Category Archives: Technology

Coloradolawmakers are seeking to restrict the use of facial recognition technology in the states government, law enforcement and schools with the introduction of a new bill.

If passed, Senate Bill 113 would establish several limitations and regulations for the use of artificial intelligence facial recognition services by government agencies and law enforcement agencies in the state. The bill would also completely prohibit the use of facial recognition technology in public and charter schools until 2025.

Bill sponsor Sen. Chris Hansen, D-Denver, said the state needs to slow down and reevaluate its use of facial recognition technology due to disproportionate identification issues for people of color.

That, to me, is a signal that we need to use caution and proceed carefully here, Hansen said. Theres a lot of great things that this technology enables, but theres also some significant problems if you get false positives or false negatives. The error rates for the current technology is very high for people of color.

Multiple studies have found a racial bias in facial recognition technology. For dark-skinned women, the technology had an error rate of 34.7%, compared to 0.8% for fair-skinned men, according to a 2018 study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Similarly, a federal study in 2019 found that Asian and African American people were up to 100 times more likely than white men to be misidentified by facial recognition technology.

Because of these issues, cities such as San Francisco, Boston and Portland have banned the use of facial recognition technology by police and local agencies. The proposed Colorado bill would not ban the technology, but it would establish strict limitations.

Under the bill, government agencies using facial recognition technology would have to notify a reporting authority, specify why the technology is being used, produce an accountability report, test the equipment and subject any decisions that result from the technology to human review.

Law enforcement agencies would be prohibited from using facial recognition technology to establish probable cause, identify an individual from a police sketch or create a record depicting an individuals actions protected by the First Amendment. Law enforcement agencies would also need special permission to use facial recognition to conduct surveillance, tracking or real-time identification.

Theres no prohibition here, but lets stop and take a good look at this technology before it has possible downsides, Hansen said. Lets look carefully at how its being used. Lets have human review of any results. And lets think carefully about how were going to use it in a public setting.

The bill would also create a task force responsible for studying issues related to the use of artificial intelligence, operating until September 2032.

The task forces findings would be used to help inform the use of facial recognition technology in schools after the bills ban ends in 2025, Hansen said.

While it is unclear whether any Colorado schools currently use facial recognition technology, nationally, public schools have used the technology for discipline, like identifying students seen skipping class or breaking rules in security footage.

Hansen said the bill has received little opposition from legislators so far. However, the Colorado Information Sharing Consortium a data privacy and data sharing government entity comprised of 86 Colorado law enforcement agencies said it strongly opposes the bill.

(The bill) would prohibit law enforcement agencies from using facial recognition technology to help identify persons who commit major crimes like those in Washington D.C. on Jan. 6, said David Shipley, executive director of the consortium. It would also essentially prohibit use of facial and voice recognition technology in jails to help interrupt planning of future crimes or to help manage the inmate population.

Shipley said the consortium is working on potential amendments to the bill to protect civil liberties while serving and protecting the public. Jenifer Waller, CEO of Colorado Bankers Association, said her group is also hoping to amend the bill to ensure it does not hinder the investigation of financial crimes.

Hansen said he is working with the groups and expects to make a few amendments to the bill during the committee process. Nevertheless, he is confident that the bill will make it through the legislature.

Theres a bipartisan concern about privacy and misuse of technology, Hansen said. We can demonstrate that there are issues and that problems have arisen, so I feel really confident we will be able to successfully get this to the governors desk.

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Bill seeks to restrict the use of facial recognition technology in Colorado - coloradopolitics.com

Imagine having headlights that dont blind oncoming drivers but that do a better job of showing whats up ahead, hopefully cutting down on crashes and saving the lives of people both in and out of vehicles.

Thats what a vehicle safety rule given the green light by federal regulators aims to do, and one that automakers, safety advocates and others are cheering.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announceda final rule on Tuesday to make new headlight technology, known as adaptive driving beam headlights, legal in the United States. The rule, which follows ayears-long process of information-gathering and discussions on the topic, amends the current federal regulation related to headlights to allow the technologyand make sure it operates safely.

The technology, which can use "advanced sensors, data processing software and headlamp hardware," to improve how headlights illuminate roads, other vehicles, objects, animals and pedestrians, has been legal elsewhere, but now its on track for use on newvehicles in the United States.

