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Hotels, Technology, & the Cybersecurity that Protects Them - Armor - 0 views

  • Hotels, Technology, & the Cybersecurity that Protects Them
  • introduction of virtual assistants like Alexa in hotel rooms
  • biometrics for guest access into their rooms instead of the standard room keys
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • register your fingerprint at the front desk
  • mobile keys
  • hat’s most worrisome is the amount of information collected and stored by Internet of Things (IoT) devices, like these virtual assistants and the mobile keys solution. After all, personal data has always been a prized target of cybercriminals.
  • The 2018 Trustwave Global Security Report listed the hospitality industry as one of the top five industries subjected to network breaches each year. The more technology added to help guests also means the industry needs to think harder about how they store and protect their guests’ data. If a hacker compromises the technology or infrastructure environment where guest data resides, guests could have their personal data compromised.
  • the balance between usability and security for their apps and software is critical.
  • Consumers, who are most likely to be victims, have their share of responsibilities.
  • osting on social media about how fun a vacation is could notify attackers that your valuables are sitting at home unprotected
  • it’s the hotel’s IT infrastructure that’s usually the targe
  • Unfortunately, most hotels do not have a dedicated on-site cybersecurity staff (or even IT staff for that matter).
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How Hotels Can Spring Clean Their Information Security Policies Ahead of the Summer Tra... - 8 views

  • Shockingly, nearly a third of hotels (32%) admitted they currently have no known policy for storing and disposing of documents
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    Memorial Day weekend will soon be upon everyone and with summer officially kicks off. This article talks about how hotels can clean up and do better to protect their guest personal information. A few years ago, all major corporation were required to adopt General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regulations which helped some hospitality companies. In my current capacity with Marriott International as a Workforce Administrator we were required to schedule all customer facing associates for training on GDPR. Prior to Marriott acquiring Starwood hotel company they had their own data hacking which caused an increased expense for Marriott to let customer know they were doing all they can to stop the data breach and protect their personal information. They also created a dedicated call center for this effort to let guest know that they will continue to put protecting their personal information as a high priority. This article outlines how hotels can prepare for increased guest traffic and protect their guest personal identical information. One of my responsibilities as a Workforce admin is to handle staffing for all of Marriott International Customer Engagement Centers. Employee training on GDPR is required every year for Marriott associates. Training employees on how to better protect guest personal information is more cost effective than dealing with a data breach due to negligence of an absent-minded employee. Guest expect to know their personal information is going to be protected. This allows them to have piece of mind. Leaving a clear and clean area allows for guest to feel that their information is being protected. Imagine walking up to the front desk and finding the previous guest personal information cluttered in view. This will make the current feel their personal information will left unattended and viewable to the guest to walk up causing nothing but anxiety attacks. Unable to enjoy their summer vacation. Guest expect that the overall security of the hotel
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    32% of companies not having a known policy is startling considering that 77% of Americans find it to be important to them. Yet another IT issue the states finds itself behind the curve on.
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    Another point as for the "clean desk" policy goes, it also needs to include stricter policies on securing credit card information. It should not be written down or repeated on the telephone. In an open environment sound can carry and unwanted parties can hear. Cell phones should be stored away from the desk, because cell phones are in itself a potential security breach.
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    Our hotel as well has reinforced the clean desk policy. I remembered the data breach for Marriott it was in most major news channel and at work for several months we had the same questions from our guest requesting more information. As you stated a hotline was created and of of course the most surprising for me was the acceptance from our guest. Main responses were, with the new technology advance world we've coming and going into that is something we all have to face.
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Hardware vs. Software - Difference and Comparison - Diffzi - 0 views

  • Hardware and software are two important components in any computing, electronic or digital device.
  • The main difference between hardware and software is that hardware is always in a tangible form while the software is in intangible form and is a set of instruction without which computer can’t operate.
  • Computer software includes computer programs, applications, operating systems, libraries, and their associated documentation.
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  • Hardware is available in physical and tangible form while the software is available in intangible form as we can’t see the software.
  • Hardware has weight while the software is weightless. The weight is only of the disc or readable media where software is saved.
  • Installing new software called updating while installing new hardware or replacing the old one is called upgrading.
  • The virus always attacks software, not hardware.
  •  
    This article shows the difference between computer software and hardware. Software and hardware are interdependent to ensure the computer's operation. Both are indispensable. The article first compares software and hardware, then explains the software and hardware separately, and finally points out a few key differences.
  •  
    This is a great article that brings out the difference between hardware and software in computer systems. The author points out that both hardware and software are vital components in any electronic, computing, and digital device and that they are interdependent. However, there are distinct differences between the two. While software describes instructions that a computer uses to carry out operations, such as programming software and application software, hardware describes a physical device that carries out tasks based on the instructions provided by the software. Besides, hardware is tangible while software is intangible.
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5 Trends to Watch in Computer Networking - 0 views

  • consumers increasingly buy digital licenses and download (or stream) their content over the internet.
  • he difficulty faced by service providers (including Google) in expanding residential fiber optic cable internet service due to installation costs and increased competition from other broadband providers.
  • Some fear the privacy risks that accompany IoT.
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  • IPv6 will one day replace the traditional Internet Protocol addressing system we are familiar with (called IPv4
  • Digital fatigue also threatens to dampen interest in IoT
  • With inside access to a person's home and their health or other personal data, these devices provide an attractive target for online attackers.
  • By expanding the available IP address space to accommodate an almost unlimited number of devices, managing subscriber accounts becomes easier for Internet providers.
  • Look for the prices to come down in the next year as vendor competition increases.
  • Things (IoT) gateway support will prove more interesting to the average consumer. Eventually, home gateways that combine Wi-Fi together with 4G or 5G connectivity options could also become very popular
  • telligence. When world-renowned scientist Steven Hawking (in late 2014) said "The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race,
  • One key barrier to more general-purpose artificial intelligence has been the limits on the ability of AI systems to communicate and interact with the outside world
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    Newer trends in computer technology bring increased vulnerabilities in security and privacy. Wearables will extend from wristwatches to eyeglasses, headphones, kitchen gadgets, energy-efficient furnishings, to home equipment Bluetooth systems. As vendor competition increases, prices will decrease and artificial intelligence development will accelerate.
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The Evolution of Cybersecurity Threats During COVID-19 and What You Can Do About It | U... - 0 views

