As developers for tablets and smartphones we like to keep abreast of the latest mobile technology developments . This is a daily digest of mobile development and related technology news gathered from the BBC, the New York Times, New Scientist and the Globe and Mail to name a few. We scour the web for articles concerning, iPhone, iPad and android development, iOS and android operating systems as well as general articles on advances in mobile technology. We hope you find this useful and that it helps to keep you up to date with the latest technology developments.
Anthem Hack: Health Care Insurers Aren't Required to Encrypt Consumer Data
WASHINGTON (AP) — Insurers aren’t required to encrypt consumers’ data under a 1990s federal law that remains the foundation for health care privacy in the Internet age — an omission that seems striking in light of the major cyberattack against Anthem.
Encryption uses mathematical formulas to scramble data, converting sensitive details coveted by intruders into gibberish. Anthem, the second-largest U.S. health insurer, has said the data stolen from a company database that stored information on 80 million people was not encrypted.
The main federal health privacy law — the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA — encourages encryption, but doesn’t require it.
The lack of a clear encryption standard undermines public confidence, some experts say, even as the government plows ahead to spread the use of computerized medical records and promote electronic information sharing among hospitals, doctors and insurers.
“We need a whole new look at HIPAA,” said David Kibbe, CEO of DirectTrust, a nonprofit working to create a national framework for secure electronic exchange of personal health information.
“Any identifying information relevant to a patient … should be encrypted,” said Kibbe. It should make no difference, he says, whether that information is being transmitted on the Internet or sitting in a company database, as was the case with Anthem.
Late Friday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee said it’s planning to examine encryption requirements as part of a bipartisan review of health information security. “We will consider whether there are ways to strengthen current protections,” said Jim Jeffries, spokesman for chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.
The agency charged with enforcing the privacy rules is a small unit of the federal Health and Human Services Department, called the Office for Civil Rights.
The office said in a statement Friday that it has yet to receive formal notification of the hack from Anthem, but nonetheless is treating the case as a privacy law matter. Although Anthem alerted mainline law enforcement agencies, the law allows 60 days for notifying HHS.
The statement from the privacy office said the kind of personal data stolen by the Anthem hackers is covered by HIPAA, even if it does not include medical information.
“The personally identifiable information health plans maintain on enrollees and members — including names and Social Security numbers — is protected under HIPAA, even if no specific diagnostic or treatment information is disclosed,” the statement said.
A 2009 federal law promoting computerized medical records sought to nudge the health care industry toward encryption. Known as the HITECH Act, it required public disclosure of any health data breach affecting 500 or more people. It also created an exemption for companies that encrypt their data.
Encryption has been seen as a controversial issue in the industry, particularly with data that’s only being stored and not transmitted. Encryption adds costs and can make day-to-day operations more cumbersome. It can also be defeated if someone manages to decipher the code or steals the key to it.
In fact, Anthem spokeswoman Kristin Binns said encryption would not have thwarted the latest attack because the hacker also had a system administrator’s ID and password. She said the company normally encrypts data that it exports.
But some security experts said a stolen credential by itself shouldn’t be an all-access pass to encrypted data.
Martin Walter, senior director at RedSeal Networks, a Silicon Valley cybersecurity firm, said encryption can be tuned to limit the data that even authorized users can view at one time. That makes it harder for an outsider to copy a whole stockpile of records.
Under the HITECH law, the government set up a public database listing major breaches, known informally as the “hall of shame.” Breaches on that list affected more than 40 million people over a decade, meaning that the Anthem case could be twice as damaging as all previous reported incidents combined.
Indiana University law professor Nicolas Terry said it seemed at the time of the 2009 law that the government had struck a reasonable balance, creating incentives for encryption while stopping short of imposing a one-size-fits-all solution. Now he’s concerned that the compromise has been overtaken by events.
“In today’s environment, we should expect all health care providers to encrypt their data from end to end,” said Terry, who specializes in health information technology.
If the voluntary approach isn’t working, “HHS should amend the security rule to make encryption mandatory,” he said.
___
Associated Press writers Brandon Bailey, Ted Bridis and Tom Murphy contributed to this report.
