Tag Archive for: Balancing

A City’s Journey to Smart Solutions: A Bottoms-Up Approach to Balancing Privacy, Security and Public Safety

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This article is the fifth in a series that follows the City of Oakland’s journey to balance privacy and security in the aftermath of a public safety crisis – from the formation of the first citizen-led privacy commission in the nation that was created in response to planned expansion of surveillance throughout the city, to a bottoms-up, citizen-led initiative from one district to deploy smart surveillance technology throughout all districts of the city. Read the first installment here, the second installment here, the third installment here, and the fourth installment here.

As the article preceding this Oakland series quoted The Dark Knight, this article will wrap up the series with another: “The night is darkest before the dawn…I promise you, the dawn is coming.” These words vowed by the character Harvey Dent/Two-Face were meant to assure citizens of the crime-ridden city of Gotham. But when will the dawn come for Oakland, a city in the midst of a long-lasting public-safety crisis?

The drones that took flight in Oakland in March 2022 came from a community left reeling in the aftermath of a dual pandemic of COVID-19 and anti-Asian hate, amid a tsunami of violent crimes that tore through all districts of the city. While crimes rose throughout the nation during the pandemic, Oakland scores No. 1 as the most dangerous on a crime index with a scale of 1 to 100. Oakland residents have a 1 in 77 chance of being a victim of violent crime – a rate that is almost three times higher compared to the state of California with a rate of 1 in 227.[1]

It was citizens from Oakland Chinatown who made the surveillance technology possible. A private donation of $80K enabled the launch of the drone program with the Oakland Police Department (OPD), after the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) was finally approved by the Privacy Advisory Commission (PAC) and City Council, although the source of the donated funds for the drones is under an open and ongoing investigation with the City of Oakland. It was the latest effort by the residents of Oakland Chinatown in response to the rise in violent crimes and targeted hate-crime attacks against Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI)….

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Balancing Speed, Security and Innovation

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Today, digital transformation (DX) is happening in every industry. Organizations operating in sectors that typically eschew technology are moving to the cloud, leveraging IoT and using analytics. Digital transformation plays a critical role for any company to stay competitive and resilient.

But what does digital transformation look like for most companies, and more importantly, how does cybersecurity fit in? What is the best approach when more networks, apps, data and endpoints need to be secured?

What is Digital Transformation?

Digital transformation holds different meanings for different people. But at its core, digital transformation describes the process of improving or upgrading your business by taking advantage of the latest applications, services and technologies. 

When you think about it, digital transformation is nothing new. Remember when organizations shifted from mainframe to PC computing back in the 80s? That was an earlier form of digital transformation. 

But today, digital transformation typically leverages third platform technologies like cloud. Third platform technologies also include data analytics, along with other acceleration technologies like IoT and mobile apps. Altogether, this technology is used to transform business operations. 

There are three primary goals of digital transformation: agility, flexibility and scalability. Agility to meet customer and market demands, flexibility to accommodate the new and ever-changing demands of the workplace and workforce and scalability to enable your organization to get more done.

First, it’s crucial to understand what is driving digital transformation. It’s also important to note that while the two terms mean different things, in most cases, digital transformation and cloud transformation can be used interchangeably.

All About the Cloud

With cloud technology, the barrier to entry for digital transformation is lowered enough so industries that typically have little to do with technology can reap the benefits of modern solutions. Today, the cloud enables blazing-fast transmission speeds, abundant storage capacity and extensive mobile functionality. 

Not surprisingly, these…

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Balancing Security and User Behavior in Remote Work

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Just when security was finally being recognized as a priority within business operations, remote work hit what amounted to a giant reset button. As work from home (WFH) became necessary, productivity was prioritized over everything else. Getting employees online, making sure everyone had the necessary equipment and access, even setting up cloud options where there was only on-premises access in the past, came first. Security went back to being an afterthought for a lot of companies.

The result was a rise in malware incidents and other poor security behaviors. A new Cloud Security Report 2021 from Wandera found 52% of organizations dealt with a malware incident in 2020, up from 37% in 2019. Phishing attacks were more frequent on weekends than on weekdays. And when compared to pre-pandemic times, connections to inappropriate content during office hours have increased 100%.

WFH Reduced Security Oversight

This change is due in part to WFH and reduced security oversight, and in part to changes in employee behaviors, according to Michael Covington, vice president at Wandera.

“There were definitely some cases where we observed attackers taking advantage of the insatiable demand for information related to the pandemic; the many fake COVID-19 tracing apps that appeared in Q2 are just one example of how one global incident drove users around the world to download malicious software en masse,” Covington explained in an email interview.

When it comes to behavior changes, the move to use of a single device for the bulk of online activities blurred the lines between personal and work more than ever. With security policies relaxed at work, this resulted in a newfound personal freedom to install the apps employees want. Often, those include malware.

The impact of widespread SaaS adoption also has security implications, according to Covington. “With more applications that are available to users, without IT vetting and security review, the greater the likelihood malicious software will appear on work devices, whether mobile or not,” said Covington.

Malicious Appeals to Remote Workers

Wandera customers most frequently encountered spyware in 2020, according to the report. There were also a…

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8 tips for balancing career and family while working from home

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  • Professional women are facing even more challenges during the pandemic, say well-being experts and authors Liz Koehler and Clare Davenport.
  • At the University of Pennsylvania, they conducted research into the unique macro and micro transitions faced by women in their careers and their impact on overall job satisfaction and quality of work.
  • Koehler and Davenport found that creating unapologetic boundaries, working in an uplifting environment, and investing wisely in friendships are key habits to develop for a well-balanced career.
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Well-being is slumping at worrying rates for women. With COVID-19 and its resulting “she-cession,” some women may feel like we’ve backtracked 30 years — juggling our roles and responsibilities of work, family, and beyond. 

Clare Davenport

Clare Davenport.

Clare Davenport


Elizabeth Koehler_Liz_027_5x7_HighRes

Elizabeth Koehler.

Elizabeth Koehler


People like to reference Rembrandt and Shakespeare who produced masterpieces during plagues, but they weren’t burdened by a constant plurality of roles, working a “second shift,” and often a third. The world is drenched in male-oriented models for a well-lived life, yet these often fail for women. 

As well-being experts, business professionals, and mothers, we took it upon ourselves to discover a new model at this tumultuous time. We led research in 2020 at the University of Pennsylvania with female executives to examine how life’s constant changes, choices, and distractions ignite emotions that affect women’s well-being. We found that women can face more transitions than men, and often feel unsupported at the workplace and beyond. This, in turn, can affect job satisfaction, work quality, and productivity. 

However, by combining creative problem-solving with an unapologetic focus and time management framework, we can successfully manage our conflicting duties and busy schedules and take back our lives, even during the pandemic.

Read more: Working moms are disproportionately affected by the pandemic….

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