That could be key as the United States grapples with increasing crashfatalities, particularly among pedestrians and bicyclists. Road deaths, for instance, hit 38,680 in 2020 and could go higher for 2021 when the numbers are finalized, according to federal government data.

Steven Cliff, NHTSAs deputy administrator, said the agency is making the change for headlights to improve safety and protect vulnerable road users.

NHTSA prioritizes the safety of everyone on our nations roads, whether they are inside or outside a vehicle. New technologies can help advance that mission, Cliff said in a news release.

More: Death on foot: America's love of SUVs is killing pedestrians

Michael Brooks, chief operating officer and acting executive director for the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, said the new technology is key because it doesnt require driver action and it also addresses the outsized role that night driving plays in crashes.

Its a pretty big deal, as it marks the first important step in allowing for advanced lighting that could prove incredibly effective at reducing crashes. About half of accidents occur at night, and only about a quarter of our miles are driven at night, so we are looking at a lot night crashes in the U.S., a portion of which would certainly be prevented or mitigated through better visibility, Brooks said.

The technology is significantly more advanced than automatic high beam technology currently availablein some vehicles here. Brooks noted that with regulatory certainty automakers will also be more inclined to invest in research, and he predicted that the technology would continue to improve.

U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, said shes grateful that NHTSA movedforward on the rule earlier than required as part of last years Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The rule change itself was mandated as part of the law, according to NHTSA.

This new rule will save lives and make our roads safer. Its a simple fix to help keep pedestrians and bicyclists safe, while also ensuring drivers have a better view of the road ahead, especially at night, Dingell said in a statement.

The move to allow this type oftechnology in the United States dates back more than a decade. Following discussions with NHTSA officials,Toyotafiled a formal petition with the agency in 2013.

Aaron Fowles, a Toyota spokesman, provided a statement to the Free Press, notingthe automaker's early push to allow the technology:

As the original petitioner, Toyota appreciates NHTSA issuing this final rule, allowing automakers to install adaptive driving beam headlights on new vehicles. We look forward to reviewing the final rule and continuously working with NHTSA and other stakeholders towards further improving motor vehicle safety.

The company offers the technology on vehicles sold in Europe and Japan.

More: Feds set small goal for road fatalities, but getting to that number would be big deal

Toyota isn't the only company that's been interested in developing more advanced headlights.

Stu Fowle, a spokesman for General Motors, said GM has been advocating for approval of adaptive headlight systems in the United States, noting that the company has sold vehicles equipped with such systems in both Europe and China.

Why were advocates has to do with the benefit not only for drivers, in terms of improved nighttime visibility, but for their benefit for oncoming traffic to not be impacted by high beams inadvertently left on. GMs adaptive headlight system uses 34 beam patterns to provide the benefits of high beams all the time, while placing shadows over oncoming vehicles. The camera technology that enables adaptive headlights is already in use in the U.S. today with our automatic high beams offered on a number of models; the adaptive headlight system would bring added benefits, Fowle said.

More: GM had most vehicles recalled last year; Ford had most recalls. Takata fueled both

Support for the technology was echoed by John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an industry group representing GM, Ford, Chrysler-parent Stellantis, Toyota, Volkswagen and others.

Research shows the safety benefits of this technology, which can help provide enhanced down-road visibility without increasing glare to oncoming vehicles. We are reviewing the final rule and look forward to continuing to work with NHTSA and other stakeholders on our shared priority of a safer transportation future," Bozzella said.

Ellen Edmonds, a spokesperson for AAA, said the group has argued in favor of the technology and thatresearch has shown its benefits.

"In 2019, AAA released research, which found that European vehicles equipped with (adaptive driving beam technology)increase roadway lighting by as much as 86% when compared to U.S low beam headlights," Edmonds said, describing the technology as the "the first real solution to providing more light for drivers at night."

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence.Become a subscriber.

