You May Have a Disaster Plan, But What About Business Continuity Planning?

10 Things Great Leaders Do to Handle a Disaster

Disney’s Ben Havey: Collaboration & Content in a 5G World

Updated: Microsoft Azure’s southern U.S. data center goes down for hours, impacting Office365 and Active Directory customers

How smart homes are enabling new models for healthcare services

Qualcomm Teases Market With 5G SoC Sample

Worldwide ATM hack could see millions withdrawn from banks in major operation, warns FBI

2018 Tech Trends Will Take Practices to a New Frontier

Homeland Security says Russian hackers compromised US utilities

Crisis will test any leader. Here’s how the best get through it.

Crisis will test any leader. Here’s how the best get through it.

Telecoms

Smart healthcare market development

Telecoms

Smart healthcare market development

Cyber criminals are planning a highly-coordinated attack on cash machines around the world that could see millions of dollars withdrawn from customer bank accounts, the FBI has warned.

A confidential alert sent to banks stated that the scheme, known as an “ATM cashout”, could take place in the space of just a few hours, most likely on a weekend after banks have closed. The scheme involves cloned cards, together with a hack on a bank or payment processor in order to facilitate the fraudulent withdrawal of funds by gangs of cyber criminals.

“The FBI has obtained unspecified reporting indicating cyber criminals are planning to conduct a global Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cash-out scheme in the coming days, likely associated with an unknown card issuer breach and commonly referred to as an ‘unlimited operation’,” states an FBI alert to banks that was obtained by cyber security expert Brian Krebs

A similar attack reported last month resulted in losses of $2.4 million for the National Bank of Blacksburg, Mr Krebs noted, which involved hundreds of ATMs across the United States over the course of several months.

We’re rapidly approaching “Star Trek” status in healthcare technology, with new innovations boldly taking the industry to new frontier.

24 July 2018, 16:04 p.m.

The Independent Tech

Cyber criminals are planning a highly-coordinated attack on cash machines around the world that could see millions of dollars withdrawn from customer bank accounts, the FBI has warned.

A similar attack reported last month resulted in losses of $2.4 million for the National Bank of Blacksburg, Mr Krebs noted, which involved hundreds of ATMs across the United States over the course of several months.

We’re rapidly approaching “Star Trek” status in healthcare technology, with new innovations boldly taking the industry to new frontier.

Telecoms

24 July 2018, 16:04 p.m.

When disaster strikes — be it a deadly hurricane or a massive cyber-hack — great business leaders respond rather than react.

When disaster strikes — be it a deadly hurricane or a massive cyber-hack — great business leaders respond rather than react.

Joel PetersonChairman,JetBlue Inc.

The difference is subtle but significant. A reaction is a reflex; a response is a procedure.

And the best leaders recognize that real-time responses according to a procedure require a pre-wired plan and practice executing that plan. As Gen. Dwight Eisenhower said of the D-Day invasion, “Plans are nothing; planning is everything.”

In the airline industry planning is an obsession. Crisis management is critical. Executives who plan for the worst are best positioned to serve all constituents when it counts most.

Executives who don’t plan for disaster responses are caught reacting, sometimes resulting in mistakes that can irreparably harm customers, businesses and careers.

I was reminded of this during the recent hurricane in Florida. On the one hand, I was heartened by the response of so many people pitching in on the relief efforts. On the other hand, I was distraught to learn that elderly nursing home patients died from heat exposure when an operational hospital was right across the street. Both cases illustrate the fact that executing under pressure depends on prepared teams.

Here are ten tips to consider when “What if?” becomes “Now what?”

Continue Reading…

CxO Spotlight
Phil Harvey, US News Editor

8/29/2018

Content creation, distribution and ownership are having more sway than ever on the world of communications and that influence is likely to accelerate as the next generation of mobile networks is constructed and consumed.

As this is happening, it does help to find out what the people at the major intersection points of technology, communications and content are thinking, and how they’re planning to take advantage of the capabilities that are just around the corner.

