Thailand’s roaring digital economy set to hit THB1.28 trillion this year

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Thailand’s roaring digital economy set to hit THB1.28 trillion this year

Thailand’s roaring digital economy set to hit THB1.28 trillion this year

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2022

Thailand’s booming digital economy is projected to grow 17 per cent year on year and reach a massive US$35 billion (1.28 trillion baht) in 2022 driven by e-commerce, according to the e-Conomy SEA Report 2022.

The seventh edition of the Southeast Asia report was jointly released by Google, global investment company Temasek and American management consulting firm Bain & Company.

Thailand’s digital economy is expected to reach $53 billion in 2025 with a 15% compound annual growth rate and is projected to double to approximately $100 billion to $165 billion in 2030.

Jackie WangJackie Wang

“For Thailand, e-commerce remains the primary driver of digital economy growth in 2022,” said Google Thailand director Jackie Wang. “Thailand’s e-commerce market is also the second largest in Southeast Asia after Indonesia.”

Considering each sector, Thai e-commerce is expected to grow 8% year on year to $22 billion this year and is projected to reach $32 billion in 2025.

Meanwhile, transport and food delivery is projected to hit $3 billion this year, up 12% year on year, and grow 20% to $5 billion in 2025.

However, the growth of online media (video-on-demand, music-on-demand, gaming) tapers at 10% to reach $5 billion this year after a peak period triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic. The online media sector is projected to grow 12% to $7 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) in 2025.

Travel, too, is seeing a strong recovery as mobility exceeds pre-pandemic levels. The sector grew a huge 139% from 2021 to reach $5 billion in GMV in 2022, and is projected to reach $9 billion in 2025, with a 22% compound annual growth rate.

Meanwhile, the country’s Digital Financial Services (DFS) saw double-digit growth in 2022 across all sectors – payments, remittance, lending, investment, and insurance. All this is thanks to enduring offline to online behaviour shifts post-pandemic.

DFS accounted for the highest share of total investor funding in Thailand, with more than $150 million raised in the first half of this year alone.

Related stories:

Fancy a sago weevil worm nugget for dinner? It’s only served up in space

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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/tech/40021628

Fancy a sago weevil worm nugget for dinner? It’s only served up in space

Fancy a sago weevil worm nugget for dinner? It’s only served up in space

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 01, 2022

Worms and insects have been part of Thai cuisine for generations, and now they may end up being served up to astronauts in space.

Keeta, a team of Thai food researchers, have come up with edible nuggets made from sago palm weevil worms as part of Nasa’s “Deep Space Food Challenge”.

The Thai team made it to the last 10 after beating nearly 300 contestants.

Keeta’s founder Potiwat Ngamkajornwiwat said the team had come up with the sago weevil nugget to match the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa)’s demand for nutrition for astronauts who go on three-year-long space-exploration trips.

He said the sago weevil worms can be nurtured and turned into food using a 3D printer. The entire operation will require no more than 30 square metres.

In addition, he said, the sago weevil worm is hardy and can survive space travel.

Fancy a sago weevil worm nugget for dinner? It’s only served up in space

“Insects are popular among Thais, have high nutrition and can be reproduced in large amounts,” he said, adding that this innovation will meet the needs of many businesses, including space travel, space mining or even living on other planets.

“If we receive support from different sectors, it will help Thailand become a world leader in the space food business,” he added.

Team member Sittiphol Koosermmit reckons this innovation can also help tackle food scarcity in remote areas.

“This way, Thailand can be promoted as the world and space kitchen,” he said.

Contestants have until December 16 to submit their creations for the final round, in which five teams will be selected.

The five finalists will then be required to hold on-site demonstrations and sample collection, with the winners being chosen in March next year.

Thai association signs fintech cooperation agreement with Hungarian counterpart

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Thai association signs fintech cooperation agreement with Hungarian counterpart

Thai association signs fintech cooperation agreement with Hungarian counterpart

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 01, 2022

The Thai Fintech Association has signed an agreement with the Hungarian Blockchain Coalition to share experiences and best practices, the Hungarian embassy in Bangkok announced.

