Data and Security

The arrival of martech was heralded as the next stage of marketing. These platforms enabled marketers to gather endless reams of data so they could reconfigure their approach and boost their conversions. The theory was that the better businesses got to know their customers, the more appealing they could make their offers. What actually happened […]

The good news is that data breaches appear to be declining in 2018, according to the Risk Based Security Q1 2018 Data Breach QuickView Report. The first three months of 2018 witnessed 686 breaches compared to 1,442 breaches in the same quarter in 2017. The bad news is that numerous breach strategies still work, including malware, phishing, […]

If you scour the internet for your personal data, stop. It’s already out there in the hands of companies, and no number of removal requests will change that. What you should be worried about is whether executives at these companies are asking themselves the right question: What constitutes ethical use of consumer data? What if you […]

More enterprises are investing in mobile applications on platforms preferably iOS. The 2016 enterprise mobile apps report brought out by Adobe reinforces the growing need for enterprises to invest in mobile apps. With Apple constituting a major share of the world smartphone market, iOS tend to be the most preferred platform in enterprise app development. […]

Although FCC Chairman Ajit Pai stated, “I strongly support a free and open internet,” the FCC officially repealed net neutrality on June 11th. The original net neutrality laws protected the internet by referring to it as a common carrier. That meant it fairly provided a service like utilities to everyone. However, repealing net neutrality laws […]

There’s no getting around it: the way marketers and retailers harness the power of big data can be a little on the creepy side. An innocent Google search on a specific subject can often result in you seeing nothing but targeted ads on that subject for the rest of the week wherever you turn.  Yet […]

GDPR is coming and many organizations are changing their ways – you must have noticed getting emailed from your favorite websites about their new policies. One of the most sensitive data pipes in every big organization is the CRM (Customer Relationship Management), which contains all of the private information of both the company and their […]

In 2013, hackers managed to access the AP twitter account and posted a fake tweet implying that there was an explosion in White House and the then President Obama had been injured. Following the Tweet, the stock market went into panic mode with the Dow plunging over 150 points and the S&P 500 shedding $135.6 […]

The big data trend continues, and more and more companies are hopping on the bandwagon. While many organizations assume they need big data’s wisdom, often the “small” operational data they already have will do just fine. Operational data is internal data, such as the data that gives Uber its ability to dispatch cars. Big data, […]

Every time you’ve installed a piece of commercial software, you’ve invariably been presented with what must have appeared to be legal gibberish- a seeming difficult to read, needlessly long, solid block of text that was almost impossible to understand. Most people never bother to read the information presented- quickly scrolling to the bottom of the […]

For a business in digital transition, data architecture is a big decision. Selecting the right model is one of the first and most important choices of any such initiative. But given the breadth of options and confusing terminology, choosing a solution that meets the company’s needs without blowing its budget is no easy task. Two […]

For all of the “isms” supposedly being felled by enlightened Americans, the U.S. economy remains stunningly unfair. Take racism. On one hand, interracial marriages have grown fivefold in the 50 years since Loving v. Virginia, which legalized the practice. On the other, the average median household wealth of African-Americans declined by 75 percent between 1983 […]

Companies may be well aware they’re sitting on a gold mine of data, but most of them have no idea how to exploit its value. Case in point: According to research by Forrester, up to 73 percent of corporate data goes unanalyzed. Information is collected, then neglected. That’s as unproductive as living with Superman and […]

In 2006 Google’s acquired YouTube for $1.65 billion, and Facebook acquired Instagram for $1 billion in 2012.   Many dismissed these purchases as indulgences of cash-rich tech behemoths, and federal regulators took no action.  But, these acquisitions were far from frivolous.  They shut out potential competitors, strengthening Google’s market dominance in search and Facebook’s in social media. And, now […]

The smart city began as a science fiction dream, but it’s very quickly becoming a reality. Municipal infrastructure, integrated with smart technology, will transform the aesthetics, utility, and sustainability of urban landscapes from here on out. To see a smart city in action, just look to Washington, D.C., which has embraced a top-down approach to […]

In February 2017, the Transformations Autism Treatment Center learned that one of its former behavioral analysts had breached its security. According to his indictment, Jeffrey Luke illegally accessed a TACT Google Drive account and stole protected health information from more than 300 current and former patients. TACT’s cyber breach is especially concerning because Luke had […]

Data has never been more critical to marketing success. Companies are striving to employ the latest analytics to drive improvement in all areas of operations. The good news is that the majority of consumers are willing to provide data, given the right conditions. In fact, a 2018 survey by Acxiom found that 58 percent of […]

The debate about companies’ use of location data has gained a lot of traction this year. However, that shouldn’t make you shy about using it. In the right hands, used the right way, location data is an invaluable tool in any market. Your competition knows this, and the debate isn’t slowing them down, either. According […]

The majority of cyberattacks aren’t large-scale, coordinated efforts to break through tough defenses and acquire valuable data; instead, they’re simple and opportunistic. A “hacker” might stumble upon someone’s password because they left it written on a sticky note, or they might take advantage of an account that was left logged in on a public computer. […]