To that end, Light Reading took a tour of the new Disney’s new StudioLAB to see what kinds of projects are in the works and how the company’s work with Cisco and other technology partners will help it become a new kind of service provider — one creating content experiences for mobile devices and public spaces alike.

Check out this interview with Ben Havey, VP of the Technology Innovation Group at The Walt Disney Studios, and just imagine what’s ahead. Once you’re done reading this interview, please have a look at our quick video recapping the StudioLAB tour and my blog with some additional reporting and analysis.

Phil Harvey: We’re in a space called StudioLAB. Is it more of a studio or more of a lab?

Modern Medicine Network

Author Chris Walls

Date:Jan 2, 2018

Joel PetersonChairman,JetBlue Inc.

The difference is subtle but significant. A reaction is a reflex; a response is a procedure.

And the best leaders recognize that real-time responses according to a procedure require a pre-wired plan and practice executing that plan. As Gen. Dwight Eisenhower said of the D-Day invasion, “Plans are nothing; planning is everything.”

In the airline industry planning is an obsession. Crisis management is critical. Executives who plan for the worst are best positioned to serve all constituents when it counts most.

Executives who don’t plan for disaster responses are caught reacting, sometimes resulting in mistakes that can irreparably harm customers, businesses and careers.

Here are ten tips to consider when “What if?” becomes “Now what?” Continue Reading…

CxO Spotlight Phil Harvey, US News Editor

8/29/2018

Content creation, distribution and ownership are having more sway than ever on the world of communications and that influence is likely to accelerate as the next generation of mobile networks is constructed and consumed.

As this is happening, it does help to find out what the people at the major intersection points of technology, communications and content are thinking, and how they’re planning to take advantage of the capabilities that are just around the corner.

Phil Harvey: We’re in a space called StudioLAB. Is it more of a studio or more of a lab?

Author Chris Walls

Date:Jan 2, 2018

Here are ten tips to consider when “What if?” becomes “Now what?”

Continue Reading…

CxO Spotlight
Phil Harvey, US News Editor

Sep 19 2018

Author: Pati Ross-Concepcion • Discussion: No Comments

Every few years, we get reminders of how vulnerable we are to acts of nature. Events beyond our control, including fires, floods and hurricanes causing large-scale disaster, have been experienced in various parts of North America recently. Both man-made and natural events will occur, frequently without warning.

Randy Johnston is a top-rated technology speaker at the annual Accountex USA conference. Randy is broadly known for his Technology Update presentation, which he updates continuously. At Accountex 2018 in Boston, Randy will be presenting on Cloud Technology. Randy has expertise in technology, security, accounting, software and computer infrastructure, and strategic planning and management.

With technology, additional risks come from hacks by bad actors resulting in data breaches or malware infections, hardware manufacturer errors that lead to issues such as the Spectre or Meltdown processor exploits, and software manufacturers making erroneous updates to their software that lead to work stoppages. These events all illustrate the need for Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery.

Let’s separate these two concepts, try to understand the difference, and focus on what we can do to improve business continuity.

Sep 19 2018

Author: Pati Ross-Concepcion • Discussion: No Comments

Sep 04 2018

Author: Pati Ross-Concepcion • Discussion: No Comments

Sep 04 2018

Author: Pati Ross-Concepcion • Discussion: No Comments

GeekWire by Tom Krazit on September 4, 2018 at 9:22 am

Some Microsoft Azure customers with workloads running in its South Central US data center are having big problems coming back from the holiday weekend Tuesday, after shutdown procedures were initiated following a spike in temperature inside one of its facilities.

Around 230am Pacific Time, Microsoft identified problems with the cooling systems in one part of its Texas data center complex, which caused a spike in temperature and forced it to shut down equipment in order to prevent a more catastrophic failure, according to the Azure status page. These issues have also caused cascading effects for some Microsoft Office 365 users as well as those who rely on Microsoft Active Directory to log into their accounts.

