charges.

Therefore, if you want to avoid heavy fines and a criminal record, get ready today to protect your customers' privacy. Our privacy protection teams at Genie, which include highly experienced information security managers and legal advisors, will accompany you in the planning and implementation of privacy protection solutions, in a structured process that includes 5 steps - until you meet the requirements of the law:

1. Mapping the databases
Mapping all the computer systems and databases that are in the possession of the organization and contain sensitive information to which the Privacy Protection Law refers: databases of customers, leads, employees, suppliers and more (yes, even an innocent Excel file on the laptop of Tzipi from sales, may complicate you...).

2. Checking the level of information security
Identifying the level of information security required in the relevant databases.

3. Gap survey
Finding the gaps between what is present and what is desired in the organization's information security systems.

4. Application and implementation
Writing a procedure for the protection of information and implementing information security tools to comply with the requirements of the Privacy Protection Law.

5. Management folder
Preparation of a management folder to respond to information incidents and to present the information protection system in a surprise audit
of the Authority for the Protection of Privacy.

Successfully!
Guy Hochman - CEO Genie 

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Guy Hochman - CEO Genie Computing Services

As a business owner, you are aware of the importance of backup, which is why you chose one of the backup systems offered on the market. You make sure to back up your business information in the cloud, with tape backups and a local backup to a physical computer, and you even receive a daily report that proves that the information has indeed been backed up. In return, you enjoy the peace of mind that comes from knowing that at the moment of truth, you can "press a button" and return the situation to normal. All of this was true as long as the threats you faced were physical: fire, flood, theft, natural disasters and war damage. Then came the ransomware.

Reproducibility - the difference between a "slight hit on the wing" and a crash

As integrators who support companies in all sectors of the economy, we meet quite a few business owners who have experienced a ransomware virus and find out too late that this backup system is important, but without the ability to recover information efficiently and quickly, they are expected to have long and frustrating days of complete shutdown and severe damage to business income and reputation.

Therefore, as business owners, you must change the dialogue with your backup provider and examine not only the backup capabilities it makes available to you, but also the recovery capabilities. why? Because ransomware attacks in business are more common than you imagine, so it is likely that sooner or later, you will need these capabilities very much. That's how you do it right.

10 good tips for managing an optimal backup and recovery setup

1. Check the log regularly
   In many cases some user adds a folder or information in a location that is not configured for regular backup. This information, which is sometimes critical to the functioning of the organization, is not regularly backed up and this is discovered too late. Therefore, regularly check the log that shows the content of the backed up information and pay attention to whether all the relevant information is backed up.

2. Perform recovery tests
   Make data recovery tests a regular procedure, because a successful recovery indicates a full and proper backup. Regularly conduct sample tests, mainly for information that is defined as critical to the organization. In each test, different information was recovered and thus, over time, all the information will receive a test confirming that it can be recovered.

3. Create a backup log
   Document in the backup log all the sample recovery tests you have performed, so that you do not repeat, again and again, recovery tests for the same data and you do not miss other data.

4. Make a local backup
   Back up your information both in an external backup system and in a physical backup system in the business itself. The local backup will enable faster recovery than a cloud backup and will significantly shorten business downtime.

5. Disconnect the local backup system from the network
   A backup system that is connected to the network is exposed to ransomware attacks just like the information on the organization's servers. Such an "infected" backup cannot be used by you to restore the information.

6. We viewed the information in the backup
   Ransom attacks focus on the most significant weak point in the corporate network and in many cases it is the backup system. Therefore, make sure that the information in the backup is also compressed and encrypted at the highest level.

7. Custom backup and restore
   Every business has different types of information. Each type of information requires different backup and recovery levels, a unique backup policy, a different backup volume and a definition for the tools with which the backup will be performed. Therefore, be sure to customize the backup and recovery setup for your business.

8. backup procedure
   Write a mandatory backup procedure that defines the backup days, backup hours, the number of backups required each day, month or year and the recovery test plan. Appoint a person in charge of backups and make sure that the procedure is continued, even in cases where he leaves his position.