Excerpt from:

New headlight technology that improves safety, cuts down glare OK'd by NHTSA: How it works - Detroit Free Press

CANONSBURG, Pa., Feb. 16, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HashiCorp (NASDAQ: HCP), a leader in multi-cloud infrastructure automation software, and River Point Technology, a digital service provider, announced a partnership to accelerate adoption of HashiCorp's products. The partnership will extend the prescriptive offerings that River Point Technology has successfully deployed with many of HashiCorp's customers. As companies work to build out their digital transformation journey in the midst of the Covid pandemic, it is imperative that the pace of business requirements be met.

River Point Technology has packaged subscription solutions that enable an organization to progress through the maturation of adopting modern solutions such as HashiCorp. The RPTAcceleratorTM subscription is built for organizations within all levels of maturation on their journey, from those who are just starting to more advanced organizations that are looking to gain accelerated adoption.

"The pace of digital transformation has only accelerated in the face of Covid, however the challenges of adopting new technology with limited resources are very real for companies of all sizes. We've been refining our subscription methodology to allow companies to leverage the power of automation without having to start from scratch," said Jeff Eiben, Founder and Owner of River Point Technology. "Our customers love that we're there with them through the journey to provide a level of accountability while serving as a safety net as they progress."

HashiCorp believes infrastructure enables innovation, and they are helping organizations to operate that infrastructure in the cloud. Their suite of multi-cloud infrastructure automation products underpin important applications for the largest enterprises in the world. As part of the once-in-a-generation shift to the cloud, organizations of all sizes, from well-known brands to ambitious start-ups, rely on HashiCorp's products to provision, secure, connect, and run their business-critical applications.

"River Point Technology's continued investments and expertise in multi-cloud and digital transformation makes them an ideal partner to help HashiCorp's enterprise customers operationalize a cloud operating model at scale. 57% of respondents to our 2021 State of Cloud Strategy Survey say there is a multi-cloud skills shortage, making our partnership with System Integration partners like River Point Technology critical to joint customer success," said Michelle Graff, Global Partner Chief at HashiCorp.

About HashiCorpHashiCorp is a leader in multi-cloud infrastructure automation software. The HashiCorp software suite enables organizations to adopt consistent workflows and a standardized approach to automating the critical process involved in delivering applications in the cloud: infrastructure provisioning, security, networking, and application deployment. HashiCorp's open-source tools Vagrant, Packer, Terraform, Vault, Consul, Nomad, Boundary, and Waypoint were downloaded approximately 100 million times during the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2021. Enterprise and managed service versions of these products enhance the open-source tools with features that promote collaboration, operations, governance, and multi-datacenter functionality. For more information, visit hashicorp.com or follow HashiCorp on Twitter @HashiCorp.

About River Point TechnologyRiver Point Technology helps enterprises tackle their most aspiring Cloud and DevOps projects with transformative capabilities redefining what is possible for their organization. River Point Technology was founded to support our clients at the crossroads of strategic vision, the ability to execute, and create successful Day 2 Readiness and Adoption outcomes. The River Point Technology teams bring a gamut of business and technical domain knowledge to enable success for your organization across the entire Cloud and DevOps lifecycle. For more information, visit riverpointtechnology.com or visit our LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/company/river-point-technology-llc.

Press Contact

Dani Shirer, dshirer@riverpointtechnology.com

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This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.

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HashiCorp and River Point Technology Announce Partnership - GlobeNewswire

U.S. Chamber of Commerce executive vice president Neil Bradley discusses the Q4 MetLife and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Index, which revealed inflation and worker shortages are the 'two principal headwinds hurting small businesses.'

The coronavirus pandemic has devastated many small and medium-sized businesses across America over the last two years, but many who have survived have come out stronger on the other side with new technologies and streamlined operations.

Carlyn Parker, the director of operations at Dependable Cleaners in Massachusetts, said that the coronavirus pandemic "decimated" the dry cleaning industry as her business's sales plummeted to 10% of prepandemic levels.

"It really made all of us look at every single thing that we do every day and say, Is it necessary? Is it not necessary? Or could we do it a better way?" Parker told FOX Business about her mindset at the time.

An open sign at a small wine shop during the COVID-19 pandemic. (iStock)

Dependable Cleaners incorporated Verizon's One Talk phone system so that one number can ring on multiple devices. The One Talk app allows calls toring on both your cell phone and/or business phone so calls never get missed in or out of the office.The app also has a texting feature so Dependable can directly text with customers on the go.

