Daily Tech Digest - December 24, 2024

Concerns over the security of electronic personal health information intensifies

When entities outside HIPAA’s purview experience breaches, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Health Breach Notification Rule applies. However, this dual system creates confusion among stakeholders, who must navigate overlapping jurisdictions. The lack of a unified, comprehensive framework exacerbates the problem, leaving patients uncertain about the security of their health data. Another pressing concern is the cybersecurity of medical devices. Many modern medical devices connect to networks or the internet, increasing their susceptibility to cyberattacks. Hospitals often operate thousands of interconnected devices, making it challenging to monitor and secure every endpoint. Insecure devices not only endanger patient privacy but also jeopardize care delivery. For instance, a compromised infusion pump or defibrillator could have life-threatening consequences. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has taken steps to address these vulnerabilities through premarket and post-market cybersecurity guidelines. However, the onus of ensuring device security often falls into a gray area between manufacturers and healthcare providers. 


The rise of “soft” skills: How GenAI is reshaping developer roles

The successful developer in this evolving landscape will be one who can effectively combine technical expertise with strong interpersonal skills. This includes not only the ability to work with AI tools but also the capability to collaborate with both technical and non-technical stakeholders. After all, with less of a need for coders to do the low-level, routine work of software development, more emphasis will be placed on coders’ ability to collaborate with business managers to understand their goals and create technology solutions that will advance them. Additionally, the coding that they’ll be doing will be more complex and high-level, often requiring work with other developers to determine the best way forward. The emphasis on soft skills—including adaptability, communication, and collaboration—has become as crucial as technical proficiency. As the software development field continues to evolve, it’s clear that the future belongs to those who embrace AI as a powerful complement to their skills rather than viewing it as a threat. The coding profession isn’t disappearing—it’s transforming into a role that demands a more comprehensive skill set, combining technical mastery with strong interpersonal capabilities.


Top 10 Cybersecurity Trends to Expect in 2025

Zero-day vulnerabilities are still one of the major threats in cybersecurity. By definition, these faults remain unknown to software vendors and the larger security community, thus leaving systems exposed until a fix can be developed. Attackers are using zero-day exploits frequently and effectively, affecting even major companies, hence the need for proactive measures. Advanced threat actors use zero-day attacks to achieve goals including espionage and financial crimes. ... Integrating regional and local data privacy regulations such as GDPR and CCPA into the cybersecurity strategy is no longer optional. Companies need to look out for regulations that will become legally binding for the first time in 2025, such as the EU's AI Act. In 2025, regulators will continue to impose stricter guidelines related to data encryption and incident reporting, including in the realm of AI, showing rising concerns about online data misuse. Decentralized security models, such as blockchain, are being considered by some companies to reduce single points of failure. Such systems offer enhanced transparency to users and allow them much more control over their data. ... Verifying user identities has become more challenging as browsers enforce stricter privacy controls and attackers develop more sophisticated bots. 


Navigating AI in Aviation: A Roadmap for Risk and Security Management Professionals

The Roadmap for Artificial Intelligence Safety Assurance, recently published by FAA, recognizes the potential of AI on aviation and emphasizes the need for safety assurance, industry collaboration and incremental implementation. This roadmap, combined with other international frameworks, offers a global framework for managing AI risks in aviation. ... While AI demonstrates the potential for enhanced operational efficiency, predictive maintenance and even autonomous flight, these benefits come with significant security and compliance risks. ... Differentiating between learned AI (static) and learning AI (adaptive) poses a significant challenge in AI risk management. The FAA roadmap calls for continuous monitoring and assurance, especially for learning AI, echoing the need for dynamic risk assessment protocols like those recommended in NIST-AI-600-1 for managing generative AI models. ... Incorporating AI in aviation is far from straightforward, and due to human safety concerns, it involves navigating a constantly evolving landscape of risks and at times overbearing regulatory requirements. For risk and security professionals, the key task is to align AI technologies with operational safety and evolving regulatory requirements.


The Urgent Need for Data Minimization Standards

On one side of the spectrum is the redaction of direct identifiers such as names, or payment card information such as credit card numbers. On the other side of the spectrum lies anonymization, where re-identification of individuals is extremely unlikely. Within the spectrum, we also find pseudonymization, which, depending on the jurisdiction, often means something like reversible de-identification Many organizations are keen to anonymize their data because, if anonymization is achieved, the data falls outside of the scope of data protection laws as they are no longer considered personal information. ... We hold that the claim that data anonymization is impossible is based on a lack of clarity around what is required for anonymization, with organizations often either wittingly or unwittingly misusing the term for what is actually a redaction of direct identifiers. Furthermore, another common claim is that data minimization is in irresolvable tension with the use of data at a large scale in the machine learning context. This claim is not only based on a lack of clarity around data minimization but also a lack of understanding around the extremely valuable data that often surrounds identifiable information, such as data about products, conversation flows, document topics, and more.


How CISOs can make smarter risk decisions

Bot detection works by recognizing markers of bad bots, including requests originating from malicious domains and patterns of behavior exhibited. Establishing a baseline of normal human web activity and recognizing anomalous behavior from incoming traffic is at the core of effective bot detection.  ... Unsurprisingly, for businesses focused on managing users’ money, account takeover and carding attacks are common in the financial industry. In these instances, cybercriminals try to break into accounts and steal information from the payments page. As such, the financial industry has been an early adopter of cybersecurity protocols and tools to ensure a fully comprehensive and well-funded security program, while the travel and hospitality industries have not yet made that pivot in the same way. ... A good CISO makes balanced risk decisions. A bad CISO gets in the way of helping the company innovate. The combination of industry best practices and regulation forcing the adoption of robust security tooling and methodology pushes companies to create a strong baseline to build in effective protections. However, CISOs must evaluate carefully what assets they choose to put maximum security measures behind. If you argue that everything needs that high level of security, you become the CISO who cried wolf


Developers Are Key to Stopping Rising API Security Threat

Developers and security teams typically share responsibility for ensuring APIs are secure. “While the security team is ultimately responsible for the overall security posture of an organization, developers play a key role in building and managing secure APIs,” Whaley said. “They need to write secure code and implement security measures during the development phase, such as input validation, authentication, encryption and access control.” The security team defines and enforces security policies, he said. They’re also responsible for establishing governance frameworks and managing tools to monitor, detect and respond to threats. ... Developers also play an important role in remediating API security problems, he said. Their job is to implement fixes and ensure that vulnerabilities are properly addressed. emediating an incident can include fixing vulnerabilities, deploying patches and addressing any misconfigurations. But it can also sometimes mean hiring external help in the form of security consultants, investing in new security tools and covering any legal and compliance fees, he said. “Additionally, there are intangible factors to consider, like damage to brand reputation and loss of customer confidence, which can have a big impact even if they are harder to quantify,” Whaley added.


Companies Race to Use AI Security Against AI-Driven Threats

First, securing AI by design is crucial, as our customers increasingly rely on AI in their ecosystems. As a cybersecurity solution provider, our objective is to ensure our customers are protected when using new technologies. The second vector involves combating adversaries who use AI to launch attacks. The rate of these attacks is exponentially faster and more sophisticated than ever before. To counter this, we must utilize AI to protect against AI-driven attacks. The third vector focuses on how AI can benefit security practitioners. By simplifying complex data analysis and enhancing product interactions, AI can significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of security operations. Solutions such as AI Access Security, which provides visibility into AI usage within enterprises and ensures secure AI applications have seen development at 100 customers already benefiting from our AI security solutions, we see a clear shift in maturity levels. ... Autonomous SOCs are becoming a reality, driven by two key factors. First, adversaries are evolving at a pace that outstrips our ability to scale human resources. Second, there's a shortage of qualified cybersecurity talent. These dual pressures on both supply and demand - necessitate technological intervention. 


Overcoming modern observability challenges

Observability is crucial for quickly detecting issues and taking corrective actions to ensure that application performance does not negatively impact customer experience. With millions of transactions occurring every second, relying on traditional logic, predefined rules, and human intervention is no longer sufficient. According to a 2023 Gartner report, applied observability has emerged as one of the top 10 strategic technology trends, underscoring the increasing need for using AI to make smarter, more automated solutions to stay competitive​ and optimize business operations in real time. Today’s observability solutions must go beyond static monitoring by incorporating AI and machine learning to detect patterns, trends, and anomalies. By automatically identifying outliers and emerging issues, AI-driven systems reduce the mean time to detect (MTTD) and mean time to resolve (MTTR), driving efficiency and helping teams address potential problems before they affect end-users. ... Organizations need an observability solution that is comprehensive, cost-effective, and intelligent. The Kloudfuse observability platform is designed to monitor modern cloud-native workloads while optimizing costs, offering insights into model performance and mitigating risks. 


Managing Software Engineering Teams of Artificial Intelligence Developers

Regardless of its industry, every organization has an AI solution, is working on AI integration, or has a plan for it in its roadmap. While developers are being trained in the various technological skills needed for development, senior leadership must focus on strategies to integrate and align these efforts with the broader organization. ... Investing in AI alone will not guarantee success for the company. Avoid making investment decisions solely based on the Fear of Missing Out. For the business to thrive in the long run, it must focus on value creation through AI integration. Follow standard processes and conduct thorough due diligence to identify where AI can effectively drive value for your product. Collaborate closely with the product, business, and engineering teams to define the scope of work and develop a strategic vision that ensures alignment within the team. It is also crucial to achieve stakeholder alignment, especially given the complexity of the projects, while setting realistic expectations. ... As an engineering leader, invest in the right skills required for the project. Empower the team to make the best decisions. Building strong expertise in the teams and providing learning opportunities for the team by allowing them to attend learning sessions, conferences, hackathons, etc.



Quote for the day:

“It's failure that gives you the proper perspective on success.” -- Ellen DeGeneres

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