Top 5 Must Reads: 8/25/2023

You already know that every day at?InformationWeek?there will be original reporting from our team of journalists and unique commentary you won’t see anywhere else. But in case you missed them, here are some of our favorites from this week:

1. AI Copyrights

Story by?Shane Snider

Key Points:

• US District Judge Beryl Howell on Friday ruled that only works with human authors can receive copyrights in the United States.?
• Stephen Thaler, computer scientist and creator of the DABUS AI system, had appealed the Copyright Office denial.
• “Plaintiff can point to no case in which a court has recognized copyright in a work originating with a non-human,” Howell wrote in her decision.

2. Black Hat '23

Story by?Carrie Pallardy

Key Points:

• A litany of vulnerabilities step into the spotlight during hacker summer camp, the cluster of cybersecurity conferences that includes Black Hat.?
• Some threats are relevant to a smaller audience; others concern nearly all CIOs and CISOs.?
• While each organization’s tech stack, industry, and security posture will determine which threats loom largest, here are four big vulnerabilities discussed at?Black Hat 2023?to consider.

3. Tesla Breach

Story by?Shane Snider

Key Points:

• Tesla on Friday shed more light on its May data breach, showing that the incident involved employee records and blaming “insider-wrongdoing,” according to a?notice?filed with the Maine Attorney General’s Office.
• Tesla has filed lawsuits against the two former employees responsible for the leak and obtained court orders that prevent them from further use, access, or dissemination of the data.?
• The May breach was not the first time Tesla faced major privacy concerns.

4. RPA vs. Job Safety

Story by?John Edwards

Key Points:

• Like people, software robots can read screens, generate keystrokes, navigate systems, identify and extract data, and perform a wide range of other defined actions.
• RPA offers an efficient way to automate repetitive tasks, freeing humans to focus on more creative work, says David Zhao, managing director of IT consulting firm Coda Strategy.
• Any IT task that follows a strict set of steps and is repetitive in nature is up for grabs with RPA, warns Wayne Butterfield, a partner with ISG Automation, a unit of technology research and advisory firm ISG.

5. Scope 3 Emissions

Story by? Richard Pallardy

Key Points:

• First conceived in 1998, this partnership between the?World Resources Institute?and the?World Business Council for Sustainable Development?has since developed a set of standards that assist organizations in measuring and mitigating their greenhouse gas emissions.?
• Scope 3 emissions?constitute a more nebulous category.
• They refer to emissions created by an organization’s partners -- from extraction of raw materials to shipment to banking -- as well as indirect business activities such as travel.

Latest Major Tech Layoff Announcements

Original Story by?Jessica C. Davis, Updated by?Brandon J. Taylor

Key Points:

• As COVID drove everyone online, tech companies hired like crazy. Now we are hitting the COVID tech bust as tech giants shed jobs by the thousands.
• Updated Wednesday, August 23, 2023?with layoff announcements from? Getir ,? Twiga Foods , and? Secureworks .
• Check back regularly for updates to our IT job layoffs tracker.

REGISTER NOW:

"Optimizing Returns from Your Cyber Risk Program" LIVE webinar on 9/19 presented by InformationWeek and Bitsight

On Tuesday – September 19, beginning at 1pm ET – tune into?our free online webinar featuring Bitsight 's? Gregory Keshian ?-?SVP & GM, and? Vanessa Jankowski ?-?VP & GM of Third Party Risk Management?as our keynote speakers! This live webinar will be moderated by?our colleague? Terry Sweeney .?REGISTER?now at the link above.

"Optimizing Returns from Your Cyber Risk Program"

In the current global economic landscape, the imperative to achieve more with limited resources is impacting departments across organizations.

Concurrently, the expansion of digital footprints presents challenges as cyber threats exploit vulnerable infrastructures. To uphold a leading-edge cyber risk program and align with business demands, organizations must explore resourceful approaches.

An essential initial stride toward effective cyber risk management is gaining comprehensive insight into the extended attack surface of the organization and its associated risks. Equally critical is the capability to articulate strategy and program effectiveness to stakeholders, including the Board. This significance has grown even more pronounced with the introduction of new SEC Regulations.