9. Define a dedicated budget section
   Backup and restore are not a luxury. They may be your only lifeline during a cyber attack on your business. Therefore, remember that for every shekel you try to save in this area, you may pay compound interest, to restore the circles of destruction.

10. don't wait for tomorrow
    Apply the recommendations today and you will be better prepared for the information crisis that, sooner or later, will affect your business as well.

Do you want to be better prepared for information events through an optimal backup and recovery setup that is customized for your business? The Genie team and I are here for you. Together we will create a detailed backup plan, characterize the best backup and recovery solution, define backup procedures and accompany you hand in hand, in case of an information incident.

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Guy Hochman - CEO Genie Computing Services

Every day I meet small and medium business (SMB) owners and naturally, the issue of ransomware attacks, which has recently received a lot of media exposure, immediately comes up.
To my surprise, many of them tend to think that cyber terrorism is mainly directed at large organizations and corporations that hold sensitive databases and therefore they may be more "blackmailed" for ransom demands. Other business owners are aware of the existence of the danger, but prefer to rely on luck or on basic security software, because "quality information security requires huge budgets". These worldviews are clear symptoms of the presence of the Lezli virus in the management culture.

Small and medium-sized businesses are highly sensitive to cyber incidents

Reality proves that small and medium-sized businesses are as vulnerable to cyber attacks as the large organizations, but the essential difference is that in most cases, a large organization has the resources and capabilities to deal with the threat and recover from the damage
The business, marketing and image skills - capabilities that do not exist in SMB.
The business continuity of a small or medium-sized business affected by a cyber incident is questionable, therefore the meaning of optimal information security in these businesses becomes a matter of being or not. However, all is not bleak. Significant technological developments that have taken place in the world of information security in recent years, allow every business owner to benefit from effective information security solutions that are adapted to small and medium-sized businesses, significantly reduce the level of risk and above all, are available to them at accessible prices.

A story from life about a good night's sleep and waking up to a harsh reality

One of our clients, a CPA firm that employs dozens of employees, commissioned an information security survey and received from us several recommendations for risk management: some critical for immediate implementation and some with a lower urgency, such as protection of endpoints, servers and authorization mapping.
The client gladly accepted the recommendations, understood the advantages inherent in them and discovered that with an annual budget of only about NIS 20,000, he could significantly improve the information protection system in his office.
The client took the time to make the decision and "slept on it" for three months. The awakening was difficult: during this period the firm experienced a ransomware attack that led to the shutdown of operations and direct damages worth millions of shekels: strategic clients left for competing CPA firms, the employees continued to receive their wages and financial reports that were not submitted on time resulted in severe image damage. The Genie team immediately engaged in the task and restored the information system and at the end of the event, the client approved all the recommendations included in the survey.

Define a budget section for information security issues

The correct approach to information security in the small and medium-sized business is to define a budget section for the issues of information security and protection
The cyber - as I have seen in similar businesses in Germany and England, where the "we will kidnap and then deal with it" approach is almost non-existent.
Just as you budget for security services, rental expenses, IT services and the purchase of office equipment, so you must budget for the protection of the core of your activity - the business information.
Remember that any amount budgeted for this important purpose is nothing compared to the duplicate amounts you will have to allocate to deal with a cyber attack that will meet you in the future and to restore the circles of destruction it will sow around it: loss of customers and markets, damage to reputation and exposure to lawsuits.

don't wait for tomorrow Order a security survey to rank the risks

Reality proves that the protection of the small and medium-sized business cannot be limited to a sophisticated alarm system and the installation of bars... A security survey that will show you the security weaknesses in your business will allow you to prepare accordingly and protect the valuable business information. Remember that compliance with information security requirements has another significant advantage: it will open doors for you to cooperate with entities that require compliance with an informed information security policy from their suppliers.
We, at Genie, have been dealing with information protection, IT and cyber matters for 20 years and know how to adapt the information security solutions to the budget available to you. The creative technological solutions we will make available to you will improve the resilience of the business against cyber attacks and allow you to sleep better at night.

