Money’s Digital Makeover: BOHH Labs’ CEO Offers Insight on SAP Radio Show

Recently, BOHH Labs CEO, Simon Bain, participated on the radio show Coffee Break with Game-Changers, presented by SAP, addressing money’s digital makeover, what that means and discussing blockchain (aka Distributed Ledger Technology) that is becoming an increasingly popular security method.

Simon jumpstarted the conversation with the following quote to set the stage:

“Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.” (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Le Petit Prince)

He went on to discuss with the other participants how he believes the cashless society still has a long way to go before full adoption and his views on the shortcomings of blockchain. 
He believes people are looking at blockchain as the only method, and we aren’t really looking at the core issues.

What do you think?

To listen to the radio segment, visit https://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/98156/moneys-digital-makeover-part-1

Weekly News Roundup

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4. Were the robbers behind the Bangladesh Central Bank job North Korean?

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How to Stay Protected During Tax Season

Tax season is upon us, and as individuals and companies alike start gathering their information, it is important to remember to stay protected while filling out personal, tax, and financial data at home and online. Due to the nature of the information reported during tax season, people continually become victims of cybertheft carried out by cybercriminals looking to steal social security numbers, account numbers, password information and other sensitive information. Below are several tips to help you stay better protected while filing taxes this season.

• Check for encryption on websites when filing your taxes online. Look for a small lock icon somewhere on your browser and URLs that begin with “https:” This means the site is secured and your data is encrypted.
• Make sure your security software is up-to-date, regardless of if you are using a computer or mobile device.
• Encrypt sensitive files such as tax records, account numbers, etc. that you store on your computer. Also, make sure you your social security card and tax records are kept in a safe place in their physical forms.
• Phishing attacks are more frequent than ever and are projected to be one of the top methods for cybercriminals to carry out scams this season. Learn to recognize and avoid phishing emails, threatening calls, and texts from thieves posing as legitimate organizations such as your bank, credit card company, and even the IRS. The IRS will NOT email you. Be cautious on what links you click on and don’t download attachments from unknown or suspicious emails.
• Don’t respond to emails that claim to be from the IRS (or any other company) requesting your account details. Do not ever send personal information or credit card information via email. It is best to call back instead using a phone number you can verify from their official website.
• If you are filing your taxes online using a computer, think about where you are doing it from. For example, by using public Wi-Fi, it’s rather simple for someone to intercept your data in a man-in-the-middle attack. It is advisable to use your own Wi-Fi network that is setup with password protection when filing your taxes online. If you can’t file your taxes at home, you can still check your account on the go, just make sure your device is using cellular data instead of Wi-Fi.
• If you are using an online tax software to file your taxes, make sure you use strong passwords for your account. Create a password that can’t be easily guessed by a human or computer. This typically means a password with 8 or more characters, including letters, numbers and symbols. It is also advisable to use different user IDs and passwords for your financial accounts and for any other sites you use online.
• Sign out when you finish filing your taxes online. This may sound easy, but you should always log out of your online session rather than let it expire. This will help reduce the chances of your session being hacked. Most site will log you out automatically after you are idle for a couple of minutes, but logging out is still a good habit.

Weekly News Roundup

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3. C.I.A. Developed Tools to Spy on Mac Computers, WikiLeaks Disclosure Shows
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4. Banks and Tech Firms Battle Over Something Akin to Gold: Your Data
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Celebrated Technology Leaders Come Together To Tackle Devasting Data Loss In Banking

Secure Banking Platform from BOHH Labs Presents First-of-its-Kind Cyber Security Solution

OAKLAND, Calif., March 21, 2017  -- Three eminent technology leaders have joined forces to launch BOHH Labs, with the goal of turning the tide against the skyrocketing costs of banking security breaches. Simon Bain, Damion Hänkejh and Ken Hawkins bring a combined 75 years of security technology experience, four patents with six pending, international corporate pedigrees spanning Hewlett Packard Labs, Amazon, Oracle, and deep experience in online banking and money transfer technology.

The World Economic Forum estimates that the global cost of cybercrime could reach a staggering $6 trillion by 2021, and banking and financial organizations are prime targets. As ransomware, credit card fraud, phishing, keylogging and malware-based attacks continue to gain traction, the banking industry is at ever increasing risk from costly hacks that grow more intricate and difficult to prevent each day, as well as continued pressure to provide more secure, faster, and convenient services to customers.

"The current cybersecurity landscape has serious ramifications for the banking industry, and today's transaction infrastructures require a new approach to defeat the increasingly sophisticated daily attacks that threaten banks' infrastructure, brand and bottom line," said Simon Bain, Founder and CEO, BOHH Labs. "Our goal is to provide the most secure real-time messaging platform for FinTech, and transform banking security to become more dynamic within the existing system, redefining how FinTech organizations securely transport account data without compromising performance, speed or customer accessibility."

