Tag: sciences | Page 2

Three from UC San Diego Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

April 23, 2021/in Computer Security

Three portraits, from left: Ananda Goldrath, Eileen Myles and Stefan Savage — From left: Ananda Goldrath, Eileen Myles and Stefan Savage are joining the ranks of fellows of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

Three members of the University of California San Diego community, including two professors and one professor emeritus, have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences—one of the oldest and most esteemed honorary societies in the nation.

Ananda Goldrath, Eileen Myles and Stefan Savage are among the Academy’s 2021 class of 252 members. They join fellow 2021 classmates who are artists, scholars, scientists and leaders in the public, non-profit and private sectors, including: civil rights lawyer and scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw; computer scientist Fei-Fei Li; composer, songwriter, and performer Robbie Robertson; and media entrepreneur and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey.

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences has honored exceptionally accomplished individuals and engaged them in advancing the public good for more than 240 years. Professor Walter Munk was the first UC San Diego faculty member elected to the Academy. Since then, more than 80 faculty from disciplines that span the entire campus have received this prestigious honor.

“This year, our faculty are being recognized for three vastly different fields of study: immunology, literature, and cybersecurity,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “Having the oldest and most distinguished American national academy honor the career accomplishments of these prestigious faculty both honors their individual successes and spotlights the breadth of expertise and influence of our Triton faculty. UC San Diego’s well-established prowess in science, technology and art offers a truly well-rounded experience for our students, our researchers and our collaborative faculty.”

In the statement announcing this year’s new Academy members, David Oxtoby, President of the American Academy said, “The past year has been replete with evidence of how things can get worse; this is an opportunity to illuminate the importance of art, ideas, knowledge, and leadership that can make a better world.”
Following is more information about each of UC San Diego’s newest Academy…

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Life Sciences Industry Becomes Latest Arena in Hackers’ Digital Warfare

March 23, 2021/in Internet Security

Hacking

A global pandemic has left life sciences companies with giant targets on their backs for cyberattacks.

As of December, at least six pharmaceutical companies in the U.S., U.K. and South Korea working on COVID-19 treatments were targeted by North Korean hackers, according to the Wall Street Journal. The hackers were out for sensitive information to sell or weaponize.

Many hospitals running COVID-19 antibody trials have seen at least triple the attempts to access servers compared to previous years. Intelligence agencies have warned health care systems repeatedly about vaccine-related research thefts by nation-state-backed hackers.

In a report, the U.K. government identified life sciences as the main target of intellectual property theft after analyzing 26 different industries. Medical records are now ten times more valuable to hackers than credit card details.

Being a smaller company doesn’t exempt you from the trend. A majority of targeted cyber-attacks are on small and medium-sized businesses. BioSpace has the scoop on keeping your company safe from Ben Hall, a cybersecurity expert.

“One of the reasons why health care is one of those easier targets is typically because they don’t necessarily have a formal IT staff that is dedicated towards security. They are often more operational in nature. Security is a part of their process but not necessarily the focal point,” Hall said. “It opens up that opportunity for criminals to come in and spread whatever malicious intent they’re able to implement.”

Hall recommends all organizations have some type of formal risk assessment done annually, either internally or externally. For those without a dedicated IT security team, cybersecurity companies can help seek out every weakness or potential opportunity for hackers to get in, then work with the company to mitigate those risks.

These security evaluations should be done not only on the network’s security, but also on a user level. Ongoing staff training is essential. Even something as simple as clear instructions on what to do when a work badge is lost is important.

Hall recommends employees use a robust password that isn’t easily guessed. And no, that sticky…

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