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Guy Hochman - CEO of Genie Computing Services

The corona virus took us all by surprise. As business owners and CEOs of Hafezi Haim, we were required to overcome the shock, abandon most of the conventions we knew about "how our business works" and ensure business continuity - all this in an environment of uncertainty. Within a few days, many businesses went into emergency mode, moved employees to work from home, They established decentralized service and sales centers, discovered or strengthened the e-commerce system and changed the operation and logistics system from end to end. Other businesses, which could not or did not manage to quickly adapt to the required changes and maintain business continuity, suffered a severe blow.

The post-corona era is here
Today, after adapting the organization's systems to the new situation, CEOs in all sectors of the economy face a new dilemma: whether and how to return from the emergency routine to the comfortable and familiar routine that characterized the business world just before the outbreak of the epidemic, and will the changes forced upon us by the corona crisis remain forever?
The corona virus "moved the cheese" to the business sector and accelerated processes that would have matured slowly in the coming decade. Common managerial conventions such as "working from home hurts the employee's productivity" or "a long working day in the office indicates the efficiency and dedication of the employee" turned out to be inaccurate, to say the least. The crisis proved that it is possible to manage employees remotely, maintain their productivity and even increase their satisfaction - but, however, not everything is rosy.

Work from home - the chopper that became a challenge
Many companies find it difficult to preserve the corporate culture that characterized them before the crisis. Many managers feel impaired in teamwork, information sharing and the ability to brainstorm remotely. On the other hand, even the employees who "realized the dream" and work from home, feel very well the blurring of the boundaries between the professional and personal space, thirst for interaction with co-workers and the feeling of "togetherness". Therefore, in the post-Corona era, we are all required to recalculate our course, in three key organizational areas:

■ Cultivating positions of trust
Until the corona broke into our lives, we were very comfortable seeing all our employees report to the office every morning and fulfill their tasks. In the post-corona period, we must develop more positions of trust among employees and instill in them the feeling that we see and appreciate their efforts - even when they are not in the office. Another layer that requires special attention during this period is the recruitment of new employees, while examining the candidates' ability to work independently and remotely.

■ Measurement mechanisms and employee evaluation
Who is more effective? An employee who stays in the office from birth to death, or an employee who is at home, works via Zoom and takes care of his children at the same time? As managers in the post-corona period, we must develop measurement and evaluation mechanisms that will allow us to measure the productivity of employees and evaluate their performance - regardless of their physical location and the number of weekly working hours.

■ Information security
The compulsion to move employees to work from home and remote connection significantly increased the risk of business information leakage from the organization's computer systems and cyber attacks. Therefore, we must invest more resources than ever in a managed and secure environment that will protect the access points that are outside the corporate security circles and connected to the core systems, without proper monitoring or security.

Moving forward to the 2021 model - flexible work week
As CEO, it is clear to me that the traditional employment model has lost its relevance and that I must adopt a different model that will accompany me and my people in the coming years. In my opinion, the solution lies in moving to a flexible work week, which will contribute to the cooperation between the employees and their productivity, and also provide a response to the emotional difficulties experienced while working alone from home .

This model will allow employees with individual assignments to continue working from home and will create a defined framework, in which teams will meet in the office on regular days for routine work, or to hold brainstorming sessions where personal interaction is essential.
But beyond the existing technical solutions, the year 2021 is expected to challenge every CEO: beyond the management and business development tasks, we will all be required to invest a lot of thought and resources to maintain employee cohesion, to strengthen the sense of team and to foster the common goal. Good luck!

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Business continuity is an issue that worries business owners all over the world, therefore many of them prepare in advance for damage to the information infrastructures and organizational databases as a result of a natural disaster, a technical malfunction or the intrusion of a virtual virus - but life never ceases to surprise. For the first time in the history of the modern world, a live and kicking virus managed to significantly damage global business activity, reduce the production capacity of factories around the world, stop supply lines, disrupt service systems and significantly reduce the demand for products and services.

Flashing warning sign

The pests and viruses we deal with every day. The way the corona virus is treated is also reminiscent of the procedures for treating the virtual virus: locating the cause of the infection, disconnecting it from the corporate information system, isolating it and eliminating it.

