Cybersecurity Is Everybody’s Business

Since we live in a day and age where everything is almost digital and done with the use of gadgets and other tech stuff, it is inevitable for you to go online as well and conduct whatever your business is there. It is not as if you don’t like surfing the web on your own. The Internet has opened up a world of possibilities that remain to be a game-changer and continues to transform the world that we know and we enjoy every minute of our stay there. However, the online world is also full of dangers now lurking in the virtual form. It does not discriminate, whether you are a public or private entity, big or small, everyone is at risk and can easily fall prey to these online predators.

For years now, individuals, businesses, organizations, and governments have been victimized by online criminals and not only stole data and money but even identity and crippled major computer systems that affected thousands if not millions of people around the world. Despite the lingering threat of phishing, ransomware, and cybercriminals in general, there are actually ways to protect yourself from them and whatever mischief they have in mind and many people are raising awareness about this cause knowing how disastrous it is to fall prey to these vicious attackers that frequent the deepest and darkest corners of the web.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been dedicating a lot of time and effort to help organizations improve their cybersecurity. We’ve looked at NIST’s Cybersecurity Framework, we’ve talked about how to build it right and the importance of long term resilience. In this article, we’d like to dispel the erroneous idea that NIST’s guidelines are just for large organizations. 

Cybercrime is a great threat, regardless of the size of your business, but there are compelling reasons that smaller businesses need to be sitting up, paying attention and, most importantly, taking action.

(Via: https://www.csoonline.com/article/3230192/data-protection/nist-cybersecurity-framework-not-just-for-large-organizations.html)

Smaller groups and organizations are more likely to get victimized by these cons because their defenses are not up to par with that of big companies and corporations, hence can be broken by these virtual culprits without a sweat at all. And when it happens, there is a big chance they won’t be able to recover at all especially for those businesses just around the corner. Fortunately, there are institutions that are taking up their A-game in helping combat cyber criminals and equipping organizations with better cybersecurity measures to fend off these nasty yet anonymous criminals.

Organizations will not be able to do security basics well unless they embrace the process. At the Cambridge Cyber Summit, Mark van Zadelhoff, general manager of IBM Security, said he sees a “cultural shift to treat [security] like programs around safety—a Six Sigma approach to security hygiene.” He believes such an approach will better enable organizations to cope with the rising sophistication of hackers.  

Know what hackers will value

“People don’t realize where value lies in their companies,” said Jeffrey Tricoli, section chief, Cyber Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), at the InfoSecurity North America event. “Hackers’ valuations [of your assets] are better.”

For example, a company may have strong protections around customer data, but not around the communication channels with those customers. Those channels could become a means to access customer systems and assets. If you know what attackers are likely to go after, you know where to focus your security efforts.

(Via: https://www.csoonline.com/article/3232393/cyber-attacks-espionage/how-to-survive-the-worsening-cyber-threat-landscape.html)

Simple precautions like the careful use of passwords can save you from a great deal of a headache that a possible breach may bring. Password reusing is highly discouraged especially in a bigger business that employs quite a number of people or organizations run by different individuals especially if the same password is used in a separate site that you also manage which can be a double whammy on your part. And since we have already seen a number of ransomware attacks happen this year, we can only expert for more and more efficient malware to target unsuspecting individuals since these culprits now enjoy the money they got from previous exploits. The use of antivirus software also comes in handy and make sure everyone is well-trained on the topic of cybersecurity because opening that one suspiciously-looking email can cost you your business and your life.

Cybersecurity Is Everybody’s Business Read more on: https://www.soulvisual.com/blog

source https://www.soulvisual.com/blog/cybersecurity-is-everybodys-business/

A Girl’s Disadvantage In Getting An Education

We all think that at this day and age everyone is able to enjoy equal right on almost everything we now enjoy. Yet gender equality still comes to mind although most of you probably think this should not be much of an issue anymore as we can see how women, in general, have managed to rise above the stereotype and show the rest of the world just what they are made of. Getting an education is perhaps the best tool women have that made them globally-competitive in the workplace and many countries support girls and women’s education today yet there are still some places where they consider it such a waste of time and money to educate young girls because they’ll just get married later in life after all.

This notion is what prevents these young girls from ever growing and reaching their full potential. This reality is especially true in third-world and impoverished nations where thousands, if not millions of girls, fail to get an education each year and miss out on a lot in life. While poverty is the root cause of the problem, there are other factors that contribute to this intellectual deprivation that all the girls out there deserve as much as boys do.

Around 130 million girls don’t go to school every day. ONE, a global organization that fights extreme poverty, is trying to fix that by finding out where the problem is the worst.

