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CloudWize: Helping Companies Get Maximum Cloud Security and Compliance

Cybersecurity has always been a never-ending race against time, but the changes are gaining momentum. Companies are slowly investing in various technologies that can help them run businesses. Thanks to technological advancements, companies are now layering more systems into their existing IT network to support their customer experience, and generate value, and remote work. However, adding these new layers often comes with the cost of creating new vulnerabilities.

On the other hand, cybercriminals use various integrated tools and capabilities with machine learning and artificial intelligence to exploit vulnerabilities. Therefore, the threat is growing fast, and no organization is immune. Everyone, from small and medium enterprises to various municipalities, governments, and large multinational companies, faces such risks.

With the mission of providing an easy-to-use tool for complex environments and 24/7 maximum
cloud security and compliance to every company, Chen Goldberg, Co-founded CloudWize, a no-code platform for maximum cloud security and compliance from architecture design to runtime.

Chen is an experienced cloud engineer with knowledge and hands-on experience in various technologies like Cloud Computing, Cloud Architecture, Consulting/Software Development, DevOps tools, and Risk Management. During the last 15 years, he has worked in the development and operations, building infrastructure and implementing best practices in different leadership roles.

Since CloudWize’s foundation, Chen and his team have been building and improving the best tools for cloud security and compliance with the vision to include all the cloud pillars.

Helping Companies to Secure their Cloud

As a no-code platform for maximum cloud security and compliance from architecture design to runtime, CloudWize helps organizations secure their cloud and uphold regulations. During the period of the last 10 months, as much as 79% of companies have suffered from cloud data breaches, exposing them to hefty fines from regulators, getting a bad reputation, and ultimately losing customers.

Thanks to CloudWize, companies can now get more than 800 rules that are continuously running on their cloud services. “But to really better cloud security and compliance, we have investigation abilities like no other. The CISO, DevSecOps, or anyone else can easily detect and fix cloud issues, no code required.“- says Chen.

CloudWize has various alerts and insights showing security, compliance, operations, costs, and performance coverage reports. It also provides much-needed recommendations to users on how to improve their coverage based on the severity and auto-remediation with just a click of a button. Additionally, CloudWize’s drag and drop interface makes it easy to customize security, compliance, cost, operations, and performance rules. Anyone who wants peace of mind should choose CloudWize because it’s a personal virtual CISO that works automatically 24//7.

Chen believes one of the biggest challenges for the companies lies in their cloud’s access control, mainly because various stakeholders need to access the cloud. However, with CloudWize, companies can now see who did what, where in the cloud, and when. As a holistic platform to cloud security and compliance, CloudWize is often referred to as a cloud security center of excellence. It also provides users extensive context in minutes and helps SMBs, enterprises, and even MSP and MSSP to reduce operating costs by up to 90%.

The Differentiating Factor

Chen explains that CloudWize’s competitors offer an out-of-the-box solution, while his company has not only made rules, but it also has no-code customization. Also, with the platform’s graph engine, users can investigate events, metrics, data transfer, configurations, network relations, and cost business impact in minutes.CloudWize combines the risks with actual pentest to enable prioritization of the company’s risks, which gives real context to the company and reduces the noise. Also, as a client-focused company, CloudWize’s dedicated support team helps right from onboarding and anything else that its users need.

The Pandemic’s Effect

As we all witnessed, the pandemic has accelerated the move to the cloud as people had to work from home. So, along with big tech companies, small and medium businesses also moved online, and with that move came many security breaches and regulatory compliances. So, CloudWize is working with companies of all shapes and sizes to make everyone secure and compliant.

“We want everyone who uses the cloud to have maximum cloud security and compliance, understand what’s going on, and see the connection and business impact. After all, there are reasons behind the configurations and how the architecture is built. If someone is unaware of those reasons, he can do something that will impact other stakeholders and can also impact the entire company.“- asserts Chen.

