BetaNews Staff

Standard virtual workspace security is improving but still not enough

The COVID-19 pandemic sparked a shift towards work-from-home or telecommuting arrangements, which many companies are saying they are likely to retain even after the pandemic. This new way of working or doing business has raised the demand for collaboration platforms and virtual rooms, which in turn create new cyber security challenges.

One recent flaw is referred to as a cross-site leak or XS-Leak and is linked to Slack's file-sharing feature. If exploited, malicious actors can potentially identify users outside of the workforce messaging platform. It allows cybercriminals to circumvent the web browser security feature called "same-origin policy," which stops browser tabs and frames of different domains from accessing each other’s data.

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The automation revolution and the shift in labor

If you’re a college student and you’ve placed an online food service order, and let’s be honest, that pretty much covers all college students; the chances are high that the delivery was aided and abetted by robot technology. The future has arrived, and even though we’re still waiting for those Jetson’s-promised flying cars, robot foodservice delivery is here.

Robots numbering in the hundreds are buzzing about college campuses and some selected cities in the U.S., U.K., and beyond. The testing, which began pre-pandemic, went into immediate overdrive to fill in the gaps created by the labor shortages and need for social distancing created by Covid-19.

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How AI revolutionizes retail and powers eCommerce customer journeys

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are unlocking new opportunities for brands and retailers to push the boundaries of online shopping and customer experience. As global retailers are expected to spend $7.3 billion on AI this year and the global market for AI software is expected to reach $126 billion by 2025, AI presents many benefits and opportunities within the context of the eCommerce industry including more targeted marketing and advertising, increased customer retention, efficient sales processes, better product development, and innovative shopping experiences.

Here are eight applications of AI in eCommerce that can take both backend processes and customer-facing experiences for brands to the next level. 

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5 ways to optimize your IT environment for the long haul

The widespread shift to working from home in 2020 forced many companies to rapidly adopt cloud technologies to enable remote workforces and customer connections. However, some important IT planning may have been overlooked amid the urgency to transition to the cloud. A long-term plan around data governance -- the approach to managing and using data securely in enterprise systems -- may not have been implemented when moving to the cloud.

Understandably, data governance may not have been a top priority for companies in the pandemic’s early days. But now, as companies review their cloud strategies and contemplate the next steps for maximizing value from the cloud, data governance plays a critical role in cloud optimization. This is especially true as the pace of data creation has rapidly accelerated since 2020. If not kept in check, the rapid creation of data can result in data sprawl, a staggering amount of unorganized data that leaves your IT environment in disarray.

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Revamped Bitdefender Antivirus Free for Windows has a brand-new security architecture

While security apps may not be the software that everyone gets excited about, there is no getting away from their importance. Despite this, there are a couple of things that stop many people from investigating security solutions. Firstly, modern version of Windows include protective features, and secondly there is the concern about additional cost.

With the newly updated Bitdefender Antivirus Free for Windows, both of these concerns are rendered moot. Not only is the software completely free of charge, the features and options it offers go far beyond anything Microsoft has provided with Windows. This latest version is notable for various reasons, not least of which is the fact that it has been completely re-engineered and re-architectured.

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Extending detection and response -- why context is needed for security

business security

The threat landscape is becoming more challenging from every angle. Security teams are understaffed and overworked and are still catching up after the wide-ranging effects of the pandemic. There’s unfortunately no end in sight as the skills gap widens and the complexity around IT management continues to grow with remote work programs going from sticking plaster to get through the initial lockdown to 'business as usual.' Bad actors are becoming more sophisticated each day. It has never before been this hard to keep your organization secure.

It’s no wonder that many security professionals fall into the trap of adopting numerous security tools to help them cope with these problems. In the hope of using the latest and seemingly greatest technology, CISOs think adding another security layer will reduce their risk exposure. If only it were that easy. Adding more technology can solve some of the issues, but it can also dilute team attention spans further, leading to more problems over time.

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Hard truths from Ukraine: The government cannot save us in cyberwar

Amid our first global, multilateral, wholly unpredictable cyberwar, it is up to each of us to defend ourselves. No intelligence agency is certain how the cyber dimension of the Ukraine conflict will evolve; no military can stop a cyberattack. The situation catapults every digital organization into unknown territory.

If you think the battles on air, land and sea so far have defied expectations, consider the parallel cyber conflict. Three sober truths make this a perilous moment for us all -- especially as the Russian army’s logistical setbacks may make heightened cyber aggression against private interests more enticing.

