<![CDATA[[SecurityRatty] tag: challenges]]> http://securityratty.com/tag/challenges Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:53:18 +0000 iRatty Engine http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss <![CDATA[Business In Thailand - Part 1: The Challenge]]> http://securityratty.com/article/9f1f804e00135ef904eb97970171c32e http://securityratty.com/article/9f1f804e00135ef904eb97970171c32e Recently someone asked about business in Thailand.  Here is my first post on this challenging topic:

First of all, as background information, I learned the Thai alphabet (script with 44 consonants and 32 vowels) nearly 20 years ago, so I have have a pretty decent foundation for the Thai language compared to most foreigners visting or working in Thailand.   I can read (slowly) and speak better than 99.99+ percent of all foreigners in Thailand.  For this reason, I thought it was ”the right thing to do” to redirect my career to a “new challenge” in the business climate of Thailand as I continue to improve my foreign language skills.   I wanted to help Thailand progress in IT and IT security, so where else would I go but where I have second language skills?

This was no small decision as you can imagine.  Your career and life changes quite dramatically when you give up a long established consulting practice in the US and dive into business in a foreign land, seeking a new challenge.  I can frankly tell you thatit is more difficult to do business in Thailand (as a foreigner) than I expected, for a number of reasons.  Here is my first off-topic post on this topic.

First of all, it is not legal for foreigners to directly own land in Thailand.  Foreigners can ”own” land using a variety of legal loopholes, proxy owners and shell companies; but all of this is risky and not advised.  Many foreigners lose a lot of money coming to Thailand and attempting to buy land via various “structures”.  Some get lucky, but the entire process of foreigners buying and selling land is quite risky and not recommended.

Foreigners can legally own condominiums, under certain conditions, but this “foreign market” results in inflated prices for condos in Thailand that are traded in an “artificial market place” designed for foreigners.   Condos in Bangkok and major resort areas that are up-to-par with condos in the US can easily cost more than condos in major cities in the US.  Hence, the cost of living in Thailand is not as economical as some might believe when you visit Thailand as a tourist.

Second, business in Thailand can best be described as protectionism with discrimination where the government has placed many barriers to entry to foreigners working and competing in Thailand.     Every foreigner must have a work permit and these work permits are expensive and time consuming to maintain.   If you own a business you must pay high professional service fees for “auditors” to perform annual and semiannual audits regardless of how much income you have (including zero).   Firms in Thailand charge thousands of dollars for these ”audits”.      

Third, if you operate a business in Thailand, you must have a place of business (you cannot legally work from your condo you bought at high prices!), so you are forced, by law, to lease office space.   Foreigners from the US, for example, must be paid a minimum of 50,000 Thai Baht per month, so the government will take 10 percent of that each month as their share of tax withholdings.  Startups with no income simply pay income taxes against their personal savings to comply with the law.  Therefore, to start a company and maintain the business in Thailand, you are required to pay significant startup, monthly, semi-annual and annual fees, permits, tax, leases, visas, etc. 

Forth, generating incoming revenue in Thailand can be quite difficult in a climate of both protectionism and discrimination.   In Thailand, it is easy when you are spending money.  This is the ”Land of Smiles” that tourists see and experience.   However, when you are legally permitted to work in Thailand and trying to generate in-country income, you cannot help but notice the protectionism and discrimination against foreigners working and living here.  Many foreigners working in Thailand just “give up” because the barriers to business success are quite high.

Fifth, on top of the challenges of protectionism/discrimination regarding foreigners and foreign investments, which I have only just scratched the surface here, is the overall global business slowdown combined with a climate of political instability which I am sure you have seen in the news.  Thailand has seen 18 coups since 1932.   Currently, Thailand is under a State-of-Emergency  which negatively impacts business even more.  Sound challenging? 

Most people who live and work in Thailand have the opinion that it is far better to enjoy being a tourist here. Working in Thailand is very difficult for many reasons.   Being a tourist in Thailand is completely different than working here.  When you are a tourist, foreign currently flows from you into Thailand, so life in Thailand as a tourist is fun and friendly, hence the “Land of Smiles” you have heard about or experienced.     However, when you are working in Thailand and trying to generate income from Thailand versus bringing in foreign currency, you don’t see the “Land of Smiles” quite the same anymore.

Without getting into too many details in this post, I can simply say that a foreigner doing business in Thailand experiences both protectionism and discrimination.  I came to Thailand hoping to contribute my experience to help the Kingdom.  However, sometimes it feels like foreigners are only welcome if you are working for free, giving seminars for free, and bringing in lots of foreign currency here.

In a future post on business in Thailand I will dive into some details on a number of topics that might be of interest to readers who will never have a chance to come and work here.   