  • As the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe, the risk for cyber-enabled fraud exploded in unparalleled scale and scope
    • yvenisem
       
      ill-prepared companies and much more opportunity for hackers
  • COVID-19 has changed many aspects of our lives—working from home, virtual meetings, and digital commerce are becoming our new normal
    • yvenisem
       
      Zoom is a huge part of this, imagine holding a very confidential meeting and it being intercepted by unauthorized peoples
  • Cybercriminals have taken advantage of this ‘new normal’ and have been exploiting cyber vulnerabilities among businesses.
    • yvenisem
       
      Since a lot of things have been moved online to promote spcial distancing, it only makes sense.
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  • 48,000 hits on malicious URLs, and 737 pieces of malware detected—all tailored with content relevant to COVID-19.
    • yvenisem
       
      It's become so much easier to prey on people who just don't know and are not aware of certain risks
  • They exploit our trust. The trust we have in the applications we use, the emails that we get,”
    • yvenisem
       
      This reminds me of a time I got an email that seemed like it was from my job, fortunately, i opened it from home rather than on the company network
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    This article seeks to make people and businesses aware of the threats that have risen due to covid-19. Now that people are away from their desks, their guard is down. However, they can still be connected to the network, making them especially vulnerable to attacks. Not only this, but when it comes to Zoom meetings, they can be intercepted by hackers, leaving the attendees unaware.
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MGM Resorts falls victim to data breach | PhocusWire - 1 views

  • MGM Resorts International is the latest travel brand to suffer a security attack involving customer details, in an incident that took place last summer.
  • Details of the incident were uncovered last week by ZDNet, which says the personal details of more than 10 million customers were shared on a hacking forum.
  • “unauthorized access to a cloud server.”
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  • He adds that companies should also monitor for leaks of the data.
  • a dark web monitoring specialist, says this kind of incident can be avoided by regularly checking who has access to cloud-based servers:
  • “confident that no financial, payment card or password data was involved in this matter."
  • “This incident also highlights the importance of speed when mitigating digital risk; watermarking data with unique synthetic identities can enable organizations to detect these threats immediately and be the first to find out if their data is available online, before someone else does. Setting up email listeners for these watermark identities can detect a breach before the data is shared online, if the hacker is testing for valid addresses.”
  • advises that the same security levels for data on premise need to be in place for what is stored in the cloud.
  • It’s a near-universal challenge for enterprises: the move to hybrid environments and more complex, fragmented networks makes it even harder to keep control. Without consistent policies you can pretty soon have a tangle of security gaps and compliance violation
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    MGM Resorts falls victim to data breach last summer, more than 10 million customers' information were leaked out. It was took place through "unauthorized access to a cloud server." However, specialist said this breach can be avoided by regularly checking and monitoring. Also, specialist advised that MGM also need to take same security levels for data on premise in their could.
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    It was reported that MGM Resorts fell victim to a data breach on a cloud server but not much critical guest information was leaked out. Experts said that this kind of breach can be avoided by checking who was able to access the server regularly. Also, the company needs to monitor data to find out the leakage earlier than anyone else. Monitoring the data stored on the cloud should also be as important as those stored on-site.
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    the article gives details about a data security breach that the company was a victim of and how information of 10 million customers were shared .
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Casino Gets Hacked Through Its Internet-Connected Fish Tank Thermometer - 0 views

  • Internet-connected technology, also known as the Internet of Things (IoT), is now part of daily life, with smart assistants like Siri and Alexa
  • But of much greater concern, enterprises are unable to secure each and every device on their network, giving cybercriminals hold on their network hostage with just one insecure device.
  • There's no better example than Mirai, the botnet malware that knocked the world's biggest and most popular websites offline for few hours over a year ago.
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  • Nicole Eagan, the CEO of cybersecurity company Darktrace, told attendees at an event in London on Thursday how cybercriminals hacked an unnamed casino through its Internet-connected thermometer in an aquarium in the lobby of the casino.
  • he hackers exploited a vulnerability in the thermostat to get a foothold in the network. Once there, they managed to access the high-roller database of gamblers and "then pulled it back across the network, out the thermostat, and up to the cloud."
  • compelling reminder that the IoT devices are theoretically vulnerable to being hacked or compromised.
  • Manufacturers majorly focus on performance and usability of IoT devices but ignore security measures and encryption mechanisms, which is why they are routinely being hacked.
  • Therefore, people can hardly do anything to protect themselves against these kinds of threats, until IoT device manufacturers timely secure and patch every security flaws or loopholes that might be present in their devices.
  • The best way you can protect is to connect only necessary devices to the network and place them behind a firewall.
  • educate yourself about IoT products.
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    I found this article fascinating. It shows that no matter how much security we think we have, there will always be someone who is smart enough to hack you. We bring Smart devices into our homes and businesses to make our lives easier, yet these devices make us vulnerable to cyberattacks. In this article it details how a hacker(s) used a Smart thermostat located inside a fish tank to access and pull sensitive data out of a casino. I'll never look at the fancy aquariums in resorts/restaurants the same.
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12 Ways To Increase Hotel Security - LODGING Magazine - 0 views