The memorandum signing ceremony was facilitated by the embassy during the First Thai-Hungarian Fintech Forum on October 25, the embassy said.

The two associations will explore areas potentially beneficial for direct cooperation, the embassy said in a Facebook post last week.

“Our embassy was honoured to facilitate the cooperation between Hungary and Thailand in the field of fintech,” the embassy said.

“The first Thai-Hungarian Fintech Forum provided a great opportunity to introduce Hungarian companies active in this area, namely Digital Farmers Market, WhiteHat, Family Finances, Ukatemi Technologies, InnovITech, Peak, TE Food and Kürt to the Thai market.”Thai association signs fintech cooperation agreement with Hungarian counterpart

The forum also featured discussions on the future of blockchain technology and the financial sector with the participation of Tamás Czeglédi, professional lead of the Hungarian Blockchain Coalition, and Chonladet Khemarattana, president of the Thai Fintech Association, the embassy added.

Thai association signs fintech cooperation agreement with Hungarian counterpartSpeaking during the event, Chonladet said e-commerce, electronic payments via mobile phones and cryptocurrencies are growing fast in Thailand so there should be cooperation with foreign nations for further developments.

He added that Chainalysis, which is an American blockchain analysis firm headquartered in New York City, reported in September that 20 per cent of cryptocurrency holders around the world live in Thailand and Thailand was ranked fifth on the list of countries that accepted use of cryptocurrencies.Thai association signs fintech cooperation agreement with Hungarian counterpart

Tech review: Acer Nitro 5 2022: Affordable option for gamers with limited funds

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Tech review: Acer Nitro 5 2022: Affordable option for gamers with limited funds

Tech review: Acer Nitro 5 2022: Affordable option for gamers with limited funds

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2022

The Acer Nitro 5 2022 edition is a budget gaming notebook that allows you to enjoy most of the latest games without having to spend extra.

The Nitro 5 2022 edition comes with everything necessary to handle the complexities of today’s graphics-intensive gaming, except for one thing – RAM. The entry-level model just has 8 gigabytes of RAM (random access memory), so it is necessary to spend an extra 1,000 baht or so to add another 8GB. According to an Acer PR officer, an additional RAM module can be bought and installed at any Acer service centre so the notebook’s 3-year warranty is not affected.

Apart from this shortcoming, the Nitro 5 2022 is more powerful than its 2021 brother thanks to its 12th Generation Intel Core i7 processor, which performs better than the 11th Generation Core i7 used in the previous edition.

Specifically, the Nitro 5 (Intel Gen 12) is powered by the Intel Core i7-12700H, which comes with 14 cores and 24 threads compared to the 8 cores and 16 threads of the Intel Gen 11 Core i7. A thread is a virtual version of a CPU’s core, which means the more threads a processor has the better it will perform.

Six of the Intel Gen 12’s 14 cores are devoted to performance, which maximises the single-thread performance and responsiveness, while the remaining eight cores focus on efficiency, delivering scalable, multithreaded performance and efficient offloading of background tasks to allow multitasking.

On the graphics side, the Nitro 5 uses an NVIDIA GeForce RTX3050 processing unit that comes with 4GB GDDR6 memory.

Though the RTX3050 is entry level of the RTX30 series, it should be able to handle most games, though you may have to lower the resolution for some.

Expandable storage

As for storage, the Nitro 5 comes with a fast M.2 NVMe SSD storage with 512GB capacity, which is enough for general users.

Meanwhile, its 15.6-inch IPS display comes with Full HD resolution and a high refresh rate of 165Hz, which makes the visuals crisp and clear.

The Nitro 5 also provides plenty of room for expansion. Apart from an empty RAM slot, it also has a slot for adding another M.2 SSD storage and a 2.5-inch SATA III slot for adding another SSD or hard-drive storage. Both M.2 slots offer up to 1 terabyte of storage and use fast data-transferring PCIe 4.0 x4 technology.

Tech review: Acer Nitro 5 2022: Affordable option for gamers with limited funds

Compared to the earlier edition, the Nitro 5 (Intel Gen 12) is prettier, has a better design and its body feels sturdier. However, the ventilation system necessary to dissipate the heat created from rendering graphics and gaming makes it quite heavy at 2.5 kilograms. Plus, you will need to carry its half-kilo power adapter because the 58Wh battery only lasts about four hours.

