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FOCUS
TECH TIPS
2017 Brings Exciting New
Technologies and Challenges
By Mark Pardee
Some interesting statistics – according
to gwava.com, an archiving and
messaging security company, in 2016 there have been:
● 500 million Tweets sent each day
● 4 million hours of content uploaded
to Youtube every day
● 3.6 billion Instagram Likes each day
● 4.3 billion Facebook messages posted daily
● 5.75 billion Facebook Likes every day
● 40 million Tweets shared each day
● 6 billion daily Google searches
By one estimate, more than 2,500,000,000,000,000,000 (2.5 quintillion)
bytes of data are created each day! According to InternetWorldStats.com, as of Jun. 30, 2016, there were an estimated 3.68 billion Internet users worldwide – about
half of the world population.
New and Intelligent Technologies
Autonomous vehicles will continue to advance and Michigan, being home to some of the largest auto manufacturers and with favorable regulations, is on the leading edge of this technology. 2017 may be the year that you get passed by a driverless car!
While some are still years away from being perfected, micro robots are doing some amazing things. Here is a link to a video that shows these little machines doing tasks such as inspecting bridges, pollinating crops and even swimming through our bodies to deliver medications to an exact location: https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3IhGZY0TCE.
Virtual and augmented reality devices are now being advertised and sold with some
smartphones. This technology can transform the way individuals interact with each other and with software systems, creating an immersive environment. This can be used in training simulations. Think of the benefits of putting a current or prospective manager in the middle of a virtual employee argument and learning how they handle it!
Samsung is said to be coming out with a foldable phone. Is this the end of broken screens?
Challenges
The Internet of Things (IoT) presents a world of opportunity for the good guys and the bad guys. Today you can attach any number of devices – light bulbs, thermostats, garage door openers, toasters, refrigerators, security cameras – to the Internet to make life easier. Businesses are also attaching more and more of their manufacturing machines to the Internet so they can be remotely monitored, send data to each other and learn from each other.
The challenge is securing all of these devices. Last year a massive Internet outage caused by home security cameras and DVRs that were infected with malware (because they still used their default passwords) affected sites like Twitter, Amazon, Tumblr, Reddit, Spotify and Netflix. IoT will require a new and adaptive approach to security to continue its fast paced growth.
Ransomware is malware that is installed by tricking people to click on an infected file or link. It scrambles some or all of the data the person has access to and then demands a payment (ransom) for a code to unscramble it. In 2015 it is estimated that the group behind CryptoWall (one type of ransomware) generated $325 million in paid ransoms. As of 2016, it is estimated that
ransomware has attacked 48 percent of all businesses...with no end in sight.
The European Union Privacy Shield and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will become effective on May 25, 2018. Why are we talking about a EU regulation in an article for Michigan business owners? If you answer yes to any of these three questions, then your business may have to comply with this new regulation:
1. Does my company offer goods or
services to EU residents?
2. Does my company monitor the
behavior of EU residents (monitoring
website traffic)?
3. Does my company have employees
in the EU?
The GDPR provides the security and control of EU residents’ personal data. This includes the United Kingdom in spite of BREXIT. Depending on the type of data gathered, it requires specific policies, processes and procedures to be in place to protect the data. If there is a suspected breach, it requires specific steps to be taken with timely reporting and notification. If a business is not compliant and suffers a data breach the fines are substantial; up to 20 million Euros or four percent of global revenue, whichever is greater.
Deciding how to embrace the new technologies while dealing with the challenges will make 2017 another exciting year in technology! — SBAM
Mark Pardee is Technology Consultant for NuWave Technology Partners.
Small Business Association of Michigan 23