Vikram Venkatasubramanian: Helping Consumers with Simple, Comprehensive, and Affordable Online Privacy and Security Solutions

The average US household today has around 24 connected devices. An internet-connected home can make over 50,000 internet requests daily and the average phone app collects 24 pieces of information about its user. A connected home today has enough computing power, storage capacity, and networking power to rival a small enterprise from two decades ago. These data points represent a large and growing cyberattack surface that can be exploited by both hackers and marketing companies. This problem space led Vikram Venkatasubramanian to further investigate the issues around online privacy and security in home networks – an investigation that led to many shocking findings pertaining to our online privacy and security.

Vikram says, “The average home could see up to 12,000 cyberattack attempts per day! On any given day, on average, 10% of the internet traffic is related to gathering data about us. We are all literally one click or less away from a cyberattack, and in many cases, we have been attacked, and we just don’t know it.”

Vikram strongly feels that online privacy and security is a fundamental right. Passionate about solving the issue of privacy and security, in March 2020, Vikram founded Nandi Security, an online privacy and security company for the entire connected home.

The Cybersecurity Expert

Born and raised in Chennai, India, Vikram Venkatasubramanian immigrated to the United States during the mid-90s to pursue his second Master’s degree. Today, Vikram is a technology industry veteran with over two decades of experience across healthcare IT, telecom/CRM, and cybersecurity. Vikram considers the dozen or so years of experience in cybersecurity to be the most personally and intellectually rewarding time of his career.

Vikram’s academic qualifications include a Master’s degree in Mathematics from the Indian Institute of Technology – Madras, a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Missouri – Columbia, and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Cornell University. However, Vikram feels education is not only the primary driver for him; the profound learnings he accumulated over the years interacting with the some of the most well-known cyber security experts on the planet helped shape his passion for personal privacy and security space.

Cyber Security Solution for Connected Homes

Vikram says, “We cannot have a conversation about cybersecurity in the connected home without addressing privacy. We also cannot speak of comprehensive security and privacy in the connected home with device-by-device-based solutions.”

Nandi Security’s Kavalan is an online privacy and security product aimed at making the task of protecting connected homes easy for the average consumer. It protects all the devices in the connected home from cyber threats, including malware, botnets, phishing sites, etc., while protecting the privacy of all individuals in the connected home by blocking ad networks, data brokers, trackers, pixels and other privacy violating entities. With Kavalan, there’s no software to install or devices to buy, and the best part is the product can be set up within 5 minutes or less for uninterrupted protection against cyber threats. The product’s ease of deployment, coupled with its comprehensive protection capabilities, is unparalleled in the entire industry.

Helping with Comprehensive Privacy and Security Services

In 2020, IDC published a connected home security research that identified seven different categories of products that a consumer would need to buy in order to enjoy comprehensive privacy and security. Nandi Security saw an immediate need to build a better solution for the average consumer, as there was no other way for a person with no cyber security expertise to have the awareness and technical expertise to find and use such solutions. Additionally, the combined cost of such products often makes them financially unviable for the average household.  Under Vikram’s leadership, Nandi Security’s mission is to simplify and make it affordable for everyone to enjoy comprehensive privacy and security in the connected home.

Tackling the Pandemic

The pandemic has proven to be an accelerator in the cyber security industry. With remote work becoming an immediate requirement, companies soon realized that their network perimeter extends into the connected home. The initial attack vector to penetrate a corporate network may not need to be the corporate device; it could be a camera, thermostat, wearable or any other device in the employee’s home. Further from a consumer perspective, there has been a surge of interest in privacy issues amongst the general public given the post-pandemic events surrounding the US elections and the recent US Supreme Court rulings. This has resulted in a greater need and awareness at both the corporate and consumer levels for privacy and security products.

Vikram states, “While we did not see a pandemic coming, we saw the fundamental issues around privacy and security brewing a long time back, and we believe we are at the right time with the right product to address the problem.”

Preparing for the Future

Vikram is a believer in a free, open, safe, and equitable internet, and he understands that Nandi Security can make a significant contribution to the ‘safe’ and ‘equitable’ parts of that conversation. His primary goal is to make Kavalan the single most trusted name for families worldwide when it comes to protecting their online security and privacy. The organization is going about it by keeping simplicity, transparency, and quality as the prime pillars of focus for its product.