The upgrades were game-changers for the company, which has been in Parker's family since 1944 when her grandparents started it.

"All of these efficiencies really made a difference for us to be able to stay in business over the last two years," Parker said.

CONGRESS EXPLORING MORE COVID RELIEF FOR SMALL BUSINESSES AS OMICRON SURGES

About 63% of small business owners said last September that they were digitizing their business to enhance the customer experience, according to a survey conducted last year by Verizon and Morning Consult.

In many ways, the pandemic simply accelerated trends that were already happening, according to Verizon Business Markets President Aparna Khurjekar.

In this Friday, April 3, 2020, photo, a woman walks by local stores during the coronavirus pandemic in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

"Digital transformation, irrespective of the size of the business, was already in vogue before, prepandemic," Khurjekar told FOX Business. "What the pandemic did is pull forward, in many cases by years, the speed and pace of that transformation and speed and pace of adoption."

READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS BY CLICKING HERE

Three-quarters of small business owners now say that the changes they've made over the past year will help their business long term, according to a Salesforce report last year.

"The companies that have come out strong are a lot more confident about not just their future, but being able to differentiate in that future," Khurjekar said.

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Small businesses incorporating new technology to survive the coronavirus pandemic - Fox Business

GILPIN COUNTY, Colo. As officials continue to investigate the cause of the Marshall Fire, which destroyed more than a 1,000 homes, the rest of Colorado has been reflecting on their own ability to combat such a fire.

"Gilpin County is plagued with the issue of one way in and one way out roads," said Nathan Whittington, spokesperson for the Gilpin County Office of Emergency Management.

The ability to evacuate becomes an even bigger concern when considering the thick trees and dry brush that surround the county's population of about 6,000, along with the tens of thousands of families that recreate in the area at times, according to Gilpin County Sheriff Kevin Armstrong.

"We need as much time as possible that we can to get those people out," Armstrong said. "We all know that the Marshal Fire took off like gangbusters."

In hopes of preventing another destructive wildfire, the county is testing out new technology, known as N5 sensors, that can alert first responders of a newly sparked fire early.

Denver7

"We can detect a fire from about half mile to a mile away," said Debra Deininger, a representative of the company N5 Sensors. "The sensors detect particulates, gases and infrared signatures, and looking at the signature combined from all three of those, we can tell if there's a fire."

A prototype of the N5 sensor was first available for testing last year in California in controlled situations. Last week, Gilpin County became the first place the sensor detected a fire in a real-life situation.

"We left the sensors out overnight, and that was actually the first time that we saw an unplanned signature and we're able to report it," Deininger said.

The sensors detected signatures of a flame from a controlled burn that forestry crews were unaware of 36 minutes before a human did, according to Whittington.

"The sensor actually indicated that one of the [burn] piles was igniting at 8 p.m. at night, and we were able to get a 36 minute head start before an actual 911 call came in," Whittington said.

That amount of time can make all the difference, which is why the county would like to place roughly 150 N5 sensors near subdivisions and other vulnerable areas.

Denver7 asked the state whether they would consider this technology elsewhere, should it be proven to be effective. The state's Division of Fire Prevention and Control said in part, "We are prepared to support fire departments and counties with preparedness and planning, early detection, aggressive initial attack efforts, and management of extended attack fires."

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Gilpin County tests new technology that could allow early detection of wildfires - The Denver Channel

As Connecticut-based Lane Construction prepares for the onslaught of Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) projects about to come its way, director of VDC and BIM Matt Blake knows what needs to be done.

Blake is working with global engineering and design firm Stantec to steer the 130-year-old leader in heavy civil construction away from "old processes that are tried-and-true"and toward advanced digital delivery that will improve information sharing between design and construction teams, increasing accuracy, transparency, safety and timely decision-making to reduce risk and cost.

"At the end of the day, this likely means producing more projects in less time for less cost, in which case, it can help deliver much more of this IIJA plan,"Blake said. "As an industry, everyone has limited resources, so let's sharpen our efficiency pencil and try to deliver this."

