TamimGram - November

Welcome to Tamimi Gram.

Hello and welcome to this issue of Tamimi Gram.

This is your regular dose of getting to know your colleagues, feeling more connected and learning about each other.

We have all your favourites covered in this issue, and we have introduced new segments such as words of wisdom and the importance of showing appreciation. CSR is also covered as we spotlight the CSR Committee and the week they organised this year. There is a very informative article in the health and wellness section that shares the importance of walking as a form of exercise and we announce the winner of the Tamimi Baking competition.

With the world cup underway, we have a look at what’s happening and how Qatar is marking this global event.

There’s loads more for you in this edition, so happy reading

The Tamimi Gram working

Tamimi

Raya Damaj

Saquib Malik IT Security Manager, Dubai DIFC

How are you doing today?

Not well at all, the latest information security awareness campaign by Azila got only 23% completion from all people in the firm. Working in the legal industry this does not let me sleep at night. Its messing up my blood pressure.

It could not be that bad, have we ever experienced a bad incident?

Yes there have been bad incidents and the only way we can prevent these attacks is to stay vigilant and alert. This alertness can be maintained only if we keep reminding people of the security threats and how to deal with them, through security awareness campaigns. If people in the firm are not regularly made aware they lower their guard, and we experience security incidents.

Who is your favourite colleague?

My favourite colleague is Azila –the awareness onscreen machine.

What are your favourite movies?

I have a deep love for Hollywood because movies are simulators for life’s situations, they allow us to look at situations we may never have been in, in our past. So, when faced with similar situations in the future we unconsciously bring in to play what we learned or prepared for while watching the movie. In our routine lives we may not come across those situations which movies take us through, that is both entertaining and from my job’s perspective a huge favour as it supplies people with an active imagination. When we think of possible risks in a security assessment, we include and cater for highly creative attacks which can only be done if we have an active imagination. This is what the enemies of our confidentiality and integrity use against us. They use tricks that depend on the trust we have given them but which they have not earned.

What movies would you recommend?

• If you wish to learn about financial crime/AML please do watch ‘Fun with Dick and Jane’, ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘The Laundromat’.

• If you work in HR, please do watch ‘Duplicity’.

• If you are anyone who values, the confidentiality of your information that you work with please do watch ‘Snowden’. This also tells you why we use USB protection at Al Tamimi & Company.

• If you wish to understand what the big deal with privacy and data protection is, please do watch ‘the great hack’, it’s on Netflix.

• Identity theft – watch ‘Identity Theft’

• I am making a point not to mention productions based solely on showing how cybercrime is done because they come with massive plot holes *Cough* *Cough* Mr. Robot.

• If you are someone who depends on locks and keys for protecting data, please know that contrary to what is shown in movies, picking a lock does not take 5 seconds with one hand. It takes two hands and a little over a minute.

What’s the best way to not fall prey to cybercrime?

We trust only those people who have earned our trust. We need to ensure we know who we are communicating with. Is it someone who has earned our trust or just pretending to be someone we trust?

Have you ever eaten exceptionally weird food, what was it?

What do you like the most at Al Tamimi and Co.? Is there something you would like to see different?

I would love to see Dusit Thani being demolished, as it blocks the view of the sea from the lunch area. If you had to be any cartoon character, which one would you be? Johnny Bravo or a very annoying version of Batman. Every time the Joker would make a killing joke I would follow it with a dad joke just to dilute the affect. Strategically putting him off his game.

When I landed my first pay cheque my youngest cousin baked a cake for me when she was just 13. It was the first time she baked a cake from A to Z, herself. I ate the whole cake smiling at her, paying her all the compliments and of course a portion of the pay cheque as a prize, for all of her efforts and love. The cake was burnt to a crisp on the outside, it was a scene from CSI special burnt victims unit. On the Inside it was a cloning experiment gone wrong. I would’ve assumed it a biohazard if I wasn’t told it was a cake. Through my suffocating taste buds the only taste I could make out was of a little bit of cooking chocolate and asthma.