Their new report ranks the 10 worst nations in the world for girls to get an education. Nine of those are in Africa. The other? Afghanistan — a place where the United States has poured massive funds for education since overthrowing the Taliban there in 2001. Yet it’s still the fourth-worst place in the world for girls’ education, according to ONE’s index, which measured rate of attendance, amount of spending on education, and the number of teachers trained, among other factors.

(Via: http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/10/17/afghanistan-ranks-worst-places-girls-to-get-an-education-africa/)

And in a country like Afghanistan that is plagued by war, political instability, and more poverty, girls do not even get a chance to learn the basic because only a very small number of young girls get a chance to attend primary school compared to the opposite sex even if it showed that girls were more consistent with their attendance rather than the boys. The truth is this country actually received lots of financial support from America after the Taliban issue has been resolved and recovery efforts were underway, which left many wondering how these funds are being managed.

“Girls’ education is very low on the list of priorities in India, and rural Rajasthan fares near the bottom,’’ said Daube, who heads an organization known as CITTA, which builds and supports development of schools and hospitals in India.

On an early spring day, Daube, dressed in flowing white, described his vision for a cooperative where 400 girls will study and work alongside their mothers and grandmothers, next to a community center that showcases the intricate hand-sewn rugs, scarves, and saris for which the region is known. Local musicians played while the royal family of Jaisalmer looked out at the barren former Indian heritage site, next to government land Daube hopes to acquire. “A small project can have a global impact,’’ Daube said.

(Via: https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/10/the-groups-fighting-for-girls-education-in-india/542811/)

This is not only a reality in countries like India and Afghanistan but in many other nations the world over. If you look at it, it is a really big problem but gradually concerned citizens and organizations are making a difference and making sure things change for the better in affected areas so that girls get the education they deserve like everyone else. All of us have a right to self-actualization but only this can be done if we are able to change the mindset of society and give everyone equal rights to learn and improve their lives on their own.

Young girls deserve better in life and shouldn’t be forced to accept whatever life throws at them because they do not know any better. By becoming literate and educated, they have a chance to uplift their lives and follow their passion in life without always being dependent on other people on most things. Education can beat poverty. That we know for sure. It might be a long shot from now but it is definitely worth taking for a brighter future for everyone, not just the world's alpha.

The post A Girl’s Disadvantage In Getting An Education was initially published on SoulVisual.com Blog

source https://www.soulvisual.com/blog/a-girls-disadvantage-in-getting-an-education/

The Rise Of Cannabis Leads To The Fall Of Alcohol

We aspire to be at our best and healthiest but there are certain indulgences we can’t seem to resist. They may come in different forms and sizes and their effects on us varies too but we usually call them the same name: vices. Of course, the word vice in itself already has a negative connotation, an undying stigma it has to deal with to infinity and beyond, perhaps, because most of these bad habits have indeed messed up people’s lives and are the bane of society. You might ask why, the answer is obvious. People do a lot of crazy stuff when they are under the influence of these vices, most common of which are alcohol and illegal drug use.

While also considered a taboo and a prohibited substance for the longest time, things have definitely looked better for the unassuming weed that we know as marijuana. Since the hippie days, cannabis advocates have never ceased to show to the world the beauty of marijuana but it fell on deaf ears for the longest time. You can’t blame the public, though, as there was also a negative side to it brought by the natural high weed is known to elicit back then. Well, it has not changed now but at least we have options. You aren’t just stuck with the recreational-type that is highly addicting and gives you all the feels but there is also medical cannabis that is devoid of the negative aspects weed used to be known for but have lots of beneficial health effects that people can’t get enough of.

Sales of alcoholic beverages decline following the enactment of medical marijuana access laws, according to a working paper authored by a team of researchers from the University of Connecticut and Georgia State University.

Authors evaluated the relationship between medical marijuana laws and retail alcohol sales for more than 2,000 US counties for the years 2006 to 2015. Alcohol sales trends in medical cannabis states were compared to sales trends in states where cannabis remained illegal. Researchers determined that counties located in medical cannabis states, on average, experienced a reduction in monthly alcohol sales of 15 percent.

Researchers concluded: “We find that marijuana and alcohol are strong substitutes. … States legalizing medical marijuana use experience significant decreases in the aggregate sale of alcohol, beer and wine. Moreover, the effects are not short-lived, with significant reductions observed up to 24 months after the passage of the law.”

(Via: http://blog.norml.org/2017/12/01/study-alcohol-sales-fall-following-cannabis-legalization/)

As a result of the growth of the medical marijuana industry, many states have pushed forth for its legalization if they haven’t done it yet by now. Along came with that is a rise in public awareness about the pros and cons of marijuana especially the benefits you can get from CBD-rich cannabis that are used in the management of various chronic health conditions. Even that of recreational cannabis use has increased as well in response to easier access to it, less strict laws, and a more permissive society. If there’s one more thing that people have noticed that was a result of the growth in the cannabis market is the decline in alcohol demand.

The researchers compared alcohol sales between states that implemented medical marijuana laws and those that didn’t, before and after the change in marijuana laws. They also corrected for a number of economic and demographic variables known to affect alcohol use, such as age, race and income.

“We find that marijuana and alcohol are strong substitutes” for each other, the study concludes. “Counties located in [medical marijuana] states reduced monthly alcohol sales by 15 percent” after the introduction of medical marijuana laws.

(Via: http://www.thecannabist.co/2017/12/01/recreational-marijuana-alcohol-sales-safety/93761/)

It might be good news for many or not depending on which of the two you prefer. It’s just that this study observed the relative correlation between alcohol consumption and marijuana use. Now that people can easily access cannabis, it has been discovered that those alcoholic beverages drinkers reduced their alcohol intake as per alcohol sales in the study’s demographic while marijuana use is becoming more popular than ever. When you think about it, alcohol is addicting while marijuana is not and the former tends to bring out the worst in you and more fatal too. If this premise deducted from the results of the study applies to the entire country, this news may be for our best interest after all.

The blog article The Rise Of Cannabis Leads To The Fall Of Alcohol is courtesy of SoulVisual

source https://www.soulvisual.com/blog/the-rise-of-cannabis-leads-to-the-fall-of-alcohol/

Data Protection In The Face Of A Storm

Living in a modern world like ours has a lot of perks, indeed. Life at home is a breeze with numerous appliances and devices that do things for us making sure our hands remain clean and dry all along and get things done almost all the time. We travel so much faster and more conveniently too now that there are all sorts of private and public transportation vehicles to take us from point A to point B with ease. However, life today also has its downsides. Modern living isn’t always as glamorous as we want to believe it to be especially once our shiny gadgets break down and leave us hanging.

Like any object that goes through normal wear and tear, modern contrivances can easily go haywire if not taken cared of properly or exposed to the harsh elements like hurricanes, tornadoes, or other natural disasters. And because most things have gone digital now, it is imperative to ensure your data stays safe all the time or risk losing it forever. Almost all of us use tech gadgets now but are you really well-versed on what to do in the face of calamities that not only threatens your devices but your life as well. Times like this you’d often think about your safety and well-being first rather than secure whatever you leave behind especially in the case of a severe flooding. If you live somewhere frequented by typhoons and is at high-risk for flooding or that sort, arm yourself with the knowledge you need to protect your data by preparing for these disasters way ahead of time.

When disasters strike, people turn first to government for assistance.  And government agencies turn to their IT departments – even when a hurricane barrels through.

With the departmental staff relying on the IT department, managers should  be honest and transparent with end users, letting them know how to prepare prior to a storm, how to protect devices, the likelihood of downtime and how to work from backups.

Specifically, offices should install surge protectors between the power source and the computers' power cable to handle any power spikes or surges caused by lightning strikes. They should also invest in some form of uninterruptible power supply, which uses batteries to keep computers running during power outages.  UPS systems also help manage an orderly shutdown of the computer  -- unexpected shutdowns from power surge problems can cause data loss.

(Via: https://gcn.com/articles/2017/10/04/minimize-storm-damage.aspx)

Take precautions in your daily life and set long-term safety checks for your data before you might regret not doing so. If your home indeed gets submerged in floodwater, there is nothing you can do about it but it is still possible for you to salvage as much data as you can by keeping in mind some of the tips mentioned in the article like plugging in, drying, and using computers or hard drives that have been obviously damaged by water. Contact a computer repair expert as soon as you can for the best possible solutions to your dilemma before doing anything on your own that may backfire on you in an instant.

Devise a disaster recovery plan.

Frequently, disaster recovery is relegated to the bottom of a small business’ priority list – especially among businesses that aren’t in traditionally high-risk weather areas. But the reality is that no organization is immune to a disaster, regardless of its location. For all businesses, the path to preparedness begins with a plan – one that’s formalized across the company with the comprehensive steps required to quickly restore business functionality in the wake of a disaster.

Communicate your plan to all employees.

A disaster recovery plan can only be effective if everyone is on the same page about what it involves. Once small business leaders establish a plan, they must make sure their employees know what’s in it and what responsibilities each staff member has. That means posting or distributing a print version of the plan as well as discussing it at companywide meetings.

Create and store data backups.

By ensuring all your business’ proprietary data is securely backed up – either virtually or on a physical backup drive stored at a safe location – you can prevent a natural disaster turning into a data loss incident.