Bridging the Gap for Top-Ranked Female Stem Students Requires Disruptive Strategies
Busting the myth that girls don’t do science, technology, engineering or math (STEM), the release of the first ever national rankings of top science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) students by STEM-Premier reveals 23 of the top 50 students are female.
The students, representing all 50 states with STEM Premier profiles, were ranked and rated based on an algorithm of over 30 profile metrics including achievements, experiences and more.
The talent is there. However, those girls will still be required to fight the odds. Reports show the share of STEM bachelor’s degrees awarded to women has been ticking down over the past decade. Inequalities and bias in STEM-related fields continue; and statistics show nearly one in five women in STEM leave the workforce.
And yet, the demand/supply gap between projected need for talent with necessary STEM knowledge, skill, and abilities continues to grow. The top concern cited by CEO’s and business leaders across the country continues to be finding talent with the critical thinking and problem solving skills necessary to operate in the 21st century global business environment. These crucial skills are highly-identified in candidates with an educational background focused in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
Students demonstrating interest in STEM education bring with them new ideas, perspectives and a passion for innovation; but barriers remain for these students to connect with in-demand careers in high-growth industry sectors.
How do we bridge the gap?
1) Mentorship — Navigating the waters through higher levels of education and into the workforce can be daunting. Creating formal structures allowing currently successful women in STEM to devote time, energy and knowledge to upcoming students benefits not only the student, but the mentor and business as well as they garner insights and ignite innovation.
2) Highlight women who do well in both traditional and non-traditional STEM fields — In STEM fields, women earn 33 percent more than comparable women in non-STEM jobs. Women experience a 14 percent wage gap in STEM, as opposed to a 21 percent wage gap outside of STEM.
But the opportunity for those with a STEM education doesn’t end there. High demand for STEM knowledge, skills and abilities also allows STEM talent to divert from STEM jobs because while directly-related STEM jobs are high-paying, these highly marketable skills allow women to transition to different and often more lucrative career pathways, including management and entrepreneurial endeavors.
A prime example of the skills and capacities fueled by a STEM education being strongly utilized in other arenas is Indiana’s current Lt. Governor, Sue Ellspermann. Ellspermann holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Purdue University, and master’s and doctoral degrees in industrial engineering from the University of Louisville. Her skill set has served her well in a variety of arenas as she previously served at General Motors, Michelin and Frito-Lay, started a consulting business, and later became the founding director of the Center for Applied Research and Economic Development at the University of Southern Indiana before becoming Lt. Governor.
3) Create pathways that bridge the gaps between education to career — Students who possess the necessary STEM knowledge, talent, and skills to excel at the college and university levels, and throughout their careers, continue to face challenges in being discovered by universities and corporations seeking talent, especially in underserved and underrepresented areas. Programs such as STEM Premier, a cradle-to-career solution that assists students in designing a career pathway, educators in recruiting top talent to their schools, and employers in connecting with the talent they need, serves to level the playing field.
Tasked with creating uncommon strategies to attract and develop top-tier, phenomenal talent, Terri Hollinden, Vice President of Talent at STIMULUS Engineering sought out unique solutions tied to STEM. Hollinden stated, “As the global economy shifted, we recognized a need to develop long-term strategies to talent acquisition that are just as innovative. Utilizing an online platform such as STEM-Premier gives us the advantage of creating a stable, continuous talent pipeline by developing relationships with existing and future talent with the skills needed to create a high-velocity organization designed to compete in today’s global business environment.”
4) Employ diversity and inclusion strategies in talent acquisition and retention - Intensifying emphasis on these strategies ensures that those with the competencies vital to future business success are not overlooked.
PriceWaterhouse Cooper’s 18th Annual Global CEO Survey released at the World Economic Forum in Davos revealed that executives are increasing their focus on diversity and inclusion strategies as a crucial component to amassing the right mix of talent that can be altered based on business needs.
“Remaining competitive in today’s business environment requires utilizing unique and disruptive external sourcing strategies that include connecting with underserved and underrepresented segments of the population in the development of the talent pipeline,” said Steve Ferguson, Chairman of the Board of Cook Group Inc.