  • Even when hotels have strong security policies and procedures in place, they are still vulnerable to cyber attacks, break-ins, theft, fraud, and other crimes
  • American Hotel & Lodging
  • Association (AHLA) security consultant
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  • Hotels can be held liable for the criminal acts of third parties
  • Guest Safety: Ensuring Return Stays and a Good Reputation
  • Update locks.
  • Provide a sense of ownership.
  • Monitor activity with software.
  • Evaluate and improve—quickly.
  • Meet and greet.
  • Theft and Fraud: Monitoring Employee Activities It’s a disappointing reality that hoteliers have to contend with employee theft and fraud. B
  • Make time for safety meetings.
  • Boost employee empowerment.
  • Staff smart.
  • Add active monitoring to video surveillance.
  • Cybersecurity: Protecting Electronic Borders
  • As technology has advanced, so has criminals’ ability to exploit those new technologies. The hotel industry has seen several such examples lately
  • Connect IT and security departments.
  • Upgrade to VLAN.
  • Beware of social engineering.
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    This article highlights all the necessities to make sure your hotel is safe and secure for all your guests. It specified for cyber security, however, that switching to a VLAN server would be massively beneficial for the hotel as it becomes a private server that has multiple stages of security to bypass. In addition, it advises the modification of passwords every few months because apart from cyber breaches, people also try to con others out of their passwords by word of mouth and manipulation.
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    In this article it talks about the 12 different ways to increase security in our hotels and how to make thing more safe for our guest.
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ITInvestmentAnalysis_Hospitality.pdf - 0 views

shared by marble_bird on 12 Jul 20 - No Cached
  • This study aims to determine the feasibility of IT investment in hospitality and determine the value and tangible/ intangible benefits from IT implementation.
  • Nowadays hospitality thinks that technology can improve business effectiveness and efficiency. Hospitality in Indonesia, especially Jakarta was competing to provide the best service in terms of information and technology. Moreover, implementation of IT is one of strategies to improve hotel performance
  • Based on previous research, IT implementation at the hotel has been started since 1980s until 1990an, many hotels that invest millions of dollars for information technology about 4.4 million dollars
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  • Gaining competitive advantage [7] such as, IT security investments may stop the competitors to absorb market power. From other studies that point to problems appearing in hospitality to find out if the IT they invested is effective, [8] asserts that many hospitality companies have no procedures to see how effectively their spending on information technology is.
  • Various sources of data that show about IT investment in the hotel, then the problem is the existence of large amount of investment for IT development without understanding IT effectiveness for the hotel [11], the managerial party who difficult to give data about the values and intangible/tangible benefits.
  • According to [14], an IT investment consists of the total life cycle cost of an entire project or project chunk that involves IT, including the post-project operating cost of the system that was implemented. The investment ceases to exist when it is replaced or eliminated for any reason.
  • Evaluating expense or impact of large IT investment may vary from study to study [15]. In order to evaluate IT investment, Information Economics (IE) is a set of calculating tools to measure the benefits and costs of an information technology project.
  • The benefits of IT/IS that organizations use can be viewed by combining Simple ROI analysis and analysis of technology and business domain.
  • This study using Information Economic approach in order to do feasibility assessment that combine technology domain and business domain
  • The data collected includes the financial data of 5-star hotels and IT projects undertaken, as well as the costs for the technology used today. This stage is also done spread the questionnaire online for intangible value analysis of business domain and technology domain
  • The feasibility of IT investment can be known ROI score generated on the economic impact sheet. According to [23], to calculate simple ROI, there are three worksheets, such as: development cost sheet using ratio, ongoing work sheet, and economic impact sheet. The final value of the ROI and the scores of corporate analysis is incorporated into the IE
  • The Scores on the IE Scorecard will show the value and benefits of investment for IT.
  • The huge demand for the Internet makes many hotels present the speed and bandwidth that can satisfy the guests.
  • E-Concierge Service Management. Service to entertain hotel guests and modern travelers is currently working with smartphones in the form of E-Concierge Mobile with technology called Mobile Guest Softphone (MGS).
  • IT Security, the problem that arises when using IT in a company/organization is its security. For companies/organizations and even hotels are also very vulnerable to information that can harm the hotel in case of cyber attack.
  • According to Table 2, Mandarin Oriental Hotel ROI score is 1. This score means that the IT investment is feasible. Above 100% for Simple ROI means that IT implementation give profitability to the hotel and able to invest more in the future
  • Value Linking approach implemented in 5-star hotel, implementation online reservation and e-Concierge management, hotel guests can quickly make room reservations and guest data collection will be better. For e-Concierge the process of entering guests to the room will also be easier
  • This value showed that 5-star hotels in Jakarta have the time and opportunity to invest more in the future. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on future growth and development of existing infrastructure.
  • It can be concluded that IT implementation and IT projects in 5-star hotels in Jakarta are quite useful. E-Concierge, mobile apps and online reservation are most valuable and success investment for 5-star hotel. But, in order to improve the performance of hotel IT, which in terms of security and improve hotel services, need a system improvement in accordance with the hotel program, so it can support the vision and mission of 5-star hotels in Jakarta.
  • The result of financial analysis that is calculated ratio and processed in economic impact sheet obtained simple ROI and can be concluded that in terms of cost, IT investment in 5-star hotels in Jakarta can provide economic benefits for the hotel.
  • The investment quadrant shows that a 5-star hotel has a solid business base, has the time and opportunity to invest in the future. The 5-star hotels in Jakarta also have the time and opportunity to invest more in the future. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on future growth and development of existing infrastructure.
  • This value indicates that IT investment in 5-star hotel in Jakarta is considered economical enough, and quite helpful and useful in supporting hotel business process.
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    This article covers a study performed on various 5-star hotels in Jakarta on the effectiveness and feasibility of IT investments. The study is performed via a questionnaire distributed to hotels in the area with associated data values for analysis. The study finds that IT investment in 5-star hotels in Jakarta is economically feasible and could provide these businesses with competitive advantage and profit.
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What Is IT Security? - Information Technology Security - Cisco - 0 views