Effective, quiet ventilation

During the test, I found that the ventilation system was effective and the notebook did not get overheated at the peak of the gaming. It uses two fans and four heat pipes, which do not generate much noise. The system takes in air from two directions above and below the keyboard and the heat is expelled via four exhaust outlets.

I used the CPUID HWMonitor software to monitor the CPU’s temperature and found that the internal heat was between 75 and 87 degrees Celsius on average. But it did not heat up thanks to the efficient ventilating system.

While gaming, I found the graphics were rendered smoothly with good frame rates. But if you want to play large, graphic-intensive games like Elden Ring, you will need to lower the resolution to achieve a higher frame rate. After all, the computer comes with 8GB RAM.

Gamers usually enjoy colourful keyboards and the Nitro 5 comes with a 4-zone RGB keyboard, with a light setting that can be adjusted with NitroSense software.

Meanwhile, the arcade racing game – Asphalt 9: Legends – ran smoothly and the graphics were rendered beautifully.

The 3Dmark Time Spy gave the Nitro 5 a score of 5,071 points, meaning the notebook can play full HD games smoothly.

The PCMark 10 gives it 6,151 points for handling business applications, graphics and video editing well.

Benchmarking by Cinebench R15 confirms good graphics performance. Its OpenGL score came in at 141.41 frames per second and the CPU score was 2453 points. The Cinebench R20 gave the Intel Core i7-12700H a score of 6,112 points for its ability to render graphics.

The notebook’s good performance was also attributed to its SSD drive. The benchmarking standard found that the drive achieved a sequential reading speed of 6,600 MB/s and a sequential writing speed of 3,600 MB/s.

Another positive factor is that Nitro 5 comes with fast LAN and wireless connectivity thanks to its Intel Killer Land E2600 and Intel Killer Wi-Fi AX1650i adapters. This fast connectivity ensures that your online games run smoothly.

The Nitro 5 (Intel Gen 12) has all the necessary ports –

power adapter, Thunderbolt 4×1 and HDMI port – and they are placed at the back, so your hands don’t get tangled up with cords.

It has a LAN port, one USB-A 3.2 port and a combo audio connector for headphones and microphone on the left side and two USB-A 3.2 ports on the right side.

The Thunderbolt port comes with all the functions which allow you to connect it to an external display or expand the notebook’s performance with an added device. The port can also be used to recharge the battery.

Its sound system is also good, with speakers placed under the keyboard and a DTS: X system that offers surround sound, which is particularly enjoyable when playing games. The speakers also generated a good bass.

With a suggested retail price of 39,900 baht, the Nitro 5 (Intel Gen 12) is perfect for gamers with a limited budget, students or people who do not have much space. But prepared to pay extra to expand the RAM.

Key specs:

CPU: Intel Core i7-12700H with 14 cores( 6P+8E) at 3.5-4.7GHz

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 with 4GB GDDR6

SSD: M.2 NVMe 512GB

RAM: 8GB DDR4 3200MHz

Display: 15.6-inch full HD IPS panel with 165Hz refresh rate

Ports: Thunderbolt 4 x 1, USB-A 3.2 x 3, HDMI x 1, LAN x 1, Audio combo x 1

Wireless: Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.1

Webcam: 720p HD Camera

Software: Windows 11 Home

Weight: 2.5kg

By Paisal Chuenpraseng

Special to The Nation

Consumers in Thailand and SE Asia at the forefront of adopting new technology: survey

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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/tech/40021188

Consumers in Thailand and SE Asia at the forefront of adopting new technology: survey

Consumers in Thailand and SE Asia at the forefront of adopting new technology: survey

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2022

Southeast Asia’s GDP is still growing positively, in contrast with other regions, even though it was affected by several challenges including Covid-19, Ukraine-Russia tensions and inflation, a report by Facebook’s parent company Meta and management consulting firm Bain & Company said.