As the cyber landscape evolves, the ability to navigate these complexities becomes paramount.An essential initial stride toward effective cyber risk management is gaining comprehensive insight into the extended attack surface of the organization and its associated risks.

Equally critical is the capability to articulate strategy and program effectiveness to stakeholders, including the Board. This significance has grown even more pronounced with the introduction of new SEC Regulations. As the cyber landscape evolves, the ability to navigate these complexities becomes paramount.

By attending this webinar, you'll dive into:

• Unleashing the Potential of Your Current Tools: Strategies to enhance tool effectiveness while safeguarding against cyber threats.
• Effective Board Communication: Understanding the art of conveying cyber insights in a language that resonates with the Board.
• Fostering Accountability: Unpacking the internal and external dimensions of accountability, while exploring the potential impacts of recent SEC regulation changes.
• Enriching Visibility through Continuous Monitoring: How monitoring your external attack surface can illuminate priorities and elevate organizational awareness.

"Optimizing Returns from Your Cyber Risk Program" LIVE webinar on 9/19 presented by InformationWeek and TeamDynamix

On Thursday – September 21, beginning at 1pm ET – tune into?our free online webinar featuring Andrew Graf ?-?Chief Product Officer at TeamDynamix ?as our keynote speaker! This live webinar will be moderated by?our colleague Peter Krass .?REGISTER?now at the link above.

"Smart IT Service Management - Minimizing Resource Strain on the IT Service Desk Team"

In the fast-paced realm of technology adoption, the IT Service Desk is at the forefront of innovation, navigating the surge in demands.

As ticket volumes soar and project support requests surge, IT leaders are on a mission to liberate their teams from the resource drain. Join this webinar to gain valuable insights from a recent Information Week Market Study focused on how to increase self-service and automate manual tasks associated with common requests such as onboarding, password resets, and active directory updates.

Join this webinar to better understand the importance of:

• Driving self-service adoption with better portals
• Automating manual tasks such as onboarding?
• Using Conversational AI to improve chat interactions
• Combing ticket and project work into one view
• Creating automations from the service catalog

Radical Automation of the IT Service Desk Tech Showcase

Are you ready to see how the modernization of IT Service Management can help you reduce IT resource drain and budgets? This webinar will include a sneak peek demo of how emerging technology is creating radical automation for the IT Service Desk.

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Cyber Risk Special Report

Behind the budget dollars allocated to cybersecurity defense and recovery efforts lies the question of where to spend them.

Cyberattacks and other threats to an organization’s ability to do business remain a top concern across all industries. Ransomware tops the list of threats, and it’s just getting worse as the operators succeed in getting more and more ransom payments. But ransomware is not the only threat. Many others come from outside as well as inside the organization and are both man-made and naturally formed. On top of all that comes the long-foretold AI wars – not yet here, but close.

Find Out:?

• Top Threats and Disruptions to Businesses
• Defense Versus Recovery Spending
• Frequency of Testing IR Procedures
• Cybersecurity Staffing
• Cyber Liability Insurance
• Ransom Payments

Against this backdrop companies try to battle and win against an onslaught of attackers.?Don't miss out on this critical research data!

Treasures from the Archives...

Story by? Jessica C. Davis

Key Points:

• On World Password Day on?May 5, security experts and tech companies took the opportunity to update the industry on initiatives they are taking to create a future that secures us without the need for passwords.
• Reused passwords have been the leading vector in cyberattacks over the last few years, according to the?2022 SpyCloud Annual Identity Exposure Report.
• Apple, Google, and Microsoft made the announcement to accelerate availability of passwordless sign-ins, according to a?statement?issued by the FIDO Alliance.

This is just a taste of what’s going on. If you want the whole scoop, then?register for one of our email newsletters,?but only if you’re going to read it.?We want to improve the sustainability of editorial operations, so we don’t want to send you newsletters that are just going to sit there unopened. If you're a subscriber already, please make sure Mimecast and other inbox bouncers know that we’re cool and they should let us through. And if you’re thinking about?subscribing,?then maybe start with the InformationWeek in Review; it only arrives on Fridays.