Matt Blake

Courtesy of Lane Construction

As it stands, the horizontal construction industry's well-used pencils are far too dull to keep up with the barrage of projects about to come its way. Of the $621 billion IIJA earmarks to upgrade bridges, highways and roads, more than $500 billion will be dedicated to projects that use outdated methods, according to the Coalition for Smarter Infrastructure Investments, a group of tech companies pushing for accelerated deployment of automated workflow systems and 5D modeling.

"The processes used to design and manage infrastructure projects have been unchanged for decades, with many firms and public agencies still relying on pen-and-paper systems,"the coalition states.

In response to the coalition's lobbying, the IIJA includes $100 million ($20 million annually over five years) to encourage adoption of advanced construction management technologies a drop in the bucket, according to Si Katara, president of digital inspection company Headlight and one of the coalition's founders.

"Some people are like, 'For a $1.2 trillion bill, that may not be enough,'" he said.

The IIJA presents "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity"to digitize, Katara added, but builders won't be able to keep up if they continue with the practices from the last 30 years.

"The reflex is to hold on like a life boat to your prior processes because that's what youre comfortable with, but people are realizing there just aren't enough resources out there, not enough humans who have the skill sets to do this," Katara said. "We have to embrace technology and innovation to bridge that gap."

Si Katara

Courtesy of Headlight

As Blake is quick to point out, no one expects the transition to be easy.

"There are a lot of things I don't know if ego is the right word that prevent us from adopting technology," he said. "A lot of this is 'the-way-we've-always-done-it'attitude, and that'sthe most expensive phrase you can use, in my book."

Lack of workers is one of the construction industry's biggest issues, causing two-thirds of contractors to struggle with meeting schedules, according to Infotech's civil quarterly report. Now, said Brad Barth, chief product officer for digital project management platform InEight, the IIJA is "throwing fuel on an already out-of-control fire."As experienced older workers retire, Barth said, their replacements will need tech to "make them smarter, so there's less rework, less chaos and more sharing of knowledge to help scale."

"The A players in any company are of limited number, and they're retiring,"agreed Ren Morkos, founder and CEO of ALICE Technologies, an AI-powered BIM platform. "It makes junior people way more able to perform like senior people."

RenMorkos

Courtesy of ALICE Technologies

Most construction professionals see digital transformation as their biggest source of opportunity for the coming year and predict software will be essential to their success in estimating, project cost management, scheduling and risk management, according to InEight's "Global Capital Projects Outlook 2021"survey shared with Construction Dive, but they're relying on general-purpose business software like Microsoft Excel as opposed to purpose-built solutions. To improve productivity, Barth said, contractors should get rid of spreadsheets across several weaker platforms and stop trying to "do all kinds of heroics in Excel."

Projects Controls Cubed (PC3), a San Diego-based virtual design and construction company with $7 billion under contract, is doing this with InEight's artificial intelligence-based system.PC3 Director Jeff Campbell says the platform is "like a superintendent with 30 years of experience who never retires."

PC3 uses InEight's AI to create a knowledge library of archived projects that can be accessed to automatically generate schedules and budgets. Campbell said InEight Schedule also saves PC3 millions of dollars in claims discovery by allowing the contractor to pull up time-stamped snapshots of projects instead of paying attorneys to dig through past documentation.

"That alone has paid for it,"he said.

Digital inspection will be crucial as IIJA projects gear up. State Departments of Transportation pay contractors based on measurable criteria such as asphalt tonnage poured or number of acres cleared, said Tom Webb, vice president of strategy/R&D for Texas-based HCSS, a civil business software provider.

Horizontal construction companies are a step ahead of state agencies and DOTs, which have been slow to adopt technology as they've dealt with lean staffs and inefficiencies since the Great Recession, Webb said. He expects the heavier burden of IIJA projects as well as contractors'innovation to force these owners to start looking at tech solutions.

"There are a lot of things state DOTs track manually that contractors are already doing in an automated way," Webb said. "Over the next eight-to-ten years, you're going to see them take a step forward and start using some of these technologies. That's going to help the overall efficiency of projects."

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Technology will be key for contractors on IIJA jobs, say experts - Construction Dive

If you've been using pixelation to redact sensitive information, you may want to use a different method instead as a security researcher has developed a new way to successfully recover pixelated words from redacted documents.

