The security threats that are coming to a car near you Rolling hack-magnets, micro-virtualization and CRM data quality issues
By Nestor Arellano / September 18, 2015 / 0
The most hackable connected vehicles on the road Are you drooling over the new luxury SUV with the onboard satellite-based navigation system, WiFi connectivity and Bluetooth features? Or do you have your eyes on that hybrid vehicle equipped with self-parking and pre-collision warning systems? Don‟t drive for the dealership until you‟ve read the study conducted by PT&C|LWG Forensic Consulting Services which lists the five most hack-prone vehicles on the road. “The cars with the highest risk of digital threat tend to have the most features networked together, especially where radio or Wi-Fi can be connected to physical components of vehicles,” according to the report. In other words, the bad guys can use networked components such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and telematics to control a vehicle‟s other components like tire pressure monitor, temperature controls, steering and brakes. One interesting takeaway from the report – vehicles with Linux-based systems are least likely to get hacked. Will micro-virtualization help secure your network?
The two most common sources of threats to a system are viruses and online attacks stemming from malicious attachments downloaded and opened by employees. IT teams could look to micro-virtualization technology to help them harden endpoint security. Just as virtualization creates virtual divisions between computing resources such as network control, memory and processing power, micro-virtualization abstracts applications and their processes. The technology makes it possible for applications to be operated inside completely isolated environments and to stop malware from entering a system this traditional entry point. Proprietary software called a microvisor, which was developed by endpoint security firm Bromium, powers micro-virtualization. Bromium has recently partnered with Microsoft to incorporate microvirtualization in the new Windows 10 operating system. Social engagement must-haves in the social space CIOs looking to push their company‟s customer experience initiative forward need to realize that customer experience doesn‟t stop at their owned brand destinations but continues well into various social channels which many businesses have no control of. A recent article in the CIO Today points some key areas decision makers can focus on. For instance, most customers expect firms to respond on social channels within 60 minutes. Yet, only 17.6% of brands meet this expectation and 20% of brands do not even respond. Fostering deeper customer relations in social media begets almost immediate positive reaction. For example, customers that receive a response to a complaint across social media and review sites are twice as likely to recommend the business and 34% will delete their negative review. Mr. Spock and the modern contact centre Cold, robotic, impersonal, rigid, but effective. These are the hallmark characteristics of actor Leonard Nimoy‟s Mr. Spock character in the 1960s TV series Star Trek. Unfortunately, they can also be used to describe the service people get with today‟s contact centres, according to Zack Taylor, global business development manager for Cisco‟s business transformation architecture group. Although “effective” is open for debate. He says companies need to revisit their notions of “scripted and tightly controlled customer conversations.” “Since most of the calls, chats and texts come into contact centres as exceptions after customers have attempted other business processes, it is imperative agents use positive language and more conversation approaches,” says Taylor. “This is critical with customers who may be as „off the handle‟ as Captain Kirk could become.” The best of expertIT Those data quality issues you’re ignoring may be costing you customers Many large companies today rely on customer relations management (CRM) solutions to grow the business.
Canadian firms that want to determine how effectively the technology can help them can benefit from some of key issues that surfaced when the Sales Management Association in the U.S. and research firm ZS Associates surveyed more than 115 large companies that use CRM. While the report highlights data concerns such as only 40% of CRM users felt their data on existing customers was accurate, it also provides guidance on how companies can deal with these issues. Let a Canadian footwear retailer walk you through the key steps to digital success With no less than 1,800 stores in 93 countries, Montreal-based shoe company Aldo Group is a runaway Canadian success. In a webinar, Serge Rose, general manager of customer applications for Aldo, explained how the company was able to harness the power of data and analytics to improve customer experience and boost the bottom line. Aldoâ€&#x;s transformation, which started four years ago, involved data cleansing and aggregating customer data coming from various channels, analyzing data, creating predictive models and ultimately making the information searchable and viewable to staff at the Aldo call centre which fields more than 1,000 customer queries each day. Beyond the runway: Why wearables will give the enterprise a makeover If you think wearables are just for fun and wonâ€&#x;t be an enterprise entity any time soon, think again. The wearable technology market may still be in its infancy, but employees are already bringing the devices into the workplace and BYOD will become BYOW sooner than you think. Companies are already turning to wearables for productivity apps and authentication, Salesforces.com is allowing Apple Watch users to access analytics dashboards from their wrists. Tom Emrich, the founder of the We Are Wearables user community, foresees augmented reality glasses like the Google Glass being used in the military, healthcare and oil and mining industries. Where Canadian banks should expand the omni-channel experience A recent FIS Consumer banking PACE Index report indicates that mobile banking has become an almost standard feature in Canadian banks and therefore the service can no longer serve as a competitive edge in the marketplace. Whiles customers are satisfied with the omni-channel conveniences offered by banks, the report cautioned these wonâ€&#x;t be enough to retain clients in the long term. For one thing these financial institutions also face competition from the likes of Apple and Google which have entered the mobile payment space. FIS researchers recommend Canadian banks can react by developing analytics-backed personalized financial services and extending omni-channel conveniences to other services such as financial management.