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Today’s topics include a Capgemini study that found customers are highly dissatisfied with their mobile carriers, the latest release of the FileMaker database system, Retired U.S. General Michael Hayden says the private sector has to step up to protect itself and the American public from cyber-threats, and President Obama signed a new law intended to boost federal trade secret protections.
Americans are so unhappy with their existing mobile carriers that if Google, Facebook, Apple or Amazon offered widely available mobile phone services at affordable prices, about 52 percent of 592 mobile customers surveyed said they would give those companies a try.
That’s the conclusion of a 26-page study from Capgemini Consulting that found that many customers are dissatisfied with the poor customer service and overall mobile services they are receiving.
The data for the report, “Unlocking Customer Satisfaction: Why Digital Holds the Key for Telcos,” was compiled in January and February.
Apple subsidiary FileMaker has delivered the latest release of its custom application development platform for citizen developers, FileMaker 15. FileMaker 15 features enhancements in five key areas: mobility, automation/integration, ease of use, security and performance.
Targeted at small- to medium-sized businesses and teams within enterprises, the FileMaker platform enables users to build custom apps for the iPad, iPhone, Mac, Windows and the Web.
“This new release represents our ongoing effort to simplify the development and deployment of custom apps that work seamlessly across mobile devices, PCs and the Web,” Ann Monroe, vice president of marketing at FileMaker, in a statement.
Retired Gen. Michael Hayden, a former National Security Agency director, had a gloomy message for corporate IT security managers: You are on your own in the cyber-security war. That was one conclusion from a provocative talk by Hayden at a customer event held by security vendor Centrify in New York on May 11.
“You are going to be more responsible for your security there than you have been responsible for your security in the physical realm since the closing of the American frontier in 1880 or 1890,” he said. Hayden also added that cyber-security is not just a U.S. government problem.
“Government is too slow to operate up here—all governments, and now we Americans have this additional built-in caution to protect our privacy against government intrusion.”
President Barack Obama signed a new federal law on May 11. The law is designed to help the nation protect its intellectual property by giving the federal courts broader jurisdiction in civil cases involving the loss of trade secrets.
Entitled the “Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016,” it also adds some new powers to the federal government and provides some protections for individuals in dealing with trade secrets.
The primary goal of the DTSA is to give the federal courts original jurisdiction over cases involving the theft or loss of trade secrets.
This means that a company can bring suit in federal court to recover losses. In some cases, it can request an order from the court that the trade secret be seized from those who misappropriated them. The act covers both intentional theft as well as accidental loss of a trade secret.