BetaNews Staff

A few weeks ago, Twitter announced a plan to begin placing a notice over tweets from high-influence political leaders it believes violate its standards regarding abusive behavior. On the surface, this didn’t seem significantly different from the motion picture industry’s rating system or more detailed advisories posted prior to programming on Netflix and other on-demand networks. But dig a little deeper and one realizes what made it particularly dangerous is Twitter’s intention to apply this protocol very selectively.

Initially, this censorship policy would apply solely to posts from political figures with large followings. But why not from everyone with 100,000 followers? Or less? In other words, why not to everyone, period? Why not to you and me?

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What do you perceive as the primary threat to your devices for the year ahead? Most people are now fairly self-aware to be wary of phishing attempts and illegitimate websites, while basic security software will prevent you from accidentally installing malicious software.

What you can’t do is stop your teens going online, short of throwing out their smartphone. If you can’t beat them, join them. But keep them secure whilst they access the internet.

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If you serve on the board of a UK organization, it’s likely that digital transformation is high on your agenda as you look strategically at futureproofing your business. A key part of that is ensuring that the IT infrastructure supporting your company is functioning robustly as a platform on which to build competitiveness, rather than a legacy anchor holding back innovation and growth. Moving to an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IAAS) set-up is increasingly the way that companies aim to unlock potential and enable more dynamic, flexible business processes.

The benefits of IAAS are clear: It’s flexible and can easily scale as your business grows. It removes the burden of maintaining legacy systems and allows the easy deployment of new technology and, ideally, you only pay for what you use on a predictable opex basis; you won’t be paying to maintain capacity that is rarely needed. It also allows you to add on services such as analytics and disaster recovery-as-a-service and it’s the perfect environment for the big data projects requiring large workloads and integration with business intelligence tools.

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The conversation around CRM (customer relationship management) is always shifting. Over the past several years, we’ve seen cycles of increased focus on enterprise CRM technology and strategy and periods where the conversation has largely centered on the ways in which small and midsized businesses (SMBs) can utilize these tools to compete with larger corporations. At times we’ve seen a lot of buzz around CRM technology in specific industries (real estate, insurance and financial services comes to mind) and yet there’s also been a push toward customization and adaptability, particularly in the SMB space, for the CRM to flex to fit the needs of the specific business -- regardless of their vertical or geographic location.

This is all part of the ebb and flow of the technology as providers race to meet the evolving needs of the day’s business landscape. However, there has been one sizable shift which has developed slowly but is really picking up steam in 2019 -- and that is the move toward all-in-one CRM solutions.

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There’s a do you/don’t you approach to system maintenance software. Some users swear by the tools, running in the background keeping their system in-check. Others complain of system errors and unnecessary Registry cleansing which can do more harm than good.

The secret is, control. Switch off all automated processing and simply choose the tools you want to run manually. We’d advise against system-wide Registry cleansing for example. Let Windows do this for you. The other secret is to find a maintenance tool you can trust, from a recommended developer.

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On the 7th January, NHS England Chief Executive Simon Stevens launched the Long-Term Plan -- a 10-year plan setting out what the National Heath Service will be prioritizing in the next decade -- to much fanfare. It’s unlikely the launch passed anyone in the UK by – the press coverage blanketed the start of the longest month of the year a bit like the snow. The key messages show continuity from the Five Year Forward Plan -- integrated care remains the panacea to many of the challenges the NHS faces.

While the focus remains on the UK's exit from Europe, we are unlikely to see a new health bill that will support movement towards integrated care. So, how will the industry achieve this cornerstone of the Long Term Plan without formal governance in place to make it work? Of course, integrated care requires collaboration across the healthcare ecosystem, for partners to act as one. For anyone who has worked with, or even been a patient within the health system, this seems a tall order. But there a number of ways to achieve it; set up a partnership board with each provider having a seat at the board -- a shared sovereignty model if you will, in other areas we are likely to see one provider take a lead position or a third option of a partnership approach whereby innovative contracting is used with shared financial risk.

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Cloud infrastructure is the foundation of most enterprises and any crack can cause significant damage. A great example of this is the 2017 AWS S3 outage, which was caused by an unauthorized administrator typing an incorrect command when trying to fix a billing system slowdown. The fact that the admin had access to a larger subsystem is what led to the problem that ultimately cost customers an estimated $150 million.

Unfortunately, the probability of identities intentionally or accidentally misusing privileges -- and a corresponding impact on business -- is going to increase greatly for enterprises embracing cloud. In May 2019, for example, a faulty database script deployed by Salesforce inadvertently gave all users full access to sensitive company and customer data, forcing the company to shut down its Marketing Cloud services for 15+ hours.

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As healthcare delivery continues to evolve, healthcare technology needs to be there to support it. But, how will technology facilitate healthcare as we move forward?