  • Although IT security and information security sound similar, they do refer to different types of security. Information security refers to the processes and tools designed to protect sensitive business information from invasion, whereas IT security refers to securing digital data, through computer network security.
  • Network security is used to prevent unauthorized or malicious users from getting inside your network. This ensures that usability, reliability, and integrity are uncompromised. This type of security is necessary to prevent a hacker from accessing data inside the network. It also prevents them from negatively affecting your users’ ability to access or use the network.
  • Internet security involves the protection of information that is sent and received in browsers, as well as network security involving web-based applications. These protections are designed to monitor incoming internet traffic for malware as well as unwanted traffic. This protection may come in the form of firewalls, antimalware, and antispyware
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  • Endpoint security provides protection at the device level. Devices that may be secured by endpoint security include cell phones, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers. Endpoint security will prevent your devices from accessing malicious networks that may be a threat to your organization. Advance malware protection and device management software are examples of endpoint security.
  • Applications, data, and identities are moving to the cloud, meaning users are connecting directly to the Internet and are not protected by the traditional security stack. Cloud security can help secure the usage of software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications and the public cloud.  A cloud-access security broker (CASB), secure Internet gateway (SIG), and cloud-based unified threat management (UTM) can be used for cloud security.
  • With application security, applications are specifically coded at the time of their creation to be as secure as possible, to help ensure they are not vulnerable to attacks. This added layer of security involves evaluating the code of an app and identifying the vulnerabilities that may exist within the software.
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    IT security is a set of cybersecurity strategies that prevents unauthorized access to organizational assets such as computers, networks, and data. It maintains the integrity and confidentiality of sensitive information, blocking the access of sophisticated hackers. IT security includes Network security, Internet security, Endpoint security, Cloud security, and Application security.
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Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Apple, and others hacked in unprecedented Twitter a... - 0 views

  • The Twitter accounts of major companies and individuals have been compromised in one of the most widespread and confounding hacks the platform has ever seen, all in service of promoting a bitcoin scam that appears to be earning its creator quite a bit of money.
  • Shortly after the initial wave of tweets from Gates and Musk’s accounts, the accounts of Apple, Uber, former President Barack Obama, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, hip-hop mogul Kanye West, and former New York City mayor and billionaire Mike Bloomberg, among others, were also compromised and began promoting the scam.
  • It’s unclear how widespread the operation is, but it appears to be affecting numerous major companies and extremely high-profile individuals. That suggests someone, or a group, has either found a severe security loophole in Twitter’s login process or third-party app or that the perpetrator has somehow gained access to a Twitter employee’s admin privileges.
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Council Post: Cybersecurity As We Know It Is About To Change - 0 views

  • the global cybersecurity market is set to increase to $270 billion by 2026. This signals the priority boardrooms have placed on cyber risk management even as digital transformation takes place en masse.
  • COVID-19 has become the catalyst to trigger change in the ways we manage and operate technology.
  • Virtual desktops emulate a computer system so that IT can control access as such adding input/output devices as well as software and applications. This could become an important control point when remote workers are operating outside the safety of a corporate network.
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  • Telecommuting Is The Only Way Of Working For Many
  • With the remote working concept taking center stage, re-evaluation of these policies is needed to address the new cyberthreats.
  • With millions of employees working from home, hackers’ focus has shifted from enterprise to remote working individuals. To handle the menace that exists in cyberspace, decentralized cybersecurity will rise where greater emphasis will be placed on data sources such as actual remote employees themselves.
  • User access controls have largely revolved around single or two-factor authentication. These methods rely on “something you know (username)” and “something you have (password).”
  • This means identity protection will be a top priority, and the best defense should involve building authentication systems that focus on “who you are.” This would require advanced biometric solutions such as fingerprint/thumbprint/handprint, retina, iris, voice and other facial recognition technologies.
  • The current state of privacy regulations is designed around the enterprise network and building the proverbial wall to keep sensitive data out of prying eyes.
  • With swift digitalization, security controls will shift to data sources, similar to the trend witnessed in IoT.
  • From a risk management perspective, global privacy policies will need to encapsulate standard operating procedures regarding BYOD, GDPR compliance and state privacy laws.
  • The shift to cloud services offers employees, customers, suppliers and everyone else across the ecosystem a seamless and frictionless way to access data and applications. Remote access by various users would compound security challenges and present many new potential attack vectors. In the post-pandemic world, IT resources could shift toward data, particularly keeping data secure across cloud platforms.
  • This will facilitate cybersecurity teams to apply varied access controls and demarcate data storage to minimize the risk of cyber intrusion and data breach.
  • Innovative technologies such as ML/AI and AR/VR will see greater adoption. As we have already witnessed, video conferencing applications will continue to rise as non-contact interactions surge.
  • Sectors such as retail, hospitality and manufacturing will layer their adoption of robotics with added AR/VR capabilities.
  • Cybersecurity teams that are saddled with an events-based approach will be overly burdened with triages when a cyber breach occurs. By embracing an intelligence-driven approach, businesses can digitalize confidently with external threat intelligence as the guiding beacon.
  • Social engineering techniques to trick untrained and unsuspecting employees, third parties and contractors into releasing confidential information or letting an intruder into a corporate network will also intensify accordingly.
  • Cybersecurity awareness training for people across the entire supply chain and ecosystem will prevail.
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    By 2026, the investment in cybersecurity will increase to $270 billion globally. After the COVID-19 pandemic companies will need to reevaluate their cybersecurity systems to adapt to telecommuting as many companies will have some of their employees working from home. Biometric security such as a fingerprint or iris scan will become more common as the typical password will no longer be as secure as it once was.
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The Cybersecurity 202: Facebook disclosed a major hack very quickly. But the alert was ... - 0 views

