How do chemical manufacturers avoid the nightmare cyberattack scenario?
If you were to draw up a list of places you don’t want to experience a sudden and catastrophic shutdown as the result of a cyberattack, chemical manufacturing plants would be pretty high up there. In addition to halting business operations and production, the nightmare scenario of hazardous materials being released into the human population and the surrounding environment is ever-present.
But such attacks are becoming increasingly common and sophisticated. A 2021 UK government study, for instance, found that attacks on the chemical industry cost £1.3 billion. Over the years, such attacks have targeted an increasingly varied number of players in the industry too. In 2017, for example, attackers were able to gain control of vital safety systems at a petrochemical plant in Saudi Arabia. Drug manufacturers, chemical distributors, and even hazardous waste sites are among the other players in the sector to have been impacted by attacks. In January, meanwhile, hackers launched multiple attacks on Israeli chemical factories.
IoT and digital replicas: Powering up innovation with digital twins
The concept of digital twinning isn’t a new one. More than 40 years ago, NASA used an early form of digital twin technology to bring the Apollo 13 astronauts safely back to Earth. By replicating the real-life conditions of the crippled spacecraft in its simulators, NASA was able to identify the right strategies and procedures for achieving a successful return in the damaged craft and deliver this critical information to Apollo’s flight crew.
Fast forward to today, and digital twin applications are now being deployed by organizations eager to harness the power of virtual prototyping to reinvent their operations. All made possible by the growing prevalence of IoT devices that pull real-time data collected from physical objects, which is used to create digital twins that deliver unprecedented visibility into assets and production processes.
Embracing AI -- safely
Any CTO or CIO who has been working for even a short period of time likely has had experience with some novel technology phenomenon that seemed to completely revolutionize the industry overnight. In my 25+ years of experience -- most of which have been at technology companies aimed at simplifying financial transactions -- I’ve witnessed several of these disruptive software shifts. Each was discussed upon its debut as though it had world-changing implications… and then pretty quickly became the norm.
AI’s trajectory from esoteric industry chatter to dominant mainstream conversation has been stratospheric. Cloud software, in contrast, was the topic of industry buzz for years before it became nearly ubiquitous (and it still doesn’t have 100 percent adoption among all enterprise technology systems). It seems to me that AI has secured a foothold -- especially in pop culture -- while still in relatively early development.
Between a rock and a hard place: Privacy vs Personalization
A survey by Deloitte reveals that as many as 79 percent of people are ready to share their data if they see obvious value in doing so. However, people also need to know that their data privacy is taken seriously. For companies at the cutting edge of personalization in technology and marketing, this means reassuring customers that their data will be kept safe and used transparently and for their own benefit.
While personalization and privacy may seem diametrically opposed, it is possible for businesses to achieve both and prosper. We can compare the privacy versus personalization dilemma with the legendary myth from Homer’s Odyssey, Scylla and Charybdis. These two sea monsters presented a perilous choice to our hero Odysseus, who needed to creatively navigate a route between the two. In the same way, businesses must carefully maneuver between the need for privacy and an ever-deeper demand for customized services.
MSPs and AI: Understanding the perks, risks and responsibilities of AI platforms
Over the past few years, the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly grown, impacting virtually every industry. In fact, 91 percent of leading businesses are now investing in AI tools regularly. With the mainstream success of second-generation AI platforms like ChatGPT, AI is available at your fingertips, offering numerous benefits that can help streamline daily tasks.
For managed services providers (MSPs), these tools provide an opportunity to enhance workplace efficiency, reduce operational costs and increase business opportunities. However, with every perk comes a responsibility that must be taken into consideration.
The future of intellectual property
Over recent years, various emerging technologies have presented complex issues for intellectual property (IP) laws. The pace at which these technologies are advancing is only accelerating, and it seems fated that many recent innovations are on the verge of significantly impacting our lives.
The ramifications for IP could be substantial, and already, discussions are taking place regarding how novel technologies will influence the IP landscape. In some instances, the emergence of new media necessitates a response from IP laws to ascertain which existing rules remain relevant and ensure that current assets continue to receive effective protection. In other cases, the evolving ways assets are utilized demonstrate that some IP regulations are no longer appropriate, indicating a need for reform.
Point solutions: The good, the bad and the ugly
Organizations in the digital age live and die by their ability to provide customers with 24/7 access to revenue-generating services, including -- but not limited to -- online checkout and reservation portals. If a consumer were to pull back the curtain in front of these daily activities, they would find a dedicated team of site reliability engineers (SREs) and DevOps engineers working in tandem to improve system performance and maintain availability. But why all the fuss about availability?
The answer to that question is hopefully apparent if you are an IT leader. The number of digital buyers in the U.S. has skyrocketed in the past five years. Companies without the digital infrastructure to support this influx of traffic will inevitably lose out to the tune of millions of dollars in revenue per year. Simply put: maintaining availability is mission-critical.
Pop the champagne! GDPR is five years old!