According to the report, “SYNC Southeast Asia”, on the region’s digital economy and e-commerce, the long-term overview for Thailand and the region is still strong while e-commerce could grow better than bigger markets such as the US, Europe and China.

Derek Keswakaroon, partner at Bain & Co, said that the region was positively affected by investment distribution from the Chinese market.

He said there were 159 million spending households in the region, which will increase to 175 million in 2030 with around 50 million households having high purchasing power.

“We found that investors who have confidence are looking for an opportunity to enter [this market], as it was an important factor that led to more investments from transnational corporations. It could be summarised that Southeast Asia is a growing region with several supporting factors.”

Derek said that the region is attractive to investors but it is important to control inflation, manage the supply chain, develop the customer journey, seek investment opportunities, develop new business models to be trendsetters, and most importantly develop personnel.

However, it is worrying that Thailand has the lowest investment percentage from transnational corporations in the region with only 2 per cent of the total value, so he advised Thailand to attract more investors.

The report said that there are 370 million digital consumers in the region and will reach 402 million in 2027, while 72 per cent of the Thai population could access technology this year.

Derek said that consumers want a combined shopping experience both online and offline and also a smoother experience.

He added that 16.4 per cent of Thai consumers shop through online platforms, higher than the region’s average of 15.3 per cent.

Moreover, alternative e-commerce channels, such as business messaging or live video shopping, are key factors for e-commerce growth in Thailand, which accounted for 25 per cent of total spending in the country.

Meanwhile, social media accounts for almost half of online discovery, consisting of image feeds (15 per cent) or videos (21 per cent).

Derek mentioned that video content has grown more than 50 per cent yearly since 2020, while the region’s accessibility to digital wallets, digital currencies, and NFT digital assets is higher than other markets, including China, the US, the EU, and Japan.

Some 74 per cent of Thai people used at least one technology related to metaverse last year, slightly higher than the region’s average of 70 per cent.

It is expected that metaverse-related technologies, including AR, VR, virtual world, crypto, and NFT, would develop from 2D applications to 3D virtual worlds within 2-3 years.

Moreover, VR usage in businesses from training and development to holding virtual events might actually occur in the region in 10-15 years.

Prae Dumrongmongcolgul, country director of Facebook Thailand, said that consumers are using more diverse online platforms.

Last year, Southeast Asian consumers used 7.9 online platforms on average, the number has nearly doubled to 15.3 this year. Meanwhile, the number in Thailand has increased from 8.6 last year to 16.4 platforms this year.

She added that consumers are open to experimentation while interactions help in driving new behaviours.

Therefore, it is important that brands must interact with consumers through video content while social media are still important channels for consumers when they decide to purchase products.

Discard old smartphones, earphones and other e-waste responsibly

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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/tech/40021046

Discard old smartphones, earphones and other e-waste responsibly

Discard old smartphones, earphones and other e-waste responsibly

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2022

People in Thailand alone discard about 5 kilograms of small e-waste like mobile phones, chargers, earphones, batteries, etc, on average per year and this amount will likely surge.

This is why the 2022 slogan for International E-Waste Day, marked on Friday, “Recycle it All, No Matter How Small!” Mobile phone operator Advanced Info Service (AIS) also used the day to reboot the e-waste recycling campaign it had launched in 2019.

Saichon Submakudom, AIS’s public relations chief, said the company aims to raise awareness of the problems created by e-waste and help manage it properly.

People are encouraged to drop off their small e-waste at 2,400 AIS shops and distributors across the country, as well as at nearby post offices.

The project, launched by AIS and 142 partners, has so far collected 351,300 pieces of small e-waste. This amount reduces greenhouse gases by 3.51 million kilos, which is equivalent to planting 390,333 large trees.

AIS hopes the number will grow to 500,000 by 2023 and is calling on people to drop off their unused phones, tablets, chargers, earphones, phone batteries and other small e-waste.

International E-Waste Day was founded on October 14, 2002, in a bid to encourage people to be responsible when it comes to discarding small e-waste.

According to the United Nations, 22 million tonnes of small e-waste was created worldwide in 2019. This accounts for 40 per cent of all e-waste discarded that year.