“Protecting your home and your family should not be as complex as it is today, and as broadband coverage expands across the world today, safety and privacy should come with it by default. The very fibers of connectivity that promise to improve our lives are already being used to shift the balance of equity both in terms of cyberattacks and surveillance capitalism. I believe that with Kavalan, we have taken the first step towards shifting the control back into the hands of the consumers.”- Vikram states.

Nandi Security is already working on evolving Kavalan into a full-fledged Intelligent Digital Safety Solution for the connected home.

GMG launches the world’s second largest fully automated Himalayan pink salt manufacturing facility in the UAE

  • The manufacturing facility is the GCC’s largest, fully automated Himalayan pink salt factory and can produce up to 200,000 kgs of high-quality Himalayan pink salt per day
  • This facility will help support the UAE’s National Food Security Strategy 2051 and the Food Tech Valley initiative.

 

Dubai, UAE, September 26, 2022: Today, GMG – a global well-being company retailing, distributing, and manufacturing a portfolio of leading international and home-grown brands across sports, food, and health sectors – inaugurated the world’s second-largest fully automated Himalayan pink salt manufacturing facility by capacity in UAE under its GMG Food division. Located in Mina, Jebel Ali, Dubai, the facility has a capacity of 70,000 metric tons and can produce 200,000 kgs of high-quality Himalayan pink salt per day. 

According to Maximize Market Research, the global Himalayan pink salt market was valued at US$10.63 billion in 2020. The global industry is projected to grow at 4.2% from 2021-2027 to touch nearly US$14.18 billion. GMG Food is committed to supporting the UAE’s National Food Security Strategy 2051 and the Food Tech Valley initiative by developing a comprehensive ecosystem that includes sustainable food production with innovative technologies and fast-track local production. The company is already working towards building specialized production lines for herbs and spices and aims to complete this by the first quarter of 2023.

Mohammad A Baker, Deputy Chairman and CEO of GMG, said, “This is a proud moment for us at GMG, as we open the world’s second-largest Himalayan pink salt manufacturing facility by capacity in the UAE and introduce our latest brand, Sapora. As a global well-being company with strong roots in the UAE, GMG is honored to contribute to the country’s national food ambitions while representing the UAE in the global food processing industry.” 

“This is only the beginning, as we set another benchmark for food manufacturing systems in the region. The opening of this facility will help put GMG on the global map of food manufacturing and set us up to expand to global markets in the near future,” Baker added

The GMG Food division is a food manufacturer and brand creator that adds value to the UAE’s economy by producing locally and supplying its customers with fresh and nutritious food through two home-grown brands – Farm Fresh, Klassic, and now Sapora. With the addition of the Himalayan pink salt facility, GMG’s food manufacturing business now boasts six state-of-the-art factories supported by an R&D kitchen and food laboratory. These facilities cover six product lines: meat, seafood, Himalayan pink salt, herbs and spices, cold cuts, and butchery and marination.

GMG’s food business has grown from its humble beginnings in the early 1970s as a butchery and frozen foods distributor to become the partner of choice for international food and FMCG brands looking for representation throughout the UAE.

Bala V Sathyanarayanan: Creating a Diverse and Engaged Workforce

Meet Bala V Sathyanarayanan, the Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Greif a 145-year-old Fortune 500-sized global leader in the industrial packaging products and services industry. Greif operates in over 220 locations spread across 40 countries and four continents.

He is an NACD Certified Corporate Director with a passion for creating the highest standards of boardroom excellence. Bala currently serves as Chairman and Board Director of Balmer LawrieVan Leer Limited and as the Board Director for Columbus Council for World Affairs. Additionally, he is on the board for the Center for Executive Compensation in Washington, D.C.

Bala’s parents always encouraged him to work hard and serve the people around him. A lesson also taught by growing up an Eagle Scout. So, he took lifelong advice and worked very hard to make a difference to the individuals, teams, and organizations he has worked. Servant Leadership is at the core of who he is and how he leads.

