By Sarah Jarvis ( October 24, 2024, 9:56 PM EDT) — Broker-dealers and other firms that are weighing incorporating the metaverse into their business operations should be mindful of how Financial Industry Regulatory Authority rules apply to such activities and reach out with any concerns about regulatory ambiguities, the regulator said Thursday…. Law360 is on it, so you are, too. A Law360 subscription puts you at the center of fast-moving legal issues, trends and developments so you can act with speed and confidence. Over 200 articles are published daily across more than 60 topics, industries, practice areas and jurisdictions. A Law360 subscription includes features such as Daily newsletters Expert analysis Mobile app Advanced search Judge information Real-time alerts 450K+ searchable archived articles And more! Experience Law360 today with a free 7-day trial. source

Augmented reality (AR), the real-time integration of digital information into a user’s environment, has many applications in industry, entertainment, transportation, and beyond. Yet AR’s most important application could be providing enhanced healthcare.  AR’s power lies in its ability to provide additional context through images, videos, or 3D models overlaid on the physical world, says Julie Stegman, vice president and general manager in the health learning practice at information services firm Wolters Kluwer. “These tools can be invaluable in healthcare in both education and practice as users interact with anatomical structures, models, or even medical devices,” she explains in an online interview.  AR has the potential to revolutionize the healthcare sector by enhancing the precision of medical procedures, improving training and education for healthcare professionals, and providing patients with more interactive and personalized care experiences, says Shash Anand, a senior vice president at enterprise mobility management technology provider SOTI, in an email interview.  Multiple Applications  “It’s an exciting time for the integration of technology and medicine,” observes David Reitzel, leader of the healthcare consulting group at business advisory firm Crowe. Among many other uses, AR can provide surgeons with enhanced visualization of a patient’s anatomy. “By overlaying 3D images of organs, blood vessels, and other critical structures onto the patient’s body, surgeons can perform procedures with greater accuracy, both in pre-surgery evaluation and potentially during actual procedures,” he explains via email.  Related:2024 InformationWeek US IT Salary Report: Profits, Layoffs, and the Continued Rise of AI AR can also assist in diagnostics by overlaying imaging data, such as MRI or CT scans, directly onto a patient. “This can help doctors identify issues more quickly and accurately,” Reitzel says. The technology can also help patients better understand their medical condition and treatment plans. “For instance, a doctor can use AR to show a patient a 3D model of their heart and explain how a particular treatment will work.”  AR can be used in physical therapy and rehabilitation to create engaging and interactive exercises, Reitzel says. “This can motivate patients and help them adhere to their therapy regimens more effectively.”  Interactive Training  Many observers believe that AR’s most immediate benefit will be in training both current and future healthcare professionals. “AR enables students to interact with virtual content in a real-world setting, providing contextualized learning experiences,” Stegman says. Meanwhile, full virtual reality (VR), will offer a completely immersive training environment in which students can practice clinical skills without the risks associated with real patient care.  Related:Curtail Cloud Spend With These Strategies Stegman predicts that over the long term, AR and related technologies will let nursing schools “help students develop clinical judgement, be ready for the demands of a clinical environment, and ensure improved workplace satisfaction for nurses early in their careers to mitigate the ongoing nursing shortage.”  Early Adopters  As AR begins entering the healthcare mainstream, deep-pocketed large hospitals and specialized medical centers will most likely be the leading adopters, says SOTI’s Anand. He reports that his firm’s latest healthcare report found that 89% of US healthcare industry respondents agree that artificial intelligence simplifies tasks. “This gives a hint that healthcare organizations are already on the path to integrating advanced technologies,” Anand notes. “AR is the next logical step, especially when combined with AI to further enhance patient care through real-time data visualization and decision-making.”  Future Outlook  Predicting an exact timeline for the widespread availability of various AR healthcare technologies is challenging, Crowes’ Reitzel states. “It depends on various factors, including technological advancements, regulatory approvals, cost reductions, and adoption rates.”  Related:Forrester Speaker Sneak Peek: Analyst Jayesh Chaurasia to Talk AI Data Readiness AR technology is rapidly evolving, and improvements in hardware (such as AR glasses and headsets), software, and integration with other medical technologies, are rapidly making AR more practical and effective. “As these technologies mature, they will become more accessible and affordable,” Reitzel predicts.  Global governments will also play a key role in AR’s medical market rollout. “The regulatory landscape for medical devices and technologies is complex,” Reitzel says. “AR applications in healthcare need to undergo rigorous testing and receive approval from regulatory bodies, such as the US’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA).” This process can take up to several years, but ongoing advancements and successful pilot programs can expedite approval.  