(Via: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/297093)

Protecting data is especially important for small and medium-sized businesses who have a lot to lose when their data disappears especially that they do not usually have the means to finance data recovery services after as their business continues to suffer long after the disaster has come and gone. Hence, their business will soon lead to bankruptcy and it is a reality for 60% of entrepreneurs of these industries according to statistics. Big brands may suffer as well but they often can bounce back from these unfortunate incidents since they have money to fund their recovery efforts.

Entrepreneurs should take data protection seriously because their business is nothing without the data that makes it work. Disaster preparedness is the key and you no longer have to worry about data recovery with the countless tools you can use to save your business (and source of income) safe from the elements all year round.

Data Protection In The Face Of A Storm is available on The SoulVisual Blog

source https://www.soulvisual.com/blog/data-protection-in-the-face-of-a-storm/

Is Blogging At Par With Old-School Journalism?

Nowadays, we may all think that most things are the same especially if they look like. Apparently, we are gravely mistaken. There are some realities that remains to be harsh because they are the way they are and we can no longer change that. The public’s perception may change with the passing of time but there are certain things in this world that you can’t simply get away from or refuse to acknowledge because shortcuts are kind of popular now. Let us take writing, for example. Writing comes in many forms and can be directed to different audiences. Blogging is the most popular form today as it is the most convenient way for the public to appreciate the written text. Many bloggers even make a living from this once-hobby and is now a steady stream of income.

The problem is that blogging, while for the most part is flexible and accommodating, has many flaws. For starters, not all bloggers are required to study about blogging at school and get a degree for it unlike all journalists in the field who has to enroll in a 4-year course before they can practice their profession. The irony here is that today, more bloggers gain traction and popularity compared to conventional journalists who not only has a knack on writing but has elevated it to both a science and an art. Writing, whether we like to acknowledge it or not, is not just a flair but also has its technicalities you would only be privy of if you studied it in greater detail. Now that bloggers are gaining more worldwide recognition than more respected and notable journalists and has thus, sparked a debate on which of the two is better, perhaps.

In the weeks since the blog was launched in late June, Milton has taken aim at journals that charge doctors to publish their articles, medical organizations that promote "late-breaking clinical trials" that aren't, nursing organizations that offer "quality" awards to hospitals, primary care physicians and, in two blogs about the preauthorization practices of insurance companies.

In these commentaries, Milton shares his experiences and his opinion on what they mean for medicine and the public.

All of Milton's blogs are popular with MedPage Today users and some of them have been phenomenally popular -- especially these two: Are Payers the Leading Cause of Death in the United States? and Who Actually Is Reviewing All Those Preauthorization Requests?

The second of those blogs is so popular that it has been the most read article on MedPage Today for most of the past week, and therein lies the unintended consequence.

(Via: https://www.medpagetoday.com/columns/fromtheeditors/69389)

With social media’s popularity today, even total unknowns can be viral superstars and enjoy their 15-minute of fame with the right material to capture the public’s fancy. And as such, professional journalists are somewhat worried at the impact of most popular blogs to the people since they may not always convey the right and unbiased message to the public. It is not that they undermine the research done by bloggers but maybe that’s exactly it. Doing random Google search is different from the amount and extent of research done by tried and tested journalists. They will not easily post an article without making sure all angles have been looked at and the people can get a full perspective of the issue.

Today, getting information is as easy as opening a browser on your computer or phone, typing in a question and waiting a nanosecond for a long list of links to load. These websites will promise to answer your question. But actually, they may not be all that trustworthy. What do you do?

Figuring out which site is believable and which is bunk takes work. Vetting that information is not impossible, though. In fact, it’s what every good journalist does daily. And students and other non-journalists can learn from the methods reporters use to determine the truth of what they read and hear.

There are plenty of people who call themselves a “journalist.” What separates a good journalist from a bad or lazy one is often where they get their information. Good reporters are always on the lookout for a “scoop” — new information or new interpretations of existing data. But for them, a scoop is worthless if it’s based on bogus or misinterpreted data.

(Via: https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/blog/outside-comment/fact-checking-how-think-journalist)

You can’t blame journalists from questioning the credibility and qualifications of some renowned blogger especially if they already have a large following since they have a big impact to society. People actually read their contents and most of the time believe them too, so it is but a must to orient them to the gravity of their influence to society. They should put just as much thought into the contents they write and verify their sources before they publish anything. News travel fast these days since the explosion of the web and with smart technology taking the forefront of our lives. Browsing the web for news and ideas is as easy as striking a conversation to the person next to you. Bloggers should take their cue from journalists in writing powerful pieces that may influence the public, sway opinions, or start arguments where there should be none.

Is Blogging At Par With Old-School Journalism? See more on: SoulVisual Blog

source https://www.soulvisual.com/blog/is-blogging-at-par-with-old-school-journalism/