The UN reckons that if this amount rises by 3 per cent yearly, then small e-waste can hit 29 million tonnes per year by 2030, which would be disastrous for the environment if not dealt with properly.

10 new technologies coming in next five years with far-reaching impact on people’s daily lives

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10 new technologies coming in next five years with far-reaching impact on people's daily lives

10 new technologies coming in next five years with far-reaching impact on people’s daily lives

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2022

The National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) on Tuesday unveiled 10 technologies that people have to keep an eye on in the next five years.

NSTDA president Sukit Limpijumnong said many technologies were developed over the past 10 years.

“The Covid-19 crisis accelerated technology development in order to enable people to survive,” he said

The 10 technologies that will play important role in daily lives in the next five years cover facilities, transportation, energy storage, environment preservation, foods and healthcare.

The 10 technologies are:

1. Brain-computer interface: This technology will enable people to command artificial intelligence (AI) by using their brainwaves instead of using keyboard, making it easier to control.

“Brain-computer interface will benefit people with disabilities and gamers a lot,” Sukit said, adding that this technology will become more complex in the future.

2. Generative AI: This AI can generate people’s faces, portraits and map layouts using information given by users. In addition, it can simulate landscape between daytime and nighttime, and change sepia pictures into coloured ones.

“Many generative AI technologies have been developed in Thailand, such as Z-Size Ladies, an application that simulates women’s bodies when they pregnant,” Sukit said.

3. Connect and autonomous vehicle (CAV): This technology will help convey traffic information to drivers to ensure their safety while travelling. It can even operate a vehicle on its own to prevent accidents caused by drunk or sleepy driving.

“In 2040, 80 per cent of CAVs are expected to be autonomous compared to 15 per cent in 2030,” Sukit said.

He added that the NSTDA is developing its CAVs in the Eastern Economic Corridor for Innovation in Rayong’s Wangchan Valley.

4. Long duration storage: This energy storage technology troubleshoots pain points of solar panels and wind turbines that cannot generate electricity when there is no sunlight or wind.

Meanwhile, many types of batteries were developed to troubleshoot a lithium ion one that has high cost and toxicity, and may trigger an explosion if its size is too big, such as sodium and magnesium ion batteries.

5. Solar panel recycle: This technology has emerged as some solar panel parts, especially mirror, cannot be recycled by using previous methods, resulting in an impact on the environment.

Sukit expected 78 million tonnes of solar panels worldwide will be disposed of in 2050, of which 400,000 tonnes would be from Thailand.

“Up to 80 per cent of solar panel parts can be recycled using new methods, including broken mirror,” he said.

6. Carbon measurement and analytics: This technology is playing an important role in environmental conservation as carbon dioxide is a component of greenhouse gas that causes climate change.

“Carbon credit becomes an important thing to encourage factory operators to reduce carbon dioxide emissions,” Sukit said.

He added that technology to check forests’ carbon dioxide absorption capability is also available.

7. Carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS): This technology will capture carbon dioxide for storage underground or recycle into other components to increase product value.

“This technology is a key for Thailand to achieve its carbon neutrality and net zero targets by 2050 and 2065, respectively,” Sukit said.

8. Next generation of telehealth: Telehealth has grown exponentially amid the Covid-19 crisis, as it enables people to access medical treatment without going to hospitals.

“The number of telehealth users increased by 50-175 times amid the Covid-19 crisis,” Sukit said.

He added that AI, Internet of Things, virtual reality, augmented reality, robotics and sensor can be applied to telehealth to boost service efficiency.

9. Synthetic biology: This technology is an integration of science and engineering to create high value products and services, such as artificial meat and cell therapy.

“Thailand has an advantage in synthetic biology as the country is one of the most biodiversity-rich countries,” Sukit said, adding that the Thai government is supporting this technology.

10. Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy: This technology of coating CAR on white blood cells can treat cancer effectively, including lymphoma which is hard to treat.

Phishing attacks in Southeast Asia see sharp increase

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Phishing attacks in Southeast Asia see sharp increase

Phishing attacks in Southeast Asia see sharp increase

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2022

Phishing attacks in the first six months of 2022 exceeded the total number of attacks recorded in Southeast Asia last year.

