6 technologies aiding vaccine development
Unsurprisingly, vaccines have taken center stage this year as researchers continue to work to find immunizations for COVID-19.
Here are six of the critical technologies -- from 3D printing to telemedicine -- spurring progress on those and other vaccination development efforts.
Adopting a new cybersecurity mindset on the road to recovery
It is no secret that ransomware has been on the rise in the last 12 months. In fact, the UK has been ranked number 10 on the list of countries worst affected by ransomware in a new report commissioned by Google.
Just days after the publication of Google’s research findings, Lindy Cameron, who heads up UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), warned that ransomware now presents "the most immediate danger to the UK” and went on to note that despite the increasing volume of attacks many organizations have no incident response plans in place and rarely test their cyber defenses."
Hack back is a bad idea
On almost an annual basis we see policy proposing the authorization of private-sector hack back, the latest of which has been legislation from two US senators. One of the main issues with policy proposals for hack back is that they rarely address how it would work in reality and how opportunities for abuse or unintended harm would be handled.
To address this, Senators Daines and Whitehouse have proposed that the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) "conducts a study on the potential benefits and risks of amending section 1030 of title 18, United States Code (commonly known as the 'Computer Fraud and Abuse Act') to allow private entities to take proportional actions in response to an unlawful network breach, subject to oversight and regulation by a designated Federal agency."
AIOps: The technology to combat IT employee burnout
IT systems run around the clock, and sometimes, so do the employees who support these systems. After all, our digital world is incredibly sensitive to system failures and downtime. But how does this perpetual stress affect IT professionals?
A recent study found that 83 percent of software engineers experienced professional burnout. And, the COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated the issue with 81 percent of software engineers reporting elevated fatigue due to growing pandemic-related workloads. Technology doesn’t have to be the root cause for this burnout, and in fact, tech can actually combat these issues. Let’s dive into what’s causing DevOps and site reliability engineering (SRE) teams to get burnt out in the first place and how solutions like AIOps can alleviate some of their stress.
Debunking and addressing myths about consumers and mobile app security
According to commonly accepted truisms within the app development world, consumers care most about functionality, and they’re perfectly willing to give up strong security if it means they get better features faster.
Unfortunately, these bits of common knowledge about consumers’ attitudes towards mobile security are wrong, according to a recent Appdome survey of 10,000 mobile consumers from around the world. Far from accepting a "buyer beware" approach to mobile app security, consumers place a high priority on security and possess a sophisticated understanding of mobile security. In fact, 74 percent of all consumers would stop using an app if they learned it had been breached or hacked, and nearly half (46 percent) would tell their friends to do the same.
The truths about running a business: What every startupper should know
Everybody has their two cents, and it’s easy to get lost in all the business advice and recommendations that are out there. While there are a ton of "musts", the insight about what not to do is of equal value. Being prepared for every scenario will not only save you a lot of time and resources but also make you better prepared for any kind of hardship along the way.
As 20 percent of new businesses fail during the first two years of operation, and roughly half of all companies don't survive the first five years -- what will reverse these unfortunate statistics? Here are my do’s and don’ts of running an independent business of any size.
Windows 11: Should businesses take the leap of faith?
The cat’s out of the bag. Windows 11 is here, more than six years after the release of its predecessor, Windows 10.
Microsoft has promised Windows 11 will be "the most secure Windows operating system yet" which, if true, will come as a relief for those plagued by ransomware and malware attacks.
What businesses can do to disrupt IT silos
Now that so much of our workplace communication and collaboration has gone digital, businesses are taking steps to ensure that their teams are operating as efficiently as possible and that they’re able to serve customers’ needs. While many of the tech tools that companies have adopted or scaled up in the past couple of years have become essential lifelines to power productivity, there are potential risks that can arise if tools aren’t managed properly or if the business doesn’t have the right resources in place.
One specific challenge that poses a threat to productivity, customer experience and an organization’s bottom line is IT silos -- roadblocks that crop up when different teams use separate tools or apps that don’t integrate with others. IT silos can crop up when different groups adopt systems, apps or tools that are duplicative or unable to integrate with other digital resources. The silos are problematic for teams that need to share information and can negatively impact the team’s efficiency and effectiveness. Employees can become frustrated and burned out by the additional challenge of trying to communicate and work together with others. In addition, IT silos prevent teams from accessing the most accurate data. IT silos can take several forms, but there are action steps companies can take to address them.
Protecting the global supply chain: A shared responsibility
Supply chain attacks have dominated news headlines in 2021. From SolarWinds to JBS Foods, cybercriminals are actively targeting national and international supply chains, causing widespread disruption and financial impact. Attackers understand that organizations have less control over and visibility into the security controls of a supply chain -- controls that are typically limited to legal contracts rather than true and comprehensive security policies and procedures. Common cyber supply chain risks and threats include third-party access to IT systems and weak cybersecurity practices of smaller suppliers.
