SM Online July 2017
CYBERSECURITY POLICY
U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order that lays out his cybersecurity agenda for the next four years. Measures include securing U.S. government networks, enhancing critical infrastructure cybersecurity, and increasing the nation’s cybersecurity as a whole. Meanwhile, a report by the U.S. Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity recommends that the Trump administration focus on deepening public-private cooperation to protect critical infrastructure and respond to cyber incidents. And a report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies advises the president to create a “secure and stable digital environment that supports continued economic growth while protecting personal freedoms and national security.”
SENIOR ABUSE
Reports of seniors suffering from neglect and inadequate care in U.S. assisted living facilities are still common. Even more disturbing is the finding that some vulnerable residents in U.S. nursing homes are being sexually abused by the people charged with caring for them. The study, Sick, Dying, and Raped in America’s Nursing Homes, is a CNN Special Report.
FORENSIC EVIDENCE
In 2015, the Obama administration asked the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) to investigate additional scientific steps that could help ensure the validity of forensic evidence used for legal matters. Last September, PCAST produced the report, Forensic Science in Criminal Courts: Ensuring Scientific Validity of Feature-Comparison Methods.
DERADICALIZATION
There is a big difference between counterterrorism and countering violent extremism (CVE), and the U.S. Government Accountability Office details how effective those programs are in curbing terrorism. In the wake of proposed changes to CVE policy, a Brennan Center Report, Countering Violent Extremism, finds that deradicalization programs are targeted almost exclusively at American Muslims and rely on debunked methodology.
MANAGED IT SECURITY
Organizations are turning to managed security services for highly technical IT security initiatives, such as threat intelligence and data loss prevention. Find out more in the 2017 Global State of Information Security Survey.
MARIJUANA
The Government of Canada introduced legislation to legalize, strictly regulate, and restrict access to cannabis.
DISCRIMINATION
Discrimination because of sexual orientation is a form of sex discrimination that is prohibited under Title VII of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964, a U.S. federal court of appeals ruled.
WHISTLEBLOWERS
Employees who make internal complaints but do not report them to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are still protected whistleblowers, a U.S. federal appeals court ruled.