Lead researcher at the security firm Bishop Fox, Dan Petro has published a new blog post detailing how he was able to completely recover text from an image that was redacted suing the pixelation method.

While both news outlets and researchers often using pixelation or blurring to hide text in sensitive images published online, Petro has demonstrated that it is much safer to use opaque bars to hide text instead.

Petro began his research into how retrieve pixelated words from redacted documents after Jumpsec Labs put forth an open challenge for anyone to decipher the text in a pixelated image. After studying a number of pixelation and deobfuscation techniques, he came up with a solution for the challenge and sent his findings to Jumpsec Labs.

While there are a number of existing photo editing tools for enhancing pixelated images of people or landscapes, up until now there hasn't been a tool capable of recovering text found in pixelated images.

For this reason, Petro and Bishop Fox have released a new open source tool on GitHub called Unredacter. The tool is able to correctly reconstruct a document's original text in its entirety if it was redacted using pixelation.

Petro provided further insights on how users that need to redact text in a document should do so in his blog post, saying:

The bottom line is that when you need to redact text, use black bars covering the whole text. Never use anything else. No pixelization, no blurring, no fuzzing, no swirling. Oh, and be sure to actually edit the text as an image. Dont make the mistake of changing your Word document so that it has black background with black text.

Thankfully, many of the best PDF editors such as Adobe Acrobat DC already provide the ability to redact text in sensitive business documents.

Via BleepingComputer

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This amazing technology can retrieve pixelated words from redacted documents - TechRadar

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Wayfair Inc. (NYSE:W), one of the worlds largest destinations for the home, today announced Ashwin Rao joined the company as chief science officer, and Niraj Nagrani as vice president of global supplier marketplace, pricing, catalog and merchandising technologies. Both leaders report to Wayfairs incoming chief technology officer, Fiona Tan, and join Wayfairs strong bench of technologists driving the future of shopping across all categories of home.

Technology underpins everything we do at Wayfair, said Tan, incoming CTO, Wayfair. As an e-commerce and supply chain leader with suppliers and operations around the world, Wayfair is at the forefront of solving some of the most sophisticated and complex technological challenges facing retail. Ashwin and Niraj bring valuable expertise to the leadership team as we work together to drive the future evolution of our customer experience across online and physical retail.

In his role, Rao will help accelerate the companys continued growth through technological innovation fueled by machine learning, mathematical modeling and algorithms that further strengthen the shopping experience. Before joining Wayfair, Rao served as vice president of artificial intelligence at Target Corporation where he led Target's global AI and data science teams in developing products and solutions for supply chain, merchandising, search, recommendations and marketing. Rao will continue as adjunct professor at Stanford University, bringing the latest academic insights to Wayfairs technology.

The breadth and depth of Wayfairs technological operations and expertise rival that of any technologically-advanced organization, noted Rao. I look forward to leading innovation that creates operational efficiencies, enables consumers to easily find the right product, and helps Wayfair achieve its growth objectives.

Overseeing Wayfairs merchandising and supplier experiences, Nagrani will drive innovation to enhance Wayfairs global supplier catalog, merchandising, and pricing systems while also creating the best-in-class web/mobile experiences and data insights for suppliers. To this role, Nagrani brings more than two decades of tech leadership, most recently at Google as vice president of engineering, where he drove initiatives to deliver machine learning, artificial intelligence, mobile, web, and cloud tech solutions across Google consumer and developer products.

Wayfairs deep relationships across a world-class supplier ecosystem are critical to the success of our business, said Nagrani. We are committed to continually evolving our technology platform to make it as easy and efficient as possible for our suppliers to deliver their products to our customers. Both our supplier network and our customer base continue to grow, making this an exciting time to join Wayfair.

About Wayfair

Wayfair is the destination for all things home: helping everyone, anywhere create their feeling of home. From expert customer service, to the development of tools that make the shopping process easier, to carrying one of the widest and deepest selections of items for every space, style, and budget, Wayfair gives everyone the power to create spaces that are just right for them.

The Wayfair family of sites includes:

Wayfair generated $14.1 billion in net revenue for the twelve months ended September 30, 2021. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts with operations throughout North America and Europe, Wayfair employs approximately 16,000 people.