Global cybersecurity solutions provider Kaspersky has urged organisations to be on their toes, as most advanced persistent threat (APT) attacks infect enterprises and governments through targeted phishing.

Phishing incidents continue to skyrocket in Southeast Asia (SEA). The latest data from global cybersecurity company Kaspersky revealed that it only took six months for cybercriminals to exceed their phishing attacks last year against users from the region. 

From January to June 2022, Kaspersky’s Anti-Phishing system blocked a total of 12,127,692 malicious links in SEA. It is 1 million more than the total number of phishing attacks detected here in 2021 – 11,260,643.

Phishing, a type of social engineering attack, remains one of the key methods used by attackers to compromise their targets – both individuals and organisations. It works as it is done on a large scale where cybercriminals send massive waves of emails purporting to be legitimate companies or personalities to promote fake pages or infect users with malicious attachments. 

The end goal of a phishing attack is to steal credentials – particularly financial and login information – to steal money or worst to compromise an entire organisation. 

More than half of the H1 2022 detections were targeting Kaspersky users in Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Four out of six countries from SEA – Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam – recorded more phishing emails during the first six months of this year compared to their total number of incidents in 2021.

Phishing attacks in Southeast Asia see sharp increase

“The first half of 2022 is eventful in good and bad ways. On a personal level, we went through the seismic shift of trying to regain our lives post-pandemic, forcing companies and organisations to welcome remote and hybrid work. The travel sector, including airlines, airports, travel agencies, and more, has also been overwhelmed by the influx of tourists wanting to travel with borders now open. Behind these shifts are networks and systems that needed to be updated and secured hastily. On the other hand, cybercriminals are all ears and with their ability to tweak their messages and infuse them with believable urgency. As a result, we’ve seen real, unfortunate incidents of victims losing money because of phishing attacks,” comments Yeo Siang Tiong, General Manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky.

Aside from individual’s loss of money, Kaspersky’s elite researcher recently sounded the alarm that most of the Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) groups in the Asia Pacific including SEA use targeted phishing to enter into a highly-defended network. 

As the name “advanced” suggests, an APT uses continuous, clandestine, and sophisticated hacking techniques to gain access to a system and remain inside for a prolonged period of time, with potentially destructive consequences. 

Because of the level of effort needed to carry out such an attack, APTs are usually leveled at high-value targets, such as nation states and large corporations, with the ultimate goal of stealing information over a long period of time, rather than simply “dipping in” and leaving quickly, as many black hat hackers do during lower level cyber assaults.

Phishing attacks in Southeast Asia see sharp increase

Noushin Shabab, Senior Security Researcher for Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) at Kaspersky, revealed in a recent presentation that targeted phishing, also known as spear phishing, is the preferred infection vector of APT groups operating in the region.

“We did a report this year which found that majority (75%) of executives here are aware and even anticipate an APT attack against their organisations. With phishing incidents hitting the roof in just the first six months of the year, enterprises, public entities, and government agencies should understand the impact of one wrong click on their critical networks and systems. We, humans, remain the weakest link and it is time to look beyond training and awareness. Backup security plans – like incident response capabilities – should be in place to stop a phishing email from becoming the launch pad of a damaging attack to your organisation,” adds Yeo.

Traditional security often doesn’t stop spear phishing attacks because they are so cleverly customized. As a result, they’re becoming more difficult to detect. One employee mistake can have serious consequences for businesses, governments, and even nonprofit organizations.

With stolen data, fraudsters can reveal commercially sensitive information, manipulate stock prices or commit various acts of espionage. In addition, spear phishing attacks can deploy malware to hijack computers, organising them into enormous networks called botnets that can be used for denial of service attacks.

To fight spear phishing scams, employees need to be aware of the threats, such as the possibility of bogus emails landing in their inbox. Besides education, technology that focuses on email security is necessary. Kaspersky recommends installing protective antiphishing solutions on mail servers as well as on employee workstations.

For enterprises and organisations, Kaspersky suggests building incident response capabilities that will help manage the aftermath of an attack and to incorporate threat intelligence services to have in-depth knowledge of the evolving threat and tactics of active APT groups.

