Latest news with #RyanFrankel
Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Why Post-Quantum Cryptography Can't Wait For Tomorrow
Ryan Frankel is President & CTO of HostingAdvice. Much like nuclear fusion, it seems quantum computing is always a decade or two away from hitting the mainstream. Giant machines crunching calculations in parallel would give them the ability to crack encryption that would take today's fastest supercomputer millions of years. While we're certainly still a few years away from this, bad actors are already ingeniously preparing for the moment. They're stealing and storing encrypted data, betting that in five or 10 years, they'll have access to a quantum computer capable of unlocking it. This tactic, known as harvest-now-decrypt-later, turns someday into a ticking clock for organizations managing sensitive data. For those of us working in data centers, cloud infrastructure, web hosting and related services, this risk is fast becoming a security vector that we can no longer ignore. If your business handles sensitive information, such as financial transactions, customer records and contracts, some of that data will still matter years from now. And when quantum computers get up to speed, everything encrypted with traditional methods can be fair game. Luckily, I'm not the only one who has thought about this. Companies are starting to release post-quantum cryptography that will help alleviate this concern, even if it doesn't totally resolve it. Most of our encryption stays safe behind complex math problems that are hard for classical computers to solve. With enough time, current computers can, in theory, break that encryption—but it would take centuries. If current computers are opening one door at a time, quantum computers are opening all of the doors at once. It is speed that enables them to easily foil today's encryption techniques. While, as Richard Feynman famously said, 'nobody understands quantum mechanics,' folks understand it enough to have built current computers of more than 1,000 qubits. The day someone gets a quantum machine running at scale, the encryption we trust could become obsolete almost overnight. It won't just compromise future data. It will unlock whatever is sitting in storage, collected years before. Post-quantum cryptography (PQC for short) is a set of tools and techniques designed to stay secure even against quantum computers. These systems rely on mathematical puzzles that quantum machines can't easily solve. If you follow the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) ongoing project to standardize PQC algorithms, you've probably heard the terms 'Kyber' and 'Dilithium.' Kyber is quantum-safe encryption and Dilithium is a digital signature that quantum computers cannot easily forge. These tools are already moving from research to practice. Cloud providers are testing them and browsers are experimenting with them. Some companies are layering PQC into TLS (the technology that keeps websites secure), so even if quantum decryption becomes possible, the locks will still hold. Even if you're not ready to jump in with both feet, you can start taking practical steps now to get ready: • Take inventory. Make a list of where encryption is used in your business. Focus on what needs to stay secure for years to come. Backups, archives and long-term contracts are good places to start. • Talk to your vendors. Ask your cloud and hosting providers how they're planning for the quantum transition. If they don't have an answer yet, press for a plan. • Experiment early. Some tools already support 'hybrid' encryption, pairing current algorithms with quantum-resistant ones. Set up test environments and see how they perform. • Educate your teams. Bring your developers and security staff up to speed. Even a basic understanding of what PQC is and why it matters will help them make informed decisions down the road. • Keep watch. Standards are still evolving. NIST will finalize recommendations soon, and leading organizations like Cloudflare and Google regularly share updates and guides. Appoint someone on your team to follow this closely. The biggest misconception about post-quantum cryptography is that it's a problem for the next decade. In reality, the groundwork you lay today is what will protect you tomorrow. Switching to new encryption systems is becoming easier and will be at the flip of the switch in the coming months. Every week you wait is another week attackers can collect encrypted data that may still be valuable years down the line. Quantum computing may still be in its early stages, but its impact on security is already here. Harvest-now-decrypt-later isn't a theory—it's happening. You don't have to overhaul everything today. But you do have to begin. Inventory your systems. Talk to your providers. Test the tools. Stay informed. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
Associated Press
3 days ago
- Business
- Associated Press
HostingAdvice Premiers Inaugural Web Developer Choice Awards, Announces First Wave of Winners