"This scenario is a warning sign for all business owners," he says Guy Hochman - CEO of Genie Computing Services and explains: "The outbreak that the world is experiencing these days is intended to remind us all that the scenario may repeat itself and pose a tangible threat to the ability of business organizations to survive another epidemic. Therefore, do not rely on the improvisational ability or the creativity of you and your employees. If you are life-saving and want to ensure the survival of your business even in an extreme scenario, start formulating a business continuity strategy today!"

Business continuity plan - the solution for the next crisis

The goal of a business continuity strategy is to define in advance what are the most essential functions for the continued proper functioning of the organization and its ability to continue providing services and products to its customers.
Prioritize in order of importance and activate them quickly at the moment of truth. As part of formulating the strategy, Genie's business continuity experts will help you define the following critical issues and provide them with a comprehensive and effective technological solution:

• What are the most essential assets for the existence of the organization, which may be damaged at the moment of truth?
• Which automatic processes that exist in the organization may go wrong and require the definition of alternative processes?
• Who are the most essential employees for the organization during the crisis?
• Whether to copy the business activity to the employees' homes and/or to alternative sites in their areas Not yet imposed
  Total shutdown and how to do it?
• How to allow employees to continue their duties, even in the case of home isolation?

• How to maintain and enforce the strict information security policy used in the organization, even when working remotely?
• How to enable secure remote access to essential applications and databases for employees from their home?
• Who are the suppliers that our activity depends on and how prepared are they for a scenario of isolation or a general curfew?
• How to continue to provide clients with as efficient a service as possible, even when the office is not functioning?
• What is the maximum downtime until business continuity is achieved, without irreversible economic or image damage?

"A full professional answer to these difficult questions" he explains Guy Hochman,
"It is the basis for creating a functioning technological and human system that will ensure business continuity.
This is through the creation of secure interfaces that will allow employees to continue their work even from home.
Tools for conference calls, creating emergency communication procedures, operating an information center and telephone support
For the company's customers to maintain their loyalty even in an emergency and no less important
- Formulating a support plan for employees experiencing stress and mental distress."

Apparently, the day will not be far when entire organizations will be forced to work from home
In some organizations, this was already the case, from the beginning of March 2020.

Examples of simple actions that the network manager of any organization is responsible for performing, during times of crisis for the purpose of working from home:

• Adapting the Firewall device to the number of users connecting remotely, both at the level of the device's features to the number of users connecting remotely at the same time and at the Throughout level.
• Adjusting the Internet line to a bandwidth suitable for a large user input.
• Supplying laptops to those who do not have a computer at home.
• Establishing an array of terminal servers for the benefit of remote connection.
• Implementation of anti-virus on every new computer.
• Connecting all users to the cloud backup system and monitoring the performance of the backups.

For all consultation and help in the organization's readiness and in finding continuity solutions, You can contact us.

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Imagine another election day. You get up in the morning, enter the "Israel Votes" application using your smartphone or computer, identify yourself using your ID card number, receive a verification password in a text message and click on the button representing your preferred party. This way, easily and simply, you fulfill your civic duty, from wherever you are - without standing in line at the polls and without fearing the corona virus.

Online voting - many advantages, one disadvantage.

Just like in digital banking, the credit market, online shopping or the gov.il available government project that makes government offices accessible to the public via the Internet, professionally conducted online voting has many advantages. Online voting saves the economy an expensive Sabbath day, can prevent forgeries and corruption and offers the electorate an available, easy and convenient interface that may increase voting rates. In addition, online voting provides immediate results and saves paper, human resources and logistics. If so, why is such an advanced, up-to-date and friendly approach not adopted by the State of Israel and other countries in the world?

Guy Hochman, the CEO of Genie Computing Services explains: "Online voting has one huge drawback that drops the ground from under the feet of its supporters: the State of Israel, with all the good intentions, is not yet ripe for online elections and seeing, many online projects managed by the state and/or sub-providers On her behalf, they presented magnificent failures in information security."