Strengthen your brand with NFT

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https://www.nationthailand.com/pr-news/business/tech/40020907

Strengthen your brand with NFT

Strengthen your brand with NFT

MONDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2022

Nowadays, when discussing digital business trends, we believe that many entrepreneurs are interested in implementing NFT for their own brands since NFT is considered relatively new and is constantly growing.

If one could understand and utilize NFT properly, it would effectively boost the advantages for brands in this digital economy.

Let’s get to know NFT through this article, along with its benefits that different brands can apply to their business, and we will also look at some of the interesting ones.

What is an NFT?

NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token, which refers to “tokens with unique characteristics,” making NFTs incapable of being used interchangeably.

Like Bitcoin or Ether (Ethereum), NFT is a type of digital asset created on a blockchain, but it differs from Bitcoin in that Bitcoin is a fungible asset without unique characteristics. Therefore, each bitcoin holds equal value and can be used interchangeably.
Since NFT serves as a representation of unique items such as artworks, videos, music, real estate, and collectables, such unique assets are represented through digital tokens, allowing them to be scarce in quantity, just as Bitcoin and blockchain were developed to create scarcity in digital currencies.


Benefits of NFT for Marketing

As mentioned in the first part of the article, NFT technology can effectively help develop marketing strategies for different brands, if used appropriately. We will take a look at the benefits of NFT for marketing purposes, which can be divided into sections with use cases as follows.

Strengthen your brand with NFT

1.NFT as collectible

Because NFT creators can determine the quantity or rarity of their NFTs, they can create NFTs with special features such that customers or fans can collect them by participating in certain activities, for instance, an offline Meet & Greet with a scannable QR code, purchasing their products above a specified value, or even winning a lucky draw. Once they receive the NFTs, they can simply resell them within the fandom in addition to collecting them.

For example, a global soft drink brand like Pepsi created its own NFT collection under the name “The Mic Drop” to show off the brand’s strength as a leader in music and Pop culture. This, therefore, gave birth to the NFT collection of microphone artworks that integrate the various flavours of the drink for fans to collect.

2. Help modernize the brand image

Even if the brand sells everyday products like food, medicine, or appliances that are seemingly unrelated to the digital system, it can still project a more modern brand image by simply releasing its NFT collections for customers to collect, and these tokens can be tied to privileges like discounts, collecting points, etc. This approach would effectively attract customers of the new generation.
 
For instance, Taco Bell, a Mexican fast food franchise, was one of the first companies to enter the NFT circle, with the collection of Taco NFTs launching in March 2021. The response was overwhelming, and the NFTs were sold out in less than half an hour. On top of that, some items were resold for as much as $180,000.

Strengthen your brand with NFT

3. Keep as a memory

Have you ever had to keep your physical ticket to your favourite artist’s concert or a major sporting match as a good memory to look back on in the future? However, with NFT nowadays, not only can it be stored digitally in the wallet, but even if the ticket issuer closes down their business, the NFT would still be stored in the blockchain and never disappear.
 
For example, an American football league like the NFL partnered with Ticketmaster to issue NFT tickets as an exclusive giveaway to American football fans who watched over 100 matches in the 2022 season.

What to consider when using NFT for Marketing

The following are the steps that business owners must take in order to implement NFT for their brand: 

1.Define the target audience

Customers who are likely to be interested in NFTs can be divided into three major groups for targeting:

1.1 Collector – This group frequently buys to collect for personal liking and may keep the NFTs in the long run without reselling or with an extremely low chance of reselling. They tend to purchase the NFTs of their interest via platforms like Bitkub NFT, OpenSea, Looksrare, etc.

1.2 Creator – Because this group is also a creator or an artist themselves, they may wish to purchase the NFT works in order to establish connections, and they typically have a fan base who supports them, so it is also an opportunity for them to help enhance awareness of the brand’s NFT.

1.3 Investor – This group is likely to represent the majority of the target audience since this group seeks to speculate on profits in both the short and long term. Though, the purchasing power will also vary from low to high.

