10 areas of IT risk you could be overlooking (TechRepublic)

By Mary Shacklett in 10 Things, October 9, 2014,

Risk management entails more than high-profile issues like data breaches. Smaller, less obvious risks can be just as damaging to your organization. 

 

CIOs spend hours reviewing risk management. Prominent areas of concern include disaster recovery, data breaches, and the financial viability of certain technology strategies. But there are a number of less obvious issues that IT typically overlooks -- and the negative consequences of doing so can be significant. Here are some of those under-the-radar risks.

1: Storage media

A considerable amount of IT data is stored on tape in regular backup processes that could ultimately be needed for a disaster recovery -- but many small and medium-size businesses don't regularly clean tape media or ensure that the environmentals (temperature, humidity) for tape are proper. In an emergency situation, these sites could find that their tapes are unreadable. Taking care of your slow-moving "out of sight, out of mind" storage media is important.

2: Loss of a key staff member

IT leaders understand who their key contributors are, but they still underestimate all the "little things" these major players do day-in and day-out. It is only when a key contributor unexpectedly leaves employment with the company that managers see the skills they are missing and understand that they must now manage without this critical expertise. Knowing your options in advance of these situations better positions you to deal with them.

3: IP security and malicious attacks by IT'ers

IT dedicates time to implementing security for outside malicious attacks, and legions of lawyers ensure that a company's intellectual property is protected. But attacks from the inside are usually unanticipated. A disgruntled IT employee is in a privileged position and can severely compromise a company's information and protected assets. Carefully screening employment prospects before you hire them can help to avoid this. So can situations of "dual control," where you have at least two IT staff members assigned to high data security areas.

4: Vendor support for multinational operations

For CIOs heading multinational organizations, selecting an IT solution that works in every country can be risky, even if there are no issues with how the solution itself works. The reason? IT vendors often have inconsistent service and support levels from one country to the next. For instance, a solution that is well supported in Holland might have only a skeleton support staff in Italy. When looking at a multinational IT solution, each vendor's in-country support and service (as well as its solution) should be vetted in the process.

5: Commercial bandwidth availability for cloud

Cloud solutions are great. But if commercial telecommunications can't consistently deliver bandwidth that can handle cloud access and download demands, your purpose could be defeated. This is especially true for companies looking to run large big data payloads through the cloud. Bandwidth should be a front-page issue with all prospective cloud services providers.

6: Acquisition of a key vendor/loss of a key vendor account manager

A great working relationship with an important vendor can quickly go south when either your key account rep at the vendor leaves or the vendor is acquired by another company that doesn't have the same strong service culture. One way to manage risk in this situation is to always write your vendor contracts with an "out clause" in the event there is a change of management control with the vendor.

7: Silos that can affect communications and problem solving

IT is a discipline of many different specialties. Each of these specialties requires its own engineers and experts because the science of IT is complex and it's impossible for an IT generalist to handle all of it. The flip side is that each specialty can become a silo of activity, without effective communications outward to other areas of IT. In the course of a day, IT leaders can forget this. They shouldn't -- because missed communications heighten project risks.

8: Interpersonal skills

Since IT is a technical discipline with specialists often conversing in acronyms, IT pros may forget to speak in plain English when they're working with end business users. Technical shop talk can quickly intimidate users, conveying an impression of IT arrogance. When this happens, progress in business is set back, and that creates risk.

9: Black box code

There are businesses that have been running the same custom-developed code for more than 40 years. It works flawlessly, and it's a good thing it does... because there's no one left at the company who knows what's in the black box code or how to modify or fix it.

10: End-user deals with IT vendors

End users continue to make deals with IT vendors for departmental IT applications and solutions without verifying that what they buy is compatible with other software and hardware. It doesn't matter -- until there is a need to integrate this solution with other systems. That's when IT gets called into a meeting. The risk of an incompatible solution must be managed. It can best be handled with a corporate-wide policy that gives IT an opportunity to review a proposed IT solution before a contract is inked.

