Corliss Review Steinbeis Technology Group

Tech Reviews by The Corliss Group--Foxconn, which assembles gadgets for companies such as Apple Inc., said it has sold a number of its communications technology patents to Google Inc. for an undisclosed sum.

Taiwan-based Foxconn, officially known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., made a name for itself in contract manufacturing by making Apple's iPhones and Sony's PlayStation game consoles. But few know the electronics manufacturer has been developing new technologies and has a sizable patent portfolio. In a statement, the company said it has applied for 128,400 patents and has been granted more than 64,300 patents world-wide.

In the highly competitive technology industry, companies are challenging each other to set industry standards, which has led to a few patent cases.

Google, which is battling with Apple for mobile dominance, has continued to strengthen its patent portfolio through acquisitions. The Internet giant's purchase of Motorola Mobility in 2011 gave it a formidable patent portfolio, and protected its Android mobile operating system and partners from legal threat from competitors, including Apple and Microsoft Corp.

Foxconn, which also sold some head-mounted display technology patents to Google for an unspecified amount last year, was one of the top 20 U.S. patent owners in 2013, according to Manhattan-based patent advisory company Envision IP.

"Foxconn can make use of its immense U.S. and global patent portfolio, and possibly offer commercial licenses to its customers," said Maulin Shah, managing director at Manhattan-based patent advisory firm Envision IP said. "The company could charge a premium by offering patent licenses integrated with manufacturing contracts, a luxury which many of its competitors may not have."

Foxconn said it would continue to invest in technology research and development, "transforming such investments into valuable intellectual property assets." It declined to provide further details.

Google declined to provide immediate comment.

Sharing files with colleagues and clients should be easy and convenient. What it shouldn't be is a security risk — but it frequently is. Because many small businesses don't have the right file-sharing systems and policies, many turn to unsafe practices that often put both their business's and clients' privacy in jeopardy.

Is your business guilty of engaging in dangerous file sharing habits? Here are five you need to watch out for and what you can do about them.

1. Sharing files via email

The most obvious dangerous habit is sharing files via email. Just the other day I received a design document from a client as an email attachment. Email is not designed to be secure. Anyone with access to an intermediate mail server or with the ability to sniff network traffic between our mail servers would see this design document. If I needed to sign a non-disclosure agreement to see this information, they probably did not want random folks on the Internet to see this information. Instead, senders should encrypt files and use secure file sharing services. — Susan Hinrichs, chief of engineering at SafelyFiled

2. Using consumer-grade cloud solutions

Workers around the world are putting themselves and their employers at risk by indiscriminately using unauthorized file sharing services on their mobile and desktop devices — to the tune of $2 billion. With more workers joining the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) revolution and turning to insecure file sharing services like personal Dropbox and Google Drive accounts, the threat is greater than ever. Employees need to demand Dropbox-like solutions for enterprise tools, bringing the productivity of Dropbox into the secure world of enterprise–sanctioned resources. Employees need to work with IT to adopt a consumer-grade experience with enterprise-grade security. Without IT buy-in, end users will continue to choose between engaging in risky file sharing behavior with consumer-centric alternatives, or taking a productivity hit through clunky legacy enterprise file sharing systems. — David Lavenda, vice president of product strategy at harmon.ie

3. Peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing

P2P sharing is a great technology used to share data over peer networks. It's also great software to get hacked. Installing P2P software allows anyone, including criminal hackers, to access your client's data. This can result in business security breaches, credit card fraud and identity theft. This is the easiest form of hacking. There have been numerous reports of numerous government agencies, drug companies, mortgage brokers and others discovering P2P software on their networks after personal data was leaked. For instance, blueprints for President Obama's private helicopters were recently compromised because a Maryland-based defense contractor's P2P software had leaked them to the wild, wild Web. Instead, have P2P security policies in place not allowing the installation of P2P software on your workplace computers or employee laptops. Also, a quick look at the "All Programs Menu" will show nearly every program on your computers. If you find an unfamiliar program, do an online search to see what it is you've found. You should also set administrative privileges that prevent the installation of new software without your knowledge. — Robert Siciliano, personal security and identity theft expert and CEO of IDTheftSecurity

4. Using flash drives

Flash drives are the easy tool of choice for infection since they bypass network security. If an infected file is on a flash drive and inserted into a system, it can start an infection spread from the PC. Some systems are set to autorun flash drive contents which can give the malware administrator permissions which allow all kinds of havoc to happen. These habits are not normally considered risky, but represent easy and unexpected infection or breach methods. The simplest and standard defensive actions are using up-to-date antivirus tools that stop autorun and scan any USB-attached device and their files. Encryption also should be applied. — Duane Kuroda, product and marketing at NetCitadel

5. Lack of visibility

The danger starts when employees take matters into their own hands and engage a file sharing service on their own. The individual making a one-off decision is not going to be thinking of the bigger picture of organization-wide requirements. What may look like the easiest, cheapest solution may be completely bereft of critical functions such as persistent control and auditability, and may inadvertently place the data at risk. Employees that engage a solution on their own may also be tempted to mix personal data with organizational data. Visibility provides important insights into who is using the data, when and how many times. In regulated environments, this visibility provides the required audit information needed for compliance. — Jim Ivers, chief security strategist at Covata.