As with any new technology, initial adoption costs will be high. Yet prices are likely to decrease over time as the technology becomes more widespread and production scales up. “Economies of scale, increased competition, and technological advancements will likely drive down costs, making AR more accessible to a broader range of healthcare providers,” Reitzel says.  Besides cost, a significant challenge will be integrating AR into existing healthcare systems and ensuring that the data used by AR applications is secure and complies with regulations such as HIPAA. SOTI’s report found that potential adopters’ biggest concerns are data security (30%), as well as anxiety about the possibility of compromised patient records (98%). “This shows that there could be roadblocks to AR adoption,” Anand says.  Money Matters  “Emerging technologies are always challenged by funding,” Stegman says, noting that obtaining sufficient operational resources, combined with research on ROI and solutions efficacy, is critical before moving forward with AR. source

Most Americans, including majorities of men, women, Republicans and Democrats, say men and women are different in many ways. But there are gaps by gender and partisanship when it comes to views of whether biology or societal expectations are driving these differences. About two-thirds of U.S. adults or more say men and women are basically different in: How they express their feelings Their physical abilities Their approach to parenting Their hobbies and personal interests A majority (57%) say men and women are basically similar when it comes to the things they are good at in the workplace. Still, a sizable share (43%) sees men and women as different in this area. Views of whether men and women are different or similar vary modestly, if at all, by gender. There are wider gaps in these views by party. By margins of 14 percentage points or more, Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners to say men and women are basically different when it comes to: Their physical abilities (89% vs. 73%) Their hobbies and personal interests (75% vs. 61%) The things they are good at in the workplace (53% vs. 32%) Compared with 2017, when we last asked this question, Americans are now more likely to say men and women are different when it comes to their approach to parenting (+7 points), the things they are good at in the workplace (+6) and their physical abilities (+5). The role of biology and societal expectations in gender differences Among those who see differences between men and women, there is little agreement about whether these differences are mostly based on biology or on societal expectations. For example, of those who say men and women are different in their hobbies and personal interests, their approach to parenting, and the things they are good at in the workplace, about half say these differences are rooted in biology. Similar shares say they are based on societal expectations for men and women in these areas. Differences by gender On each of the items asked about, women are more likely than men to say differences between the two genders are mostly based on societal expectations. Men tend to point to biology as the reason. Gaps are particularly wide when it comes to differences in how men and women express their feelings, their approach to parenting, and the things they are good at in the workplace. On these items, there is at least a 10-point gap in the shares of women and men who point to societal expectations versus biologyas the basis for gender differences (among those who see differences). Differences by party Partisan gaps are even wider. On all items we asked about, majorities of Republicans point to biology as the main driver of differences between men and women (among those who say there are differences). In turn, on nearly every item, majorities of Democrats say differences between men and women are mostly based on the expectations society has for the two genders. The only exception is when it comes to differences in physical abilities. Most Democrats (79%) say this is mostly based on biological differences between men and women. Differences by gender within each party Across the five items in the survey, Republican men are more likely than Republican women to point to biology as the basis for differences between men and women. Still, on nearly every item, majorities of Republican women say these differences are mainly based on biology. When it comes to what drives differences in how men and women express their feelings, Republican women are about evenly divided: 51% point to biology and 48% point to societal expectations. Among Democrats, women are more likely than men to say societal expectations are the basis the differences between the two genders. Though for the most part, Democratic men are more likely to point to societal expectations than to biology as the reason for these differences. Are mothers or fathers better at handling certain parenting duties? While Americans largely say that men and women are different in their approach to parenting, they also tend to see them as equally capable when it comes to certain parenting duties. Shares ranging from 66% to 81% say that, generally, in families with a mother and a father raising children together, both parents would be equally good at: Teaching moral values Helping children with their schoolwork Playing or doing activities with children Disciplining children To the extent that people see a difference, more say the mother would do a better job helping children with schoolwork (20%) than say the father would be better at this (5%). In turn, more say the father would