2.Communication channels

Nowadays, the best way for brands to promote the existence of their NFTs to their target audiences is inevitably through various social media platforms, each with its own unique target audiences and strengths. The platforms of interest are as follows:
 
2.1 Facebook – The survey found that 86% of Thai internet users aged 18 – 29 use Facebook, which can be considered the main channel most entrepreneurs would use to communicate with Thai people. In addition, Facebook has various fan pages and NFT-related groups, such as the Bittoon page, NFT and Crypto Art Thailand group, etc.

2.2 Instagram – IG stands out in that it focuses on presenting content through photos or artworks, making it ideal for promoting NFTs, which are artworks. Moreover, the survey found that 83% of users tend to use IG to seek out new products and services.

2.3 Twitter – Twitter is a perfect channel for spreading news quickly. You can better target people who are likely to be interested in NFTs by using hashtags such as #NFTs, #OpenSea, #nftart, #NFTTHAILAND, #NFTthai, etc.

2.4 Discord / Reddit / Telegram – These platforms are similar to web boards, where users can open forums to discuss their topics of interest, and there are also exclusive rooms or groups for people who share common interests, like how Reddit has related Subreddit like r/NFT, r/NFTExchange, etc.

3. Content creation

Once you have defined your target audience and selected a communication channel, the next step is to create content to promote your brand’s NFT, from the getting-to-know stage up to the post-purchase, as follows:

3.1 Trigger & Awareness – Initially, the target audience is not yet familiar with the brand’s NFT, hence, the appropriate content would first establish an understanding and knowledge of the NFT, such as what it is and how it can be traded.

3.2 Consideration – Once the customer has an understanding of NFT, the next step is to begin creating content related to a brand’s NFT specifically. This could be a social media post outlining the advantages and distinctive points of their NFT.

3.3 Conversion – After the customer is aware of the brand’s NFT products, the following step is to encourage their buying decisions. The brand can create content comparing their NFT to other companies’ NFTs or organize an AMA so that customers who still have doubts can ask directly from the expert, etc.

 3.4 Delight & Awareness – Once the customer has decided to purchase the NFT, the brand should consider expressing gratitude to the customer. This could be a thank-you email, and after-sales services, such as organizing special events for NFT holders to make them feel like buying that NFT was worthwhile, should also be considered.

Summary

NFT is still in its infancy and is gaining attention from business owners across the world who seek to apply it to their brands. NFT can offer brands the benefit of being a digital collectable for fans or keeping as a good memory, and it can also enhance the brand image to appear more modern in the eyes of the new generation.

However, before implementing NFT for your brands, it is crucial for entrepreneurs to have a good understanding of the first, together with a proper marketing strategy, to fully exploit the potential of NFT.

Strengthen your brand with NFT

OMG! There’s a new smartphone charging cable that can steal all your data

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/business/tech/40020902

OMG! There’s a new smartphone charging cable that can steal all your data

OMG! There’s a new smartphone charging cable that can steal all your data

MONDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2022

THE NATION

Be careful where you plug your phone in, because now there’s a new charging cable that can steal all your passwords and banking information stored on your smartphone.

The cable, dubbed O.MG after the creator’s initials and textspeak for “oh my God”, is designed for both Android and iOS smartphones.

Jessada Denduangboripant, a Chulalongkorn University science lecturer, said these cables have a tiny microchip installed that will collect and transmit all data typed by the user to the hacker. Data can also be stolen from computers if the cable is plugged in.

The O.MG cable was revealed at the world’s largest hacking convention, DEF CON, by its developer Mike Grover, who said he can access a plugged-in device up to 90 metres away, and even further if the cable is linked up to a wireless network.

Jessada, meanwhile, explained the cable allows the hacker full access to the device, allowing him or her to open applications, steal passwords or download viruses or malware.

Though the cable is not too widely available as it is still expensive at US$180, it can be acquired by professional hackers who want to attack a high-priority target.

OMG! There’s a new smartphone charging cable that can steal all your data

Hence, Jessada said, the best way to protect your data and information is to avoid connecting to suspicious Wi-Fi networks or using charging cables that have been lying around.

THE NATION