As enterprises embrace AI and work towards integrating it increasingly into their business processes, one of the key decisions they are all having to make is whether to buy or build the AI components that will drive their enterprises into the future. More than 61 percent of businesses said they have already implemented AI, demonstrating […]

If you’re not a member of the healthcare community, then you might not be aware of a quiet crisis creeping up on hospitals all over the country: not enough nurses and too many patients. This trend is partially fueled by the Baby Boomers who are reaching old age. Baby Boomer nurses are beginning to retire, […]

Technology has always been positive for impacting businesses. Technology is the grease on the wheels that will bring growth to your business. With growth as your mindset, here are a few facts you can’t ignore namely, that the positive evolution of your business depends on the tech revolution. After the Industrial Revolution, the business world […]

Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), despite their somewhat esoteric name, aren’t unknown to everyday users. Many people, including myself, use VPN apps or Chrome extensions like Hola to get onto sites that are blocked or otherwise inaccessible in certain countries. Many people find themselves using a VPN for the sake of convenience, very few implement one […]

2019 may well be a tipping point in consumer and public policymakers’ attitudes about data privacy. The year 2018 started out with an explosion of revelations about consumers’ data being shared with companies without their consent. With connected cars soon to become the norm for new car sales, automotive original equipment (OEMs) need to take […]

Are you planning to get a new customer retention management (CRM) platform for managing all your customers? Here’s a short explanation on how to make this process legal and safe. GDRP protects users from unauthorized data collection and further processing for commercial purposes. If you have a customer retention management program that is not really […]

In today’s world, it’s common for businesses to gather as much data on their customers as possible. Big data and related analyses have the potential to help companies develop new, better products for their customers and provide more unique experiences for those customers. And for financial institutions, those data are even more precious, since they […]

In 2018, Venmo suffered from a high volume of fraudulent transactions. Instead of taking measures to tightly control its data, the company responded by simply eliminating certain features. Only 2 percent of customers conducted transactions via the Venmo website, but the website accounted for 15 percent of net losses. Moving forward, the peer-to-peer payments company will only […]

The Internet of Things (IoT) has changed the way we live our lives in many years. While divers amounts of these changes are significant, you must also be aware that not all of them are so great. For instance, the IoT has increased the number of cyber attacks we’re faced with today. Believe it or […]

Many people continue moving to urban centers for all kinds of different reasons. The logic and reasoning may include looking for employment, seeking a change in lifestyle and a variety of reasons that couldn’t possibly be listed, let alone guessed. As migration from rural to urban areas increases, cities must become efficient if they want […]

File sharing with your team, partners, vendors, and customers has raised productivity and efficiency levels to new heights. However, it’s also led to some challenges that must be addressed in order to continue leveraging the benefits of the process of file sharing.  In the early days of file and folder management technique, teams were happy […]

As your business accumulates more and more data, it becomes increasingly difficult to sift through the information for relevant insights. Even with advanced tools at your disposal, such as AI or machine learning, there’s a massive influx of information to take in. It becomes necessary to organize the evidence into larger datasets you can view […]

Investors are more worried than ever about digital threats. Respondents to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ 2018 “Global Investor Survey” named cyberthreats the top threat to businesses — a leap from fifth place the previous year. Those fears are justified. Research published last December by SafeBreach, which studied 3,400 security breach methods, reported a malware infiltration success rate above 60 percent. Once inside […]

Very few data breaches have garnered as much attention recently as the Starwood/Marriott breach in which up to 500 million records may have been accessed by an unauthorized user. It’s suspected that the encryption keys that protected personally identifiable information (PII), specifically payment card data, were also compromised. Much has been written about what is […]

What you need to know to keep your IoT software secure. The Internet of Things (IoT) has been hailed as an integral ingredient of the 4th Industrial Revolution, transferring the power of software and connectivity into the physical world. However, before we can run into the “smart” future where our coffee pot talks to our […]

At media companies, 2018 might be remembered as the year that someone finally got data sharing right. To be sure, there were some missteps. Facebook’s series of data scandals cost the social network around a quarter of its value. But Twitter, Google, Reddit, Snapchat, and even Facebook each tweaked their privacy policies to better balance […]

There have been a lot spoken and written about Big Data over the years. In fact, many believe things will get a lot better in every field of life with more advancement in Big Data. However, experts are trying to find many effective ways to manage Big Data. What is Big Data? Big data is […]

In late September, representatives from the biggest tech companies testified before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. At almost the same time, Facebook announced that a massive data breach had affected almost 50 million users. This odd fluke of timing illustrates the perilous nature of data protection right now. Because of data breaches […]

The IoT technology is not only taking over the industry, but it’s taking over our households, too. The number of IoT devices is rapidly increasing everyday — all with the intent for us be able to control everything at the touch of a button. No problems this far in the IoT home device plan. Everything […]

Transitioning from an internship into a high-paying career is hard. In the data science world, the competition for employment is intense. While there still are a lot of unfilled roles out there, most of them require something slightly more than just a textbook education. The best way to make the leap from a university education […]