]]> Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:16:36 +0000 thailand visit thailand thailand progressin thailand chargethousands lifein thailand foreigners foreigners canown businessin thailand business Business In Thailand - Part 1: The Challenge <![CDATA[Death to PST: Hidden Cost of Email Mismanagement]]> http://securityratty.com/article/49f14cd6c7507bd2b3026097085710d3 http://securityratty.com/article/49f14cd6c7507bd2b3026097085710d3 (Source: MessageLabs) Email has become the lifeblood of modern business, with more than three quarters of an organizations business-critical data stored there. In this white paper, youll learn more about the business challenges created by email archives and PST files, and how the MessageLabs Email Archiving Service can help reduce the associated risks.
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]]> Fri, 05 Sep 2008 09:00:00 +0000 email messagelabs email messagelabs email archives business challenges pst files white paper modern business source Death to PST: Hidden Cost of Email Mismanagement <![CDATA[Should You Install Messaging Security Software on Your Exchange Server?]]> http://securityratty.com/article/11b169283ed84827dab06cd87ebe699c http://securityratty.com/article/11b169283ed84827dab06cd87ebe699c (Source: Sunbelt Software) Osterman Research shares insights gleaned from a just completed survey that dispel the fears of employing server-based email security solutions. Read this white paper to help you understand the latest Exchange security risks and also learn about reasons why an installed security solution may be the best option for you in countering those challenges.
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]]> Fri, 05 Sep 2008 09:00:00 +0000 email security solutions exchange security risks white paper sunbelt software security solution source challenges reasons dispel Should You Install Messaging Security Software on Your Exchange Server? <![CDATA[AT&T security guru talks DoS attacks, tomorrows hackers]]> http://securityratty.com/article/adfc10a4160b1be072478ef0bf023d3b http://securityratty.com/article/adfc10a4160b1be072478ef0bf023d3b Thu, 04 Sep 2008 20:00:00 +0000 attacks sensitive information security challenges AT&T security guru talks DoS attacks, tomorrows hackers <![CDATA[Business In Thailand - Part 1: The Challenge]]> http://securityratty.com/article/ea0ac16a8a09729fec092a6a2c0a7e21 http://securityratty.com/article/ea0ac16a8a09729fec092a6a2c0a7e21 Recently someone asked about business in Thailand.  Here is my first post on this topic:

First of all, I learned the Thai alphabet nearly 20 years ago, so I have have a pretty good foundation for the Thai language.   I can read (slowly) and speak better than 99.99+ percent of all foreigners in Thailand; so, I thought it was time to redirect my career to a “new challenge” in the business climate of Thailand.   

This was no small decision.  Your career changes dramatically when you give up a successful consulting practice in the US and dive into business in a foreign land for a new challenge.  I can frankly tell you that often the challenge is sometimes overwhelming.    It is quite difficult as a foreigner to do business in Thailand.

First of all, it is not legal for foreigners to own land in Thailand.  Foreigners can ”own” land using a variety of legal loopholes, proxy owners and shell companies; but all of this is risky and not advised.  Foreigners lose a lot of money coming to Thailand and attempting to buy land.  Some get lucky, but the entire process of foreigners buying and selling land is quite risky.

Foreigners can own condos, under certain conditions, but this results in  inflated prices for condos in Thailand that are traded in an artificial market place.   Condos that are up-to-par with condos in the US can easily cost more than condos in major cities in the US.  Hence, the cost of living is not as cheap as some might believe.

Business can best be described as “protectism” where the government has placed many barriers to entry to foreigners working in Thailand.     Every foreigner must have a work permit and these work permits are expensive and time consuming to maintain.   If you own a business you must pay high professional service fees for auditors to perform annual and semiannual audits even if your business has no income yet.   Firms in Thailand charge thousands of dollars for these ”audits”.      

In addition, if you operate a business, you must have a place of business, so you are forced to lease office space.   Foreigners from the US must be paid a minimum of 50,000 Thai Baht per month, so the government will take 10 percent of that each month as their share of tax withholdings.   Therefore, to start a company, you will pay a lot of money in startup fees, permits, tax, leases, visas, etc.  The entire system is designed to secure money from you, even if you do not have a penny of incoming revenue.

Of course, generating incoming revenue can be quite difficult in a climate of protectionism.   In Thailand, it is easy when you are spending money.  When you are trying to generate income from Thailand, as a foreigner the challenge can seem overwhelming at times.   Many foreigners here give up because the barriers to business here are very high.

On top of all these challenges, which I have not described in detail, is the overall global business slowdown combined with a climate of political instability, which I am sure you have seen in the news.  

Most people I know say it is better to be a tourist here.   Being a tourist is completely different.  Money flows from you, so life in Thailand is fun and friendly, complimentary to the “Land of Smiles” you have heard about.     However, when you are working to have money flow the other direction, flow to you versus away from you, you don’t see the “Land of Smiles” as tourists experience.

Without getting into too many details, I can simply say that a foreigner doing business in Thailand experiences protectionism and, to a certain degree, discrimination, and sometimes I wonder if coming here for a “business challenge” was a good idea.    I was seeking a “new challenge” and I got more than I bargained for!