  • The Cybersecurity 202: Facebook disclosed a major hack very quickly. But the alert was short on details.
  • It took just three days for Facebook to notify authorities and the public that  hackers had compromised as many as 50 million user accounts on the social media platform.
  • Facebook leaders did not have enough information to paint a clear picture of the hack and the risk to its users during the announcement.
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  • Europe’s new privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation, imposes massive fines on companies if they don’t notify privacy regulators about a data breach within 72 hours. The rule took effect in May and applies to any company with E.U. customers. U.S. lawmakers have proposed similar a 72-hour rule to replace the patchwork of state data breach laws that exist here
  • The company said Friday it had notified European data privacy regulators of the breach, in accordance with GDPR. Shortly after doing so, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, the watchdog that monitors Facebook’s GDPR compliance, said Facebook’s disclosure “lacks detail” and criticized the company for being “unable to clarify the nature of the breach and the risk for users at this point.”
  •  Equifax waited six weeks to reveal that the Social Security numbers and other sensitive information on 143 million Americans had been exposed in a data breach. Uber waited a year to reveal a hack affecting tens of millions of drivers — and just last week paid a $148 million settlement in connection with the incident. Yahoo also paid a fine earlier this year for waiting two years to tell investors that Russian hackers stole information on 500 million users. 
  • Wray stressed that cyberattacks and theft of intellectual property can inflict long-term damage on American companies,
  • No country poses a broader, more severe intelligence collection threat than China.
  • The Energy Department on Monday announced awards of up to $28 million to help fund 11 cybersecurity research projects to strengthen the defenses of America's critical energy infrastructure,
  • Karen Evans, the assistant secretary for the department's Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response, said “energy cybersecurity and resilience” is one of the “most important security challenges” that the United States faces.
  • “The frequency, scale, and sophistication of cyber threats have increased and attacks can be much easier to launch,”
  • “Cyber incidents have the potential to interrupt energy services, damage highly specialized equipment and threaten human health and safety.”
  • The Senate Commerce Committee should hear from consumer privacy experts as lawmakers consider whether to develop data privacy legislation, a coalition of consumer and privacy groups said Monday
  • And while civilian agencies generally face the most lopsided age disparities, the importance departments place on building a long-term talent pipeline varies greatly
  • That means federal technologists at or approaching retirement age outnumbered their 20-something counterparts roughly 4.6 to 1.”
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    This article highlights the importance of announcing a security breach quickly, and explains the argument on whether it needs to be carefully analyzed before releasing the breach. It explains the importance of releasing the understanding of a hack as quickly as possible to maintain people's information (i.e. bank information) safe.
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Ecommerce Data Breaches: Real Costs of Security Mismanagement - 1 views

  • In 2013, retail giant Target had more than 110 million of its customers’ credit card and con
  • act information compromised. This breach led to the resignation of its chief executive officer (CEO) and chief information officer the following year.
  • Hackers steal personally identifiable information, like names, addresses, phone numbers, and Social Security numbers to commit identity theft.Attack groups also steal less common information, such as customers’ favorite sports teams, pet names, dream vacation spots, and places of birth to gain access to financial accounts.
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    There has and continues to be constant breaches where hackers tend to use sophisticated techniques to to exploit personal data. With so much at stake ecommerce businesses must heed the warning and take proactive action to secure their data.
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EasyJet admits security hack of 9 million passenger records | PhocusWire - 0 views

  • The Europe-based airline says the attack captured names, email addresses and travel details, including 2,200 customers that had their credit card details stolen.
  • At this stage there is no evidence of any personal information having been misused, EasyJet says in a statement.
  • The BBC reports that the incident first came to light in January this year and that EasyJet only informed those passengers whose financial details have been exposed some three months later.
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  • The incident is the latest in a growing number of data breaches at travel companies, affecting high profile brands such as the 500 million accounts that were hack at Marriott/Starwood over four years and British Airways in 2018.
  • "The easyJet data breach further demonstrates that even well run companies are unable to protect our personal data.  
  •  
    This article showed how even a well prepared company can be Hack, but what surprised me was the company took over three months to inform their customers of the hack. The company should've done a better job of alerting their customers so they can protect themselves and know what's going on.
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Modern information technologies in the hotel business: development trends and implement... - 0 views

shared by marble_bird on 08 Jun 20 - No Cached
  • Today, the process of digitalization of the Russian economy has a significant impact on hospitality industry.
  • Digitalization is becoming a major trend, which is evident in the distribution models of hotel services, and also actively comes to the sphere of automation of internal business processes
  • Digital innovations are gradually becoming the new standard of hotel service
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  • digitalization of hotels also includes introduction of advanced solutions for analytics and security.
  • Digital security systems can not only track the slightest disturbance of the public peace, but also provide additional information.
  • At present day, it is too early to assess the effectiveness of some recent innovations, that are related mostly to the hotel's image and attract customers.
  • The main trends in the use of modern technologies in hospitality industry in the conditions of digitalization of the economy are presented in figure 1.
  • The main disadvantages of traditional technologies include the following: local server requires regular maintenance from the system administrator; access to database is restricted by local network facilities; connection speed is limited by the speed of a local provider and divided among all who are drawn to the sever database
  • Artificial intelligence plays an equally important role in improving the efficiency of public catering enterprises.
  • Use of artificial intelligence also allows to analyze the work of the restaurant, and to detect violations of rules by the staff via control of bills, number of the discount card uses, as well as the number of cancellations and deletions of checks.
  • The issue of privacy that characterizes traditional tourism industry is also addressed through blockchain technology, minimizing exposure to sensitive data in the face of existing problems with cyber attacks and fraud in traditional financial services.
  • if the concept of hospitality industry enterprise changes, it is possible to change the composition of paid licenses.
  • Almost all companies in hospitality industry have started to think about using chatbots to solve specific business problems [9].
  • One of the ways to get competitive advantages for accommodation facilities is to invest and use new technologies. In this regard, augmented reality is the most promising technology for the modern tourism industry. its development and application can increase the competitiveness of destinations.
  • Augmented reality can be used to interact with guests before, during, and after their stay.
  • Augmented reality technologies can be used to stimulate travel purchases (the effect of being present in a hotel room, as well as demonstrating the environment and local services using a virtual reality headset). Also, virtual and augmented reality, including those with tactile sensations, can be implemented by digital concierges to issue recommendations to the client on various issues and types of recreation
  • The API allows one hotel technology system to automatically (i.e., without the participation of hotel employees) interact with another technology system and gain access to its functionality.
  • The largest companies develop APIs for clients or internal use at some stage.
  • The result of the analysis of cash transactions is a regular analysis and detailing of violations, categorization of violations, development of measures to counter violations, training of personnel [13].
  • With the help of speech Analytics tools, specialists can work with 100% of requests. To do this, all dialogues are translated into text and analyzed using a special system.
  • Based on this analysis, you can develop a change program for existing procedures and processes and optimize self-service systems (personal account, website).
  • The result of the introduction of innovative speech analytics technologies will be an increase in sales efficiency, an increase in loyalty and customer satisfaction, a reduction in service costs without loss of quality, and behavioral analytics.
  • Currently, biometrics can already be used to identify and confirm the client's identity. Face scanning technologies when registering with the service.
  • Analysts predict that the international market for biometric solutions for the hotel sector will grow exponentially in the coming years. Biometrics, as the most reliable and accurate authentication system, can provide real-time information about employees and their use of their working time.
  • The result of using this technology is payment without wallets and Bank cards, increasing the speed of customer service, and a high level of security.
  • In 2018, Amazon presented a special version of the voice assistant for hotels — Alexa for Hospitality, which is currently being tested in Marriott hotels.
  • At the same time, the use of Echo speakers in hotels raises concerns about the privacy of personal data. Amazon claims that audio recordings of the guest's voice commands will be deleted every day, and the hotel administration will not have access to both request records and response records.
  • IT outsourcing is the transfer to a third-party contractor (outsourcer) of all or part of the functions for servicing the organization's information needs. Currently, this technology is becoming increasingly common in the hospitality industry.
  • The main point of switching to outsourcing is to optimize the company's costs while significantly improving the quality of services provided. The main criteria for outsourcing are the lack of competitive advantages and not the strategic position of this operation or function for the company
  • The main problems of implementing information technologies in the hospitality and tourism industry include the high cost of these developments, the duration of staff training processes, and the adaptation of the built system of business processes of enterprises.
  • The problem is also the difficulty of attracting investment in the hotel business
  • Another problem with the introduction of information technology in the hotel business is the lack of relevance of regulatory documents and legal barriers to the introduction of innovations
  • In addition, the introduction of modern information technologies in the hospitality industry is complicated by the level of technical and technological complexity of implementation projects.
  • nformation technologies are improving at a rapid pace
  • In the leading Russian hotels that are part of the global hotel chains, the work is fully automated, technological, and has its own computer and Internet services. Such hotels already have a successful experience in implementing modern information technologies.
  • Customers of the hospitality industry already have a lot of experience in using mobile devices.
  • Digital marketing is becoming a key channel of communication between the hotel and the network. At the same time, only the implementation of continuous data collection, processing, analysis and aggregation tasks will allow the management of hospitality enterprises to achieve one of their main goals - to better understand their customers and interact with them.
  •  
    This article describes trends in technology in the hotel industry and the applications of them in the Russian economy. The article discusses what the trends in IT are and how they may apply to the hotel sector of the hospitality industry, providing real-world examples and hypothetical scenarios. The information in this article is insightful to the relationship between hospitality and information technology and provides a perspective on this relationship from the viewpoint of the Russian hotel economy specifically.
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How Cloud-based Hotel Software is Changing the Industry - 8 views

