Aishwarya Jagani is a tech and science journalist, who writes on the human impact of technology. Her work has appeared in BBC Worklife, The Open Notebook, Wilson Quarterly, BrainFacts and more.
The Biggest Cybersecurity Threats of 2022
2022 has been a great year for advances in cybercrime and increased sophistication in hacking attempts. With attackers using AI (artificial intelligence) to boost their hacking prowess, organizations relying more heavily on cloud services (and opening the floodgates to cloud vulnerabilities), and remote work posing a security threat, there have been many advancements in cybercrime. Organizations need to be more wary than ever, and preparedness is key.
Here is a look at the biggest cybersecuri...
The Biggest Cybersecurity Trends to Watch in 2023
Keeping company data and systems safe has grown to become the #1 priority for most C-suite executives and CIOs globally. Advances in technology mean they are in a constant battle against hackers to come out on top. But, for most organizations, staying safe from external threats comes down to mundane considerations such as good security protocols.
Plugging all existing gaps, and ensuring your organization stays on top of security best practices, is the first step. What comes next, but is equal...
The Christmas Cookie That’ll Start a Fight
Snacking is an integral part of Kerala’s social dynamic and the strong community-based culture of the southern Indian coastal state.
Stopping in unannounced to a neighbor's house for a late afternoon cup of coffee is common, and homes in Kerala tend to always have crunchy, deep-fried snacks on hand to offer visitors - from the wildly popular raw banana chips, to the lesser-known pappada vada (pappadams coated in a second layer of rice flour batter and deep fried). But no other snack evokes a sense of warm nostalgia...
Polar Farming: Growing Produce in the World’s Northernmost Town
On a frigid, remote island that used to import 100% of its fresh vegetables, one American chef set out to keep it local.
Just over 800 miles from the North Pole lies the world’s northernmost settlement, the town of Longyearbyen on the Svalbard archipelago. With average summer temperatures of 3 to 7 degrees Celsius, and more than three months of complete darkness, surrounded by freezing fjords and glaciers, the town is not what most people would think of as hospitable.
None of Longyearbyen’s 2...
Launching Scottish Rockets with Recycled Plastic Fuel
Rocket launches are massive energy guzzlers.
Tons of pounds of fuel are required per launch, and over 50 tons of carbon dioxide is typically emitted. But Edinburgh-based private space company Skyrora is working on a novel solution to minimize the environmental impact of the space industry while tackling one of the world’s biggest environmental issues — the disposal of plastic waste.
The world produces about 400 million tons of plastic waste per year,...
Dying to Save the Earth: Eco-Friendly Green Burials Taking Root
A wave of ecological consciousness is sweeping the world, as more of us see firsthand the effects of climate change and environmental degradation. But did you know you could help save the Earth even after you die? Welcome to the “green burial” movement.
How Blockchain Marketplace Regen is Cultivating A Way to Save Our Soil
Since before recorded history began, humans have farmed. But today, our sheer population numbers and a dangerously warming planet threaten our ability to feed ourselves. One of today’s leading-edge economic constructs—a decentralized marketplace, made possible by blockchain technology—is helping to address the urgent need for more sustainable agricultural practices.
Building a strong payroll talent pipeline
Aside from healthcare and frontline workers, the payroll industry has seen more pandemic disruptions and challenges than perhaps any other industry. What with ever-changing laws and mandates as well as ensuring timely, accurate payments for employees around the world while working remotely — payroll professionals have had an extremely challenging couple of years.
Now, with nearly twice as many job openings as candidates, hiring and retaining talent has become the biggest corporate challenge t...
How to be clever – not creepy – with customer data
Businesses are collecting ever-increasing customer data and marketers targeting consumers with more personalized ads. But when does hyper-targeted marketing cross the line from clever into creepy?
In 2012, an angry customer approached a manager of a Target store in Minneapolis, US, demanding to know why his teenage daughter was receiving coupons for baby clothes and cribs. The manager, who had no idea why, apologized.
Days later, the customer called to apologize, having found out his teenage ...
How Digital Forensics Can Help Win Litigation Cases
Digital forensics, the science of extracting evidence from electronic data, has, for the last few decades, been a key component of criminal investigations. Messages and email exchanges can shed light on intent and motive. Image metadata can indicate when and where a picture was taken, and whether it was altered or edited, serving as evidence in criminal cases.
But digital forensics has increasingly become a crucial part of civil litigation as well and has helped provide case-clinching evidenc...
India's Meaty Issue
A ban on the sale of meat in some Indian states during a Hindu religious festival has made it dangerous to even admit to eating meat.
5 Notable Digital and Crypto Forensics Investigations of 2022
A hacker steals cryptocurrency. A former employee copies trade secrets. A child pornographer downloads and distributes illegal photographs.
In each of these crimes, digital forensic and crypto fraud investigators unearthed critical information that led to the prosecution of the perpetrators.
The cases illustrate the power of forensics in high-stakes criminal and civil investigations. Using complex forensic and decryption techniques, investigators advanced cases from suspicion to conviction.
D...
How one high-tech solution is helping fight fake news
As ways to create and disseminate disinformation get more sophisticated and widely available, it’s getting harder to tell fact and fiction. But the next version of the internet, Web3, might offer a ‘force field’ that could protect citizens from this troubling phenomenon.
Start-ups and established media companies are using blockchain as part of solutions that aim to verify information and filter out false news. Is this what the world needs now, or could it open the door to even more disinforma...
Living With Long Covid
Most children recover from Covid-19 in a few weeks, but some are
left with lingering symptoms. We fi nd out what schools must do
to support students with long Covid.
What Are the 5 Stages of a Digital Forensics Investigation?
Digital forensics deals with the recovery, investigation and analysis of electronic data, and is often used to unearth evidence in litigation cases, criminal cases, or in internal investigations. Electronic data can provide critical evidence and clues in many cases, and aid in the discovery of cybercrime, data theft, crypto crimes, security breaches, instances of hacking, and more. Digital forensics play an instrumental role in getting to the bottom of complex data challenges.
Digital forensi...