do a better job disciplining children (26%) than say this about the mother (8%). While there are some differences by gender and by party, majorities of men, women, Democrats and Republicans say mothers and fathers would be equally good at these aspects of parenting. The public’s views are more split when it comes to comforting children when they’re sad or upset and to managing the children’s schedules. On these, similar shares say the mother would be better as say both parents would be equally good. Parents of children younger than 18 and those who don’t have young children offer similar views on each of the aspects of parenting we asked about. Differences by gender within each party Differences in views by gender and by party on this question tend to be modest, but Republican men stand out on two items. Comforting children: 59% of Republican men say the mother would be better at this, compared with 50% of Republican women, 43% of Democratic women and 42% of Democratic men. Disciplining children: 43% of Republican men say the father would be better at this, compared with 24% of Republican women, 23% of and Democratic men and 16% of Democratic women. source

By Allison Grande ( October 24, 2024, 10:40 PM EDT) — Ireland’s data protection commission has handed down a €310 million ($335 million) penalty against LinkedIn for allegedly failing to have an adequate legal basis for processing European Union users’ personal data for targeted advertising purposes, the regulator announced Thursday…. Law360 is on it, so you are, too. A Law360 subscription puts you at the center of fast-moving legal issues, trends and developments so you can act with speed and confidence. Over 200 articles are published daily across more than 60 topics, industries, practice areas and jurisdictions. A Law360 subscription includes features such as Daily newsletters Expert analysis Mobile app Advanced search Judge information Real-time alerts 450K+ searchable archived articles And more! Experience Law360 today with a free 7-day trial. source

“How AI-powered Phones are Changing the Modern Workplace“ Learn how completmenting your phone system with an all-in-one collaboration platform with AI capabilities can future-proof your business The way people work together is constantly evolving. Coordinating across different teams and time zones has always been a challenge, and today, remote, hybrid, and in-office workers are trying to sync together in new ways. While these flexible working styles offer benefits, they also create gaps. The good news is that we now have more tools than ever to bridge these gaps. However, figuring out which tools genuinely enhance productivity and which ones fall short is a challenge. It becomes even more difficult when the tools you rely on don’t work well together. In this ebook, we’ll help you: Assess your current phone system and evaluate how it fits into your overall toolkit. Understand how your individual apps and platforms work together in today’s communication landscape. Learn how complementing your phone system with an all-in-one collaboration platform with AI capabilities can future-proof your business and help your teams forge stronger connections. Offered Free by: Zoom See All Resources from: Zoom Thank you This download should complete shortly. If the resource doesn’t automatically download, please, click here. Thank you This download should complete shortly. If the resource doesn’t automatically download, please, click here. Thank you This download should complete shortly. If the resource doesn’t automatically download, please, click here. source

Sustained interest and experimentation in AI will support learning and steady progress in 2025. Generative AI (genAI) and edge intelligence will drive robotics projects that will combine cognitive and physical automation, for example. Citizen developers will start to build genAI-infused automation apps, leveraging their domain expertise. All promising, but challenges remain that will hinder progress in 2025. We are just beginning to understand how to manage a diverse and growing number of AI models and are faced with new questions. What level of autonomy achieves the right balance of risk and efficiency? How and when do we put humans in the loop? How do we reliably extract and provide enterprise data for AI? Despite obvious benefits and enthusiasm, these implementation challenges will hinder 2025 gains. Out of all the AI agent discussion, businesses will find only moderate success, mostly in less critical employee support applications. GenAI’s ability to create autonomous, unstructured workflow patterns and adapt to the dynamic nature of real-world processes will have to wait. Here’s what this means: The key to automation success in 2025 will be balancing AI innovation with the scale and reliability of traditional automation tools and methods. To help you strike that balance, here’s a look at three of Forrester’s top automation predictions for 2025: GenAI will orchestrate less than 1% of core business processes. GenAI will affect process design, development, and data integration, reducing design and development time as well as the need for desktop and mobile interfaces. Yet this genAI efficiency still leaves current digital and robotic process automation platforms orchestrating the core process, subject to their deterministic and rule-driven models. For 2025, decision-makers can balance AI innovation with the scale and reliability of traditional automation tools and methods by recognizing that deterministic automation will remain in control of the core, long-running process while AI models will support bursts of insight and efficiency. One-quarter of robotics projects will work to combine cognitive and physical automation. GenAI