HostingAdvice, the leading authority on web hosting reviews, in-depth guides, and industry news, today announced the launch of its inaugural Web Developer Choice Awards. This new awards program is designed to honor the best web hosting providers as chosen by the developers who rely on their services daily. Unlike traditional awards based on algorithms or expert opinions, the Web Developer Choice Awards prioritize authentic performance and real satisfaction directly from the web developer community. The awards reflect the true sentiment and professional standards of the individuals building and maintaining their infrastructure and presence online. 'We are incredibly proud and excited to introduce the Web Developer Choice Awards,' said Ryan Frankel, president and chief technology officer of HostingAdvice. 'There are a lot of hosting awards that are doled out by industry experts, and that's great, they're experts for a reason. But we wanted to hear from the people who use these services professionally over the course of their career and won't hold back on their opinions. When your livelihood depends on hosting infrastructure that doesn't buckle under pressure, you remember who delivers and who doesn't. This recognition is of real-world performance.' is proud to announce the first group of winners in the inaugural 2025 Web Developer Choice Awards: These awards are a testament to the providers who truly empower the developer community. The awards employ a rigorous methodology to ensure fairness, legitimacy and industry relevance: There are an additional 19 medals across 5 categories to be awarded over the next few months. Stay tuned to the Web Developer Choice Awards homepage for all future unveilings. About HostingAdvice HostingAdvice is a web hosting reviews company, complete with educational resources for IT professionals, small business owners and anyone interested in building their online presence. HostingAdvice publishes daily news stories for the hosting, IT and developer communities. For more information, visit or follow us on LinkedIn, TikTok and Twitter. Media Contact Adam Blacker [email protected] ### SOURCE: HostingAdvice Copyright 2025 EZ Newswire
Forbes
07-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Hiring For HostingOps: A New Era For CTOs
Ryan Frankel is President & CTO of HostingAdvice. HostingOps, or hosting operations, is a term I've found myself using more and more when I'm discussing hosting, storage and general infrastructure with colleagues. By my definition, HostingOps is the management, automation and optimization of web and storage infrastructure. Lately, as I've been on the hunt for some new employees, I've started to think about our infrastructure and the skills that I'd be looking for to maintain it. Increasingly more companies are using a combination of cloud and on-premises hosting infrastructure, and there should be a term (i.e., job title) that denotes a team's or one's expertise in building and maintaining a company's hosting infrastructure. Enter HostingOps. HostingOps Vs. DevOps: A Clearer Way To Think About Operations DevOps started with good intentions—tear down silos, speed up delivery and automate everything. But somewhere along the way, it became a buzzword buffet, slapped on everything from culture to Kubernetes. These days, saying someone 'does DevOps' can mean anything or nothing at all. HostingOps brings the focus back to what actually keeps websites and apps running: owning infrastructure, scaling smartly and making sure the backend doesn't catch fire at three in the morning. With HostingOps, roles are clearer and responsibilities are grounded. According to a 2024 report, 80% of organizations practice DevOps, but many still struggle with its implementation and clarity of roles. By adopting HostingOps, we aim to provide a clearer framework for our teams, focusing on the specific challenges of managing diverse hosting infrastructures. HostingOps Vs. CloudOps: Not Just About The Cloud Anymore CloudOps is very pragmatically all about the cloud. It's specialized. But in 2021, about 80% of companies operated with some version of a hybrid cloud, especially with cloud repatriation taking hold over the past few years. Legacy systems, regulatory constraints and performance needs—plenty of workloads still live on-prem, in colocation racks or out at the edge. HostingOps encompasses this entire spectrum that's today's infrastructure reality. It doesn't matter where your infrastructure lives—just that it works, scales and stays secure. Whether you're running on AWS, in a basement server room or on a foggy mountain edge node, HostingOps meets you where you are. It reflects the messy, hybrid world most teams are actually working in. How HostingOps Helps You Hire The Right People Ask five companies what a 'DevOps engineer' does and you'll get five different answers. For some, it's automation wizardry. For others, it's babysitting CI/CD pipelines. The title's almost like a Rorschach test for tech teams. HostingOps brings much-needed clarity. It's about tangible responsibilities: infrastructure ownership, performance tuning, cost management and reliability. That means job descriptions truly match the work, and hiring managers can find candidates who know what they're signing up for. No more guessing games and roulette. This clarity helps candidates understand expectations and allows us to assess skills more effectively. HostingOps gives you the framework to handle today's complexity, and if done well, sets you up to adapt as that complexity grows. That means tighter performance, better cost control and better protection for your brand. HostingOps isn't just another tech buzzword—to me, it's a reflection of how the job has changed. The boundaries between cloud and on-prem, dev and ops, and infra and app are breaking down. What's emerging is a new discipline that demands both technical depth and operational range. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
