Category: Secure

Secure provides guidance and insight on the myriad issues that business technologists grapple with while protecting business data assets and ensuring continuity.

Cloud-Network Convergence: Double-Edged Sword for Carriers, but an Opportunity Emerges in the Edge

by Malcolm Rogers, posted in Big Data, Cloud Enable, Communicate, Internet of Things, IT Leader, Mobilize, Network, Secure
M. Rogers

Summary Bullets:

  • Hyperscale cloud providers continue to invest in expansion of networking solutions and network adjacent partnerships with SD-WAN vendors and data center providers.
  • As hyperscale networking solutions become more advanced and the cloud edge moves closer to end users, some carriers may be crowded out of the cloud-network convergence market.

Hyperscale cloud providers and global network carriers have been building stronger relationships and deeper integrations around WAN and networking solutions. The partnerships are a natural fit as more enterprises move business-critical workloads to cloud platforms. These workloads require high-bandwidth, high-throughput, low-latency, secure, and reliable connections from virtually any location these days to connect to the major cloud platforms. Continue reading “Cloud-Network Convergence: Double-Edged Sword for Carriers, but an Opportunity Emerges in the Edge” →

AWS Outposts Availability in New Countries Strengthens AWS’ Presence and Drives Edge Computing in ASEAN

by Alfie Amir, posted in Cloud Enable, Communicate, IT Leader, Mobilize, Network, Secure
A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

  • AWS Outposts availability in ASEAN countries strengthens AWS’ presence in the region and enables it to capture the high-growth cloud opportunities there.
  • AWS Outposts and Wavelength will drive edge computing through stronger collaborations with partners, especially the telcos.

Launched late last year in select markets, AWS Outposts takes hybrid cloud to the next level by enabling enterprises to run AWS compute storage, database, and other services within their own premises or preferred third-party data centers. For more, please see “AWS re:Invent 2019: AWS Announces General Availability of Outposts, but Must Demonstrate Management Competence” (December 5, 2019). Recently, the provider added nine new countries, including emerging markets such as Malaysia and Thailand, making Outposts available to 50 markets through 22 regions to date. While competitors have their own approach (e.g., Azure Stack, Google Anthos, Alibaba Apsara Stack), AWS is a step ahead in its service availability globally and partner ecosystem. Continue reading “AWS Outposts Availability in New Countries Strengthens AWS’ Presence and Drives Edge Computing in ASEAN” →

COVID-19: Some Countries Come Under Fire for the Potential Misuse of Contact Tracing Apps

by Amy Larsen DeCarlo, posted in Cloud Enable, Internet of Things, IT Leader, Mobilize, Network, Secure
A. DeCarlo
A. DeCarlo

Summary Bullets:

  • As more countries roll out contact tracing apps to notify citizens when they have come into contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, concerns are emerging about how this data could be used.
  • Human rights organization Amnesty International called out the apps from Bahrain, Norway, and Kuwait for not anonymizing end-user data.

Amnesty International is issuing a warning that some of the new COVID-19 contact tracing apps may not just be an invasion of privacy but potentially put lives at risk. Contact tracing – the process of finding and notifying people who have interacted with an infected person so they can be tested and quarantine – is vital to allowing businesses, educational institutions, and governments to resume operations that are closer to normal even as the virus continues to spread. Continue reading “COVID-19: Some Countries Come Under Fire for the Potential Misuse of Contact Tracing Apps” →

COVID-19: Under the Coronavirus Strain, Will Blockchain be the New Supply Chain?

by Charlotte Dunlap, posted in Cloud Enable, IT Leader, Network, Secure
C. Dunlap
C. Dunlap

Summary Bullets:

• Coronavirus demands illustrate the brokenness of traditional supply chain

• Blockchain methods emphasize trust and data strengths, but innovations are in early stages

The latest examples of the brokenness of the current state of the supply chain market are illustrated by the global pandemic.

COVID-19 has exposed the inability to access and mange adequate supplies of ventilators and PPEs, including proper visibility into the quality of expired and damaged goods unknowingly being sent to hospital workers. The issue demonstrates the need for an evaluation of how current supply chain systems supply, track, and manage goods and services. At the same time, the momentum behind blockchain as the answer for serving as a modern day supply chain alternative should be considered, but won’t be entirely straightforward, considering its recent emergence. Continue reading “COVID-19: Under the Coronavirus Strain, Will Blockchain be the New Supply Chain?” →

COVID-19: IBM Helps Clients Protect their Digital Assets and Keep Newly Remote Operations Online During the Pandemic

by Amy Larsen DeCarlo, posted in Secure
Amy Larsen DeCarlo – Principal Analyst, Security and Data Center Services

Summary Bullets:

• IBM is mapping its COVID-19 support efforts around seven major technology and business concerns relevant to clients during the outbreak, with business continuity and IT security being two key areas.

• Company executives think the move by so many organizations to remote work will accelerate major post-pandemic transformation projects.

The rapid shift of brick and mortar operations by enterprises and governments to a remote work model has placed technology companies front and center in the fight for business to survive. IT vendors and service providers are helping clients with everything from standing up new collaboration systems and providing critical connectivity to delivering AI-based tools to support customer communications with fewer call center resources. As one of the world’s largest providers of technology and professional and managed services, IBM has been leading a massive effort to help clients transition to and manage remote operations. Continue reading “COVID-19: IBM Helps Clients Protect their Digital Assets and Keep Newly Remote Operations Online During the Pandemic” →

COVID-19: Considerations for Cybersecurity in Healthcare

by Rajesh Muru, posted in Secure
R. Muru

Summary Bullets:

• Security heads must consider the right options when addressing security gaps in an organization’s IT, with a particular focus on email phishing, ransomware, DDoS, and network breaches.