What is your favourite hobby? Bilbo Baggins. Oh Hobbyyy? Umm… Reading

Besides your skills in preparing the best cold coffee, do you have any hidden talent? what you see is a reason why we can’t depend on tools to secure us. We individually and collectively need to be the Human Firewall. Security is a state of mind.

By Randa Fakhoury and Saquib Malik

China has built a replica of Paris

They have the second largest copy of the Eiffel Tower in the world Sitting on the outskirts of Hangzhou, China, is what locals call ‘Little Paris’. This luxury real estate development is an architectural and engineering feat complete with an Eiffel Tower replica (although onethird of the size of the real thing, it’s still the second largest copy after the one at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel in the USA), an Arc de Triomphe, a Champs Elysées, a fountain from the Jardin du Luxembourg, and even close-to-perfect versions of the French capital’s boulevards of cream, neoclassical buildings.

Cats

If you're a cat lover, then you may be surprised by this interesting fact: Cats can't taste anything that's sweet. That's probably why they can't get enough of their favorite salty snack.

Dolphins

Most people know dolphins have incredible sonar abilities. But did you know they were studied as war tools during the Cold War? They really are as smart as people say they are.

Oymyakon, Russia, is the coldest inhabited place on Earth

The valley of Oymyakon in Yakutia – or The Pole of Cold –is located in northeast Russia. Here, temperatures can reach -70c – it’s so cold, even alcohol freezes. With few modern conveniences available, this seemingly uninhabitable village is home to 500 Siberian people with traditional occupations such as reindeer herding, hunting and fishing. Tourism is also becoming popular among those who can brave the harsh conditions.

Let’s go to HELL

There's a town in Norway called Hell. Ironically, it never gets very warm there at all. In fact, the temperature regularly dips below zero degrees.

Zombies

Ok, so everyone who has done a little bit of research knowns zombie-ism is an awakening in psychotic state after a suspended animation induced using toxins extracted from the flesh of a pufferfish. But did you know that zombie-ism was used to increase productivity in slave run industries? Extreme exploitation by industry owners led slaves to contemplate suicide, the slave master would employ necromancers or Bokors (sorcerers) who threatened the slaves with zombification if they tried to leave the world.

If someone was poisoned with the pufferfish, enough brain damage would cause the poisoned to first appear dead, then awaken and not be able to resist suggestion and to 'accept' that they were actually dead and had been raised by the Bokor, that since they already have died they do not have any other purpose but to serve the Bokor.

Werewolves?

(True Story)

Amidst a skirmish during First World War so many of the German and Russians soldiers were being killed by a ferocious and human-like well organized gang of wolves (Herr Wolfgang ?). Both sides called for a ceasefire hunted and killed the wolves until it was safe for the soldiers to start killing each other again.

Poltergeist (Fact)

Did you know that in California Poltergeist activity is extremely common. If you sell a house, then by law, you are required to mention in the sale documents the unusual activity. In California Poltergeists are a state recognized entity.

The winner of our Great Tamimi Bake of is Vanilou Bongolto for her Mango Creama

BEC

What is it?

BEC stands for business email compromise and is defined by the FBI as a “sophisticated scam targeting organizations working with foreign suppliers and organizations that regularly perform wire transfer payments.”

CEO Fraud

Attackers impersonate a C-level member of an organization to send requests for sensitive info or wire transfers.

EAC Email account compromise, also known as account hijacking, occurs when someone gains unauthorized access to an employee email account.

Invoice Scams

Attackers often issue fraudulent invoices by impersonating partners and foreign suppliers.

How does a BEC attack work?

The goal of a scammer is to gain and abuse your trust. Trust is how BEC attackers managed to compromise organizations in over 100 countries, racking up billions in financial losses in just a few years’ time.

How is this possible?

