FREE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY BLOG FOR PROFESSIONALS

Ontario’s new advisory panel on improving cybersecurity maturity of municipalities, school boards, hospitals and other provincially-funded agencies has agreed as a first step that its final report will encourage organizations to take a risk-based approach to their efforts. However, how the panel will recommend the government put teeth into that has yet to be determined. In an interview Wednesday shortly after the panel’s first meeting, chairman Robert Wong — executive vice-president and chief information officer of Toronto Hydro — said a risk-based approach is what the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) mandated the 65 local electric distribution companies like Toronto Hydro to do starting in 2018. Each company has to fill out an annual Readiness Report on its cyber and privacy risk status. The self-assessment uses the Ontario Cybersecurity Framework’s security controls. It’s a framework similar to the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) cyber framework for measuri...

A New York state regulator has slammed Twitter for poor cybersecurity protection that allowed young hackers to seize control of several celebrities’ accounts in July to run a  “double your bitcoin” scam. “Given that Twitter is a publicly-traded, US$37 billion technology company, it was surprising how easily the hackers were able to penetrate Twitter’s network and gain access to internal tools allowing them to take over any Twitter user’s account,” said the report by the Department of Financial Services. “Indeed, the hackers used basic techniques more akin to those of a traditional scam artist: phone calls where they pretended to be from Twitter’s Information Technology department. The extraordinary access the Hackers obtained with this simple technique underscores Twitter’s cybersecurity vulnerability and the potential for devastating consequences. Notably, the Twitter Hack did not involve any of the high-tech or sophisticated techniques often used in cyberattacks–no malware, no ...

Graph databases have matured into mainstream information technology. They are no longer esoteric software that’s just emerging from the lab of a startup no one has ever heard of. The post Where are graph databases headed? first appeared on IT World Canada . from IT World CanadaIT World Canada https://ift.tt/33nlSgz via IFTTT

Microsoft Canada recently announced the launch of its Canada Skills Program in 12 post-secondary institutions this fall in hopes of enhancing data and AI skills and employability for more than 4,500 Canadian students. Canada Skills Program delivers training, curriculum, and Microsoft Azure credits, enabling students to graduate with the required data analytics, AI, and cloud certifications. To facilitate the Canada Skills Program at local institutions, Microsoft says it’s training and certifying almost 100 faculty as Microsoft certified trainers at colleges, polytechnics, and universities, as the Canadian economy emerges from the challenges caused by COVID-19. Over the summer, Microsoft has been training faculty from these institutions and getting them certified as Microsoft certified trainers to ensure they’re ready to teach students. These colleges and universities will combine Microsoft’s curriculum alongside existing coursework to skill students and prepare them to take the af...

Graph databases have moved from a topic of academic study into the mainstream of information technology in the last few years. Now business analysts are confronted with the need to better understand: What business problems do graph databases address well? What advantages do graph databases offer over widely-implemented relational databases? What issues emerge as graph… from IT World CanadaIT World Canada https://ift.tt/3a63dYt via IFTTT

Graph databases have moved from a topic of academic study into the mainstream of information technology in the last few years. Now CIOs are confronted with the need to better understand: What business problems do graph databases address well? What advantages do graph databases offer over widely-implemented relational databases? What trends have led to the… from IT World CanadaIT World Canada https://ift.tt/2CNBHCl via IFTTT

Last year, the term “artificial intelligence” was catnip to investors. London venture capital firm MMC published a report in 2019 that found startups claiming to work in AI attracted as much as 50 per cent more funding compared to other companies. That same report also found that 40 per cent of European startups classified as artificial intelligence companies didn’t use AI at all. ==== For four days in July, we’re bringing together national DX thought leaders for one-hour of presentations and discussions. Each day we will focus intently on one aspect of Digital Transformation. Click here for more info! ==== But let’s be serious – artificial intelligence, and more specifically, its more approachable sibling machine learning – is an emerging technology that businesses are desperate to get comfortable with. Or at the very least, begin to understand at a fundamental level. According to a report from Deloitte , only four per cent of Canadians surveyed feel confident enough to expla...

The privacy commissioners of Ontario and British Columbia say the country’s largest medical laboratories failed to protect the personal health information of 15 million Canadian residents in last year’s data theft . After a joint investigation, the two provincial privacy czars issued a statement Thursday saying that by not implementing reasonable safeguards to protect the data LifeLabs violated Ontario’s health privacy law, the Personal Health Information and Privacy Act (PHIPA), and B.C.’s personal information protection law, the Personal Information and Privacy Act (PIPA). Among the findings was that LifeLabs didn’t have adequate information technology security policies and information practices in place. The Ontario privacy commissioner’s office also found that while LifeLabs has largely taken adequate steps to notify affected individuals of the breach, its process for notifying individuals of which specific elements of their own health information were compromised was inadequate...

Utilizing value stream mapping approaches during HIS/EMR projects help to create partnerships and co-design solutions that can yield improved outcomes and implementation success. from IT World CanadaIT World Canada https://ift.tt/2Yj4R3J via IFTTT

The global information technology, consulting and business process services company Wipro today announced the appointment of Thierry Delaporte as the chief executive officer and managing director of the company. “I am delighted to welcome Thierry as CEO and managing director of the company. Thierry has an exceptional leadership track record, strong international exposure, deep strategic expertise,… from IT World CanadaIT World Canada https://ift.tt/3cnJXVK via IFTTT

The meteoric growth in telehealth adoption during the COVID-19 pandemic is a case study in how a crisis can trigger overcoming barriers to the adoption of technology and process improvements. The issues and solutions are applicable to most information technology implementation projects. Telehealth is the use of information and communications technology to deliver health care… from IT World CanadaIT World Canada https://ift.tt/2XjwtoL via IFTTT

CompTIA, the global provider of vendor-neutral skills certifications and training for information technology (IT) professionals, yesterday launched an online testing option for its certification exams in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  from IT World CanadaIT World Canada https://ift.tt/2KcKEWm via IFTTT