The BOHH Labs senior leadership team has a distinctive track record bringing together innovators and growing and leading billion dollar companies to exits in the cyber security, FinTech and Internet sectors. Key accomplishments include:

• Simon Bain, Founder, Chief Executive Officer, Director – Simon has been a recognized leader in the IT industry for more than 20 years, and is best known for developing innovative security and search applications. Simon has worked with Abbey National (Santander) on its online banking platform, as well as other banks including Co-operative where he helped them with the SWIFT banking schema. He is also called upon by leading companies and governments to devise secure yet user-friendly solutions to high stakes initiatives, such as the first online voting application to be granted security clearance for use on interactive digital TV in the UK. Bain holds four patents with six pending on search and security.
• Damion Hänkejh, Founder, Chief Strategy Officer, Director – Damion began his career as the first teenager in the Hewlett Packard R&D lab, serving as the company's youngest systems analyst. His work has earned him a series of accolades, from being the Smithsonian Laureate awarded CTO at Virtual OR to CTO of Majestyk Apps, the 2014 IBM Watson Mobile Developer Challenge Award winner. Damion invented Internet customer service before IBM coined the term "eCommerce" as the founder of InstantService.com, the first and largest carrier-class telecom platform for live customer service (acquired by Oracle in a $1 billion roll-up, and now Oracle Live Help).
• Ken Hawkins, Chief Technology Officer – Ken brings a deep history of Internet entrepreneurialism and experience. He served as CTO of Payz, director of technology of Broadjam.com, as well as holding several leadership positions at Amazon, where he tied in AOL's shopping experience with Amazon.com's processes and delivery systems. Ken also served as the chief architect of InstantService, the first interactive customer service portal on the Internet, which subsequently became Oracle's Live Agent.

To see the original post of this announcement, click here.

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2. Inside the Russian Hack of Yahoo: How They Did It

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3. Home Depot to Pay $27.25m in Latest Data Breach Settlement

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4. Trump’s budget proposal gives DHS $1.5 billion for cybersecurity

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1. WikiLeaks reveals the CIA hacked into Apple iPhones, Google Android phones and Samsung TVs

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2. Researchers Find Multiple Critical Flaws In Confide Secure Messaging App

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3. Latest Executive Order Draft Promotes Risk-Based Approach

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4. Fears of election hacking spread in Europe

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Critical HR Steps for Recruiting Talent at Startups

“It’s better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out people whose behavior is better than yours and you will drift in that direction.”    
                     -    Warren Buffet, Chair and lead investor, Berkshire Hathaway

It seems like I have always listened to the homespun, fly-over wisdom of investor Warren Buffet, the “Sage from Omaha.” To me, his knowledge is equally relevant across the company landscape – both for the founders and leaders of lean startups embarking on a new venture and seasoned CEOs of gigantic corporations. 

For me, Buffett speaks directly to my personal experience as an entrepreneur, venture acceleration partner and advisor with over 20 years and 15 startup ventures. From early stage startups to company exits, I have learned lessons both the right way and the hard way on how to build successful teams.

I recently participated in a SAP Radio panel on the future of business and critical HR for startups. You can listen to the discussion here, and below is a summary on what have I learned along the way.

I work to build start-up teams who aim to make a difference, not make a million bucks.

It may seem funny to be talking about “conscientious capitalism” in the shadow of Warren Buffett, but hear me out. When looking to recruit people to your team, seek out people whose purpose, passion and motivation closely fit the startup venture, the vision, and the impact you want your startup to have. It’s all about impact, not just stock options. Sure, options matter, and earning them is important, but not if people don’t believe in what they’re doing. I have seen all too many startups whose only real attraction was generous stock options, yet they came to be worth zero.

So how do you go about finding employees passionate for your startup? Ask yourself, why do the people you are hiring want to be there? Do they want to make a difference? Will they work 24/7 when needed? Sure, if they want to make a difference. Will they step up to the toughest challenges? What will keep them going and keep them staying with you? Belief in the cause and, yes, a reward at the end of the day. Again, it’s “conscientious capitalism.”

There is NO substitute for team cultures of authenticity, transparency, honesty and truth across a startup. No deceits, no cover-ups, no false truths.

These cultures almost always win hands down. Find and keep people, in every role, who trust implicitly, and can be trusted with one another. Bad actors will spoil any culture, distract your team, and sabotage the venture opportunity. In my book, you simply cannot waste a moment to decide not to hire a bad actor, or to decide to terminate one who somehow got inside, but does not have a positive impact on the startup or the rest of the team.

Furthermore, show no tolerance for those who fail to commit, fail to try hard, or fail to be accountable for their contributions. Get them out. There is too much to be done and won than to drag the sea anchors through your startup yet another day.

Founder CEOs who get teams to agree to disagree, but always end up agreeing, will out-produce.

Although execution requires that everyone stands behind what is decided and agreed upon, creativity thrives on open-mindedness, deliberation and debate. Find people who can think openly, challenge each other, but can align around the agreed plan.

In addition to learning how to recruit the best team for your startup, it is also important to remember that as a startup founder, you must define your role and how you will lead the team. Below are a few of the lessons I have learned throughout my career. 

First, as the founder leader of a startup, try hard to hire teams of people each of whom is better, smarter, more insightful, more experienced, more technical, more creative, more fiduciary…each and all more than you are.

Second, do not see yourself as having to be all those better things …you never can be, and even if you tried to be, you would set yourself up for a bout of burnout, disappointment, loneliness, and even failure. Trust me, check your ego and get the best.

Third, instead, see yourself as the “orchestrator” of the talent on your team. Set the goals, set the tone, set the pace, stick with the score or improvise where you can; however, it is crucial for you to bring the talent to their potential, and let them play things out for you. And when you do get there, go beyond Buffet’s expectation: you and your startup will not just “drift in that direction” but you will seize its potential.

I’ve been at the startup game a long time, and not that much really changes when it comes to people and performance! Building great teams in startups has, does and will require the same hiring disciplines, the same cultural norms and practices, the same balance inherent in “conscientious capitalism,” and the same constructive tension between creative thinking and effective consent.

- Ted West, BOHH Labs Executive Chair

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