Indeed, the country's short digital history proves this beyond any doubt: as early as 2008, a computer failure occurred in the Labor Party primaries, as a result of which the elections had to be held again, this time by manual voting. Since then we have been exposed to failures in the security of the government biometric database servers and to repeated failures in the presentation of the results of the local elections. Just recently, the country was shocked by the news of a serious security breach in the "Elector" application that exposed the voter register of the State of Israel for all to see.

The solution for securing information in elections, as of today: notes and envelopes

The weak points of the online voting systems begin with physical limitations, such as the inability to detect illegal influence and/or a physical threat on the voter sitting at home and debating which party to vote for and the lack of tools to detect identity theft, where the vote is made by a person who is not the registered voter.

It is true that these weak points can be overcome through an interim solution: voting in a digital ballot box, which incorporates personal identification of the voter by members of the polling committee. However, both online voting and voting in digital ballot boxes constitute a center of attraction for all hostile hackers inside and outside the country, who wish to influence The most dramatic damage potential of the security breaches is the possibility of a quick and immediate loss of public trust in the democratic "system" - and on this issue, there is no compromise.

Is it possible to create a hack-resistant online voting system?

Many countries in the world that have considered or experimented with national or municipal online voting, among them Estonia, Canada, Australia, France and Finland, have discovered that the method exposes them to security breaches, server failures, suspicion of the handling of voting data, and the collapse of computer systems.

According to Hochman, there is no doubt that online votes are challenging: "Every day we deal with corporate information security issues for Genie customers, and provide them with a variety of security solutions with the strictest standards, which allow them to protect their valuable corporate information from cyber threats. Even in the global business world, Credit, insurance and leading banks manage billions of digital interactions with their customers every day at the highest level of security, without customers having to go to branches to sign documents or withdraw funds. Therefore, despite all the challenges, professional planning and proper preparation can make an online voting system available to any country reliable and safe to use"

In conclusion, despite the many advantages and all the good intentions, as long as the State of Israel does not treat its information systems with the same degree of seriousness as is practiced in leading business and financial organizations, the online elections will not come to fruition and will not replace the current, cumbersome and outdated election procedure.

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A strong earthquake is no reason for a business to go through a shock and lose valuable organizational information. Organizations that did not invest in business survival after similar scenarios - were significantly harmed.

Predicting the exact next quake is a bit problematic; Defending against it is necessary and not complicated. 

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In most cases, in such a situation, an additional video will no longer be necessary; The scam is revealed, followed by the financial demand and the threat to publish the video, if the victim refuses to pay the extortion fee.
Along with the statement that the blackmail method is simple, I must say that it has also been refined and become more "invested". Until recently, more than half of the ransom calls were quite identical calls, threatening to publish sexual content of the victim, when in some cases, the victim heard intimate general details about him from the attacker, and assumed that one or another video of his past was indeed in the possession of the attacker, but in reality, they did not exist at all Such videos! The attacker's working assumption was that some of the victims would disregard and reject the threat, while another part would panic, surrender and pay...

The police instructions not to address these messages, encouraged the attackers to switch to threats of sexual content with "meat", literally. Now the pressure on the victim is great, and hence his tendency to lose his temper and make more mistakes, apart from the series of mistakes he made when he was tempted from the beginning to believe that the attacker is indeed who he claims to be.

What to do? The best solution was not to do it in the first place, not to be tempted, and then no problems would arise either. And the step is taken, and despite the pressure, I say from my experience that still, and in any case, it is not recommended to give in to the extortionists' demands; Not because they are unable to carry out their threat, but for the simple reason that there is no guarantee that they will keep their word and not ask for additional funds. This has happened countless times and will happen again in the future. Attackers know how to detect pressure from a victim and may well take advantage of the situation to their advantage for extortion or more extortions. It is important to contact and complain to the police, report this to the content platforms where the sensitive content was published and ask for it to be removed.

And again, the best solution is prevention and taking precautions. It's worth remembering: as long as you haven't met the party with whom you talked, and as long as you don't have real and certain details and means of identification about him, he is a potential suspect for extorting information from you.
You should be careful now not to pay the price later, literally...

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