(re) blog: dialogue with Redemtech

UK Data Breach Costs Rise 68% in Five Years – Ponemon Study

The cost of a data breach for UK businesses has risen by 68% during the past five years, according to a new Ponemon Institute study, which says negligent employees and contractors pose the greatest data security risks to organizations.

Sustainable Healthcare IT

As much as any industry and perhaps more than most, healthcare – from diagnosis to delivery, from cradle to grave, from organizational operations to surgical supply – is inextricably entwined with IT. Healthcare facilities are traditionally strapped for cash, yet compelled by market forces to acquire and adapt the latest technologies. Consider for a moment the changes in healthcare-related services that have emerged in the fewer than twenty years that the Internet has been in the public domain:

Ponemon Survey Finds Organizational Cost Per Data Breach was $5.5 Million in 2011

In its annual study of the average organizational cost of a data breach in the U.S., the Ponemon Institute this week revealed the cost was $5.5 million in 2011, while the cost per compromised record was $194. The latest statistics indicate a decline in the average organizational cost, the first in seven years, but the reason may not bolster new confidence.

Great Questions from Rich Goode’s Sustainability Class @Harvard

Last night I got to weigh in on Green  IT  in Rich Goode’s  “Planning for Carbon Neutrality” course.  “Information” Technology, both personal and organizational, is a major factor in energy consumption.  While looking for more sustainable solutions, much can be done to make better use of the technologies we have without leaping to the next new thing.

Hey! Who’s Driving the Space Station?

The commander was busy installing Enhanced Processor and Integrated Communications cards in one of the seven primary computers on the International Space Station when he was interrupted by another astronaut.

“Sir?” the astrophotographer said. “Aren’t we scheduled to be flying over the auroral ovals to videotape images of the light show caused by those M-class and X-class solar flares?”

“That’s right,” said the commander, looking up from his complicated task. “Why?”

“Well, sir. We seem to have broken out of earth orbit and are headed directly for the sun!”

The commander called out to one of the cosmonauts. “Do you know who’s driving the space station?”

“Not me,” the flight engineer replied. “I was wondering why it was getting so hot in here.”

U.S. GSA Announces New Policy for E-waste Disposition

U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Administrator Martha Johnson last week announced a new government-wide policy designed to protect human health and the environment from the potentially harmful effects associated with the unsafe disposal of Federal Electronic Assets (FEA). The policy addresses disposition of end-of-life electronics used by U.S. government agencies and requirements for federal agencies to use and reuse equipment as long as feasible.

Consumerization or Chaos?

As a former IT asset manager, I always cringe when I hear the term consumerization.  Back in September, when I wrote about BYOD, I called out my concerns with this trend toward consumers purchasing devices they’re also using in the workplace. Since then, however, it’s become quite clear that BYOD is no mere trend.

E-Stewards Subsumes R2 – Why?

Effective March 1, 2012, certification to become an e-Stewards recycler will automatically qualify a recycler as R2 as well. Since the roll-out of the e-Stewards certification in 2010, detailed side-by-side comparisons have obfuscated the fundamental differences in the e-waste recycling standards. Hopefully this step will help clarify the situation. Now, when recyclers become e-Stewards recyclers, they can put a check next to R2 certified and focus on what they do that plain ole R2 recyclers do not. Here are the major differentiators: