The first mistake companies make while trying to protect their digital assets is to believe they can be secure. “Forget aspiring to full protection. Hacking is black magic engaged in by a ton of bad guys from Russia to Romania whose citizens do not necessarily view them as the bad guys,” Eric Cornelius shared at Fusion 2017. Cornelius serves as the Director of Critical Infrastructure and Industrial Control Systems at Cylance, a software firm that predicts, prevents and protects its clients, many of them Fortune 1000 companies, from cyber threats. “What you can do,” he argued, “is understand and then manage your cyber security risk from sophisticated threat actors who aim to steal your data or disrupt your business.” Cornelius gained my undivided attention when he explained exactly how one of these bad guys gets past a company firewall and steals the crown…
Be prepared for transformative change as the Next Revolution in Information Technology spreads
Mark McDonald, a year-after-year favorite WTN Fusion speaker, created a compelling case for Information Technology’s next revolution at the recent Fusion 2017 conference. Mainframe computers, the first innovation, made Information Technology (IT) a specialty that enabled organizations to scale their operations. Client Servers, the next innovation, and the software they deployed allowed processes to be dramatically improved and automated – think ERP systems, on-line purchasing, and Human Resource systems. Next came mobile computing and the digital transformation of businesses that greatly enhanced customer experience. All of these stages were ones of mechanization, with hardware and software replacing previously manual activities. The next wave of IT-related change brings widespread adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI), transforming IT’s focus from managing processes and experiences to managing outcomes. Large database tools, cloud computing, machine learning, interpreting text, and affordable storage and computational power have collectively moved AI…
Disrupt Career Booths – Engage Role Models
How could I say no? The Academy of Our Lady of Peace, a 135-year-old girls’ Catholic high school in San Diego, was hosting a group of successful women in panel discussions and keynote addresses. Organizers asked me to write about the experience. The day was a welcoming alternative to the usual high school career day involving low-level Human Resource professionals sharing information on their company from one of 30 some booths. Actionable life strategies can only emerge from a vision, and the women speakers provided all the ingredients the students need to forge their vision. Even if that vision only goes so far as what to achieve next year in school to keep all options in college open, having a North Star of sorts helps navigate tumultuous high school years and hormones. I hated the rules and uniforms of my own all girls’…