  • Couple that with the fact that in the next two to three years hoteliers are expected to invest seven to eight percent more on cloud technology
  • Additionally, increased accessibility, greater profitability, and user-friendly dashboards make cloud-based software enticing for hoteliers
  • For starters, cloud-based hotel software has the ability to host a property management system (PMS) from a remote location, allowing hoteliers to access their property data from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. This feature is unique to cloud-based software and eliminates the need for hoteliers to be physically present at their property to be able to check in on daily management operations.
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  • Cloud-based hotel software has been shown to boost productivity, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness
  • Additionally, through the centralization of operations, hoteliers can eliminate the need for on-premise servers at each property
  • In fact, the hotel group, Triple C Hotels and Resorts, reported a 60% savings on software costs when they switched to Cloudbeds’ cloud-based hospitality software
  • For example, Cloudbeds hospitality software implements periodic auto-logoff features that require users to re-enter their password, two-factor authentication for an added level of user verification, and automatic removal of guest credit card data after 14 days
  • The high-level security standards followed by cloud-based hotel software is due in part to its rigid compliance with PCI requirements.
  • Unlike locally installed software, one of the more attractive elements of using a cloud-based hotel software system is the ability to adapt, grow, and integrate with future trends
  • Unlike conventional hotel software models that require hoteliers to purchase licenses and hardware, cloud-based hotel software is sold as a service that enables clients to add on as many or as few tools and features as needed.
  • In fact, a study by Frost and Sullivan showed that businesses can cut IT costs in half by implementing cloud-based computing solutions to customer support.
  • ability to host a property management system (PMS) from a remote location, allowing hoteliers to access property data from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. This feature is unique to cloud-based software and eliminates the need for hoteliers to be physically present at their property to be able to check in on daily management operations.
  • Eliminate the need for manual data sharing and processing
  • Give staff more mobility and accessibility around the property
  • next two to three years hoteliers are expected to invest 7-8% more on cloud technology
    • cleon087
       
      This could be a determination if a hotel succeeds. It is important to not lag and instead adapt to the times.
  • an spend more time attending to guests
  • ransitioning to a cloud-based hotel software solution can seem like a daunting task at first
    • cleon087
       
      Not all bosses are even comfortable with technology to begin with so it would be difficult for them to spend the money to transition.
  • Accelerate hotel check-in / out
    • cleon087
       
      People value fast check in, especially someone that came to the hotel on a business trip and just wants to get to their room.
  • Eliminate the need for manual data sharing and processing
    • cleon087
       
