Author: Drake

Using Artificial Intelligence To Help Keep Your Financial Data Safe

USA crime never sleeps. Without a doubt, cybercriminals are always testing your organizations’ cybersecurity systems 24/7. Hackers are attempting to break into your network and get away with your personal identifiable information or your financial data.

Cybercriminals try to exploit your weaknesses in several ways, whether through phishing, malware or through weak encryption. Regardless of the size of your organization protecting requires a vigilant solution, one that is constantly testing for vulnerabilities and adapting to new threats. Fortunately, artificial intelligence can help supplement your traditional cybersecurity systems for your business, and your customers.

How Artificial Intelligence Enhances Your Information Security

What makes AI such a powerful protector is its ability for machine learning. Machine learning is where algorithms automatically improve through experience. In the instance of cybersecurity systems, AI can learn as new threats emerge. AI’s ability to identify patterns or abnormal actions also proves useful when monitoring users. Even if AI doesn’t identify anything suspicious. It is still analyzing for weaknesses within your cybersecurity system.

One of the most common examples of cybercriminals attempting to access cybersecurity systems is phishing. Phishing is where an attacker sends a fraudulent message that attempts to access sensitive information. By sending emails that appear official, criminals can trick employees to send sensitive information or install malware onto personal networks. With AI constantly monitoring, it can pick up the fraudulent email and get rid of the email before it is even sent to an inbox.

Safeguarding your most valuable financial data requires having cybersecurity systems that never stop assessing threats. For more information and tips on how to use AI to help keep your financial data safe, check out the resource below.  It discusses a few more common ways attackers get access to your data, as well as how AI addresses each of those threats.

Infographic created by Donnelley Financial Solutions, a financial consolidation software provider

The Importance Of Backup & Disaster Recovery For Remote Workers

The current pandemic has rapidly shifted the current workplace toward remote work. As companies return to normal operations, remote work is here to stay. With this change comes a different landscape for security. Most businesses were forced to design and deploy a new digital security strategy overnight for remote workers. This left IT professionals and employees with an increased risk for potential problems in security.

To reduce the risk, it’s important for an organization to create a comprehensive backup and disaster recovery plan. If you are interested in learning more check out the resource below. It describes tips for creating a backup and disaster recovery plan for remote work.

Infographic created by MXOtech, an IT network management company

Where Should You Upload Slideshow Presentations in 2021?

The days of being limited to Microsoft PowerPoint for creating and viewing slideshows are long over. Millions of people around the world are still using PowerPoint for various reasons, and one of them is the reality of hard habits being hard to break. 

There is no question that PowerPoint is extremely useful and dynamic; the fact that it is part of the MS Office productivity suite makes it a trusted brand, but there are quite a few alternatives that you should consider using in 2021, particularly if you intend to share your presentation with large audiences.

When you want maximum exposure for your presentation, the native .PPT file format may not be the best choice. What you need is an online platform that turns your slideshow into an element that a reasonably modern browser can display; preferably HTML5, Java, or even streaming video. You also want your presentation to be suitable for mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets. With this in mind, here are some websites you may want to bookmark for the next time you need to create and display a presentation:

SlideServe

This website is excellent for uploading PowerPoint presentations that do not have multimedia elements such as videos or digital audio recordings. As long as the .PPT file you wish to upload is not larger than 300MB, SlideServe will accept it easily and for free. The conversion to HTML5 is done on the fly; you do not have to worry about responsive design because SlideServe is already optimized for mobile devices. The best practice for using this online service is to make the .PPT file simple. See this slideshow on SlideServe to get an idea of how the file should be formatted.

Prezi

As much as PowerPoint has advanced over the last few decades, it has not been able to shake off its reputation as being a tool for corporate use. You can see this corporate legacy in the various templates included with the software, and starting with a blank canvas does not exactly get the creative juices flowing. 

When your slideshow presentation needs to feature aesthetics or an artsy sensibility, your best bet is to use Prezi. This cloud-based slideshow maker has always been a big hit among designers, and you can understand this appeal when you browse through the themes and templates. Even if you start with a blank canvas, Prezi will give you prompts to make your presentation look great. If your target audience skews younger, Prezi is highly recommended.

Haiku Deck

If you are the kind of professional who believes that less is more, you will like what Haiku Deck has to offer. Simplicity and style are at the heart of Haiku Deck, a Software-as-a-Service solution that lets you create and share gorgeous presentations. Similar to Prezi, Haiku Deck has a strong aesthetic focus, but there is also a minimalist approach that prevents you from creating clutter in your slides. Of the three options discussed herein, this one is the trendiest for 2021.

Patient Billing and Record Keeping

Not that long ago, hospitals all had paper copies of patient records, but that was all they had. In fact, the same is true for many health centers across the world today. But many are making the switch to electronic. Cloud based billing and record keeping open windows for the medical world in a way that wasn’t available before now, for both patients and health centers.

Billing

Being able to store billing records for patients gives health centers and patients alike vastly more flexible abilities. In the case of patients, they are able to access billing records online. This makes it much easier to include insurance, since handling receipts alone are a very insecure and troublesome way to go back and forth, and it becomes a nightmare when you lose one. But being able to go online and login, and see all of your billing and purchase histories makes it easy to organize, and easy to share. For health centers, cloud billing allows for them to keep a record of the same receipts and history as the patient. So if for some reason the patient ever loses access or data is wiped, it can be quickly and easily restored. Of course, having paper copies is always recommended as well, no matter how many different sites the digital information is stored on. 

Record Keeping

In a similar fashion to billing, electronic record keeping is ideal for both patients and health centers alike. Being able to access records from home for patients can be a huge benefit, especially when a job or activity requires a copy of medical records before the individual can be accepted. This replaces the need for a doctor’s visit, with a quick online login. For health centers, this allows doctors to be able to quickly retrieve medical history of  a patient, even if that patient was treated at a different hospital or health center. Allowing for faster, more accurate diagnosis. It also allows doctors to be able to look at the health history of relatives and ancestors, also giving a much more accurate diagnosis, far quicker. Having a digital copy is also far more stable. Losing all of a patient’s records would be catastrophic for that person, and could cause serious problems for them in the future, if prescribed the wrong medication, or refused necessary medication. Having information stored on a cloud means that in the event of a fire or even a system failure, all of those records will still be retrievable.