He says, “I believe that when you give your energy to an important mission, you are helping every stakeholder achieve clarity for their organization. You can do this by sharing your goals with others, inspiring them, and giving them hope for their dreams, or just showing them what is possible when you set your mind to something.”

Bala graduated with an Advanced Management degree at Harvard Business School. Additionally, he has received a Master’s in Human Resource Management from Rutgers University, New Jersey. He also holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Communications Engineering from SVCE and an MBA from the University of Madras.

Before joining Greif, Bala served as the Executive Vice President of Xerox Corporation, where he led the HR and Business Transformation of the company. Prior to that, he served in multiple leadership roles at companies like Hewlett-Packard, Avaya Inc, Coca-Cola, and Otis Elevator Company.

A recipient of many global awards, Bala was also named in the list of Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business by the Asian American Business Development Center (AABDC), Executive of the Year by Columbus CEO Magazine, Top Inspiring Business Leaders of the Year in 2020 by Industry Wired Magazine, 10 Most Influential Business Leaders to follow in 2021 by CIO Insights Magazine.

Helping Companies with Path Breaking Products

Founded in 1877, Greif is a leading industrial packaging and services supplier. Spread across 40 countries, Greif remains committed to being the highest performing customer service entity for its global and regional customers. The organization’s core values shape its future and have helped it to stay on top of its competitors.

Greif ‘s Global Packaging Division helps its clients with steel, fiber, and plastic drums; intermediate bulk containers (IBCs); FIBCs; container liners; closures; filling, and reconditioning services. These products are used to protect and safely transport shipments around the globe. Bala says, “Our colleagues are here to help customers develop new packaging solutions or to partner with them to solve difficult supply chain challenges.” Greif ‘s technical expertise and years of experience enable it to guide customers through their product selection journey.

On the other hand, the Paper Packaging and Services (PPS) division of the organization manufactures containerboards, coated recycled paperboards, uncoated recycled paperboards, industrial and corrugated products, and offers recycling services. The PPS division serves the construction, paper products, textiles, automotive, explosives, and many other industries in North America. The Paper Packaging and Services Division has a closed loop system that successfully recycles recovered fibers, which provides Greif a competitive advantage through flexibility, supply security, and sustainability.

Tackling Challenges

Bala and his team’s biggest challenge related to talent optimization lies in the heightened focus and need to develop, attract, and hire new talents required to align with the organization’s business needs in the labor market both for today and in the future. Additionally, they need to balance the need to hire and maintain Greif ‘s essential workers at the plant while optimizing the firm’s approach to creating a more flexible, responsive, and engaging work environment for those who have an ability to work in a hybrid setting.

“We’ve been faced with rethinking our approach to learning and have pivoted to the launch of a completely virtual Greif University to continue meeting the need to educate our colleagues and ensure our investment in their continued global growth. This also results in us revamping our Leadership Development approach to stay in front of the trends in learning approaches that will likely be sustained post-pandemic.“- states Bala.

The Pandemic

Just like most other companies, Greif also had to adapt to every changing phase of the pandemic to develop, adapt, and update its protocols and monitor the safety of its Engaged workforce in more than 40 countries worldwide. Throughout this devastating pandemic, Bala and his team have developed various new protocols and either needed to change or emphasize them as more information became available in the public domain. From the beginning, the entire team followed the science and was guided by the best scientific organizations. Bala explains that they were also able to put various global and regional task forces in place, which led Greif through this pandemic.

The Future

Bala and his team’s primary mission is to create a world-class, motivated, diverse, and engaged workforce to help Greif deliver its global vision. Bala says, “My role is that of a strategist, an activist inside the organization to shake things up, helping the organization become more innovative. My mission as the Global CHRO is to manage the present while laying the foundations to help sustain global success for the future; we call it our Build to Last strategy.”

“My future aspirations involve helping others and using my unique gifts to make a difference by creating thriving communities across the countries that Greif operates.”– Bala adds. He plans to achieve these goals by focusing on the strengths of the organization’s Executive Leadership team which includes being candid, the love of learning new things, and the desire to make a positive impact on Greif ‘s global customers by providing them with excellent customer service.

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