Predictive network technology promises to find and fix problems faster.
The emerging field of neuromorphic computing, based on a chip architecture
that's engineered to mimic human brain structure, promises to provide highly
effective ML on edge devices. "Predictive network technology is so powerful
because of its ability to intake signals and make accurate predictions about
equipment failures to optimize maintenance," says Gil Dror, CTO at monitoring
technology provider SmartSense. He says that neuromorphic computing will become
even more powerful when it moves from predictive to prescriptive analytics,
which recommends what should be done to ensure future outcomes. Neuromorphic
computing's chip architecture is geared toward making intelligent decisions on
edge devices themselves, Dror says. "The combination of these two technologies
will make the field of predictive network technology much more powerful," he
says. Organizations including IBM, Intel, and Qualcomm are developing
neuromorphic computing technologies.
What Wasm Needs to Reach the Edge
As of today, WASM is very much present in the browser. It is also rapidly being
used for backend server applications. And yet, much work needs to be done as far
as getting to the stage where applications can reach the edge. The developer
probably does not care that much — they just want their applications to run well
and security wherever they are accessed, without wondering so much about why
edge is not ready yet but when it will be. Indeed, the developer might want to
design one app deployed through a WebAssembly module that will be distributed
across a wide variety of edge devices. Unlike years past when designing an
application for a particular device could require a significant amount of time
to reinvent the wheel for each device type, one of the beautiful things about
WASM — once standardization is in place — is for the developer to create a
voice-transcription application that can run not only on a smartphone or PC but
in a minuscule edge device that can be hidden in a secret agent’s clothing
during a mission.
5 hard questions every IT leader must answer
Most of the voluminous academic literature on leadership focuses on the
traits/idiosyncrasies of the individual leader and not on their relationships
with key associates. As an IT leader, do you have a track record of helping or
hindering colleagues in fulfilling their career objectives? Vince Kellen, a
digital force of nature and CIO at University of California San Diego, borrows
insights from NHL scouts. He is looking for IT “skaters” who, when they step
onto the ice, make the other four teammates better hockey players. How leaders
view themselves and others and how they are viewed by others is a critical
causal driver of leadership success or failure. Tony Blair was able to reverse a
multi-decade decline in Labour Party electoral success when he realized, “People
judge us on their instincts about what they believe our instincts to be. And
that man polishing his car was clear: His instincts were to get on in life, and
he thought our instincts were to stop him.”
KPIs for a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)
Many might think the finances of a company would be the sole responsibility of
the chief financial officer and their team. However, the CISO is also
responsible for returns on any investments in information security. This is a
crucial benchmark for a CISO. They’re responsible for the organization gaining
value from new security technology investments and security policies while
keeping costs down. They must also maintain a productive department — which in
financial terms means valuable — and a training program worth investing in
(CISO-Portal, 2021). While CISOs are responsible for security, they also must
consider the financial impact on the business if a cyberattack occurs. An
estimated recovery budget should be put in place to prepare for the potential
financial impact of the attack. The actual cost should be equal to or less
than the budgeted total and include direct costs, indirect costs, and possible
fines (Castellan). One key metric CISOs can use to gauge security team
effectiveness is IT security staff job satisfaction.
Microsoft Security Copilot harnesses AI to give superpowers to cybersecurity fighters
With Microsoft Security Copilot, defenders can respond to incidents within
minutes, get critical step-by-step guidance through natural language-based
investigations, catch what would otherwise go undetected, and get summaries of
any process or event. Security professionals will be able to utilize the
prompt bar to ask for summaries on vulnerabilities, incidents in the
enterprise, and even more information on specific links and files. Using
generative AI and both internal and external organizational information,
Copilot generates a response with reference to sources. Like most AI models,
it won't always perform perfectly and it can make mistakes. However, Security
Copilot works in a closed-loop learning system that includes a built-in tool
for users to directly provide feedback. And while at launch it will
incorporate Microsoft's security products, the company claims that over time
it will "expand to a growing ecosystem of third-party products" as
well.
Plugging the cybersecurity skills gap to retain security professionals
Worryingly (but entirely unsurprisingly), any organisation facing a cyber
skill gap is much more susceptible to breaches. Indeed, industry body ISACA
found that 69% of those organisations that have suffered a cyber-attack in the
past year were somewhat or significantly understaffed. What truly compounds
these concerns, however, is the potential impact that breaches can have.