Engineers are in the process of restoring power to affected data center devices. Resources in South Central and potentially other regions may experience impact. Please refer to your portal, https://t.co/Dw19fIGsXf and/or Twitter for updates. pic.twitter.com/zkkDKqhsG9

— Azure Support (@AzureSupport) September 4, 2018

Aug 23 2018

Author: Pati Ross-Concepcion • Discussion: No Comments

By David H. Deans
13 August 2018, 11:11 a.m.
Home-based healthcare options have exploded since the availability of internet access has become pervasive. Moreover, as healthcare shifts from reactive to proactive patient care, a huge market is ready for automation products that can help deliver health and wellness services through smart home solutions.

The ubiquity of broadband connectivity, development of smart sensors, and the decreasing costs of devices have already made it possible to offer aging-in-place, chronic disease management, and post-acute care services in smart homes.

However, digital health vendors are striving to take telehealth to the next level by developing solutions that will allow caregivers to check on the health of all the residents of the house, not just the patient’s, monitor diet and nutrition, the environment, and overall wellness, and be integrable with existing and newer systems.

“Patients are conscious of their health quotient and want to be involved in the wellness and disease management,” said Sowmya Rajagopalan Global Program at Frost & Sullivan. “With consumerization of healthcare, enabling patients to clinically manage their disease at home has been of crucial importance for care providers and OEMs today as they have made this a reality with the launch of innovation in design, devices, services, and solutions.”

Aug 22 2018

Author: Pati Ross-Concepcion • Discussion: No Comments

Light Reading . 8/22/2018

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM), announced that its upcoming flagship mobile platform will feature a system-on-chip (SoC) built on the 7nm process node. The 7nm SoC can be paired with the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ X50 5G modem, which is expected to be the first 5G-capable mobile platform for premium tier smartphones and other mobile devices. Qualcomm Technologies has begun sampling of its upcoming flagship mobile platform to multiple OEMs developing next-generation consumer devices. The upcoming platform will transform industries, encourage new business models and improve the consumer experience as operators come online with 5G services later in 2018 and through 2019.

Aug 15 2018

Author: Pati Ross-Concepcion • Discussion: No Comments

Aug 06 2018

Author: Pati Ross-Concepcion • Discussion: No Comments

Trends toward greater patient involvement, proactive population health management, and creative use of digital health in chronic care management are shaping the healthcare technologies of the future. We’re also seeing a dichotomy between the desire for greater access to information and pressures to more securely protect healthcare data, especially in light of increased malware attacks and IT security threats.

Each of these forces shapes the healthcare technology trends we’ll see in 2018 — and offers much for physician practices to ponder as they consider their approach. Three healthcare tech trends stand out.

Technology Trend No. 1: Voice recognition technology will take healthcare to new heights in quality of care and patient experience. Think of the ways voice-driven technologies such as Amazon’s Echo are changing healthcare. Today, 23 percent of physicians use voice assistants like Alexa and Siri in their daily work, according to a recent survey. It’s easy to anticipate a world where Alexa and Siri will assist patients in scheduling doctor’s appointments, diagnosing their symptoms and more.

New voice recognition technologies also are emerging that will recognize the sometimes-garbled speech of patients with Parkinson’s disease or those who have been affected by stroke — and these technologies will significantly heighten the patient experience.

Jul 31 2018

Author: Pati Ross-Concepcion • Discussion: No Comments

According to Homeland Security officials, state-sponsored Russian hackers compromised US utility networks in a campaign affecting ‘hundreds’ of victims.

The Wall Street Journal cites officials from the DHS (Department of Homeland Security) claiming that hackers reached the point they ‘could have thrown switches’ to cause significant disruption.

Officials linked the hacks to a state-sponsored hacking group previously known as Dragonfly or Energetic Bear.

Back in June 2014, cybersecurity experts from Symantec released a white paper on Dragonfly/Energetic Bear. They noted the hackers appear to have been in operation since at least 2011 and compromised ‘a number of strategically important organizations.’

Their initial focus was on defense and aviation companies in the US and Canada before shifting its focus mainly to US and European energy firms in early 2013.

Symantec explains the group’s usual attack method:

April 2019