Where Is North Korea's 31-Year-Old Leader? (BusinessWeek)

By Dexter Roberts  October 07, 2014

North Korea 'Supreme Leader' Kim Jong-Un in 2013

Where is Kim? That question is increasingly being asked about the 31-year-old leader of the oddball state of North Korea. It gained added urgency on Tuesday, as North Korean and South Korean patrol boats exchanged warning fire at a disputed sea border in the Yellow Sea.

For just over a month now, Kim Jong Un, the Swiss boarding school-educated leader of the reclusive state formally known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, has not appeared in public. Adding to the intrigue was the sudden visit to South Korea by Kim’s No. 2, Vice Marshal Hwang Pyong So, along with two senior North Korean leaders last weekend, where the two sides pledged to restart reconciliation talks. It was the most senior visit by North Korean officials to the South in about five years, and the youthful Kim was nowhere to be seen.

It is still unclear whether Kim, who took over from his father Kim Jong Il upon his death in 2011, has successfully consolidated power in Pyongyang. Late last year, he presided over the execution of his once-powerful uncle, Jang Sung Thaek, accused in accounts by the official Korean Central News Agency of carrying out “anti-party, counter-revolutionary” and “reactionary” acts, as well as being “ideologically sick.”

VIDEO: Google Unveils Detailed Maps of North Korea

For now, the betting is that the increasingly obese Kim is merely suffering from a physical ailment, most likely gout, according to reports by South Korean media, including Yonhap News. North Korea’s state broadcaster reported last month that Kim was feeling “discomfort.” On the recent surprise visit to South Korea, one of North Korea’s senior leaders reportedly told his South Korean counterpart, that there was “no problem” with Kim’s health.

When China’s then-incoming top leader Xi Jinping disappeared for two weeks (just half as long as Kim) in September 2012, it fanned a host of rumors that were anxiously exchanged in Beijing and in capitals around the world.

Reports ranged from the mundane (Xi was recovering from a back injury incurred playing soccer or swimming) to the alarming (he was enmeshed in vicious backroom politicking over the makeup of China’s soon-to-be-installed top leadership team)—even worse, that he had been injured in a failed assassination attempt. To date, the cause of Xi’s absence has not been revealed. Even if Kim eventually reappears, there is no guarantee that the world will soon know the cause of his disappearance.

STORY: The No-Tech Tactics of North Korea's Most Wanted Defector

Roberts is Bloomberg Businessweek's Asia News Editor and China bureau chief. Follow him on Twitter @dtiffroberts.

Will 5.9 Percent Unemployment Give the Hawks Reason to Raise Interest Rates? (BusinessWeek)

By Peter Coy  October 03, 2014

The Federal Reserve building, Washington

Today’s announcement that the U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 5.9 percent in September is good and bad. The good part is obvious. The bad part is that it could mean the labor market is tightening up more than it should at this stage in the economic recovery. That would give inflation hawks at the Federal Reserve a reason to start raising interest rates, possibly chilling growth.

Members of the Fed’s rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee think full employment is somewhere between 5 percent and 6 percent, according to the surveyof the 17 members released last month. At 5.9 percent we’re already below the top end of what Fed rate-setters think is full employment—i.e., the lowest the unemployment rate can get before inflation begins to accelerate undesirably.

And don’t count on Fed Chair Janet Yellen to restrain the hawks if it appears that the economy is overheating. As I write in the Opening Remarks column of the latest issue of Bloomberg Businessweek, Yellen should be taken at her word when she vows, as she has many times, to be “data dependent” and raise interest rates as needed. Yellen has been a dove to date—meaning someone who worries more about unemployment than inflation—but that’s only because unemployment has been very high and inflation nowhere in sight. As that situation changes, so will Yellen’s position.