Business Insider
17-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
I own a reselling business with my wife, and sales are booming. I can't attribute our growth to anything other than the tariffs.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Ryan Frankel, a 36-year-old business owner in Miami. It has been edited for length and clarity. My primary business is Thrift Vintage Fashion, which I launched in 2020 with my wife, Evelyn. We supply secondhand clothing — mostly men's wear, such as T-shirts, sweatshirts, and denim — to stores nationwide. When Trump took office in January, our sales took a steep decline. Once he came into office, there was a lot of uncertainty. However, we noticed a significant incline once tariffs were announced in February. From February to March, we saw an unprecedented 41% increase in revenue (gross sales). Then we had our best March and April since we started the business. I can't attribute our growth to anything other than the tariffs. My family has been in this business for three generations My grandfather began selling men's secondhand clothing after World War II. In the 90s, my father primarily sold denim and Levi's. When I started working with my father in 2010, we brought the business online and got our name out there. After I launched Thrift Vintage Fashion, which is primarily a wholesale B2B business, it popped off right away. We did over $1 million in revenue in our first year working out of our garage during peak COVID in 2020. This was mainly due to my experience working with my father over the previous decade and improving the model and ordering efficiency through the TVF website. Once Trump raised the tariffs, many of our clients reached out to us Many clients — primarily secondhand clothing stores (big and small), vintage clothing stores, and online resellers — reached out to ask if the tariffs had affected our business. There was a lot of uncertainty, but we were able to confidently say, "No, we're not affected, and we're not going to raise our prices." Since then, we've just seen a slew of new orders come in, in addition to existing clients ordering a lot more. Consumers preparing for prices to go up is another factor that has increased our secondhand sales. Everyone's talking about how fashion prices are going up, but since secondhand circulates within the US, no tariffs are affecting it at all. It seems more people are interested in entering the reselling business People are potentially looking into reselling more, which is positively affecting my wholesale business. We've seen steady growth across the US. The US has been our primary market for the last three years, and we see increasing interest from new and existing resale clients. Our numbers are growing, our existing customers are doubling down on their business, and there's increasing demand in the secondhand market. I'm biased, as this is my career, but it's an excellent opportunity for shoppers and business owners to consider selling and buying secondhand goods. There's so much of it out there: eBay, estate sales, garage sales, or storage units. A lot of secondhand merchandise is way better quality than most things produced today, and there's a growing demand for all of it. We're buying more goods and building our supply chain, prepping for growth in both wholesale and retail sectors. The main challenges are the high costs of collecting, processing, and reselling these garments Believe it or not, many used clothing articles cost more than many new clothing items made today. So, our company is always up against the perception of selling something used for the same price or more than new clothing. However, this perception is shifting daily, with people recognizing the value of secondhand versus cheap new fashion. Every day, we're shedding the old stigma of secondhand shops being viewed as "less than." The fact is that the items we sell are in excellent condition. While many brands produce cheap, throwaway fast fashion, older clothes were often made more durably. Whether the clothes were made five or 15 years ago, many desirable styles have become rare by nature and hard to find, thus increasing their value. The desire for secondhand items will probably continue If you're already selling secondhand items, that's great; stick with it. You're probably seeing increases already, and I think it will continue. If you're not selling secondhand, especially if you're worried about tariffs, I would consider trying to implement it into your existing business. There are so many significant factors in buying secondhand that the average American consumer slowly recognizes more each day. There are also opportunities to grow a brand reselling the billions of secondhand garments in circulation. I believe we're past the days of "thrifting" carrying a negative connotation. We're scratching the surface of what's possible with secondhand.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
I own a reselling business with my wife, and sales are booming. I can't attribute our growth to anything other than the tariffs.
