What company secret might your employees sell for $150?
Gaining access to business computer networks may not require hacking, just an employee looking to earn some extra cash. A survey of employees in large companies in the US, Australia and Europe by SailPoint found that 1 in 7 employees would sell their password to a third party; the US-only figure rises to 1 in 5. Often the deal would be done for as little as $150! The report also discovered that more than half of respondents use the same password for their work and personal applications with the average user having three passwords that they use for everything. In addition 20 per cent share passwords with colleagues.
The challenge for healthcare ‘big data’
The use of big data in the healthcare sector has large potential for reducing risk and cutting the cost to insurers but a report from the UK highlights one of the barriers. The Nuffield Council of Bioethics says that more needs to be done to win public support for the sharing of personal information including ensuring that the use of such data is transparent and well-regulated with criminal penalties for misuse. The UK government wants to implement a database that allows a patient’s complete medical history from ‘cradle to grave’ to be documented but it has stalled after objections from civil rights groups. The Nuffield report warns that the potentially huge benefits to medical research could be lost if the government get it wrong.
Canadian earthquake linked to fracking
A 4.4 magnitude earthquake in Edmonton and the 100 aftershocks that followed may have been caused by hydraulic fracking. Initial analysis by the University of Calgary suggests that the quake on Jan. 22 was not an entirely natural occurrence. Geophysicist David Eaton told the Edmonton Journal that an earthquake occurring deep in the earth’s crust would likely be natural however this quake was a shallow one and is “consistent with it being introduced by hydraulic fracking.” The Alberta Energy Regulator has issued a statement which also points towards the same cause.