According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report 2022, the average total cost
of a data breach is now $4.35 million. This combination of statistics is
undoubtedly anxiety-inducing. However, attacks aren’t a lost cause or an
inevitability which simply can’t be prevented. ... It should be noted that, at
least in most cases, organisations are not doing this to eliminate the need
for cybersecurity workers altogether. Artificial intelligence is nowhere near
the level of sophistication required to achieve this in a security context.
And really, it’s unlikely that human input won’t ever be required, at least in
some capacity.
Manufacturing is the most targeted sector by cyberattacks. Here's why increased security matters
One of the manufacturing sector’s main struggles is having a fragmented
approach to managing cyber-related issues. In the European Union, a new
legislative proposal, the Cyber Resilience Act, is being discussed to
introduce the mandatory cybersecurity requirements for hardware and software
products throughout their lifecycle. Moreover, the new NIS 2 and Critical
Entities Resilience (CER) directives classify certain manufacturing industries
as important or “essential entities,” requiring them to manage their security
risks and prevent or minimize the impact of incidents on recipients of their
services. In the United States, various federal regulations have been imposed
on specific sectors like water, transportation and pipelines and a national
cybersecurity strategy was recently released. The International
Electrotechnical Commission’s IEC 62443 is considered by many to be the
primary cybersecurity standard for industrial control systems but it is
complex.
Tony McCandless – The role of generative AI in intelligent automation
Firstly, there are a lot of financial services companies that are at the
forefront of customer experience, to some degree, because they’ve got
particular products to sell that lend themselves well to AI. They can
implement capabilities like data analytics in order to know whether a customer
is likely to buy a certain product. And then, they can reach out to companies
like us and utilise a choice of generative AI-powered scenarios. This looks
set to continue evolving. I think as well, in areas like citizen services —
certainly from a UK perspective — most councils are really cash strapped, and
are having to make critical decisions about service provision to citizens.
There is also a digital access gap that we have to focus on closing. While
some councils are proving good at addressing this, others potentially need a
bit more investment, and collaboration. We’ve got 10 grandkids, and you should
see a couple of the younger ones with technology — their ability to pick up a
tablet, without knowing what a keyboard is, is just mind blowing.
Q&A: Cisco CIO Fletcher Previn on the challenges of a hybrid workplace
Our policy around hybrid work is that we want the office to be a magnet and
not a mandate. In all likelihood, the role of the office is for most people
not going to be a place where you go eight hours a day to do work. It’s going
to be a place where we occasionally gather for some purpose. And, so as a
result, we’re not mandating any particular prescriptive for how many days
people should be in the office. It’s totally based on the type of work teams
do, how collaborative that works needs to be, does it really benefit from
people being together, or is it really individual work. And that’s really best
determined at the individual team level than any sort of an arbitrary formula.
The value of being in the office is proportionate to the number of other
people who are also in the office at the same time you’re there. So, these
things tend to be more about gathering for a team meeting, a client briefing,
a white boarding session and the like. When everybody was remote, it was a
great equalizer because everyone was on a similar footing.
Pursuing Nontraditional IT Candidates: Methods to Expand Talent Pipelines
Felicia Lyon, principal, human capital advisory for KPMG, says developing a
strategy for nontraditional hires should start with leadership setting forth a
vision for talent that is inclusive and skill-based. “Execution of that
strategy will require involvement from stakeholders that span the entire
organization,” she explains. “Business stakeholders should work closely with
HR to identify roles that will be a good fit.” She adds that while there is a
tendency to start small via pilot programs, research has shown that cohort
programs are more efficient. “Companies should also look to external partners
like apprenticeship programs and community colleges who can help them build a
capability around successfully supporting and developing non-traditional
talent,” Lyon says. Watson explains Clio uses many overlapping programs to
widen the net of candidates in technical roles. “Our talent acquisition team
helps identify opportunities to recruit non-traditional areas of available
talent,” he says.
Quote for the day:
"If I have seen farther than others,
it is because I was standing on the shoulder of giants." --
Isaac Newton
:format(webp)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/coindesk/WPB2NS6BSFDVNAUP4GXNGCR4XI.jpg)