In a future post on business in Thailand I will discuss issues regarding how little value is placed in intellectual property in Thailand and how this adversely impacts professional services.    I will also touch on how this lack of regard for intellectual property impacts a consulting practice.   Also, I will touch on some cultural differences in how Thais appear to view teamwork, which is very different than in the US.

 

]]> Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:16:36 +0000 challenge business thailand business challenge global business slowdown thailand chargethousands foreigners money money flows Business In Thailand - Part 1: The Challenge <![CDATA[Monthly Blog Round-Up - August 2008]]> http://securityratty.com/article/da35c1254d3a39679f5bed9406a6aded http://securityratty.com/article/da35c1254d3a39679f5bed9406a6aded I saw this idea of a monthly blog round-up and I liked it. In general, blogs are a bit "stateless" and a lot of good content gets lost since many people, sadly, only pay attention to what they see today. This is an attempt to remind people of useful content!

So, here is my next monthly "Security Warrior" blog round-up of top 5 popular posts and topics.

  1. In a bizarre twist of fate (maybe driven by my latest poll), the "Top 11 Reasons to Secure and Protect Your Logs" came up as #1 most popular post in August.  The analysis of said log security poll is coming up tomorrow. BTW, see my other logging polls:  poll #8 that covered context data for log analysis is analyzed here and a controversial Windows Log Collection Poll (which is a poll #7)  and poll #6 about logs that people actually review and poll #5 about logging challenges.
  2. Next up is my post "Log Management - Day 1," which talks about the very first thing you do when embarking on a journey to log management.
  3. Still burning hot is a post with my irreverent comments on a Terry Childs saga. Namely, "On Doomsaying (Terry Childs case)", "So ... Am I? Maybe I Am!" and "Admins , Good Guys or "I am NOT an Idiot!""
  4. Somewhat predictably, PCI compliance is all the rage again with 1.2 coming out soon. So, MUST-DO Logging for PCI? post was again propelled to a place in my monthly Top5 list. It discusses the fact that there is no "easy list" of what you MUST do to comply.
  5. Finally, my post "11 Signs That Your SIEM Is A Dog or "Raffy, You Killed SIM!"". It is both humorous and sadly true (and backed up by other sources)

See you in September,  when .... ah, come on! I will tell you later :-)

Possibly related posts / past monthly popular blog round-ups:

 

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]]> Thu, 04 Sep 2008 08:22:00 +0000 monthly blog round-up blog blog round-up monthly security log security poll poll popular post post Monthly Blog Round-Up - August 2008 <![CDATA[IT Sec ProfessionalsWill Automated Security Tools Affect Your Job Security?]]> http://securityratty.com/article/42bece0353bdccce0e60275afee9d3ed http://securityratty.com/article/42bece0353bdccce0e60275afee9d3ed Hackers, security professionals and security tools are becoming both more sophisticated and more automated. With more demand for security experts, people are getting trained and coming in from many different backgrounds — like Patrick Foley over at Blog Info Sec, who said he worked as a longshoreman, journalist, and manager before being trained in tech. He has an interesting article today looking to the future as well — as security gets bigger, how many of our tools will become automated and will that leave security professionals with less job security?

I know that I am always looking for better, cheaper, and faster ways to do what I do now. As regulations like PCI become more prescriptive, as discovery and compliance tools get better, as organizations embed security more seamlessly in the business, and as security itself becomes part of more expansive and, theoretically, more valuable business roles, will security professionals need to reinvent themselves?…

Very few jobs in any large organization look like they did 20 years ago; some of security’s most traditional work may see big changes ahead. How do we prepare our colleagues and teams for those challenges and turn them into opportunities?

Read the whole article here.

]]> Wed, 03 Sep 2008 06:13:33 +0000 security job security security professionals security tools organizations embed security tools security experts business valuable business roles IT Sec ProfessionalsWill Automated Security Tools Affect Your Job Security? <![CDATA[Safely providing anywhere, anytime network access]]> http://securityratty.com/article/171ed5feba667c18affc04e17cf43723 http://securityratty.com/article/171ed5feba667c18affc04e17cf43723 Tue, 02 Sep 2008 01:26:33 +0000 business information business access business user remote access complete set user-friendly solutions secure anytime laptop Safely providing anywhere, anytime network access <![CDATA[Blue Box #82: Asterisk & Skype security vulnerabilities, new VoIP security tools, VoIP steganography, VoIP security news and much, much more...]]> http://securityratty.com/article/ab8e0e22ebb1851ff664c3be0a3baa7d http://securityratty.com/article/ab8e0e22ebb1851ff664c3be0a3baa7d

Synopsis:  Blue Box #82: Asterisk & Skype security vulnerabilities, new VoIP security tools, VoIP steganography, VoIP security news and much, much more...

Welcome to Blue Box: The VoIP Security Podcast #82, a 47-minute podcast  from Dan York and Jonathan Zar covering VoIP security news, comments and opinions.   

Download the show here (MP3, 21MB) or subscribe to the RSS feed to download the show automatically. 

NOTE: This show was originally recorded on June 21, 2008.

You may also listen to this podcast right now:

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