How clean code can bridge the developer and security divide
Industry-agnostic software is now an organization’s most critical business asset, as its competitive edge often depends on it. Since companies become more technologically savvy and dependent upon their software to meet revenue goals and deliver products or services to customers, it cannot be afforded to underestimate the importance that secure and high-quality code plays.
The more this becomes evident, the greater the pressure on developers to deliver. Leaders expect their developer teams to work faster, ship more features, and write “better” code, but the technical debt accrued as a result of these escalating demands creates a slowdown effect as developers try to keep up. This technical debt can take a third of developers’ time to address, with refactoring later costing twice, or even three times as much as a proactive fix. While AI code generation tools can help manage the responsibility of creating large amounts of code and handling mundane tasks so developers can focus on collaborative or creative work, AI-generated code shouldn’t be trusted at face value. When code is not properly reviewed for maintainability, security, and reliability (i.e. Clean Code attributes), poor-quality code problems creep in.
Immutability: A boost to your security backup
As the volume of data continues to increase and the threat landscape continues to evolve, it is increasingly important for organizations to protect backup data from unwanted deletion. Threats today can take the form of a malicious insider deleting backup data or a targeted cyberattack on the backups themselves. Modern ransomware attacks often first seek out and destroy backups before moving on to encrypting production data. However, companies will benefit from implementing immutability, the act of making data writable but noneditable for a defined period of time, as part of their data protection arsenal to help avoid or recover from a loss of production data situation.
The rise in cyber incidents, which according to the Veeam Data Protection Trends Report 2023 is the leading cause of outages over the past three years, is bringing the need for immutability to the fore, particularly as most organizations reported having fallen victim to cyber incidents, on average, twice a year.
The double-edged sword: Navigating data security risks in the age of Large Language Models (LLMs)
Large language models (LLMs) have emerged as powerful business and consumer tools, capable of generating human-quality text, translating languages, and even assisting in business use cases. Their ability to improve efficiency, cut costs, enhance customer experiences and provide insights make them extremely attractive for employees and managers across all industries.
As with all emerging technologies, however, security concerns regarding the interaction of these advancements with sensitive data must be addressed. With LLMs, these risks are compounded by the vast amounts of data they must use to provide value, leading to concerns about data breaches, privacy violations, and the spread of misinformation.
SMEs invest in tech opportunities but risk missing security safeguards
Across Europe, 100 million people are employed by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The UK has over five million SMEs, providing three-fifths of employment and £2.4 trillion in turnover. As a vital component in the national economy, SMEs must continue to invest in automation, technology-led innovation, and underpin this with strong security.
We recently completed our sixth bi-annual SME IT Trends survey, and the good news is that technology investment continues to increase. Not only that, but business leaders and IT administrators are positive about the benefits of automation and artificial intelligence (AI). However, the other side of this coin is more concerning; the number of cybersecurity challenges organizations face continues to increase. Our study shows that they need to make bold decisions about their security posture. Failure to do so puts their businesses and employees at risk.
Data intelligence is your new organizational North Star
There’s no shortage of data buzzwords: data quality, data governance, data management, data integration -- the list goes on.
Don't let the term "buzzword" fool you. These concepts aren't trivial -- they're tightly interwoven and all play a critical role in data-driven decision-making. For example, data quality is key to achieving a robust data governance strategy, and data integration is integral to the data management process. However, with so many considerations at play, it’s challenging for data leaders to prioritize hygiene across the organization. Until now. Enter data intelligence.
Guide for CTOs: How to elevate your DevOps journey
For Chief Technology Officers, spearheading a culture of innovation and forging a resilient DevOps infrastructure are paramount. These objectives, however, unfold over time through a deliberate journey of strategy, experimentation, and reflection. Establishing and nurturing DevOps processes is a pivotal part of this journey, requiring a comprehensive framework to ensure your team remains aligned with organizational goals.
The DevOps Maturity Model serves as a vital framework, guiding engineers and CTOs to precisely evaluate their position within the DevOps adoption continuum and critically review their ongoing initiatives. This roadmap is essential for improving performance, fostering a culture of continuous innovation, and ultimately achieving the desired outcomes.
5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) -- entering a new era of connectivity
As the global marketplace becomes more competitive in response to customer demand, businesses must find alternative ways to deliver exceptional customer experiences. As budgets are tightening, companies are being scrutinized to new degrees for what they can deliver at a competitive price, with research conducted by Salesforce showing 60 percent of service professionals reporting higher customer expectations post-pandemic.
Should organizations fall short of these high expectations, customers are more than willing to look elsewhere. In fact, recent research from Emplifi found that 86 percent of consumers would leave a brand they trusted after only two poor customer experiences
Supplier data is foundational -- and so is a supplier data foundation
Supplier data enables procurement leaders to understand their organization's performance more deeply, predict market opportunities and negotiate advantageous supplier contracts. When market conditions are favorable, these benefits provide a keen competitive advantage; during economic turbulence, they're a must-have for business continuity -- all in all, data is the bedrock of procurement decisions.
