Coping with Hackers

As we rely on technology more and more the vulnerability to hackers increases greatly.  In our discussions last week about privacy and security breaches it is scary to think that no one is ever 100% safe from an attack. Since I work for a company that was the victim of one of the largest security breaches on record, this topic stings a bit for me.  Since our attack, the culture and priorities at my company have completely changed to assure something like this never happens again.  However, it seems as though every business is aware of this issue and are taking precautions to prevent attacks… but they keep happening.

 In April 2011, Sony suffered a major breach of security where about 77 million of their customer’s information was compromised.  Account info including, names, birth dates, addresses, log in info, and credit card information had been hacked into.   The attack cost Sony an estimated $171.  Since this was one of the most recent incidents, I was curious about what they were doing in response to this attack. 

The article below outlines some of the measures that Sony is taking to increase security measures and ease the outraged customers that had their information stolen. 

http://world-countries.net/archives/119352

Their action plan consisted of offering PSN plus free for 30 days to all of their subscribers.  Sony also will provide assistance to enroll in the ID theft protection program.  I am not a PSN subscriber but I think this offering is a little weak.  I don’t think that 1 month free PSN (a $5 value) would make me forget about the aggravation of having my information stolen.  I think Sony could do better.

As far as beefing up security measures, Sony took the following steps:

·         Appointed a Chief Information Security Officer. 

·         Enhanced encryption on consumer data

·         Acquired automated tools designed to detect and defend against software intrusions

·         Moved to a more secure data center

·         Now require users to have forced password resets

I’m sure that these measures are an improvement from what Sony previously had.  However, they don’t sound very different than the “improvements” that were being made 6 years ago when information security breaches really started to become a hot topic.  It makes me feel like we are so far from having a handle on preventing these attacks. 

Here are a few articles about the breach that I found interesting:

Here is a video clip of the Sony executives taking a bow of apology after the attack:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0d6u7pEDgw

In this next article the head of Sony’s Network Entertainment Division talks about how this was learning experience.  He states, “"I think for people running network businesses, it's not just about improving your security, because I've never talked to a security expert who said, 'As long you do the following three things you'll be fine, because hackers won't get you.' The question is how you build your life so you're able to cope with those things." That is a pretty powerful and scary statement.  As we talked about in class last week, no one can ever be safe from a security attack.  We can only establish layers of protection so that the hacker eventually gives up. 

http://neogaf.net/forum/showthread.php?t=437251

Virtual Fundraising

I am a big fan of movies and I’m always searching for great new films to get excited about.  I have a few friends that have been trying to break into the movie business for some time but most of them are still waiting for their “big break.”  The bottom line is that movies cost a lot of money and the average person that is starting out is broke. I had heard a little bit of buzz about a website called kickstarter.com  This is a website that helps artists/inventors/writers/creators get their projects off the ground.  They describe themselves as being, “The largest funding platform for creative projects in the world.” It is a really cool idea.  The site allows artists to post a trailer or a description of the project that they are trying to accomplish and people can pledge money to help fund the project. 

The coolest part of the process is the reward program.  There is a reward program in place that is based on how much people pledge.  There is no monetary exchange here.  This is a way for people to feel connected to the project.  For example, if someone pledges $1-$10 they might get their name posted on the facebook page of the movie. If someone pledges $10-$25 they will receive a copy of the finished product. If they pledge over $100 they might have a character named after them or a cameo in the film. 

The site posts how many people have funded the project, how much money has been raised, and how much time they have left to fund the project.  Each project is given a deadline for when they need to see the cash or else the project will not happen. 

Although the site features a lot of film projects there are other projects that the site helps succeed as well.  Here is a video clip from one of the founders of kickstarter.com explaining the goals of the site.

http://fora.tv/2011/06/22/Flash_Mobs

He talks about a person that had an idea for an Ipod watch and he was having trouble get it off the ground.  He had gone to Apple and a few other places and could not seem to sell the idea.  He posted his idea on kickstarter and ended up raising enough money to create a batch of his product and sold it to Apple. 

Here is the link to kickstarter:

http://www.kickstarter.com/

It is definitely worth checking out.  It is a new way of networking and helping art and culture exist in the world.  Maybe our next Steve Wozniak or Bill Gates will start here??

ERP is Cool?

Prior to our discussions last week about ERP systems I had never heard of the term ERP.  Turns out…I work with an ERP system everyday at my job, we just call it something else.  I guess I was a surprised (and a little embarrassed) that I had never heard this term and it sparked my interest to learn a little bit more about these systems and how companies are using them.  I came across this article in Information Week magazine that was titled ERP’s Cool Again. Here is the link:

http://i.cmpnet.com/infoweek/green/072511/InformationWeek_2011_07_25.pdf

The article talks about how ERP systems are taking on a new face in the business world and closing the gap between IT and executive level decision makers by using mobile apps and social media. They surveyed 314 IT teams about what would most improve IT productivity. The most common response was, “more engagement and support from business leaders and colleagues.”  In other words they were looking for relevance in the business. 

Business leaders are looking for IT projects that give them constant updates on business performance.  In response to this, IT teams are implementing ERP systems that are connected to mobile devices allowing business leaders to view dashboards, reports, and alerts on their smart phones.

