De-code Weekly — 26 Aug 2024
De-code Weekly — 26 Aug 2024
Business opportunities in ADHD solutions & dealing with cybersecurity leaks!
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👋 Hey, Jotham here! Welcome to the first edition of De-code — a weekly newsletter for Malaysian tech entrepreneurs.
Each week, I feature a local company, market trends, news and practical insights to help you find opportunities and grow your business.
🧠 Trivia of the week
In 2022, which Malaysian company became the first to be listed on the US NASDAQ stock exchange?
The answer can be found at the bottom of the page
💹 Market Trends ADHD Assistance Technology
1 in 9 children diagnosed with ADHD in 2022. Source: CDC
Global demand for ADHD assistive tools is not just rising but also stable.
In the US, 1 in 9 children is diagnosed with ADHD, while adult diagnoses are increasing at a rate four times faster than in children.
Malaysia is no different. In 2020, The Ministry of Health released a report indicating that ADHD affects 3.9% of the Malaysian population, but the actual numbers is actually higher. This is due to limited mental health literacy and cultural influences.
Did you know?💡
ADHD is diagnosed more frequently in boys compared to girls in Malaysia — as much as x4.6.
Naturally, this sparked an entire industry of physical and digital assistive tools to cater to the rising consumer demand.
Worldwide search interest in ADHD Watches 2019-2024. Source: Google Trends
Worldwide search interest in ADHD Watches 2019-2024. Source: Google Trends
There’s now a slew of apps designed to help users control their focus via:
On the device front, Watchminder is a wristwatch designed to aid with ADHD by sending vibrations at regular intervals — along with a pre-programmed cue, i.e. “PAY ATTENTION!“.
This is helpful for children who are unable to wear smartwatches to school. Plus, Watchminder is ¼ the price of an Apple Watch SE — great for users who want a “dumb“, dedicated device.
In contrast, Malaysian’s access to ADHD support is limited primarily to medication or counselling/therapy services, especially for adults. But one thing is for sure — there is an appetite for assistive solutions in this growing demographic.
🏢 Company of the Week Innov8tif Solutions
❝
We help businesses prevent fraud and securely onboard online users by implementing eKYC systems within their platforms.
More companies today are setting up 100% digital user experiences with zero human touchpoints. Conversely, identity fraud and fake accounts/claims are on the rise. Bad actors now leverage deep fakes, synthetic data, and AI to perform fraudulent activities — such as creating fake accounts.
Innov8tif's eKYC solutions ensure that users are genuine, legitimate, and authentic without sacrificing user convenience.
Innov8tif's most prominent customers are in regulated industries such as government, banks, and telcos. Due to rising demand, the company now serves any industry with digital consumer-facing platforms, such as insurance, fintech, e-commerce platforms, etc.
Interesting Facts
Innov8tif's eKYC solutions are a combined mix of multiple AI technologies, such as liveness detection, document authentication, facial matching, and more.
Innov8tif also provides consultancy services — bundling eKYC with other offerings, such as digital signing, device binding, credit reporting, etc.
After merging with Xendity in 2023, Innov8tif is now the largest eKYC provider in Malaysia with a regional presence.
📰 News Worth Reading
AWS Region Launch: Reduced latency for Malaysia businesses.
theedgemalaysia.com/node/723844
LHDN & Customs inspects thousands of Klang Valley businesses to ensure tax compliance
Govt gives 6 months grace period for e-invoice implementation
Car makers selling driver’s data without consent — increasing insurance rates
pirg.org/articles/car-companies-are-sneakily-selling-your-driving-data
💡 Tip of the week Cybersecurity: Dealing with leaks
It could be your financial statements, product price sheet, or even an internal memo — Once an unwanted copy is out on the internet, it is extremely difficult to take down (but not impossible).
The longer it is up online, the higher your risks. Even if the uploaded copy is removed, the data is infinitely replicable in the form of a backup, image snapshot, or circulated within private chat groups.
In an ideal world, sensitive documents shouldn’t be stored on the public internet in the first place. But like all risk types, sometimes it’s not a matter of “if” but “when”.
Norton has written an in-depth article on how to issue takedown requests:.
Make Your Case: Provide supporting documentation and clearly explain why the content should be removed, focusing on factual impacts.
Contact the Author: If the author’s contact information is available, reach out politely to request removal or alteration of the content.
Flag Violations: Check if the content violates the website's Terms of Service (TOS) and report it accordingly.
Request Google Removal: If the content is harmful or violates specific criteria, submit a removal request to Google.
Submit a DMCA Takedown Notice: If the content infringes on your copyright, file a DMCA request to have it removed.
Consider Legal Action: As a last resort, explore suing for defamation, but be aware of the potential publicity backlash.
Proactively leaking false information
If the above strategies do not work for you, thankfully there’s a far simpler method — proactively leak false information.
For example, to control the damage from having your product pricing information leaked, you could create multiple documents with modified pricing and distribute them widely as needed.
The goal is to make recipients question the authenticity of the originally leaked document, especially when the information is unverifiable.
In fact, hackers often implement such countermeasures themselves. Many of them use synthetic data, such as home addressed, middle names, identity numbers to prevent being doxxed.
Did you know?💡
An advanced version of this tactic is called honeypotting — deploying systems that appear vulnerable and attractive to attackers, but are actually traps designed to detect, deceive and study hacking attempts
🧠 Trivia Answer
Source: NST
Starbox Group Holdings Ltd
Starbox is a business ecosystem centered around cash rebates, digital advertising, and payment solutions.
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