VIDEO: Why 5.9% Unemployment May Not Be Good Enough for the Fed

Tamping down the likelihood of a quick Fed reaction is that there’s little evidence of upward pressure on wages. Hourly earnings were unchanged in September. Still, “if payrolls continue to rise by 250,000 a month and the unemployment rate continues to fall, higher wage growth may not be needed to prompt the Fed to hike rates,” Paul Dales, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, wrote in a note to clients today.

The best part of the jobs report today is that the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated U.S. employers added 248,000 jobs, which was more than the 215,000 median expectation of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Also, job growth in August was revised upward to 180,000 from a weak 142,000, and July growth was revised up as well. It makes sense for the unemployment rate to fall a bit when job growth is strong. More people on U.S. payrolls is unquestionably a good thing. The trouble is that we’re approaching the Fed’s definition of full employment while there are still millions left on the sidelines. There are more than 7 million people involuntarily working part-time. The black unemployment rate is 11 percent.

The worst part of the report is that the labor force participation rate fell to 62.7 percent, the lowest since February 1978, from 62.8 percent in August. When labor force participation is low, it means more people are, say, retiring or going on disability than are entering the labor force out of school. There are fewer people available to work, which puts a limit on the economy’s ability to grow. The Fed has to put the brakes on growth at an earlier stage to prevent the economy from overheating.

STORY: For the Fed's Janet Yellen, It's No More Ms. Nice Chair

A bit of arithmetic explains the problem. The unemployment rate is calculated as the share of people who are in the labor force, actively looking for work, but don’t have jobs. In this case, some people who used to be looking for work dropped out of the labor force, so they were no longer counted as unemployed. To be sure, the bigger reason for the drop in the unemployment rate was a sharp decline in the number of people who told the BLS they were unemployed. (Although reported together, the payroll figures and the unemployment figures are derived from separate surveys.)

The labor force participation rate soared from the 1960s through the 1990s as more women entered the workforce, but stalled out at the beginning of the new millennium and then fell sharply when the 2007-09 recession hit. It hasn’t recovered—and is actually drifting lower as more boomers retire.

STORY: The Fed Just Updated Its Jobs ‘Dashboard.’ Here’s What It Shows

Coy is Bloomberg Businessweek's economics editor. His Twitter handle is @petercoy.

How tech is changing the way we think and what we think about (TechRepublic)

By Conner Forrest October 6, 2014,

At the 2014 IdeaFestival, Clive Thompson presented concepts of how technology is changing our thought processes, as explored in his new book "Smarter Than You Think." 

Clive Thompson presents at the 2014 IdeaFestival in Louisville, Kentucky.

Image: Conner Forrest/TechRepublic

There are a myriad of arguments for and against the increased use of technology in everyday life. Futurists and technophiles encourage its use, sure that technology will welcome a new utopia, while luddites rail against the "destructive" nature of technology use.

We sense that tech is changing the way we think. The big question is how it is changing the way we think and what are the results of that?

That is what Clive Thompson, a writer for Wired and The New York Times, decided to explore in his new book, Smarter Than You Think. Thompson presented the key points of the book at the 2014 IdeaFestival in Louisville, Kentucky on Friday, October 3. According to Thompson, technology is changing the way we think in four major ways:

1. Public thinking
2. Ambient awareness
3. New literacies
4. Collaborative thought

During the Stalin regime, government photos were augmented to remove people that fell out of favor with Stalin. Thompson noted that, in part, George Orwell's 1984 derived many of its literary motifs from the Soviet Union's practices at this time. Orwell's big fear was that if you could change the past (by changing historical content as on a photo), then you could change the future.

This was seen in the 1990s when Adobe Photoshop rose to prominence. The scare that people would be fooled by fake photos was a real fear for some people. Once photomanipulation became a folk art, though, Thompson said that people are getting better at detecting it. The way we think about photos, especially digital photography is changing, For example, bloggers figured out that the four missiles in a famous 2008 press photo from Iran were fake, even after they were published.

