Five great industry news stories from this week you may have missed.
.png?width=787&name=Friday%20Top%20Five%20(1).png)
SolarWinds: The more we learn, the worse it looks
As the world focused on the deadly affects of COVID-19 in March of 2020, the Russian government's hack of SolarWind's proprietary software Orion network went under the radar. A recent ZDNet article describes it as the "Pearl Harbor of American IT." Russia, we now know, used SolarWinds' hacked program to infiltrate at least 18,000 government and private networks. The data within these networks, user IDs, passwords, financial records, source code, you name it, can be presumed now to be in the hands of Russian intelligence agents. The more we now learn, the article explains, the worse it looks. Read all the latest developments here.
Why Legal Technology is Inevitably Moving to the Cloud
The legal sector's shift to cloud-based computing has been years in the making. Over the past several decades, the legal industry has witnessed the adoption of internet-based legal tools grow from email, to web-based research, and now to cloud servers and applications. In a recent article by Brian Mauch on Lawyer Monthly, he explains why it's clear to him that "legal technology is inevitably moving to the cloud," and why it took many years for him to come to this realization.
To learn more about the difference between desktop and cloud solutions, read our recent blog To host or not to host? That is the question.
The future of security is about AI, not passwords
The rise of mobile devices in the workplace and companies’ accelerated move to the cloud has opened up a myriad of ways for us to access our virtual workspaces. But, a recent Fast Company article explains, as entryways into businesses proliferate, so do more opportunities for digital break-ins. This is why security in the post-2020 world must be redesigned to no longer rely on the construct of trust and traditional forms of authentication such as passwords. Find out why the era in which trusted devices and 14-character passwords were sufficient has come and gone, and why it's essential to embrace AI to keep your organization's security protected here.
Potential Legal Implications of Telemedicine and Telehealth
The COVID-19 pandemic has required shutdowns to occur radically and rapidly nationwide. A recent Law Technology Today article suggests that many medical professionals have needed to rethink their delivery of care. While the idea of seeing your doctor from the comfort of your home might seem like an easy, low-cost form of medical care, the fact of the matter is that there are some inherent problems associated with this type of care that could eventually lead to severe consequences — particularly in the legal realm. The article explains how the opportunity for fraud and abuse could arise with the increased usage of these virtual meetings. Read the full article here for details.
New chess AI bridges gap between human and artificial intelligence
For more than a decade, advances in artificial intelligence have made computers capable of consistently defeating humans in chess. But it's hard for us to learn from AI that doesn’t complete tasks the way a human would. A new neural network chess engine developed by U of T researchers trades raw power for a more human-like playing style than existing AIs, allowing it to be used as an effective learning tool and teaching aid. According to University of Toronto, the AI can accurately predict the way humans of different skill levels play chess and can even specify the mistakes a player should work on to improve their game. Find out how it's done, here.
To learn about another interesting use of AI, read our previous blog on Why “Women’s” Résumés Were Rejected by Amazon AI.