Imagine receiving an email from your boss asking you to wire money to someone or requesting highly sensitive information. How likely are you to engage and comply with the request? The same is true in your personal life. If you get an email from a close friend or family member claiming they are stuck in a foreign country and need money, what do you do?

In this podcast, as part of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Colin Short and Saquib Malik discuss the latest security trends and why it’s necessary for us all to become “human firewalls”.

The following steps outline how business email compromise works:

STEP 1: Gather Intel

The attackers spend weeks or even months gathering info about their targets, such as full names, email addresses, home addresses, hobbies, family members, close friends, and social status.

STEP 2: Hijack Email

By hijacking email accounts, the attacker can impersonate the owner of the email account and target that person’s contact list.

STEP 3: Phish Employees

By impersonating the CEO, for example, the attacker can send a request to the financial department for a wire transfer payment to an unauthorized account. Since the email appears to come from someone the employee knows (the boss), the employee is much more likely to comply with the request, often without a second thought.

How to prevent this from happening to you?

Always verify the source. Requests for money or sensitive information should be handled cautiously, and with a degree of skepticism.

Vocally confirm those requests. Even if you’re 99% sure the request is legitimate, there’s no harm in confirming it and avoiding that 1% chance that you are wrong.

Be cautious on social media. Limit the amount of information you share and consider maxing out privacy settings. Cybercriminals use social media for data mining their targets.

Learn to spot phishing emails.

Common signs of phishing attacks include bad grammar, poor spelling, awkward phrasing, and threatening language.

Participate in awareness training. Every employee, from C-level to reception, benefits from awareness training!

Remember that high-level access creates high-level risk. C-suites, managers, and executives need to be extra cautious in every aspect of their work and personal lives, since they are the number one target.

Think before you click. Many of these attacks are made possible by someone clicking on something they shouldn’t have.

Always follow policy. No matter what, follow our organization’s policy at all times, and if you’re not sure about something, please ask!

CSR week

by Joanna Thomas

Business is about more than just making a profit. Climate change, economic inequality, and other global challenges that impact communities worldwide have compelled companies to be purpose driven and contribute to the greater good. There’s no onesize-fits-all model of corporate social responsibility and any action that a company takes can fall under the CSR umbrella.

For our second CSR week, we started with an in-person breakfast session hosted by the CSR Committee with the participation of Mr Abdullah Ahmed Al Shehhi, Chief Operating Officer at Dubai Cares, shedding some light on the organisation’s goals. He thanked the firm for its continued support which has had a direct impact on their efforts.

This was followed on day two by a question and answer session with Nasouh Raslan who explained the C3 Social Impact Accelerator Programme. On day three, colleagues in UAE and our regional offices were informed of the firm’s volunteering policy.

The CSR Committee is working with a number of organisations on many volunteering projects, and these will be rolled out as soon as they are finalised. Day four we had a Q&A with Francis Patalong who spoke about the Chancery Lane Project that he is working on with other colleagues in Riyadh.

The CSR Committee strives to do its utmost to better the lives of those less fortunate and I believe we should all join hands and play our parts.

Children of today, leaders of tomorrow Colleagues had the opportunity to be part of the English and Arabic Reading Programme, taking time out and volunteering to read stories to wonderful young learners, eager to develop themselves into what the leaders of the future.

The CSR Committee for connecting us with this cause. It was a wonderful and fulfilling morning. If you want to get involved in programmes like this, please contact the CSR team csrcommittee@tamimi.com

ISO byNatalia

Ratkevicius

Al Tamimi & Company has taken a decision to take another very important step in the environmental and sustainability management of the firm. The Firm had taken a lot of initiatives and measures towards green and paperless work environment in the past few years - while changing the mind-set and directing the behavior and attitude of the employees towards sustainable thinking. We have achieved a lot of great results in reducing plastic, waste recycling, mindful printing, spreading awareness about water and energy consumption and the life-cycle of the objects of everyday use. We are constantly putting effort to share knowledge and spread awareness of the everyday behaviors and the impact they have on the environment that is the biggest asset in our hands for the future generations.

