(This article originally appeared in Forbes)
Here are five things in technology that happened this past week and how they affect your business. Did you miss them?
1 – LinkedIn “breach” reportedly exposes data of 92% of users, including inferred salaries
LinkedIn has been hit again with a security breach that exposed the data of 700 million users which, if proven true, would mean that 92% of the site’s users would have had their data compromised. Reports say that the data breached (and now available for sale on the dark web include phone numbers, physical addresses, geolocation data, and inferred salaries. LinkedIn denies that the data was breach and says in a statement:
“While we’re still investigating this issue, our initial analysis indicates that the dataset includes information scraped from LinkedIn as well as information obtained from other sources. This was not a LinkedIn data breach and our investigation has determined that no private LinkedIn member data was exposed. Scraping data from LinkedIn is a violation of our Terms of Service and we are constantly working to ensure our members’ privacy is protected.” (Source: 9to5mac)
Why this is important for your business:
It doesn’t matter how the data was taken, it was taken. Most professional I know use LinkedIn because it’s a powerful platform for networking and building relationships. All major cloud providers are subject to data breaches and although they’re doing their best to prevent this it’s up to us to ensure that we’re not sharing too much personal information online.
2 – A flying car has completed a test flight between airports.
It really works. It drives. And then, after a two minute conversion, the AirCar turns into a plane that its creator claims can fly as much as 600 miles at a height of 8,200 feet on its BMW engine. It can carry two people with a combined weight limit of 440 pounds and will offer a “pleasant ride” at a cruising speed of about 167 miles per hour. (Source: BBC)
Why this is important for your business:
It will take a while for these vehicles to get approved and become mainstream, but we’ll all be enjoying newer, more affordable and more convenient means of travel in the not-too-distant future.
3 – Watch out for this devious PayPal phishing campaign
There a fake PayPal website that “looks strikingly similar” to the real thing that’s atracting unsuspecting people through email phishing campaigns which also look pretty credible. If you, your employees or your customers get fooled you’ll be handing over your personal financial information to the wrong people. (Source: TechRadar)
Why this is important for your business:
So many of use PayPal as a payment platform for our websites and ecommerce storefronts and schemes like this can have a significant impact on our security. TechRadar’s Sead Fadilpašic recommends training your employees on the dangers of social engineering, and educating them not to click on links in emails or downloading attachments from unverified sources among other steps.
4 – Lenovo is introducing a few cool new tablets
Lenovo announced five new Android tablets at a recent tech event which soon be available for prices as low as $110. One example: The Yoga Tab 13 which has higher performance, longer batterlife adn even more storage than previous versions. (Source: Android Central)
Why this is important for your business:
Your broadband is faster and more accessible. Your employees are working from anywhere. You need good, reliable and affordable devices to keep them connected. These tablets are definitely worth considering.
5 – How AI can predict work safety risks
Artificial intelligence software can reduce safety issues at companies of any size. That’s according to Ryan Quiring, the Co-Founder & CEO of SafetyTek Software. (Source: The HR Director)
Why this is important for your business:
Quiring says that AI software can help make data collection easier, foster collaboration using mobile and web technologies and provide more details and data. “The potential for AI assistants to reshape how we maximize employee safety is tremendous,” he writes. “And by collecting data around safety performance in a digital, normalized structure today, you will have the right information to take advantage of AI assistants tomorrow.”