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Five steps for controlling cloud costs

Cloud dollars

With cloud costs accounting for nearly a third of IT budgets in 2021 and predicted to dramatically increase in the coming years as more companies undergo cloud migration efforts, the need for organizations to get the highest possible value out of their cloud spend is fairly obvious. Actually doing so, however, is an increasingly challenging endeavor due to the complex nature of public cloud environments, as well as the increasing reliance on containers and microservices.

When it comes down to it, the cloud promises speed, but it doesn’t necessarily guarantee that speed at a lower cost than traditional data centers. Maximizing the efficiency of your cloud spend requires buy-in from the entire organization, from the company leadership that makes buying decisions, to the finance teams that track and monitor that spend, all the way down to the developers, engineers and architects responsible for building and implementing those solutions. While there are those who believe that this is just not possible in the world of the public cloud, more modern and diligent approaches have proved that it most certainly is.

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Ukraine conflict puts organizations’ cyber-resilience to the test

controlling hacker

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has provoked a massive rally of hackers to join both sides of the conflict and take up arms in the cyber-war. As has been the case in cyberattacks of recent years, the consequences of this will affect organizations way beyond the initial intended target. For example, in June 2017 French company Saint-Gobain was forced to halt its operations as a result of the NotPetya attack, a Russian cyberattack targeting Ukraine that resulted in over €80 million of losses in company revenue.

As a result of a sharp increase of cyber-attacks since the beginning of the conflict, from DDoS, new data wipers, phishing campaigns and malware, organizations worldwide should take immediate action to improve their cyber-resilience and limit the damages that any spillover could have on their business.

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Accelerating the path to sustainability with digital transformation

Digital transformation

Digital transformation has been one of the key industry themes for several years, but recently it has become a major strategic priority for most organizations.

As an impact of the pandemic, and the operational and IT weaknesses that were brought into sharp relief as a result, digital transformation of legacy systems and processes is now seen as a critical and urgent requirement. Indeed, many industry analysts and pundits suggest that we may see decades of innovation in this area occur over the next five years. But what is the situation like currently and what does the future hold?

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Data protection: You don't get a pass with SaaS

SaaS

Software as a Service (SaaS) is increasingly taking the place of traditional, on-premises software. In an analysis of the 2021 SaaS market, Gartner estimated that global end-user spending on public cloud services grew 23.1 percent to $332.3 billion. SaaS alone accounted for $122.6 billion and is projected to top $145 billion in 2022.

The drivers behind the success of SaaS are clear. There’s no on-premises equipment or software to buy or manage, pricing is lower and is more flexible than perpetual licenses. Less cost, less complexity, less aggravation for IT -- that’s a pretty convincing proposition.

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Emerging challenges and trends in the business process management

process automation

Business process management (BPM) ensures the ability to extend clean execution and delivery for all organizational outcomes. With more clearly defined and precise processes in place across the board, businesses are given tighter control over all value-added internal and external activities. When processes are streamlined and a company has solid management over them, it creates an opportunity to implement technology and make certain that all business methods are tech-enabled and strategically aligned to the respective marketplace.

BPM also lends itself to the speed of the business. In the past, big companies had a major leg up over small businesses and could easily gobble them up entirely due to size and reach alone. However, in today’s fast and dynamic business landscape, it’s the quick and nimble organizations that beat out companies that are slow-moving and inept to change, regardless of bandwidth.

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Rolling out IoT to address county council challenges in the UK

As the UK recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, 2022 will be a year of recovery, and local authorities have a crucial role to play in leading this process. However, pressures continue to increase from the government to meet targets on climate change, improve health and social care and ensure that local infrastructure continues to meet increasing demand after the pandemic -- all with restricted financial support.

So how can technology help councils to address and meet these challenges?

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WebRTC: What it is and why it's useful

If you’re an internet user -- and you clearly are, seeing as how you’re reading this on the internet -- you’ve probably already used WebRTC, but weren't aware of it.

What’s more, you were probably also unaware of WebRTC's leakage issues. Nonetheless, WebRTC is everywhere, as an answer to the age-old question: "How do I teleconference online?"

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Why 'ghost assets' are killing your GDPR compliance

GDPR graphic

Ensuring Data protection and privacy is a critical function of IT in any organization, particularly as the number of data breaches occurring in organizations continues to skyrocket, increasing by 17 percent in 2021 compared to 2020.

From data destruction and reputational damage to identity and intellectual property theft, the consequences of a breach can be severe. Worst-case scenario, it can put you out of business, with the average company share price dipping more than 7 percent in the days after a breach.

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