The first-ever virtual National Council on Teacher Retirement (NCTR) conference was a culmination of great ideas, discussions on the changing pandemic situation and how it affects work, and how technology plays a decisive role in keeping data secure. Our Chief Information Officer Warren Gordon was on a panel speaking about All things IT: from Cybersecurity to Telecommuting. Here are his thoughts and excerpts from the discussion.

Lessons Learned from the 2018 PRISM Conference

The main purpose of theft and robbery is to take prime assets away to make money or become rich. In today’s world, data thieves operate on the same principle – to take personal and financial data in exchange for money or recognition. Data is the main asset of consumers today. The retail industry is a target for payment card data, the finance industry for financial assets and investment data and even the media industry is not spared and prime-time shows like HBO's Game of Thrones’ episodes were hacked and leaked. Even the recent Equifax data breach only shows that personal data can be as valuable as any financial asset.

Having your “head in the clouds” is an idiom used to describe someone who is not paying attention or who is out of touch with the everyday world; however, with the emergence of cloud computing, this phrase has taken on new significance. Most of us our have our “heads in the cloud” on a daily basis; updating a Facebook status, uploading photos to a photo-sharing site, and checking a bank account from a mobile device all happen in the cloud. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness part remains.