Technology

Last August, China's National People's Congress passed a new law designed to protect the online privacy of Chinese citizens titled the "Personal Information Protection Law". The new law - which went into effect on November 1, 2021 - requires that any website or application that collects personal data from its users must have a clear and reasonable purpose for doing so and that their usage of that personal data must be limited to the minimum scope necessary to achieve this clear and reasonable purpose. In addition to requiring that companies only utilize the personal data of [...]

According to the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), supply chain cyberattacks in 2021 are on track to quadruple the number of attacks that occurred the previous year. Faced with this rapidly growing threat, many companies are struggling for solutions to keep their supply chains secure. One such solution that offers a lot of promise, though, is a zero-trust approach to supply chain cybersecurity. A zero-trust cybersecurity approach entails requiring thorough verification for all user accounts, applications, and assets that will be accessing the company's systems. Rather than assuming that a partner and its products are [...]

Disaster strikes unexpectedly in all organizations. But all too often, they are caught unawares. Worst, unprepared! When this happens, the process of strategic decision-making bears the brunt of passive ownership and inadequate responsibility and accountability. That is why increasing demand for a sound information governance (IG) program is in place. Information governance rules out complacency- right to the core. As it has evolved to be more policy-driven, it helps to define clearly who, what, when, where, why, and how your company’s information is accessed and utilized. While an improved data retention process aims to reduce [...]

As part of the company's ongoing efforts to combat the rise in cybercrime, Google Cloud has recently invested $50 million in cybersecurity startup Cybereason. This investment comes on the heels of an announced partnership between Google Cloud and Cybereason that entails the companies working together to launch a platform called Cybereason XDR.  Cybereason XDR is a platform that is powered by Chronicle and designed to scan more than 23 trillion security-related events per week in order to identify potential threats and predict cyberattacks. The hope is that this new platform will improve security across the entire Google Cloud infrastructure.  [...]

In today’s era of technological advances, adopting a data-driven culture in an organization may be a good starting approach to a sound IG program. While this would entail commitment from all levels of the organization, all too often, it is a powerful spur that brings an IG program straight to its goal - compliance and robust decision-making across company size. Across data sources, information speaks volumes. That is why treating a company’s information as a valuable asset is equally rewarding as having a doable framework of IG policies and strategic governance. Transforming a company’s information into [...]

From supply chain shortages to decreased demand due to COVID-related travel restrictions, the oil and gas industry has certainly encountered plenty of challenges in recent months. Despite these global challenges, however, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity within the oil and gas sector continues to grow, signaling that executives remain optimistic about the future of the industry. There have been a number of recent and noteworthy examples of M&A activity within the oil and gas industry. So far in Q4 2021, Northern Oil and Gas has purchased a non-operated interest in 400 Bakken wells from Comstock Resources [...]

While technology breakthroughs continue to surprise businesses in the United States, both from the government and private sectors, doing business online has become more feasible and promising to the greatest extent.  The proliferation of online platforms such as emails, websites, online meetings, social media, messaging apps, etc. has made it possible for any business to thrive, even during the Covid-19 pandemic. Thus, fast access to a company’s data has remained as important as the business itself.  That is why, what Information Governance (IG) does is to help manage electronic information and give it its most beneficial [...]

Despite substantial investments and rising internal satisfaction, financial institutions in the United States are still falling short of customer expectations according to a recent ABBYY survey. ABBYY's Digital Strategies in Financial Services survey received responses from over 100 financial institution executives regarding onboarding processes, technological investments, and customer satisfaction. The results of this survey show that customer satisfaction within the financial industry continues to wane thanks in large part to difficulties associated with onboarding new customers. According to the ABBYY survey, 73% of executives list improving customer service/experience as one of their top three priorities [...]

In early August 2021, T-Mobile experienced a hack that exposed the sensitive information of over 50 million of the company's current, former, and prospective customers. Information such as names, birthdates, social security numbers, driver's license numbers, and beyond was compromised, leaving the company reeling for answers. Those answers came when a 21-year-old US citizen named John Binns admitted to the Wall Street Journal that he was the one behind the attack. According to Binns, he was able to gain access to a T-Mobile data center located near East Wenatchee, Washington via an unprotected router, enabling him [...]

In an attempt to help quell the spread of COVID-19, more and more healthcare practices across the country have begun offering telemedicine services. Even before the pandemic struck, though, the popularity of telemedicine was rising thanks both to the numerous benefits that it offers as well as increasing advances in the technology that makes it possible. One such telemedicine service that has been getting a lot of attention lately is teleradiology - or the use of telemedicine in radiology. While it isn't yet possible for patients to undergo radiology exams such as x-rays and MRIs from [...]

Given that biotechnology companies are all competing to treat the same conditions, biotech is one of the market's most competitive industries. Nevertheless, more and more biotech companies are now becoming open to increased collaboration with other companies. While collaboration is great for innovation, it does come with a certain degree of risk in an industry where competition is so fierce. The increased level of collaboration between biotech companies largely began as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Moving forward, though, it doesn't seem that collaboration between companies will be limited to combating COVID-19. In fact, the [...]

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, semiconductor shortages were an issue that was already starting to affect companies in a wide range of industries. When COVID-19 came along, though, and ground factories all over the globe to a halt - creating worldwide supply chains disruptions the likes of which we have never had to deal with in the modern era - the impact of these shortages was magnified to the nth degree. Now, Vice President Kamala Harris is working to build relationships with the countries that the US especially relies on for its semiconductor demands by [...]

Health apps have become wildly popular in the past decade, serving as a way for people to more easily monitor their diet, exercise, sleep patterns, and beyond. The fact that many of these applications collect sensitive personal information from their users, though, is cause for security concerns. Now, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is warning that any app that collects personal health information from its users must notify those users if their data is breached or otherwise shared with third parties without the user's permission. Since 2009, the Health Breach Notification Rule has required [...]

One would like to think that the government agencies in charge of storing some of our nation's most sensitive information would employ the latest and most effective cybersecurity protocols available today. According to a recent report by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, though, this is sadly not the case. In this damning report, eight federal agencies were shown to have such poor cybersecurity that they received a D grade. Three other agencies, meanwhile, received a C grade, while only one agency - the Department of Homeland Security - was able to earn a [...]

As governments across the world are strengthening their efforts to crack down on money laundering, more and more financial institutions are finding themselves in the crosshairs. Recently, the British digital bank Monzo became the latest target of an anti-money laundering (AML) investigation, with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announcing in May of this year that it was investigating Monzo for potential breaches of British AML rules and financial crime controls.  The investigation alleges that the breaches of AML rules took place between October 2018 and April 2021. Currently, the investigation is still in its early stages. [...]