Ryan Frankel and his wife, Evelyn, launched Thrift Vintage Fashion in 2020. The business supplies secondhand clothing nationwide. Thrift Vintage Fashion saw a 41% revenue increase after tariffs were announced. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Ryan Frankel, a 36-year-old business owner in Miami. It has been edited for length and clarity. My primary business is Thrift Vintage Fashion, which I launched in 2020 with my wife, Evelyn. We supply secondhand clothing — mostly men's wear, such as T-shirts, sweatshirts, and denim — to stores nationwide. When Trump took office in January, our sales took a steep decline. Once he came into office, there was a lot of uncertainty. However, we noticed a significant incline once tariffs were announced in February. From February to March, we saw an unprecedented 41% increase in revenue (gross sales). Then we had our best March and April since we started the business. I can't attribute our growth to anything other than the tariffs. My grandfather began selling men's secondhand clothing after World War II. In the 90s, my father primarily sold denim and Levi's. When I started working with my father in 2010, we brought the business online and got our name out there. After I launched Thrift Vintage Fashion, which is primarily a wholesale B2B business, it popped off right away. We did over $1 million in revenue in our first year working out of our garage during peak COVID in 2020. This was mainly due to my experience working with my father over the previous decade and improving the model and ordering efficiency through the TVF website. Many clients — primarily secondhand clothing stores (big and small), vintage clothing stores, and online resellers — reached out to ask if the tariffs had affected our business. There was a lot of uncertainty, but we were able to confidently say, "No, we're not affected, and we're not going to raise our prices." Since then, we've just seen a slew of new orders come in, in addition to existing clients ordering a lot more. Consumers preparing for prices to go up is another factor that has increased our secondhand sales. Everyone's talking about how fashion prices are going up, but since secondhand circulates within the US, no tariffs are affecting it at all. People are potentially looking into reselling more, which is positively affecting my wholesale business. We've seen steady growth across the US. The US has been our primary market for the last three years, and we see increasing interest from new and existing resale clients. Our numbers are growing, our existing customers are doubling down on their business, and there's increasing demand in the secondhand market. I'm biased, as this is my career, but it's an excellent opportunity for shoppers and business owners to consider selling and buying secondhand goods. There's so much of it out there: eBay, estate sales, garage sales, or storage units. A lot of secondhand merchandise is way better quality than most things produced today, and there's a growing demand for all of it. We're buying more goods and building our supply chain, prepping for growth in both wholesale and retail sectors. Believe it or not, many used clothing articles cost more than many new clothing items made today. So, our company is always up against the perception of selling something used for the same price or more than new clothing. However, this perception is shifting daily, with people recognizing the value of secondhand versus cheap new fashion. Every day, we're shedding the old stigma of secondhand shops being viewed as "less than." The fact is that the items we sell are in excellent condition. While many brands produce cheap, throwaway fast fashion, older clothes were often made more durably. Whether the clothes were made five or 15 years ago, many desirable styles have become rare by nature and hard to find, thus increasing their value. If you're already selling secondhand items, that's great; stick with it. You're probably seeing increases already, and I think it will continue. If you're not selling secondhand, especially if you're worried about tariffs, I would consider trying to implement it into your existing business. There are so many significant factors in buying secondhand that the average American consumer slowly recognizes more each day. There are also opportunities to grow a brand reselling the billions of secondhand garments in circulation. I believe we're past the days of "thrifting" carrying a negative connotation. We're scratching the surface of what's possible with secondhand. If you're a small-business owner with a unique story that you would like to share, please email the editor, Manseen Logan, at mlogan@ Read the original article on Business Insider