Healthcare accessibility, especially for certain populations, continues to be problematic. The expansion of telemedicine has the potential to improve access, especially for populations that have difficulty accessing care, such as those with mobility or transportation issues. Additionally, looking from a primary care standpoint alone, a fair percentage of patient visits can be conducted remotely while continuing to insure care quality. Telemedicine can extend a clinician’s reach by freeing up office time for those who gain extra benefit from being seen in person. However, the technology must support both the clinician and patient interaction, while not creating new barriers.

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Are you reaching your audience directly through mobile apps? If not, there is a whole new digital market that remains, literally, untapped.

Content consumption is nearly universal on mobile devices in 2019, especially on apps. From Instacart to Waze, apps capture the attention of billions on a daily basis. Three of every four users not only say their phone is useless without apps, but default to using apps when they’re bored. Access to these app users is easily unlocked for mobile marketers, who have access to targeting capabilities that other advertising forms do not. The prevalence of in-app marketing is currently the biggest shift in the digital marketing industry especially in the rapidly growing Asian marketplace, and any brand or company not taking advantage could fall behind fast.

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The U.S. is leading in 5G. That’s the latest findings from the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association’s (CTIA’s) 2019 Annual Survey. But hold the smartphone! According to CNN’s June 26, 2019 article titled, Huawei is still signing up 5G customers despite US pressure, "Huawei is a leader in 5G technology and has invested $4 billion over the last decade in developing the next generation of wireless technology…"

When it comes to the 5G measuring stick, "leading," "readiness," and "patents" all have dramatically different leaders. For example, according to the CTIA report, being ready for 5G means building the required infrastructure, and testing and launching early networks in key locations. The report cites that AT&T has launched 5G in over a dozen markets, while Chinese 5G networks are still in trial stages -- advantage U.S.

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Having cloud storage is a reality of living and working in an ever more connected world, where we expect to have access to our data anywhere with an internet connection at the drop of a hat. Cloud storage makes it easier for us to travel, to share and most importantly keep our data safe. However, not all cloud storage solutions are created equal. While many commercial services are more quick and convenient, they sacrifice security in order to be more accessible. If you deal with sensitive data such as financial documents for clients, are you using a cloud solution that’s secure enough?

When using cloud services for storing and sharing critical documents it’s important to know if you’re using a solution that employs the highest levels of protection. To know if a cloud solution is secure enough, you need to determine if it has any of the following features:

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Congratulations! You’ve selected and deployed a new cybersecurity solution. But, once you’re up and running you might not feel completely secure. Do you need to test your incident response process as much as testing the software? Does the new solution have vulnerabilities you -- or its creators -- don’t know about? Are there emerging attacks that it will miss?

If you want to know that a cybersecurity solution will do what you need it to do, and that you’re ready to respond to whatever it detects, you need to test it. Penetration testing ("pentesting") is a common part of deploying any new tool for cybersecurity, and it may help you identify and fix weaknesses in your defense. Pentesting can be automated through software, but that can lack the ingenuity of a live human trying to breach your system. The surefire way to simulate a real human attack is to enlist the service of a real human attacker -- subjecting your network and its cybersecurity defenses to "ethical hacking."

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According to a 2018 IBM study, the average cost of a data breach for a U.S. company is $7.91 million, while the average cost of a lost or stolen record that contains sensitive or confidential information is $148. Unfortunately, these figures are only rising.

Cyber attacks continue to not only cost companies more money but have also grown larger and more aggressive because of how profitable cybercrime has become. Despite the ongoing advances in IT security, threats continue to emerge just as fast as security measures evolve. Though cybercriminals will continue to find new, creative ways to gain access to business data, there are simple tactics you can implement to better protect your company.

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Every year a new iPhone hits the market and there are thousands of different Android devices in circulation. Both Apple and Google are constantly adding new features and functions to incorporate emerging technologies, maintain competitiveness, and cement their reputations as innovators.

Commercial focus typically sits with the clamor of more surface-level, UI related features like Memojis, Group FaceTime, gesture navigation, the features that consumers are drawn to rather than the patching of CVE-2018-4249. It’s all a matter of priorities, people want a device with all the mod cons, a mobile device just needs to be secure enough, meeting minimum expectations. It also doesn’t help that there has been a long held misconception that mobile OSs are secure enough and users don’t need a security solution. Despite mobile OSs becoming relatively hardened, usage is very different compared to traditional form factors, and there are a number of threat vectors that an OS can’t protect against.

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With technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, IoT and advanced analytics hitting a critical mass, it’s no surprise that the big data market continues to grow rapidly. According to a forecast by Statista, the big data market reached $42 billion dollars in 2018 and is expected to reach $64 billion by 2021.

Big data presents major opportunities for organizations to gain new insights, deliver better products and improve operations, but the traditional storage approach to big data is fraught with many challenges. It’s time for another way.

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