innovations, edge intelligence, and advancing communication services are encouraging developers of physical robotics to take a fresh look at embodied AI. This will enable robots to sense and respond to their environment instead of following preprogrammed rules and workflows, exposing them to more complex and unpredictable situations. Decision-makers in asset-intensive industries will begin to see value in the combination and invest in physical automation projects to enhance their operational efficiencies. Citizen developers will deliver 30% of genAI-infused automation apps. The citizen developer train continues to roll and now includes genAI-infused automation apps. They have the necessary domain expertise to envision and develop these solutions. A significant portion of genAI-infused automation apps will be delivered by citizen developers in 2025. Automation centers of excellence and line-of-business management will be challenged to train and safely provision their use and control proliferation of AI models and copilot platforms. The coming year promises to be a dynamic period for automation, characterized by growing enthusiasm and activity surrounding agentic and AI-driven operations. 2025 will serve as a crucial stepping stone to prepare for integration of physical robots, digital systems, and human endpoints. The enterprises that make the most of these automation trends will be those that learn to balance the risk and reward of automation and target the right use cases for their organization. Forrester clients can read our full Predictions 2025: Automation report to get more detail about each of these predictions and read additional predictions. Set up a Forrester guidance session to discuss these predictions or plan out your 2025 automation strategy. If you aren’t yet a client, you can download our complimentary Predictions guide, which covers more of our top technology and security predictions for 2025. Get additional complimentary resources, including webinars, on the Predictions 2025 hub. source

The number of attempted ransomware attacks on Microsoft customers globally have grown dramatically in the last year, according to Microsoft’s Digital Defense report, released on Oct. 15. However, advancements in automatic attack disruption technologies have led to fewer of these attacks reaching the encryption stage. Microsoft reported 600 million cybercriminal and nation-state attacks occurring daily. While ransomware attempts increased by 2.75 times, successful attacks involving data encryption and ransom demands dropped by three-fold. The number of ransomware-linked incidents has steadily grown in recent years. Source: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Significant attack types include deepfakes, e-commerce theft Microsoft says it “tracks more than 1,500 unique threat groups — including more than 600 nation-state threat actor groups, 300 cybercrime groups, 200 influence operations groups, and hundreds of others.” The top five ransomware families — Akira, Lockbit, Play, Blackcat, and Basta — accounted for 51% of documented attacks. According to the report, attackers most often exploit social engineering, identity compromises, and vulnerabilities in public-facing applications or unpatched operating systems. Once inside, they often install remote monitoring tools or tamper with security products. Notably, 70% of successful attacks involved remote encryption, and 92% targeted unmanaged devices. Other major types of attacks included: Infrastructure attacks. Cyber-enabled financial fraud. Attacks on e-commerce spaces, where credit card transactions don’t require the card to be physically present. Impersonation. Deepfakes. Account takeover. Identity and social engineering attacks — most (99%) of which were password theft attacks. SIM swapping. Help desk social engineering, where attackers impersonate customers to reset passwords or connect new devices. Credential phishing, particularly through phishing-as-a-service projects. Often these are triggered by HTML or PDF attachments containing malicious URLs. DDoS attacks, which caused a global outage earlier this year. Antivirus tampering was also a major player in the previous year: Over 176,000 incidents Microsoft Defender XDR detected in 2024 involved tampering with security settings. SEE: Ransomware actors can target backup data to try to force a payment. Must-read security coverage Nation-state, financially motivated actors share tactics Both financially-motivated threat actors and nation-state actors increasingly use the same information stealers and command-and-control frameworks, Microsoft found. Interestingly, financially-motivated actors now launch cloud identity compromise attacks — a tactic previously associated with nation-state attackers. “This year, state-affiliated threat actors increasingly used criminal tools and tactics — and even criminals themselves — to advance their interests, blurring the lines between nation-state backed malign activity and cybercriminal activity,” the report stated. Microsoft tracks major threat actor groups from Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. These nation-states may either leverage financial threat actors for profit or turn a blind eye to their activities within their borders. According to Tom Burt, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of customer security and trust, the ransomware issue highlights the connection between nation-state activities and financially motivated cybercrime. This problem is exacerbated by countries that either exploit these operations for profit or fail to take action against cybercrime within their borders. Expert Evan Dornbush, former NSA cybersecurity expert, offers perspectives on the matter: “This report signals one trend currently getting little attention and likely to define the future of cyber: the amount of money criminals can earn,” he said in an email to TechRepublic.  “Per the Microsoft report, government, as a sector, only makes up 12% of the aggressors’ targeting sets. The vast majority of victims are in the private sector.” The sectors most targeted by nation-state threat actors this year were: IT. Education . Government. Think tanks and NGOs. Transportation. Both attackers and defenders use generative AI Generative AI introduces a new set of questions. Microsoft recommends limiting generative AI’s access to sensitive data and ensuring that data governance policies are applied to its use. The report outlines AI’s significant impacts on cybersecurity: Both attackers and defenders increasingly use AI tools. Nation-state actors can generate deceptive audio and video with AI. AI spear phishing, résumé swarming, and deepfakes are now common. Conventional methods of limiting foreign influence operations may no longer work. AI policies and principles can mitigate some risk associated with the use of AI tools. Although many governments agree on a need for security as an important factor in the development of AI, different governments pursue it in different ways. “The sheer volume of attacks must be reduced through effective deterrence,” Burt explained, “and while the industry must do more to deny the efforts of attackers via better cybersecurity, this needs to be paired with government action to impose consequences that further discourage the most harmful cyberattacks.” How organizations can prevent common cyberattacks The Microsoft report contains actions organizations can take to prevent specific types of attacks. TechRepublic distilled some actionable insights that apply across the board: Disrupt attacks at the technique layer, which means implementing policies such as for multi-factor authentication and attack surface reduction. Similarly, use “secure-by-default” settings, which make multi-factor authentication mandatory. Use strong password protection. Test pre-configured security settings, such as security defaults or managed Conditional Access policies, in report-only mode to understand their potential impact before going live. Classify and label sensitive data, and have DLP, data lifecycle, and Conditional Access policies around high-risk data and high-risk users. Microsoft put its Secure Future Initiative in place this year, after the Chinese intrusion into Microsoft government email accounts in July 2023. source

Amsterdam-based Lapsi Health is looking to firmly position itself in the rapidly-evolving market of smart medical devices. The startup announced yesterday the US launch of its first clinical support tool, a digital stethoscope, after receiving clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) — the US regulator for medical devices. Dubbed Keikku, the digital stethoscope is a portable wireless device that uses sensing technology and AI to listen to body sounds, such as breathing, and turn them into data-based insights. Keikku also comes with features such as the option to share and stream sound clips or to crop and annotate them. These functionalities are available on the stethoscope’s app and web-based platform. The Keikku stethoscope. Source: Lapsi Health The 💜 of EU tech The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol’ founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now! Lapsi Health says that Keikku can improve patient screening and monitoring and is initially able to boost diagnostics for a range of conditions, such as respiratory, cardiac, and gastrointestinal problems. The startup is currently targeting general healthcare professionals. But in the future, the company’s aim is to support individual use by patients, which will enable remote monitoring and treatment. “We are making auscultation available for in-home monitoring with clear results for you to be able to know when to contact your healthcare provider, just as the thermometer,” Diana van Stijn, chief medical officer at Lapsi Health, told TNW.  What Keikku’s app looks like. Source: Lapsi Health Plans for a wide range of medical devices Keikku’s launch marks the first step in the company’s commercialisation journey. Lapsi Health is also developing Ilo, a wearable for fetal health tracking, designed for pregnant women. Another upcoming product, called Air, is a wearable designed for lung tracking. The tools are currently at the validation and prototype stage, respectively. The startup was founded in 2022 by Jhonatan Bringas Dimitriades (CEO), Diana van Stijn (chief medical officer), Rodrigo Alvez (CTO), and Seamus Holohan (COO). To date, the company has raised $5.8mn from pre-seed and seed rounds as well as scientific grants. Update (1o:00AM CEST, October 4, 2024): The article has been updated to include the comment from Diana van Stijn.  source

By Zak Kostro ( October 25, 2024, 3:07 PM EDT) — In this week’s Taxation With Representation, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp. absorbs Sandy Spring Bancorp, Sophos and Secureworks merge, Wendel Group takes a stake in Monroe Capital LLC, and Acuity Brands Inc. buys QSC LLC…. Law360 is on it, so you are, too. A Law360 subscription puts you at the center of fast-moving legal issues, trends and developments so you can act with speed and confidence. Over 200 articles are published daily across more than 60 topics, industries, practice areas and jurisdictions. A Law360 subscription includes features such as Daily newsletters Expert analysis Mobile app Advanced search Judge information Real-time alerts 450K+ searchable archived articles And more! Experience Law360 today with a free 7-day trial. source