The article also talks about how CRM systems are now tying into social media platforms like facebook, twitter, and youtube.  This allows the company to view feedback about the company and communicate with their “friends.” CRM systems are also connecting with financial performance management apps allowing companies to analyze costs and customer profitability. 

So I guess ERP is cool. This new way of accessing information is the future of ERP systems.  My prediction is that all major companies that are currently using some form of an ERP system will be forced to embrace these changes within the next 5 years in order to stay competitive. 

Nowhere to Hide

It is getting harder and harder to stay under the radar these days.  Google just announced that they acquired PittPatt which is a facial recognition technology company.  PittPatt's technology can do various types of facial recognition, including tracking faces in videos and sorting photos according to whose face appears in each photo. Google has already been using some forms of facial recognition technology but the acquisition of PittPatt is said to, “bring the benefits of …research and technology to a wider audience.”

Here is the announcement about Google’s acquisition:

 http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9218615/Google_buys_facial_recognition_company_PittPatt?source=rss_hardware&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+computerworld/s/feed/topic/128+(Computerworld+Emerging+Technologies+News)

I am not alone in feeling a tad…ummm…uncomfortable with this new wave of technology.  Soon it will be possible for strangers to view every photo that or video that you have been posed in or possibly reside in the background of.  Is this an invasion of privacy? I think so. You have no control over what photos are out there with your name on them.  What happens when this technology mistakes you for someone else? Here is an article that shares my fears about this new technology. 

http://geeklyadvice.com/facial_recognition_technology

Here is a video that illustrates PittPatt face recognition over a clip from "The Office." “Only face tracks of cast members with frontal / near-frontal instances are recognized; all other face tracks are annotated in white.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ONCp77GhAk&feature=related

Google+ vs. Facebook

The world of social networking just got a little bit bigger with the introduction of Google+.  Although it is still in the test phases there is a lot of buzz about Google + and what affect it is going to have on the popularity of Facebook.  Google+ is google’s new social networking site that markets itself as being more flexibility for it’s users that Facebook.    It is comprised of several new features such as Circles, Sparks, Hangouts, Mobile, Location, Instant Upload, and Huddle.

The feature that I find the most appealing is “Circles.”  This feature allows you to categorize your friends into different groups so that that you can pick and choose what you are going to share and with whom you are going to share it with.   I like this feature because I do not always want to share the same things with my boss and my best friend. 

Another feature that I like with Google+ is the “Sparks” feature.  This allows users to enter in areas of interest on their page and the search engine will deliver content based on what you like.  Although this may lead to hours of wasted time watching online video clips it is pretty cool. 

It will be interesting to see how Google+ will impact the Facebook following.  Here is an interesting article that talks about the possible outcomes.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/235454/can_facebook_and_google_coexist.html?tk=out

You can take a tour of what google+ is going to offer. Check it out.

http://www.google.com/intl/en-US/+/demo/

Here is another site that gives more detail of what google+ will offer. 

http://www.slashgear.com/slashgear-101-what-is-google-circles-huddle-28161844/

More Hurdles in Project Management

I’m an MSM student with a concentration in Organizational Development.  My goal with this degree is to learn the tools I need to ultimately become a project manager.  In our discussions last week about Project Management it seems as though the best way to learn about Project Management is to look at Projects that fail.  Unfortunately statistics show that there are many more failed projects than those that finish, “successfully”.  So one would think that the more mistakes that we have to learn from, the higher the success rate would be…right? If only it was that easy.

The article below talks about how the Project failure rate is on the rise yet again due to the recession.  The recession is causing a few more hurdles for project managers to overcome.  The article talks about how budget and job cuts are causing projects to fail at a faster rate.  The article also talks about how the recession has, “engendered a risk aversion inside organizations that…has led them to overemphasize compliance and governance--to such an extent that too many checks and balances are slowing down projects.” 

I found it interesting; however, it makes me think twice about my career path.

http://www.cio.com/article/495306/Recession_Causes_Rising_IT_Project_Failure_Rates_?page=2&taxonomyId=3198

Outsourcing- Is there hope?

Our recent discussions about outsourcing and off shoring have left me wondering about the future of the job market and what it will mean in the next 10 years.  Although higher level management benefits from cheaper labor rates and tax breaks overseas, things do not look as good for the average American workers that are losing their jobs everyday to India and China.  I came across article after article describing the dangerous direction that this country is headed.  It makes me wonder, Is there any hope? Does anyone think that this will turn around? Or is India going to be outsourcing their call centers to us in 10 years and we will be forced to take on pseudo names of Sanji and Shikha.  Or will things level out across the board?

I came across this clip from Patrick Dixon that eased my fears a little bit.  He has an interesting take on what will happen with the future of outsourcing.  He believes that wage increases and inflation overseas are going to rise so much that the profit margin of outsourcing will not make sense for a lot of companies.  He says that some (not all) jobs will come back to the US, Europe, and Australia.  He mentions that outsourcing will always exist. But there is hope.  Check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZwCDYLClPM

A friend of mine also showed me this funny clip from The Onion.  For those of you who don’t know, The Onion is fake/satirical newspaper and website. They do hilarious made up stories.  Here is a funny exaggeration that they did about outsourcing. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eezArBlYg9o&feature=fvsr