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) turned five years old on May 25, and it has changed the way businesses think about data privacy and security. Whilst GDPR has provided plenty of benefits when it comes to improving the overall security of companies, it also brings about its own set of challenges.
As we reach the five-year anniversary of GDPR, it is the perfect time to reflect on what remains an ongoing challenge for businesses and how they can ensure protection to personal data as we see new threats arise.
How are enterprise customers using your software?
Getting a clear understanding of how customers use your products is vitally important for software suppliers. Product managers are best equipped to deliver valuable products if they have clear knowledge about this. Data-driven insights, available from entitlement management (EM) systems, are essential for optimizing product road mapping, packaging, provisioning, and pricing decisions, all with the aim of delivering the best customer experience possible. All of these contribute to achieving strategic goals, such as facilitating shifts in monetization and deployment models, streamlining the quote-to-cash (Q2C or QTC) process, and ultimately accelerating growth and increasing recurring revenue.
Key to these efforts: aligning price (the expense for the customer) and value (the perceived utility) of your product. But this proves to be tricky without understanding of who your users are. "Lack of insights into user personas and their priorities" and "disparate systems that make it difficult to achieve single customer view" are among the top hurdles, as reported in the Revenera Monetization Monitor: Software Monetization Models and Strategies 2022. A comprehensive approach to entitlement management can help provide the insights that contribute to improved operational efficiencies.
The key to an effective generative AI strategy: Human oversight
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems have witnessed significant advancements in recent years, offering remarkable capabilities in a variety of domains.
Generative AI is a powerful tool that can be used for both good and bad. Threat actors have been employing the latest technology to harm businesses in various ways for decades, but organizations have and must continue to find ways to use this same technology to their advantage, and ultimately outsmart these digital thieves as AI is becoming more accessible and accepted.
Why improving the developer experience holds the key to doing more with less
For some time now, there has been a trend pressing developers to take on more and more responsibilities outside of coding. They are expected to become experts in every domain – even security and cloud spend. Combine developers’ growing scope of work with a skills shortage and continued economic uncertainty, and it’s clear that they are reaching their limits. The result is developer burnout and churn. In fact, it is now thought that up to 83 percent of software developers feel burnout from their work. Developer job dissatisfaction is so high that only 48 percent of developers are confident they will be with the same company a year from now.
As the pressure mounts, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for developers to work effectively and keep up with the demands on their shoulders. To lighten the load, it is more important than ever that organizations focus on optimizing and improving the developer experience. Companies need to focus on how they can ease the pressure and allow developers to do what they do best: building innovative new software. To that end, there are three ways for organizations to create a better developer experience (DX).
Cryptojacking: The high cost of free money
If I offered you free money, what would your first response be? For those of us in the security industry, the first thought is probably what the catch is. In the case of cryptojacking, the catch is that all the costs are covered by someone else.
Cloud infrastructure deployments are the bedrock below many companies today. However, that same infrastructure is getting targeted by threat actors that can spot opportunities to earn cash for themselves. Based on the activities of one threat actor, Team TNT, we can now estimate just how much that free money really costs.
ESG risk management: More than just a 'nice to have'
Today it seems that the issue of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) is being talked about everywhere and has become a key focus for enterprise management teams, especially those responsible for risk management. But is this something new, or should it be viewed as part and parcel of a mature enterprise risk management infrastructure?
One thing is for sure. ESG has important implications for a wide range of stakeholders that includes directors, investors, employees, suppliers, and employees for whom performance against ESG objectives counts.
Onboarding remote employees: Lessons learned and seven tips for success
With the arrival of COVID-19, the evolution of remote and hybrid work environments hit hyper drive, advancing to a point that many imagined would take decades to reach. For a distributed company with many offices, the chance to virtually "work where you live" had been a very attractive message. Today, what entices candidates and retains talent is being able to "work anywhere," virtually.
Yet, many CIOs, IT and engineering leaders are still sorting through lessons learned in recent years in order to adjust to this new normal -- and critical areas like onboarding technical staffers remains challenging. For me, being a year into the pandemic and noticing that not feeling that new remote engineers had a true connection to the product was a sign our processes needed updating. So, my team and I surveyed recent hires on common issues they faced when getting up to speed and how these were handled.
AI-driven SEO techniques for website optimization
In today's digital age, having a strong online presence is crucial for businesses of all sizes. Search engine optimization (SEO) is an essential component of any online marketing strategy. It involves optimizing your website to improve its search engine rankings and attract more potential customers. With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), businesses can now use AI-powered tools to improve their SEO efforts. In this article, we will discuss how to use AI SEO to improve your website and attract more potential customers.
Before we dive into the details of using AI for SEO, it's important to note that hiring an SEO consultant can also help you improve your website's rankings. An SEO consultant can provide you with valuable insights into your website's performance and help you develop a customized SEO strategy that meets your specific needs. When hiring an SEO consultant, look for someone with a strong track record of success, experience in your industry, and a deep understanding of SEO best practices.
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