Wednesday, May 06, 2020


A very scary perspective.
Enterprises throw money at cybersecurity but half of attacks are still a success
On Tuesday, FireEye's Mandiant released its annual Security Effectiveness Report. Based on enterprise contributions, penetration tests, and the analysis of 100 enterprise-level production environments across 11 industries, the report concludes that while organizations are significantly increasing cybersecurity budgets, the reality is that many attacks are still successfully infiltrating enterprise environments.
In total, 53% of attacks performed were successful and infiltration without detection was achieved. 26% of attacks were successful but were detected, while 33% of attacks were prevented by security solutions. However, only 9% of attacks led to an alert being generated.




If your oil industry was the only one left functioning, what would you charge for a barrel of oil?
Troubled Oil and Gas Industry Under Siege From Spyware; Novel Spear Phishing Attacks Thought to Be Espionage-Driven
The global oil and gas industry would have had a tough year even if the coronavirus had never surfaced; overproduction by the United States and a price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia might well have driven prices to record lows in 2020 anyway. But with the added complication of a halt to the majority of travel due to a pandemic, a barrel of oil briefly had a negative value in April as supply overwhelmed storage capacity. Oil price fluctuations continue but as we have seen with other industries, hackers don’t give anyone a break during hard times and pounce on whatever opportunities are available. The oil and gas industry is currently fending off a major spyware campaign, notable for its use of highly targeted spear phishing attacks, during one of the toughest periods in its history.
The use of novel tools and the type of information that is being sought also indicates that sophisticated advanced persistent threat (APT) groups backed by a nation-state are the culprits, and that espionage is behind the sudden interest in this vertical. The hackers seem to want to know in advance what countries in the OPEC alliance and the Group of 20 nations are planning.




Once upon a time, only a few visionaries were thinking about Privacy. Now people are starting to realize there is money to be made!
The Rise of the PrivacyTechs
It is very difficult to imagine any sector of the economy that is not impacted by technology, disruptions, startups and questions like “Why should it be like this?” are more and more frequent. The digital revolution is everywhere, from the countryside to industries, banks, schools, government, transportation, insurance. The moment we are living in is unique. Time has come for privacy and more and more countries and companies are seeing the need to protect privacy as an important asset. In order to support companies in this journey of adaptation, the so-called “PrivacyTech” began to emerge between 2016 and 2017, aiming at a promising market for companies that need solutions for privacy protection and personal data management.


(Related) ...and apparently there is much education still to be done.
How Americans see digital privacy issues amid the COVID-19 outbreak
The ongoing coronavirus outbreak has brought privacy and surveillance concerns to the forefront – from hacked video conferencing sessions to proposed government tracking of people’s cellphones as a measure to limit and prevent the spread of the virus. Over the past year, Pew Research Center has surveyed Americans on their views related to privacy, personal data and digital surveillance.
Here are 10 key findings that stand out.




How could Apple’s (or anyone’s) lawyers made this work?
Apple’s Copyright Lawsuit Has Created a ‘Chilling Effect’ on Security Research
Security researchers are scared to buy, use, or even talk about the controversial iPhone emulation software Corellium, whose makers are in a legal battle with Apple.
Last year, Apple accused a cybersecurity startup based in Florida of infringing its copyright by developing and selling software that allows customers to create virtual iPhone replicas. Critics have called the Apple's lawsuit against the company, called Corellium, “dangerous” as it may shape how security researchers and software makers can tinker with Apple’s products and code.
I don’t know if they intended it but when they name individuals at companies that have spoken in favor [of Corellium], I definitely believe retribution is possible,” the researcher added, referring to Apple’s subpoena to the spanish finance giant Santander Bank, which named an employee who had Tweeted about Corellium.




It seems to depend on who you ask.
6 key benefits of AI for business
The Global AI Survey from McKinsey & Co., released in November 2019, found that 63% of responding executives reported revenue increases thanks to AI, while 44% cited reduced costs as a result of the technology.
Not all reports, to be sure, have found the benefits of AI for business to be as immediate. For example, a study released in October 2019 from MIT Sloan Management Review and Boston Consulting Group, titled "Winning With AI," found that although 90% of respondents believe AI represents a business opportunity for their companies, the vast majority (70%) have seen minimal or no impact from AI so far.




This is interesting and certainly reflects what I found when trying to implement change.
Your Business Is Too Complex to Be Digital
Business leaders are starting to rethink their strategies to take advantage of digital technologies. They envision omnichannel customer interfaces, ecosystems of tightly connected partners, and novel customer solutions leveraging newly accessible data.
This is smart. Digital technologies are already shifting industry boundaries and competitive landscapes (think of relatively new industry types: information dissemination, entertainment streaming, personal mobility). Ongoing industry disruption means that business leaders absolutely must articulate strategies that are inspired by the capabilities of digital technologies.
An inspired digital strategy, however, is barely enough to get started.
For most established companies, it is more likely that operational deficiencies, rather than lack of strategic thinking, will stymie their ability to compete digitally. Those operational deficiencies will not be easily resolved. They result from layers of variability — years of new operational and commercial processes built next to (and on top of) legacy systems and ways of working. This kind of non-value-adding variability has made many companies too complex to deliver digital solutions. To compete digitally, business leaders must attack that complexity.




Probably should have consulted a professional (before posting his boasting)
Trump's Would-Be New Spy Chief Tried to Delete His Internet History and It Went About How You'd Expect
President Trump’s pick to lead U.S. intelligence, Rep. John Ratcliffe, appears to have scrubbed some of his most controversial boasts about his national security background from two websites around the time Trump nominated him to the post for a second time last winter.
If he does get the job as America’s spymaster, Rep. Ratcliffe may want to consult U.S. intel experts about something called the “Wayback Machine” — which allows anyone with an internet connection to see how websites used to look, even after you’ve deleted the embarrassing stuff.




New? Catch up, legal guys.
New Industry Available on Legal Radar: Follow Internet & Social Media
Follow Internet & Social Media for the latest news and litigation updates involving e-commerce websites, social networking hubs, online publishers, travel sites, delivery apps, dating sites and other internet-enabled companies.




Perspective. A nation of pedalphiles?
People Are Panic-Buying Meat, Toilet Paper … and Pelotons?
With gyms closed and nowhere to go, more people are shelling out $2,245 for the workout bike.




Perspective.
For the first time, India has more rural net users than urban
The latest report by the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Nielsen showed rural India had 227 million active internet users, 10% more than urban India’s about 205 million, as of November 2019.
The numbers were boosted by the cheapest internet connections in the world.
In addition, there are around 71 million kids, aged 5-11 years, who go online using devices of family members. With this, India surpassed another milestone of having 504 million active internet users who are 5 years old or above — 53 million more than 451 million in March 2019. Active internet users are defined as those who use the internet at least once a month.
At 40%, India lags behind US, China in internet penetration



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