As we engage these technologies, Thompson argues that we are trending towards public thinking, or thinking out loud. This was typically not the case before the internet came along. After completing college, most people didn't write anything publicly unless it was their profession. Now, according to Thompson's estimate, 3.6 trillion words are written per day. New publishing platforms, such as blogging tools like Wordpress, and social media tools such as Twitter have enabled this.

There is an audience effect that, as soon as an audience is present, we feel that we have to bring out the best in what we are doing. Public thinking connects us to other thinkers. You can find, as Thompson said, "Some other weirdo that cares about the same things you care about." It's easier than ever to connect and collaborate, and that is changing the way we approach our hobbies and interests.

These online "utterances" like short tweets or status updates increase our sense of ambient awareness. Thompson said that ambient awareness is the ability to be aware of the happenings in peoples' everyday lives without being physically present. Much like we pick up on subtleties through body language, these small utterances help us to understand how our friends are feeling.

Thompson also referenced the seminal 1973 work by Mark Granovetter, The Strength of Weak Ties. Granovetter found that people who found jobs heard about that job from what is known as a weak tie, such as an acquaintance or someone you know in passing. It used to be difficult to connect to weak ties, but now we live in a world where we have constant persistent contact with weak ties through social media.

Technology is also giving us new literacies, or new ways to gain knowledge about a specific subject. For example, as cameras become smaller and cheaper, it changes the kinds of videos we take and how we consume them. Live television recording technologies like TiVo and DVR give us the opportunity to pour over video frames and better analyze and think about content.

Another new literacy we have access to is data. Health trackers like the FitBit give users the ability to identify trends that were invisible before these tools were available. Thompson gave the example of his friend being able to track when he was due for a running injury, based on the data he collected about his performance.

As we explore new ideas, we have new ways to connect and collaborate over those ideas thanks to technology. This is the concept of connected thinking. The concept is similar to that of the "collective intelligence" explored by Pierre Levy who wrote, "No one knows everything, everyone knows something, all knowledge resides in humanity."

What Thompson wanted to get across is that the audience is no longer just one person, it is thousands of people connected together, thinking together. We see connected thinking influence tools such as Wikipedia and Quora, bringing people together to figure out a problem or criticize work.

Conner Forrest is a Staff Writer for TechRepublic. He covers Google and startups and is passionate about the convergence of technology and culture.

10 technologies changing the future of healthcare (TechRepublic)

By Lyndsey Gilpin September 4, 2014
From digital networks to wearables, the health care industry is undergoing massive technological changes. Here are 10 types of innovations changing its future. 

The health care industry will see a 21% increase in IT jobs by 2020, according to research by the University of Chicago. Across all health care sectors, there is a demand for creative, thoughtful uses of health informatics, mobile technology, cloud systems, and digital diagnostics.

Many of these new inventions have yet to be approved by the FDA, a process that can take up to 10 years. But that's not stopping the research and development of new technologies. Here are 10 types of tech that are changing the course of health care.

1. Digital diagnostics

Making health care more accessible includes providing digital diagnostics options for people who need it, especially those who can't get to a doctor's office. This is one of the main themes of digital health. One example of digital diagnostics is Neurotrack, a software-based Alzheimer's diagnostic test that can detect impairments on the hippocampus (the first area of the brain to be affected by the disease) by evaluating eye movement.

2. The cloud

According to recent research by Skyhigh Networks, more than 13% of cloud services in health care are considered high-risk for security breaches, and 77% of them are medium-risk. Cloud services provide a lot of benefits for medical providers, especially in under-developed or rural areas, but there is definite risk involved. The research showed that there are 944 cloud services in use across healthcare providers, and 53% of employees use at least three devices at work.

3. Ultra-fast scans

GE showcased its breakthrough ultra-fast CT scanner earlier this year, which can capture a still image of a heart in one beat. The company said that according to research, about 60% of patients have heart rates of higher than 60 beats per minute and are turned away from scans because their heart beats too fast to scan. With this Revolution CT, doctors can see specific areas of the heart that they could not before.