      This saves a lot of time because you wont have to manually record data.
  • customizable
  • In an industry that is always changing, this kind of flexibility is priceless.
  • across multiple properties simultaneously
  • faster for operations, online booking and customer service.  
  • frequent security updates t
  • Cyber attacks and tighter regulations on privacy policies have made the need to protect guest information more important than ever. This topic is a main concern for those considering switching to a cloud-based PMS system since data servers are hosted off premises.
  •  
    Cloud-based hotel software is able to host a property management system from a remote location which therefore allows hotel staff to access data from wherever they are in the world. It is showing positive signs of increased efficiency and overall cost-effectiveness.
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  •  
    Cloud-based software is the future of the entire hospitality industry. The benefits of having this software heavily outweigh the cons. It would allow employees to better assist guests with check-in/out processes and it would also give them increased mobility throughout the system, accelerating the services we can offer to our guests. In addition, cloud-based systems allow for better data storage, giving us the tools we need to be prepared for returning guests and their accomodations.
  •  
    Providing the best customer service is the goal of any hotel. It is what attracts your guests to return and suggest your hotel to others. Imagine a software that eliminates the need for hoteliers to be physically present to check on daily management operations or even automate mundane daily tasks, allowing staff to spend more time attending to guests and improving the customer service experience. This software is known as cloud-based hotel software. This software is not sold as a product; it is sold as a service that allows hoteliers to add on as many or few features as needed, making it completely customizable. Cloud-based software is hosted by a vendor's server and gives hoteliers a scalable system that is flexible and easily updated across multiple properties simultaneously. A great key feature to this software is that the system is able to adapt, grow, and integrate with future trends. Flexibility is so important in this generation because new technologies are constantly being innovated and staying up with trends is a great way to satisfy your guests. Cloud-based software has shown to boost productivity, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. What more could you ask for?
  •  
    The cloud based hotel software is a great addition to he hospitality industry because it gives the hoteliers a chance to be flexible with their stay. It gives the staff member a more relief on updates of property housekeeping status. Cloud based technology gives advantages of moreover frequent updates and enhancements for hoteliers inquiring.
  •  
    This article highlights the benefits of switching to Cloud-based hotel software. One of the highlights is the reduction in cost, by switching it allows employees to focus more on service then repetitive tasks. This is also an attractive deal for hoteliers because they're allowed to check on important data from their house. This software makes it more efficient and soon all hoteliers will have to invest in a innovative software.
  •  
    A general trend is that hoteliers are considering to use cloud-based systems more. Data have proved that hoteliers will invest more in cloud technology. Cloud-based hotel software can provide its users with many benefits like cost-efficiency, increased accessibility, and user-friendly dashboards. Furthermore, it makes remote/offsite information sharing and real-time offsite management possible. With a cloud-based system, staff can spend more time on guests and improving service. For security issues, cloud-based systems upgrades often and therefore reduce the risk of being hacked. Cloud-based systems are also enough flexible to meet the future needs of users. In sum, cloud-based technologies can help the hospitality businesses to deal with the changes better.
  •  
    Hotels are beginning to transition to cloud-based software because they are realizing the great impact it has caused on their business. The article mentioned, "in the next two to three years hoteliers are expected to invest 7-8% on cloud technology". This percentage exhibits how hotels are going to be ran in the future. Cloud-based software has brought positive impact to a hotel business such as "increased accessibility, greater profitability, and user-friendly dashboards". All of these benefits have caused hotels to run their business smoothly bringing back satisfied guests. This software allows check ins/out to be more quick and gives easy access to areas in the hotel for employees. Another gain received by using this software is that its cost-effective. It has been disclosed that a hotel has saved "60% on software costs". Using this software has saved a hotel a lot of money that can be used to satisfied guest more. Security on data is more secured using cloud-based software because the vendors take it seriously making it harder for hackers to retrieve information. Some hotels may halt to install new technology such as cloud-based software but with all the benefits it has given to other hotels, this is going to be the future for the hospitality industry.
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Cybersecurity: A Hospitality Industry Reality - AETHOS Consulting Group - 0 views

  • Cyber thieves are crafty and persistent in finding ways to breach security to gain access to personal information. The hospitality industry, hoteliers, restaurants and other such businesses that rely on the use of personal information to provide service to their customers are particularly at risk.
  • Initial steps in the risk-management process Hospitality companies should first focus on developing a robust internal risk-management program, including the establishment of strong policies and procedures; training and insurance can reduce the chances of a data breach and mitigate the damages if a breach occurs.
  • In general, an organization should review the following areas to begin developing a well-rounded risk-management program: Corporate security policy Asset classification and control Personnel security Computer-network and management protocols for vulnerability System access controls Privacy and regulatory compliance
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  • Then, ask yourself, “What does our company have in place to mitigate our exposures?”
  • Do we have an effective privacy policy?
  • Do we have an effective privacy-breach response plan?
  • Do we continuously test our disaster-response and business-continuity plans?
  • Franchise concerns
  • Franchise agreements should address several important data-security concerns, cyber-insurance, breach notification and PCI (payment card industry) compliance.
  • Franchise agreements should require franchisees to purchase a specified amount of cyber insurance coverage in the event of a data breach.
  • In addition, the franchisee should be required to promptly notify the franchisor of all breaches in security and immediately notify the franchisor of all breaches of sensitive information.
  • The franchisor may also want to consider being notified of any impermissible uses or disclosures
  • Cyber attack realities The ramifications of a cyber breach could be both financially and operationally catastrophic to any hospitality company. Losses could include costs associated with litigation expenses and fines as well as defense. The cost of business interruption and loss of income could be debilitating.
  •  
    This is an article providing a very high-level introduction to the potential risks faced by the hotel industry from cybersecurity. It outlines some initial steps that hotel companies might consider in their risk-management process and also gives some very specific examples of risk related to franchise contracts.
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Why the U.S. is Terrible at Recycling Electronics | Digital Trends - 0 views