Supporting women STEM students is an essential part of out-innovating the rest of the world. In business and as a society, these are just a few of the ways the road can be made smoother and more appealing for young girls already demonstrating their top-level STEM talents.
Android Ad's Unlikely Animal Pals Will Warm You Up Inside
We already know that lots of people adore different animal species interacting with each other.
So it’s no surprise that the new ad for Google’s Android, “Friends Furever,” has gotten more than 2 million views since it was first posted to YouTube Thursday. Among the adorable pairings featured are a dog and a dolphin swimming, an elephant and sheep digging dirt and a bear and a tiger nuzzling. Scored with Roger Miller’s folksy “Oo-De-Lally” from the 1973 Disney movie “Robin Hood,” the spot ends with the message: “Be Together. Not The Same.”
Yes, it’s a commercial, but you’ll be charmed. Unless, of course, you hate cute and unlikely animal buddies.
(h/t AdWeek)
Would Sitting In A Fun Swing Make Your Stupid Meetings Less Boring?
It’s hard to imagine that any meeting using The King Arthur Round Table could be dull. Even if the people were dull, and the subject was dull.
Data Breach At Anthem May Lead To Others
Medical identify theft has become a booming business, according to security experts, who warn that other health care companies are likely to be targets.
Buy 1 Year Xbox Music Pass and Get a Free Lumia 635
It seems weekly that Microsoft is running a great deal on the Lumia 635. This week is no exception. Right now on the Microsoft Store you can get a Lumia 635 free when you purchase a 1 year subscription to Xbox Music Pass. The deal is $99 and that gets you one year of Xbox which you can stream to your device (ad-free I might add), create your own stations, download music for offline listening and sync this across all your devices. It’s a great deal by itself but now you get arguably a fantastic music player in the Lumia
The post Buy 1 Year Xbox Music Pass and Get a Free Lumia 635 appeared first on Clinton Fitch.
Best Tweets: What Women Said On Twitter This Week
The Internet has been full of anticipation with the premiere of the “Fifty Shades Of Grey” movie just around the corner. Lyndsay Rush can relate to some of Mr. Grey’s tendencies, tweeting, “‘My tastes are very…singular.’ *make a grand, sweeping gesture at the cupboard full of Haribo gummie.*” On second thought, maybe those are different tendencies.
News broke this week that Beyoncé will be performing at the Grammy awards on Sunday, and everyone was very excited. Mary Charlene gave a great example of how much everyone loves Queen Bey, tweeting: “I bet every time Beyoncé leaves a restaurant everyone fights over who gets to smell her chair.” Truth.
For more great tweets from women, scroll through the list below. Then visit our Funniest Tweets From Women page for our past collections.
I play Missy Elliot’s “Work It,” for my son every game day and today he thinks I’m cool. #momtweets #momjeans #workit
— kelly oxford (@kellyoxford) February 3, 2015
“My tastes are very…singular.”
*make a grand, sweeping gesture at the cupboard full of Haribo gummies*
— Lyndsay Rush (@rushbomb) February 3, 2015
Fifty Shades of Gray is a lot like my marriage, but only cuz I don’t pay attention to either one.
— Bianca LaVagina (@AnitaHelmet) February 4, 2015
for valentine’s day u can get me roses and also equal pay
— Jessica Roy (@JessicaKRoy) February 4, 2015
Ladies who wear underwire bras, remember you always have a shank readily available
— ✴ Just Jane ღ ✴ (@jdforshort) February 3, 2015
I found an old soy sauce packet in my makeup case this morning and had to pretend to be confused
— Meth Lab for Cutie (@kiralc) February 2, 2015
Hard to tell who’s more delusional– people who are madly in love with me or people who aren’t.
— Sophia Benoit (@1followernodad) February 4, 2015
In season 3 of Friends Phoebe says “BFF” and everyone stares until she explains “best friends forever.” I’d forgotten the time before BFF.
— Elise Foley (@elisefoley) February 5, 2015
Lord, give me the strength not to sing along in public when a song I did in show choir comes on
— Mara Wilson (@MaraWritesStuff) February 3, 2015
Rando subway men never seem to hit on you when you’re openly reading @rgay‘s Bad Feminist.