4. Wearables

Wearable technology is going to play a huge role in health care in years to come. The Consumer Electronics Association reports that sales of fitness trackers and smart watches will reach $1 billion this year. But monitoring fitness is only the beginning. For instance, Intel teamed up with the Michael J. Fox Foundation to use wearables to find certain characteristics of Parkinson's disease.

5. Health informatics

More than half of US hospitals use some type of electronic records system, but only 6% meet all the federal mandates, according to a recent study out of the University of Michigan.According to researchers at the University of Chicago, 50% of health care dollars are wasted on inefficient record keeping processes. Electronic records have been shown to save large hospitals anywhere between $37 and $59 million. It streamlines the medical care process and lowers malpractice claims, and increases coordination between providers. The federal government set a mandate to have some electronic system in place by this year.

6. Digital therapy

Digital therapy is important for patients who need at-home care, can't afford to travel to a clinic, or have no way to get to a clinic for therapy. Wellframe is a platform that combines mobile technology with artificial intelligence to provide patients with care after they've returned home from the hospital or doctor's office. It's been described as a "GPS navigation system for patients." There is a daily to-do list for the patient and a tracker for diet and exercise, but an advanced algorithm adapts the content based on the information from patient and healthcare provider. The company has performed trials with cardiovascular, pulmonary, and mental health patients.

7. Concierge medical services

Startups are making it easier to pay out-of-pocket for on-demand health care services. For example, GoodRX allows you to compare prices for drugs at different pharmacies and save up to 80%. One Medical Group was created by doctors to build a better system for doctor's visits. In certain cities, you can search for an office based on your needs, find same-day appointments, email access, online scheduling, and trained primary doctors.

8. Networks and coaching

With mobile technology, it's easier than ever to have a customized diet or health plan.ThriveOn is personalized coaching for mental health, offering plans by assessing your sleep, mood, stress, anxiety, and body image. Retrofit offers coaching and expert advice for weight loss and weight management.

9. Self-insurance

With the onset of Affordable Care Act, more consumers have had to manage their own data and health future. Several startups are using this as an opportunity to offer insurance, benefits, and solutions services. Health solutions platforms such as Jiff, which connects employee behaviors to company benefits and incentives, are becoming more common.

10. Hackathons

Hacking is becoming an increasingly popular tool to solving real world problems, especially in the health care industry. Health care, which usually evolves slowly, is being revitalized with software developments, hardware inventions, cloud systems, apps, and wearables, and many of these ideas are born out of hackathons. MIT held a hackathon earlier this year that drew 450 people from various backgrounds such as engineering, journalism, medicine, and IT to tackle global health, diabetes, and hospital IT.

Lyndsey Gilpin is a Staff Writer for TechRepublic. She writes about the people behind some of tech's most creative innovations and in-depth features on innovation and sustainability

Check Out Kawasaki's Totally Illegal Ninja Superbike (BusinessWeek)

By Kyle Stock  October 01, 2014

The 2015 Kawasaki Ninja H2R

Kawasaki (7012:JP), apparently, thinks your life is a little too slow and safe. The Japanese industrial giant has unveiled the most powerful production motorcycle ever.

The 2015 Ninja H2R will generate a ludicrous 300 horsepower from a supercharged engine. For perspective, the new Alfa Romeo sports car critics are drooling over—the 4C—comes with 237 horses, while BMW’s popular HP4 superbike comes with 193. The Ninja looks like some kind of angry Hollywood alien crossed with a fighter plane. (You can even see little wings in Kawasaki’s dramatic press video.)

Courtesy Kawasaki Motors Corp.

Courtesy Kawasaki Motors Corp.

There’s a catch: The new Ninja isn’t street legal. Kawasaki has promised a slightly toned-down version soon. So why bother making it? Superlatives sell in the world of wheels.