Now more than ever before, protecting every part of the supply chain must be a top priority for both public and private sector organizations globally. To do this effectively, it is important to remember that securing any supply chain cannot be successfully achieved through the work of only an IT department or team. While they do play a significant role, cyber supply chain risks touch upon many different areas. Therefore, a more comprehensive, shared responsibility approach is required.
Bringing observability and AI into your legacy modernization plan
Through evolving legacy modernization, a clear need for automation arose to bring actionable insights to IT and DevOps teams.
Unified monitoring, log management and event management vendors are finding ways to embrace Observability in their tech stacks. And while the overall functionality doesn’t change, these adjustments have led to confusion between IT and DevOps teams. IT Operations and Service Management (ITOSM) professionals are skeptical that Observability is a marketing ploy rather than a tool that actually implements technological change. DevOps professionals, on the other hand, are hesitant of the idea of repurposing legacy tools. So what should vendors do when transitioning standard monitoring technology to use Observability in a meaningful way?
Evolution of managed services
The world as we know it has changed significantly in the past couple of years, and so have managed services. While IT infrastructure and security continue to be more important than ever with large numbers of companies across the globe implementing remote and hybrid working policies, this situation has created the need for additional services that go beyond the standard managed services package. As the future of work continues to evolve, so too will the offering of experienced managed service providers (MSPs).
Prior to the global pandemic, MSPs were primarily focused on IT security and infrastructure. Companies would often outsource all or part of their IT in order to keep costs low and ensure that they had the crucial expertise and systems at hand without having to hire in-house specialists. Ensuring that their IT systems are secure and working at optimal capacity makes it possible to focus on other tasks that will help move the needle and big-picture goals. This is why MSPs are still very popular with businesses of all sizes. Despite large in-house IT teams, an estimated 90% of Fortune 1000 companies use MSPs for part of their IT management.
How rampant robotic process automation (RPA) adoption is introducing new threat vectors
Robotic process automation (RPA) is nothing new. In fact, it’s an automation toolkit that was first introduced back in the 1990’s. But in 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic and the all new remote work norm, RPA interest and adoption hit a new high. Why? Because with RPA, digital workers are able to take over repetitive, manual tasks traditionally performed by their human counterparts -- freeing up time, energy and critical human resources.
Gartner’s Fabrizio Biscotti, research vice president, put it best: "The key driver for RPA projects is their ability to improve process quality, speed and productivity, each of which is increasingly important as organizations try to meet the demands of cost reduction during COVID-19. Enterprises can quickly make headway on their digital optimization initiatives by investing in RPA software, and the trend isn’t going away anytime soon."
Vulnerability management is complex, so how can we work smarter to reduce risk?
The saying "too many cooks spoils the broth" could well be true in the case of how we currently approach vulnerability management (VM). The process around vulnerabilities has become increasingly complex, with high levels of pressure to ensure that it is done right.
Vulnerabilities have long been one of the most prominent attack vectors, yet so many are left unpatched by organizations of every size and across every vertical -- the root of catastrophic issues. The Ponemon Institute conducted a recent study that found almost half of respondents (48 percent) reported that their organizations had one or more data breaches in the past two years. In addition, the discovery of high-risk vulns in 2020 alone, has drastically increased by 65 percent -- ultimately alluding to the fact that breaches could potentially become increasingly impactful. The longer a vulnerability remains present, the higher the chance that it will be exploited by bad actors.
Protecting your business' legacy systems from ransomware attacks
Despite the significant shift and adoption of new technologies over the past few years, many businesses still rely on legacy infrastructure. Legacy servers are often still in operation because they are far too critical, complex, and expensive to replace. Famous examples include Oracle databases running on Solaris servers, applications using Linux RHEL4, or other industry-specific legacy technology.
Although critical to the business, these legacy systems can increase a company's risk -- gaining access to just one unpatched legacy device can be relatively simple for cybercriminals. Once inside, said criminals will move laterally to gain a deeper foothold inside the network and deploy more significant attacks.
How to keep your hybrid workforce engaged
The way businesses operate has changed significantly since the first national lockdown in March 2020. But arguably one of the biggest changes has been the way businesses use technology. Data from McKinsey shows that businesses accelerated their digitization by three to four years in the first four months of the pandemic.
This adoption of new technology has not come without its teething problems, however, and this is especially true for businesses with large office contingents. These workers promptly switched to remote working in March 2020 and had to adapt to these technologies while working from home. Google data shows that searches for terms on how to use tools like Zoom rose exponentially during the first few months of the pandemic, with "how to use Zoom" increasing by 7,016.74 percent.
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