Viruses used to be so simple.

You’d go online with your dial-up modem, take 25 minutes to naively download an appealing-sounding .exe file, and suddenly a sheep would walk across the screen or an embarrassing e-mail would be sent to your entire address book. Some would even wish you a Happy New Year.

Annoying, maybe, but they had their own ‘90s cyber-kiddie sense of charm.

Some viruses, of course, were incredibly disruptive. Now, though, viruses and malware have become even more malicious. They’re out for more than just hacker cred – they’re out for your money.

For a long time, malware scammers used tactics known as Scare ware. The malicious software fraudulently claims that your computer has a serious virus infection then sends you to a page to buy their (useless) anti-virus software.

Related: Porn, Drugs, Hit men, and Hackers: This Is the Deep Web

While this is certainly still around, many people have gotten wise to the fraud. Now some scammers are playing hardball. Enter Ransom ware.

Ransom ware is a form of malware that encrypts files on your hard drives with a highly complicated algorithm then presents you with an ultimatum: Pay up or you lose your files forever. The inherent brilliance in the software is this: While the software can be removed, the files remain encrypted. Paying the ransom is the only chance you have to see your files again.

Although this scam has been around since 1989, only recently has it become widespread due to advancements in cryptography algorithms, the ability to extort via the anonymous currency Bit coin, and the digitization of once-analog items of sentimental value like family photos and home videos.

Some consumers are aware of the latest and most notable iteration of this trend known as Crypto Locker, which encrypts the user’s data with a 2048-bit RSA Algorithm. The scammers weren’t fooling around when they invented this complicated algorithm, which is incredibly difficult – if not impossible – to crack without a key, which will cost victims about $150 to $300.

Crypto locker has been incredibly successful. Owing to surprisingly good “customer service” — the majority of people who pay the ransom have their files restored — the men behind the Crypto locker curtain have raked in over $27 million in Bit coin over a period of three months, according to an examination of the Bit coin block chain by ZDNet.

Umgesetzte, marktorientierte Innovationen wie auch erfolgreiche Produkte und Dienstleistungen sichern in einem zunehmend globalisierten und konkurrierenden wirtschaftlichen Umfeld unternehmerischen Erfolg. Erfolgreich zu sein setzt voraus, Erfahrung mit aktuellem Fachwissen situativ zu verknüpfen und den Mut zu haben, Neues und oft Unkonventionelles anzugehen aber auch Bewährtes weiterhin realisieren zu können. Das praxisorientierte, berufsbegleitende Projekt-Kompetenz-Studium der Steinbeis-Hochschule forciert einen Wissenstransfer, der dieses konkrete Fachwissen vermittelt und die erfolgreiche Arbeit von Nachwuchs-, Fach- und Führungskräften unterstützt.

Lebenslanges und berufsbegleitendes Lernen ist an der Steinbeis-Hochschule zentraler Aspekt unseres Konzepts. Dabei gilt es einerseits inhaltliche und organisatorische Anforderungen von Unternehmen und andererseits die Vereinbarkeit von Bildung und Beruf zu berücksichtigen.

Über 100 Transfer-Institute im Steinbeis-Verbund aus rund 800 Steinbeis-Unternehmen bieten ein breites Spektrum an maßgeschneiderten, spezialisierten Studien- und Lehrgängen zur praxisnahen Qualifizierung von Fach- und Führungskräften an. Im Mittelpunkt unserer Philosophie steht die Organisation der Institute als "Unternehmen im Unternehmen Hochschule", die eigenverantwortlich agieren. Als Hochschule finanzieren wir uns über Projekt- und Studiengebühren und beanspruchen keine staatlichen Subventionen.

Fokussiert auf die Anforderungen der beruflichen Praxis haben wir uns als unabhängiger Dienstleister in der deutschen Hochschullandschaft mit unserem Projekt-Kompetenz-Konzept etabliert. Heute sind über 4.000 Studenten an unserer Steinbeis-Hochschule eingeschrieben und wir arbeiten mit zahlreichen projektgebenden Unternehmen zusammen - das bestätigt uns in unserem Konzept und stärkt uns für die Herausforderungen der Zukunft.

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Johann Löhn

Präsident der Steinbeis-Hochschule Berlin