  • E-waste in the United States is out of control.
  • You may assume America has to at least be on par with the rest of the first world when finding a forever home for computers, phones, and printers, but you’d be wrong.
  • Those millions of old motherboards and TVs consoles rotting in landfills and warehouses aren’t just eyesores. They amount to a massive health hazard. While electronics waste comprises only 2-3 percent of America’s solid waste stream, the lead, cadmium, chromium, and other materials in aging circuitry account for 70 percent of the hazardous material in landfills, according to an EPA report.
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  • Others go belly up, leaving behind millions of pounds of old gadgets piled in mountainous heaps atop land which has lead levels many times normal.
  • You’re probably not screaming into a paper bag about the $20 billion or so of gold that’s trashed in electronics every year worldwide. Precious metals come and go. But if you care about the soil that comprises the land of the brave, you should start thinking about what happened to last year’s smartphone (even if it’s just sitting in the garage).
  • This list of reasons isn’t exhaustive, but serves as a solid starting point for understanding the United States’ e-waste dilemma and what can be done.
  • U.S. e-waste recycling laws are often outdated or nonexistent
  • Only 25 states (plus Washington, D.C.) have legislation that addresses e-waste recycling. The other 25 don’t have comprehensive programs, and don’t report what happens to the electronics beyond occasional voluntary numbers, says Jason Linnell, head of the National Center for Electronics Recycling (NCER). Federal laws don’t explicitly address e-waste recycling.
  • The U.S. isn’t good at recycling
  • The current level and effectiveness of e-waste recycling depends on which state you live in and whether or not you trust locals to “do the right thing.” The hope for improvement sits with congressional reps, state lawmakers, manufacturers, and gadget freaks (yes, you).
  • Single-stream recycling hasn’t helped
  • Between 2005 and 2014, single stream recycling programs increased from 29 to 80 percent in American towns and cities. During that same time period, material contamination rates increased from 7 to 25 percent.
  • E-waste legislation regularly disappears in Congress
  • This is not the first Congressional session in which similar bills have been introduced and allowed to die like a first grade classroom goldfish on summer break. SEERA currently sits with the house’s Foreign Affairs Committee. Why is it so tough to pass e-waste legislation?
  • The U.S. is an environmental rogue
  • As of late 2018, 186 states and the European Union have ratified it and follow its legal framework. The United States has signed the Basel Convention, indicating an intent to ratify, but is the only developed nation that hasn’t actually done so, which
  • After the initial Basel Convention was adopted in 1989, many organizations said the treaty didn’t do enough to address the disposal of waste from first world countries into the developing world, and pressed for an update, which eventually became 1995’s Basel Ban Amendment. The tweak — which was attacked by many industrial powers, including the U.S., Canada, and Japan — needed three decades before it was accepted by enough countries to go into effect. In August 2019, Croatia became the 97th country to ratify it, which transformed the updated stipulations into international law in December 2019.
  • EPA regulations are incomplete
  • Federal attempts at regulation have stalled, been killed
  • U.S. pushes back against international efforts
  • As a part of the 2003 Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive), the public was guaranteed free recycling services, and conveniently located collection centers. Around the same time, the EU also passed the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS), aka the “lead-free directive,” which restricts the use of several toxic materials in the manufacture of circuitry and electronic products.
  • In Japan, the Association for Electric Home Appliances requires consumers to help pay for the processing of their goods and manufacturers to set up recycling programs. Electronics recycling has been promoted as such a point of national pride — because Japan is both a huge consumer of gadgets and the country has few indigenous precious metals — that there’s serious talk of making the 2020 Tokyo Olympic metals out of recycled materials. An estimated 80,000 cell phones need to be pulled apart and picked over to complete the plan.
  • State-level e-cycling programs are uneven
  • Certified e-cycling programs are important, but also confusing
  • If you’re the compliance officer who has to make sure the company’s used servers don’t wind up getting tossed in an Indonesian landfill, and you won’t have to nervously answer questions in a “60 Minutes” exposé, you probably want to get that e-waste removed by a disposal team with one of these
  • That all sounds great until you listen to Puckett, who helped create the e-Stewards protocols. He’s one of several people who took part in the development of R2 for over two years and then refused to continue when the proposed guidelines seemed to be too tainted by lobbyists, including ones at the Institute of Scrap Recycling (ISRI), an organization that favors a free market approach over regulation. Puckett and 13 recyclers created e-Stewards, which describes itself as the “the cleanest, most globally responsible standard for e-waste recycling.” He points out that the R2 certification still allows recyclers to export to developing countries. E-Stewards’ doesn’t. R2 recyclers can drop toxic e-waste in landfills or incinerators in the event of “circumstances beyond their
  • Scrap recycling lobby doesn’t like regulations
  • The announcer proudly explains e-cycling is a vibrant industry that adds 20.6 billion to the U.S. economy and supports 45,000 jobs domestically, “safeguarding our environment,” along the way.
  • Can anything be done? Possibly
  • Recycling isn’t the only answer for fewer landfills filled with decaying circuits. Chris Wellise, Chief Sustainability Officer for Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), which installs and recovers tech, emphasizes the importance of designing products for longevity, disassembly, and reuse.
  • “On average, 85 percent of the environmental impacts can be addressed in the design phase,” estimates Wellise.
  • Similar challenges exist for smartphones. Review IFixit’s guide for repairability and you can expect the phones that are easy to disassemble are also easier to refurbish or scrap. In an unusual display of transparency, eco-minded electronics company Fairphone sells spare parts on its site and has visual cues printed on the pieces to help novices figure out where everything goes. In case you’re wondering, it’s possible to make a Fairphone work in America, but most of the company’s sales are in Europe.
  • In 2018, Apple gave birth to Daisy, a robot that can disassemble 200 of the company’s phones in an hour — 1.2 million a year. The company has an installation of the machine in Austin, Texas, and another in the Netherlands. Daisy’s supply chain of used products comes from the company’s in-store trade-in program and a partnership with Best Buy.
  • Pretty awe-inspiring, right? Keep in mind that Apple sold over 217 million phones just in 2018 and has moved 2.2 billion iPhone units since the product line launched in 2007. The two Daisy divisions aren’t even working at capacity. Apple is willing to license the robot technology so any company can use it to disassemble phones, but none have approached them yet.
  •  
    "Maybe it's easy to ignore the huge percentage of vintage gadgets that wind up torched in dicey scrap heaps in developing countries". This article was written on Feb-27-2020. The problem we saw on the old video is still very much a problem now, only bigger.
  •  
    This article was super informative in the realm of E-waste. It covered every aspect of the issue and most definitely is relevant in today's world.
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City of London calls halt to smartphone tracking bins - BBC News - 0 views

  • The City of London Corporation has asked a company to stop using recycling bins to track the smartphones of passers-by.Renew London had fitted devices into 12 "pods", which feature LCD advertising screens, to collect footfall data by logging nearby phones.
  • Mr Memari told the BBC that the devices had only recorded "extremely limited, encrypted, aggregated and anonymised data" and that the current technology was just being used to monitor local footfall, in a similar way as a web page monitors traffic.
  • The UK and the EU have strict laws about mining personal data using cookies, which involves effectively installing a small monitoring device on people's phones or computers, but the process of tracking MAC codes leaves no trace on individuals' handsets.
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  • Nick Pickles, director of Big Brother Watch, said: "I am pleased the City of London has called a halt to this scheme, but questions need to be asked about how such a blatant attack on people's privacy was able to occur in the first place.
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