— Paige Jordan (@iampaigejordan) February 5, 2015
Improv is incredibly therapeutic because it’s the only time when men don’t try to deny my reality.
— Colette McIntyre (@calledcolette) February 5, 2015
*answers phone*
No, you hang up.
— ghost mom (@radtoria) February 4, 2015
Me: I’m sad, what should I do?
Stomach: I have an idea
— moody monday (@mdob11) February 3, 2015
cant wait til im hungry again
— Kelgore Trout (@KelgoreTrout) February 2, 2015
The best part of San Francisco is no lines for the women’s bathroom
— Rebecca Searles (@beccabigwords) February 5, 2015
My boyfriend calls the weird noise I make when I eat donuts and cake my “sweets noise” but the scientific term would be “actual orgasm.”
— Adrienne Airhart (@craydrienne) February 6, 2015
There are two kinds of people: people who finish their thoughts and
— Aparna Nancherla (@aparnapkin) February 5, 2015
I bet every time Beyoncé leaves a restaurant everyone fights over who gets to smell her chair
— Mary Charlene (@IamEnidColeslaw) February 3, 2015
When I was young I watched lots of court dramas and I thought “hold you in contempt” meant the judge was gonna give them a REALLY angry hug
— Alexis Wilkinson (@OhGodItsAlexis) February 5, 2015
New Devices Page on Microsoft Accounts Reflect Windows 10 Look
The quiet but consistent rollout of Windows 10 look and feel continues to march across Microsoft’s websites. This morning you can now see the new look Devices page on the new Microsoft account pages that reflect the look and feel as well as the icons for Windows 10. It is certainly more dramatic than the current device look you find on the Windows Phone pages today and is likely the look we can expect to see across all Microsoft digital properties in the coming months. To check out the new account pages, visit https://account.microsoft.com/ and sign in with your Microsoft
The post New Devices Page on Microsoft Accounts Reflect Windows 10 Look appeared first on Clinton Fitch.
‘Average Mohamed' Cartoonist Launches YouTube Attack On The ISIS Propaganda Machine
MINNEAPOLIS (RNS) Mohamed Ahmed, a gas station manager who moonlights as an anti-terror propagandist, is ready to launch another strike against Islamic State terrorists.
He’s just waiting for his tax refund to do it.
Frustrated by a slick social media campaign on the Internet by the Islamic State that authorities say has helped lure dozens of young Muslim Americans to the fight in Iraq and Syria, Ahmed has poured thousands of dollars of his own money over the last six months into producing a series of animated cartoon messages to rebut the extremist group’s messaging.
The cartoons, which Ahmed posts on his averagemohamed.com website and YouTube, star a character named Average Mohamed, a plain-spoken Muslim who speaks out against his religion’s being misinterpreted by terrorists.
The bearded and gap-toothed Average Mohamed argues that the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, is “about genocide” and quotes the Quran in making the case that Muslims who see suspicious activities should alert authorities.
Ahmed said his target audience is kids ages 8 to 16. He has latched onto the idea that it will take a bunch of Average Mohameds to beat ISIS, which on Tuesday (Feb. 3) posted grisly footage on the Internet of militants burning alive a Jordanian pilot who had been held captive by the group.
“It takes an idea to destroy an idea,” said Ahmed, who plans to produce a cartoon to address the attack on France’s satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo as soon as he can scrounge up enough money. “The value of peace is worth it. We’ll take all risks to defend democratic values.”
Ahmed, 39, a father of four young children, is just one of many Muslim parents and leaders in the U.S. who are struggling to find the answers to cure what they see as a plague of Islamic radicalization.
Mohamed Amin Ahmed has created a series of cartoon shorts called “Average Mohamed.” The cartoons are meant to counter the Islamic State’s efforts to recruit young Muslims in the United States. He is pictured at the 24th Street Mall, a Somali mall in Minneapolis.
Even before the most recent attacks, law enforcement officials and community activists throughout the U.S. had been jolted by the dozens of Americans who have sought to join the Islamic State.