But the necessity of good supplier data isn’t breaking news. Rather, the advent of innovative technologies, including generative AI and large-language models (LLMs), has emphasized the importance of data hygiene across the enterprise. Case in point: In 2024, 43 percent of data leaders say their organization has adopted a “data and analytics culture” -- up from just 21 percent last year.
What Elon Musk's AI warning says about ethical AI in business
The report by Statista forecasts a significant 21 percent net increase in the United States' GDP by 2030, attributing this growth to the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI). This projection underscores the immense impact AI is expected to have on economic expansion. However, amid this rapid advancement, tech innovator Elon Musk has expressed serious concerns about the need for AI regulation.
Speaking at the Paris VivaTech event, Musk highlighted the potential dangers of unregulated digital superintelligence. His warnings serve as a vital reminder for businesses to reevaluate their use and engagement with AI technologies, emphasizing the importance of a balanced approach to AI integration in the economic landscape.
How education IT departments need to learn from their students -- It's all in the apps
In the wake of the digital boom that echoed out from the pandemic era, schools have steadily been coming to grips with how to operate in a reality where devices are far more ubiquitous in classrooms than before, and classes are forced to make accommodations for a split between remote and in-person learning. Breakthroughs in classroom management and content filtering solutions have helped keep students away from outside threats, such as harmful online content. Still, one of the greatest threats to any school’s digital safety net comes from within -- the students themselves.
Even before the widespread proliferation of digital tools in classrooms, students have been rapidly becoming more tech-savvy and outpacing expectations and the capabilities of many less adept districts to stop them from getting into trouble. In a study run by Impero Software, 27 percent of students reported they had successfully circumnavigated their school’s internet filtering system.
The modern CISO's guide to navigating new SEC cyber regulations
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations requiring reporting of a material cybersecurity breach within four days have taken effect. As we progress through 2024, CISOs are going to face the harsh reality of needing to consistently demonstrate and attest to the fidelity of their cybersecurity program.
The outdated method of “buying every tool to protect every vulnerability” will simply fail. Without a clear vision of your threat exposure, security teams will be left feeling overwhelmed with the specific task of addressing known risks, often leading to a game of cybersecurity whack-a-mole -- addressing risk after risk with no real light at the end of the tunnel in sight.
Exposure management: Key to navigating the cybersecurity skills gap
With cyber threats on the rise, organizations across industries are scrambling to fortify their defenses and safeguard sensitive data. However, a significant obstacle stands in the way: the widening skills gap in cybersecurity.
According to ISC2's latest Cybersecurity Workforce Study, the worldwide cybersecurity workforce shortage has reached a new high, nearing 4 million, despite a 10 percent growth in the workforce over the past year. The gap between supply and demand has surged by 12.6 percent annually, driven by factors like economic uncertainties, AI, and a complex threat landscape.
Managing the transition from DevOps to Platform Engineering
DevOps has historically been the dominant force in software development, explained by Pearl Zhu as being “for harnessing integration, interaction, and innovation.” With the increasing pressure on companies to keep pace in a rapidly evolving technological space, these capabilities are essential.
But this is changing. The standardization of DevOps into Platform Engineering demonstrates the efforts many organizations are going to make developers' lives easier and more productive. While not a new field, this transition represents an evolution in how we design, build, and deliver software.
Enhancing team harmony: Three strategies for integrating network and security solutions
In the fast-evolving landscape of cybersecurity, organizations face the challenge of maintaining operational efficiency while ensuring the security of network devices and firewalls. The increasing complexity, with factors such as cloud services, IoT devices, remote work, and legacy assets, has led to a growing list of potentially vulnerable devices. To address these issues, The Center for Internet Security (CIS) emphasizes the importance of inventory and control of enterprise and software assets.
Effective communication and coordination with the security team is often hindered by existing silos between IT and network teams, specifically network ops, network infrastructure, and network security. The lack of collaboration between teams can result in costly misfires, exposing organizations to cybersecurity threats.
Bridging the gap: Aligning OT security with the pace of new-gen technologies
The convergence of IT and OT (Operational Technology) networks has been instrumental in driving operational efficiency and innovation across industries. As businesses are rapidly heading towards Industry 4.0, the benefits of this integration are clear.
However, with digital transformation comes the risks of a constantly expanding threat landscape. The merging of IT and OT environments has amplified the risk of wide-scale disruptions and sophisticated attacks like ransomware, extending from digital to physical infrastructures. These concerns are also evident in the growing demand for OT security, as the market is projected to reach $38.2 billion by 2028.
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