STORY: High-End Motorcycles Meet India's Mopeds

Dodge has cornered the cover slot of every car magazine for months since it unveiled a 707-horsepower Challenger Hellcat. The car isn’t all that different from the Challenger that Dodge has made for years, but it has a much clearer marketing message: “the most powerful muscle car ever.” Kawasaki is taking a similar line here. It will sell a limited number of its new super-Ninjas for the track, at powerful profit margins no doubt. And all the buzz about the machine (including this article!) will likely help drive customers to the toned-down version.

Courtesy Kawasaki Motors Corp.

What’s interesting is that Kawasaki seems to be toying with a sort of unspoken agreement among bike makers not to push the power envelope too far. Policymakers started grumbling in earnest about banning high-speed bikes in 1999 after the Suzuki Hayabusa hit the market with speeds just shy of 200 mph. In the years since, companies such as Kawasaki, Yamaha, and Ducati have limited top speeds and focused on making bikes more efficient, technologically advanced, and agile. The new Ninja, however, may change all that.

SLIDESHOW: U.S. Motorcycle Maker Takes an Indian Detour

Courtesy Kawasaki Motors Corp.

Stock is an associate editor for Businessweek.com. Twitter: @kylestock

Microsoft Skips Ahead to Windows 10 and Takes a Step Backwards (BusinessWeek)

By Ashlee Vance  September 30, 2014

All hail Windows 10: Lack of Conviction Edition.

On Tuesday, Microsoft (MSFT) provided a sneak peek at its next operating system. One of the big reveals from the news conference in San Francisco is that Microsoft will go straight from today’s Windows 8 to Windows 10. Apparently this is because the new software will be so awesome that simply calling it Windows 9 would not do it justice. More likely, some Microsoft market researcher decided that people don’t like 9s as much as they like 10s. Who knows?

Windows 10 looks to be as much of a step backward as it is a step forward. Microsoft has given in to critics and brought back the traditional start menu that people will recognize from Windows 7. That means consumers can click on the window icon and have a menu pop up showing their documents folder, PC settings, command prompt, and the like. Microsoft has also tried to placate people that were accustomed to the tile-based interface of Windows 8 by, in essence, gluing a few tiles onto the right side of the start menu.

STORY: Confessions of a Windows Phone User

Courtesy MicrosoftThe familiar Start menu is back, with some changes

This could be considered a metaphor for Microsoft’s indecision, except it seems rather literal. Microsoft has grafted a 2014 interface onto a 2004 interface. Company executives described the setup as going from a first-generation Prius (TM) to a Tesla(TSLA) Model S. No one wants to drive something that is half a Prius and half a Model S because that would be ugly and embarrassing.

The other really big news is that the upcoming version of Windows will be the same software running across all devices in the Windows world. From tiny gadgets and phones right on up to bulky desktops, all will share the same underlying code and have access to the same apps. This fulfills Bill Gates’s long-held vision of writing one operating system to rule them all, with Windows serving as a unifying force across hardware.

You can now open apps from the Windows StoreCourtesy Microsoft

It’s easy enough to understand how Microsoft ended up going down this path. Windows 8 offered people a radical reinterpretation of the desktop, with its tiles and touch-heavy interface, and consumers responded coolly to the software. Microsoft gave everyone an out by including its old, faithful desktop as a background option, and people ended up grasping that crutch.

STORY: The First Windows XP Security Problem Microsoft Won't Fix

With Windows 10, Microsoft is delivering something familiar, which should be an easier sell for businesses looking to upgrade machines with minimal hassle. This is important because Microsoft is facing corporate pressure from Apple (AAPL)and Google (GOOG) in earnest for the first time in its history.

On the other hand, Microsoft is copping out once again. A big letdown with Windows 8 was that Microsoft did provide the crutch of the old desktop. It felt weird to be using a modern interface, click on an app, and suddenly get thrown into the past. Microsoft did not have the guts to force people to adopt its vision of the future, and the company is playing it safe once again.

STORY: Hey, Kids—Microsoft Is Buying Minecraft

Vance is a technology writer for Bloomberg Businessweek in Palo Alto, Calif. Follow him on Twitter@valleyhack.