Just days after the Paris attack, law enforcement officials announced the arrest of Christopher Cornell, an alleged ISIS sympathizer from Green Township, Ohio. Cornell, who was arrested after buying two semiautomatic rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, had told an FBI source that he wanted to stage an attack on government buildings in Washington.
Last month, a 19-year-old suburban Denver woman was sentenced to four years in prison after she attempted to travel to Syria last year with the intention of assisting Islamic State militants. Shannon Conley admitted to the judge at her sentencing that she had been led astray.
“I am grateful to the FBI for keeping me from traveling to Syria and potentially saving my life,” a tearful Conley said during her sentencing hearing. “I disavow the radical views I have come to know.”
An opportunity deficit
The growing push to address radicalization comes as the White House has tapped the Twin Cities along with Boston and Los Angeles to take part in a pilot program centered on preventing young Muslim Americans from being radicalized.
Imams from Minneapolis’ mosques have been holding regular dinner meetings with Andy Luger, the U.S. attorney for Minnesota, over the last several months to plan the way forward for the program.
Luger said he’ll unveil details this month about the Twin Cities program, including plans to build up job and youth programs in the region’s Somali community, which has suffered high unemployment, disproportionate levels of poverty and low graduation rates since Somalis settled in the area in the mid-1990s.
Several members of the Somali community are expected to join Luger in Washington on Feb. 18 for a White House summit on countering violent extremism. The Obama administration also included at least $4 million to fund research of domestic radicalization in its 2015 budget proposal.
“We’re looking at the root causes of radicalization in the first place,” Luger said of the pilot program. “A lot of what we’re doing here is in response to what the community has told us about why some of these young men and women are being recruited and why are they prone to being open to the message of recruiters.”
The lack of opportunity plays a central role in creating an environment that has made young people vulnerable to ISIS recruitment, said Abdirizak Bihi, director of the Somali Education and Social Advocacy Center.
“A lot of people are thinking that these young men went to Google one day and find ISIS and they are radicalized,” said Bihi, whose nephew was killed after joining al-Shabab in 2008. “It’s not that simple. Resources are key to solving this problem.”
Watching the detectives
But even as local Muslim leaders and law enforcement look for ways to strengthen connections in the name of preventing radicalization, civil liberty advocates and some Muslim groups are warning that the approach could lead to the federal government’s monitoring innocent Muslim Americans.
In 2008, at the height of concern over Somalis from the Twin Cities traveling overseas to join the Islamic militant group al-Shabab, the St. Paul Police Department won a $670,000 grant for what was called the African Immigrant Muslim Coordinated Outreach Program. According to a grant proposal from the department obtained by New York University’s nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice, the program planned to maintain a list of individuals who refused to cooperate with the program.
Some Muslim communities are showing skepticism about law enforcement’s intentions, even as they become more vigilant of young people in their community who could be drifting toward radicalism.
One of Chicago’s most prominent Muslim organizations launched a program in October to teach children about Internet safety. Gihad Ali, the youth programs director for the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, said about 750 young Muslims have gone through the training.
Participants are taught that written or verbal support for a group listed by the U.S. government as a foreign terrorist organization can be grounds for charges. They are also told that the FBI uses informants to look for people who might be interested in colluding with terror groups.
“People can pretend to be whatever/whoever they want to be online,” a tip sheet distributed to students at the training warns. “Some of these people have bad intentions and are trying to harm you or anyone who falls into their trap. People might even pretend to be from other countries or represent groups that they do not really represent. Any information you say to them can be used against you.”
Ahmed, the creator of the Average Mohamed cartoon series, argues that American Muslims have to show a measure of trust with the government to deal with the radicalization problem.
“It goes without saying that the feds come with cheese and a trap,” Ahmed said. “But at the end of the day, they’re the only real game in town. They’re the only ones with the resources that can help us save our kids from ISIS.”
VIDEO: How much is a retro-computer worth?
There is money to be made from the rising fashion of collecting older technology as it goes out of production.
VIDEO: Why sheep could be fitted with WiFi
A team of researchers in North Wales are planning to connect sheep to the internet.
Thanks for reading our digest. Opinions in the articles above are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Digital Workshed ltd.