• Assess vendors that have strong threat management capabilities, wide portfolio coverage encompassing cloud and endpoint security through a platform-centric approach, and flexible commercial pricing arrangements.

The global healthcare sector is being subjected to an array of cyberattacks as it deals with the COVID-19 pandemic. Criminals are attempting to cash in through ransomware and compromise the integrity of IT systems. Recent examples where GlobalData has seen cyberattacks include i) Bruno University Hospital in Czech Republic, one of the country’s COVID-19 testing centers, was struck by ransomware resulting in the postponement of surgeries, ii) the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services suffered a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack intended to disrupt the organization’s responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, and iii) increased phishing website hacking attempts on the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners. Continue reading “COVID-19: Considerations for Cybersecurity in Healthcare” →

COVID-19: Impact on Cybersecurity

by Rajesh Muru, posted in Secure

Summary Bullets:

R. Muru

• Vendors are prioritizing portfolio and marketing effort on the most common types of COVID-19 related cyber events, covering phishing and identity attacks.

• Cybersecurity vendors are reconfiguring their service and support functions encompassing remote working. Vendors face internal operational challenges in scaling up quickly with the right level of security posture.

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a huge impact globally across families and communities. In turn, this is having a massive impact on businesses of all sizes, including global multinationals. Almost all Fortune 100 and 500 companies have experienced major disruptions to their operations and markets, resulting in some economists predicting losses of more than $1.1 trillion worldwide. COVID-19 has created shutdowns and major disruptions in employee working styles and supply chains in all sectors, and in particular across government, finance, manufacturing, IT, and media. As these sectors reconfigure their operations, one of the most critical issues arising are increased cyber-attack threats as organizations become more dependent on technology. Continue reading “COVID-19: Impact on Cybersecurity” →

COVID-19: Netherlands Innovator Taps Blockchain and AI in the War Against COVID-19

by Charlotte Dunlap, posted in Big Data, Cloud Enable, Communicate, Internet of Things, IT Leader, Mobilize, Network, Secure

Summary Bullets:

• VirusBlockchain deployed this week to identify and monitor COVID-19 free zones

• The blockchain monitoring system is backed by technology provider Qlikchain

This week the tech industry partnered with a public health consortium to launch a blockchain-enabled monitoring system aimed at keeping communities at bay from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Public Health Blockchain Consortium (PHBC) announced the new system which monitors healthy, uninfected individuals as they move between locations in order to automatically identify zones that are safe or unsafe. The system is built on a blockchain solution which combines AI, geographical information systems (GIS), and real-time information systems provided by virus surveillance providers.

Called VirusBlockchain, the system serves as a systematic, continuous, and anonymous verification of citizens and all workplaces in an effort to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 infection. The project is unlike other approaches that would typically track infected persons. Continue reading “COVID-19: Netherlands Innovator Taps Blockchain and AI in the War Against COVID-19” →

COVID 19: Keep Calm and Corona On – A Global Perspective

by Jonathan Cordwell, posted in Big Data, Cloud Enable, Communicate, Internet of Things, IT Leader, Mobilize, Network, Secure
Jonathan Cordwell – Principal Analyst, UK Health & Social Care Technology

Summary Bullets:               

  • Companies that have yet to jump on the remote working bandwagon may have their hand forced due to the self-isolation and social separation measures put in place by their respective national governments.
  • We will undoubtedly see an uptick in the adoption of telehealth technologies, including remote monitoring.

 

On the 11th March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 (Coronavirus) a pandemic. As of writing, there have been over 130,000 cases reported across 123 countries, areas or territories and almost 5,000 deaths from the virus, which emanated from Wuhan in China. We have witnessed a wide variety of responses to the threat including mass self-isolation in Italy, travel bans, fiscal stimulus packages, health insurance policy allowances, business and school closures, and the cancellation of large events such as Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and HIMSS20 in Orlando, at which U.S. President Trump was scheduled to address the situation. Continue reading “COVID 19: Keep Calm and Corona On – A Global Perspective” →

Alibaba Cloud Continues Its Momentum in ASEAN as Competition Increases

by Alfie Amir, posted in Cloud Enable, Communicate, IT Leader, Mobilize, Network, Secure
A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

  • Alibaba Cloud strengthens its ASEAN presence with a new win in East Malaysia and its first event in Indonesia.
  • As competition intensifies, it is important for the cloud provider to expand its partner ecosystem, especially with the domestic players.

The Southeast Asia region (a.k.a. ASEAN) has been a new battleground for the hyperscalers for a few years. Cloud adoption is still relatively low compared to other markets. As the cloud becomes a commodity and the market grows, this opportunity has attracted global hyperscalers to expand their presence in the region. Alibaba Cloud opened its data centers in Malaysia and Indonesia in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Google announced in October 2018 that it will have its Indonesian data centers ready in early 2020, and AWS responded with a similar announcement in April 2019. These global hyperscalers are also offering their respective cloud stacks (e.g., AWS Outposts, Alibaba Apsara Stack, Google Anthos, and Azure Stack) for deployments in customers or third-party data centers to address the data residency requirement. They have also been strengthening their domestic presence by expanding the in-country sales forces and their partner ecosystem in the region through various collaborations with local providers, governments (such as universities), and other vertical players. Some of Alibaba’s recent initiatives include its partnership with SCC to offer Sabah Pay in East Malaysia and its first Cloud Day event in Indonesia. Continue reading “Alibaba Cloud Continues Its Momentum in ASEAN as Competition Increases” →