Happy Friday the 13th! It must be your lucky day, because it’s time to take a look at what you may have missed in the world of technology outside healthcare.
Here are five interesting general technology stories that people in healthcare should pay attention to, since these issues could have an impact on health tech in the future.
BioLabs Pegasus Park Cultivates Life Science Ecosystem
Gabby Everett, the site director for BioLabs Pegasus Park, offered a tour of the space and shared some examples of why early-stage life science companies should choose North Texas.
1. “The Petya ransomware just got a whole lot worse” (PCWorld)
In previous versions, if Petya failed to obtain administrator privileges, it stopped the infection routine. However, in such a case, the latest variant installs another ransomware program, dubbed Mischa, that begins to encrypt users’ files directly, an operation that doesn’t require special privileges.
“There is nothing a ransomware developer hates more than leaving money on the table and this is exactly what was happening with Petya,” said Lawrence Abrams, the founder of the tech support forum BleepingComputer.com, in a blog post. “Unlike Petya, the Mischa Ransomware is your standard garden variety ransomware that encrypts your files and then demands a ransom payment to get the decryption key.”
2. “Hitachi Launches IoT Business Unit, Lumada Platform” (eWeek)
Company executives for the past year have talked about bringing the various IoT-related efforts under a single umbrella that would serve all of Hitachi’s vast businesses. At the Internet of Things World Conference and Expo May 10, company officials announced how they were going to put those desires into action. The company announced the creation of the Hitachi Insight Group, which will be headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and is charged with consolidating Hitachi’s IT and IoT solutions and strategies into a single organization.
As its first order of business, the 7,000-employee Hitachi Insight Group unveiled Lumada, its open and adaptable IoT platform that integrates the company’s various commercial technologies from across its various product portfolios. The result is a common platform that will include data orchestration capabilities, streaming analytics, content intelligence and simulation models, among other software technologies, according to officials.
With the Rise of AI, What IP Disputes in Healthcare Are Likely to Emerge?
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
3. “4 big plans to fix internet security” (CIO)
When the fledgling Internet was populated by academics and researchers communicating with trusted parties, it didn’t matter that trust relationships weren’t well-implemented or communications weren’t secure by default. Today it matters very much, to the point where data breaches, identity theft, and other compromises have reached crisis levels.
To meet the challenge of an Internet teeming with cyber criminals, we’ve applied a pastiche of half-measures. It’s not working. What we really need are fresh, effective trust and security mechanisms.
4. “Siri-creator shows off first public demo of Viv, ‘the intelligent interface for everything’” (TechCrunch)
What stands as one of the clear strengths and differentiating factors of Viv as a platform is the open-armed welcoming of third-party integrations into the virtual assistant fray. [Dag] Kittlaus called on Viv to pay a buddy $20 and all that followed was a tap of the pay button through a Venmo integration and, all of a sudden, his friend had been paid.
Indeed, Kittlaus specified that “perfecting the third-party ecosystem” will be critical to the soul of their mission. Kittlaus said that Viv would one day become a “primary source” for users.
5. “Microsoft adding fingerprint support to Windows 10 Mobile this summer” (MSPowerUser)
With Windows 10, Microsoft introduced Windows Hello, which gives users a personal, secured experience where the device is authenticated based on their presence. Users can log in with a look or a touch using facial or fingerprint recognition. Windows Hello facial authentication support was added to Windows 10 Mobile last year. At WinHEC conference, Microsoft has confirmed that fingerprint support is also coming to Windows 10 Mobile and it will be released this summer.
Photo: YouTube user MrDevStaff