You are aware that our Dubai office has been already certified in ISO14001 in environmental management system and Abu Dhabi and Qatar have proudly followed. This is an amazing achievement and a reminder that this is just a beginning of long sustainable environment journey.

So what do you need to know about ISO 14001?

ISO 14001 is an internationally agreed standard that sets out the requirements for an environmental management system. It helps organizations improve their environmental performance through more efficient use of resources and reduction of waste, gaining a competitive advantage and the trust of stakeholders. An environmental management system helps organization identify, manage, monitor and control their environmental issues in a “holistic manner”.

Designed for any type of organization, regardless of its activity or sector, it can provide assurance to company management and employees as well as external stakeholders that environmental impact is being measured and improved.

What do the standards in the ISO 14000 family cover?

The ISO 14000 family of standards are developed by ISO Technical Committee ISO/TC 207 and its various subcommittees.

ISO 14001 provides requirements with guidance for use that relate to environmental systems. Other standards in the family focus on specific approaches such as audits, communications, labelling and life cycle analysis, as well as environmental challenges such as climate change.

What are the benefits of ISO 14001 certification? There are many reasons why an organization should take a strategic approach to improve their environmental performance. ISO 14001 helps:

• Demonstrate compliance with current and future statutory and regulatory requirements.

• Increased leadership involvement and engagement of employees.

• Improve company reputation and the confidence of stakeholders through strategic communication.

• Achieve strategic business aims by incorporating environmental issues into business management

• Provide a competitive and financial advantage through improved efficiencies and reduced costs

• Encourage better environmental performance of suppliers by integrating them into organization’s business systems.

There are more than 300,000 certifications to ISO 14001 in 171 countries around the world and Al Tamimi & Company is proudly one of them!

Donations made by the CSR Committee from January to October 2022

Health & wellbeing

By Natalia Ratkevicius

Walking is simple, free and one of the easiest ways to get more active, lose weight and become healthier.

Sometimes overlooked as a form of exercise, walking briskly can help you build stamina, burn excess calories and make your heart healthier.

You do not have to walk for hours. A brisk 10-minute daily walk has lots of health benefits and counts towards your recommended 150 minutes of weekly exercise.

Before you start Any shoes or trainers that are comfortable, provide adequate support and do not cause blisters will do.

If you're walking to work, you could wear your usual work clothes with a comfy pair of shoes and change shoes when you get into work.

For long walks, you may want to take some water, healthy snacks, a spare top, sunscreen and a sun hat in a small backpack.

If you start going for longer walks regularly, you may want to invest in a waterproof jacket and some specialist walking shoes for more challenging routes.

How do I know if I'm walking fast enough?

A brisk walk is about 4.5 km an hour, which is faster than a stroll.

You can tell you're walking briskly if you can still talk but cannot sing the words to a song.

You could also try using the free Active 10 app on your smartphone.

It tells you when you're walking fast enough and suggests ways to fit in some more brisk walking.

What if I'm not very active?

If you're not very active but are able to walk, increase your walking distance gradually.

If your joints are a problem, check whether your local swimming pool holds exercise classes.

The water helps to support your joints while you move and can help you strengthen your muscles.

Staying motivated

Make it a habit

The easiest way to walk more is to make walking a habit.

Think of ways to include walking in your daily routine.

Examples include:

• walking part of your journey to work

• walking to the shops

• using the stairs instead of the lift

• leaving the car behind for short journeys

• walking the kids to school

• doing a regular walk with a friend

• going for a stroll with family or friends after dinner

Join a walking group

Listen to music

Walking while listening to music or a podcast can take your mind off the effort.

It can also get you into a rhythm and help you walk faster.

You'll be surprised at how fast the time goes when you're walking to your favourite tunes.

Use tracking App

Activity app will help you to track how much and how fast you have walked.

To keep things interesting, it gives you goals to work towards and rewards your progress.

Walking in a group is a great way to start walking, make new friends and stay motivated. Me and my colleagues have recently participated a an initiative ‘Let’s Walk for Heart Health’ organized by ‘The Galleria Mall’ in Abu Dhabi. We have completed 10k steps and 7 km distance. We hope that we will be able to motivate more of our colleagues to physical activities in the future.

Source: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/running-and-aerobic-exercises/ walking-for-health/

My ten-year-old daughter is super excited about the World Cup. For her school homework she asks everybody to come Qatar to enjoy the event, even those planning to watch it on TV. You cannot blame her, “Qatar is amazing” and this is the World Cup!

Diana Al Adel

Rafah Arjeh From our Doha office shows us posters from across the city.

Argentina vs Saudi Arabia

Belgium vs Morocco

Wisdom Bombs

By Ali Zakaria

Wisdom Bombs is a page dedicated to sharing quotes that will inspire you to think differently and live a happier, fulfilling life. Read the following quotes carefully and reflect on how you can apply them.

The more you accept your darkness, the more light you are going to shine

– Kyle cease

The distance between you and the person next to you equals the distance between you and yourself.

If you choose to do what is hard, your life will be easy, and if you do what is easy, your life will be hard

Sometimes happiness is letting go of what you want, not getting it.

Letting go is not something you do; it is something you stop doing.

Sometimes happiness isn’t getting what you want; it is wanting what you have

The first step to fixing anything is being aware of what is wrong.

Action is the antidote to despair.

– Joan Baez

Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do.

– Potter Stewart

Action is the antidote to despair.

– Joan Baez

Tamimi in the community

We sponsored The Sparkle Foundation Gala Event held in October. The Sparkle Foundation aims to improve the lives of impoverished children in Malawi through Education, Nutrition, Health and Community.

Donation for Pakistan Flood Relief

Pakistan has recently been devastated with flooding that has affected thousands. The firm made a monetary donation to support the victims and their families.

Reflection Week

The third Reflection Week was held across all our offices. The question asked for this week was - what does being Consistent mean to you and why is it essential to the success of our Firm?

Throughout the week a number of daily workshops, interactive sessions and a client panel, was hosted all focused on discussing the core value of Consistency.

Appreciating each other

by Reem Rifaat

Appreciation is an essential element at any given day in all kind of work places. The lack of appreciation can often lead to substantial decrease in the effort placed by the office employees. Many employees would consider the lack of appreciation the biggest hindrance in their performance.

In the workplace, appreciation is essential for fostering a positive organizational culture/ attitude and enhancing connections between employees, colleagues and leaders. Numerous studies have shown that showing appreciation to workers is one of the most effective ways to inspire them, increase their productivity, and deepen their commitment to their work.

In order to put action into words, we wanted to show our AUH office assistance and Receptionist our appreciation for always assisting us initiatively and with a smile on their faces, with the goal of keeping this level of support and moral. Therefore, we have begun to demonstrate our appreciation annually in different and lively ways several years ago.

For instance, we started handing them meaningful tokens of appreciation at one point, we hosted a surprise lunch and a small celebration in their names to thank them for their efforts, which has boosted the motivation and moral of the staff. This has proven to be affective multiple times, as the relationship between both our teams has remained dramatically positive, furthermore, the environment around the office has been constantly friendly.

Ensuring that the employee feels that they are present and appreciated has led to a significant boast of productivity on the entire AUH office.

Spending time with co-workers and showing them how valuable and significant they are can go a long way toward showing appreciation. We highly recommend that all of the staff should try displaying appreciation as it has yielded positive results in the past. Keeping in mind that displaying appreciation goes both ways, by supporting the staff, the staff will, in return, support and appreciate you as well. Giving positive feedback and expressing gratitude for excellent continuous work should be a daily activity. A simple thank you and a compliment for an especially noteworthy achievement or effort may suffice. One is often surprised by what a small token of appreciate can do. We should never underestimate what small action, such as a simple “Thank you!” can lead to.