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Wayfair Names Ashwin Rao and Niraj Nagrani to Technology Leadership Team - Business Wire

Through a recent generous gift, alumnus Bob Kraft, BSME 61, and his wife Marie have expanded the existing Kraft Family Scholar award in Ohio Universitys Russ College of Engineering and Technology, providing additional support to create the Kraft Family Associate Professorships.

The Krafts established the Kraft Family Scholar Awards more than 20 years ago to provide associate professors of the Department of Engineering Technology and Management (ETM) the resources to enhance their academic growth. Over the last 20 years, $208,115 has been awarded.

After graduating from OHIO, 3.5 years in U.S. Navy, and seven years as a sales engineer, in 1972 Bob and Marie founded Kraft Fluid Systems. Over the last 50 years, their company has grown to be a leading distributor of mobile hydraulic equipment, hydraulic and electric drives, and electronic controls. The company requires International Fluid Power Society (IFPS) certifications for all of its technical employees, and in retirement, Bob Kraft served as president of the IFPS in 2007.

Throughout my career, I believed education, training, and experience lead to learning and competency, said Bob Kraft. The Krafts recognized their employee owners by becoming a 100 percent ESOP employee owned in 2000.

ETM Chair Dr. Todd Myers, himself a former Kraft Family Scholar, explains that faculty recipients will be awarded a stipend to support their research and engage in scholarly activities, like traveling to academic conferences. The Krafts expanded support will increase the stipend for each new Kraft Family Associate Professor.

The Kraft Family Scholar has been awarded to high-potential, mid-level, tenured faculty to encourage their growth within Ohio University, Myers said. Access to those stipends and showing that type of recognition helps secure those individuals and keep them engaged with the students, stay current in their discipline, and add value to the college, and the department.

Associate professors Dr. Neil Littell and Dr. Yuqiu You are the current Kraft Family Scholars. You, who started teaching at OHIO in 2015, views the award as a token of appreciation for her hard work.

I was very honored to receive this award, she said. It means that your colleagues, your department, and everyone recognized your hard work here. I think thats really great for junior faculty like me.

Thanks in part to the Krafts ongoing generosity, the Russ College will continue to attract the high-caliber faculty who receive a Kraft Family Associate Professorship.

I really appreciate that this award was established, and especially that it is awarded to junior faculty who came to OU and worked for several years, You said. This award is definitely something that motivates us.

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Alumnus' continued generosity helps recruit and retain talented Department of Engineering Technology and Management faculty - Ohio University

Russian state-sponsored hackers have been targeting security-cleared US defense contractors for at least two years, according to an alert released Wednesday by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and National Security Agency (NSA).

According to the alert, Russian-backed actors had targeted cleared defense contractors (CDCs) and subcontractors that supported the Department of Defense (DoD) in a range of areas, including weapons and missile development, vehicle and aircraft design, surveillance and reconnaissance, and combat communications systems. Compromised entities include contractors supporting the US Army, Air Force, Navy, Space Force, DoD, and Intelligence programs.

Through intrusions against defense contractors, Russian-backed actors had acquired sensitive unclassified information as well as export-controlled technology, CISA said. Under normal circumstances, technology subject to export-control laws requires a license to be released to foreign entities, necessitating approval from the US government.

Though there is no mention of classified documents being stolen, details suggest that the nature of the information gives a significant understanding of US military operations.

The acquired information provides significant insight into U.S. weapons platforms development and deployment timelines, vehicle specifications, and plans for communications infrastructure and information technology, the text of the alert said. By acquiring proprietary internal documents and email communications, adversaries may be able to adjust their own military plans and priorities, hasten technological development efforts, inform foreign policymakers of U.S. intentions, and target potential sources for recruitment.

Given the success of current efforts, the FBI, NSA, and CISA anticipate that Russian state-sponsored cyber actors will continue to target defense contractors for information in the near future.

Although Russia is known for harboring cybercriminal gangs, direct attribution of cyber activities to Russian state-sponsored actors is rare and represents a forceful statement from the US agencies involved. As tensions continue on the Russian border with Ukraine, analysts have been particularly sensitive to state-sponsored cyberattacks from the country.

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Russian hackers have obtained sensitive defense information technology by targeting US contractors, according to CISA - The Verge