Mediaboss Marketing

In a growing social media world population, one cannot ignore the technological invasion of the medical world. From the discovery of penicillin to electronic medical records and the digital health revolution, real medical revolutions are not too many.

However, social media is disrupting the medical ecosystem and how we practice medicine. Information to the public is moving from a push system, where the teacher or the publisher decides what information to diffuse, into a pull system, where all the information is publicly available, and people are free to extract whatever catches their curiosity.

Therefore, it becomes extremely difficult to control the quality of information posted. Anyone, knowledgeable or not, can post, comment or publish on every medical topic.

That is why we believe that the education of future patient generations is needed to critically judge which source to trust and how to select reliable information. This difficult task of orienting the public in searching for reliable and relevant information has been treated in a previous article published by the senior authoras it was recommended to doctors to orient their patients in their medical research, hence embracing the fact that people constantly look up their symptoms and diagnoses.

In this article, we outline and briefly present some aspects of medical social media that affect patients and physicians in their online medical experience.

Rating physicians

Studies show that 80 percent of patients look up their doctor online in search of their ratings. Today, this step is considered a decisive phase in choosing providers, leading to new business ventures like reputation management firms.

However, rating a physician is not as simple as rating a pizza parlor. Despite the common knowledge that mostly unsatisfied or unhappy patients rate their doctor, multiple factors affect the scorings that are mainly separate from the direct interaction with the physician or the quality of care. These factors should be considered, such as booking appointments, cleanliness of the office, office staff attitude, waiting time in the office. This can be especially unfair to employed physicians (increasing in numbers in the U.S.), who have little to say regarding office operations and workflow outside their direct face-to-face interaction with patients.

Also, in a world where everyone looks up everyone, there are two types of physician rating websites: institutional and independent. A major discordance exists between how physicians and patients look at these websites. While doctors tend to agree with health system sites but see that online comments increase their job stress, patients tend to trust independent websites for rating health professionals.

Patient support groups

This social media aspect is particularly interesting to patients with rare symptoms and diseases. These support groups help them realize they are not alone. They can share experiences and understand what to expect from the evolution of the disease or other peoples experiences with the side effects of treatment.

Regarding patients fighting long-term illnesses or rare diseases, these online groups have proven to redress knowledge deficits, improve self-management by learning behaviors from others, build a community of like individuals, and cathartic release. This is encouraged by dissociative anonymity and invisibility as a facilitator for expression.

These patients, avid for emotional support, spend limited time engaged with their medical professionals compared to the time they spend trying to get by every day to manage their conditions. The support groups dont replace a doctors visit but may help improve patients every day and have a supportive psychological effect on them.

Physician-only communities

There was a time when social networking meant attending a cocktail party and handling business cards. A survey of 4,000 conducted by QuantiaMD found that over 90 percent of physicians use some form of social media for personal use, and over 65 percent use it for professional use. Physicians use communities like Sermo, QuantiaMD, Doximity, and Medpedia to enhance their professional networks, connect with peers, share cases, discuss practice management, and make referrals. These websites differ in whether they are open to the public or limited to medical professionals. Some even use the NPI database to verify providers; others also provide CME credits.

Social media facilitates closed physician groups within the same specialty and provides a safe platform to discuss practice issues, patient cases, supply shortages, and billing issues. These online discussions and exchanges help keep physicians up to date, ultimately improving patient care. During the pandemic, with no in-person conferences, the closed groups were of great value to many physicians who were not comfortable attending general online meetings or conferences.

Blogs and digital grand rounds

Blogs are designed to be personal pages where people post articles, some highly specialized in a specific pathology, a medical specialty, or even a cause. Some blogs have become very popular and are followed by physicians worldwide. This widespread information has been an eye opener on many changes in health care, which results in impelling changes within the medical profession.

The comprehensive accessibility of medical information through blogs has many benefits to the community, like the deprofessionalization of physicians, to some degree, leading to a better understanding of medical issues, enhancing doctor-patient communication, and humanizing physicians as they explore ways to express themselves in open, informal ways.

On the other hand, medical bloggers use these platforms to assert their reputation and affirm trust in their expertise. Tumblr, WordPress, and Blogger are examples of these platforms. The intersection between digital media and health care, a phenomenon called Health 2.0 by Hughes, Joshi, and Wareham led to a new way of conducting grand rounds in hospitals. Among other tools like forums and podcasts, these timeless digitalized grand rounds gained popularity and value among health professionals who can now exchange ideas with experienced peers and contribute widely to medical research.

However, there is growing concern about the ethical use of social media.

That is why the American Medical Association (AMA) has published guidelines for the ethical use of social media, highlighting the need to respect HIPAA rules while posting online. Medical bloggers should also avoid discussing legal cases, which can be easily discovered online.

Knowledge aggregation

Nonmedical websites like Wikipedia are usually the go-to websites for patients, medical students, and even physicians before digging into peer-reviewed data. As it regularly ranks high in Google searches, Wikipedia is the most visited resource for health information for the public, patients, students, and even practitioners.

In an article by Denise Smith, published in Nature journal, the authors stipulated that the number of errors found in Wikipedia was comparable to Encyclopedia Britannica. Behind this page is a diverse community of altruistic editors who believe that accurate information should be available and accessible to everyone and everywhere. Today, Wikipedia is the 7th most frequently accessed website in the U.S. According to the article Situating Wikipedia as a health information resource in various contexts: a scoping review, Wikipedia was as accurate as the NIH website. It surpassed WebMD, another prominent health-related site.

However, there is some wariness to using Wikipedia. Other studies have shown contradictory results regarding whether Wikipedia suits medical students. Keeping this information in mind, physicians are recommended to visit Wikipedia occasionally to be aware of the information to which patients and medical students are exposed.

Peer-reviewed literature

Peer-reviewed medical literature is now on social media. PubMed and high-impact-factor journals followed the online trend and embraced social media to increase their reach with a broad range of potential benefits to key stakeholders. These have hired specialized social media editors (SMEs) to manage content, mainly interactions and postings, and publish post-publication feedback. Among the responsibilities of the SME, we highlight the role of vulgarizing medical vocabulary to be understandable to everyone outside the medical community, making this online medical literature a reliable source of information for patients.

Finally, social media has effectively conveyed health-related issues, especially during the fast-changing policies like Ebola and COVID-19 health crises.

In conclusion, social media is here to stay. In 2019, the FSMB published guidelines on the appropriate use of social media in medical practice. Highly engaged patients are a reality that physicians need to embrace and guide as much as possible. Both physicians and patients should be aware of the right and relevant sources of information. As Erik Qualman said: We dont have a choice on whether we do social media; the question is how well we do it.

Homer Moutran is an otolaryngologist. Caline El-Khoury is a clinical project manager. Danielle Wilson is a medical student.

Continue reading here:
From penicillin to digital health: the impact of social media on medicine - Kevin MD

by MD Tabrez Alam & Sushant Mishra

ABSTRACT

Social networking has become an indispensible part of our everyday lives. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have changed how we communicate, share information, and connect with others. At the same time, platforms like LinkedIn, Reddit, and Quora have been introduced to serve professional and academic interests. Social media is a source of entertainment, comfort, and information for many individuals. However, research has also highlighted the negative impacts of social media on peoples mental health and social relationships. One common issue is social comparison, which occurs when individuals compare themselves based on social media posts. It can cause feelings of inadequateness, reduced self esteem, as well as anxiety. Also, cancel culture, and bullying can occur on social media platforms, which may lead to negativity and hate speech. Moreover, excessive use of social media can adversely affect sleep patterns, physical health, and productivity. Furthermore, addiction to social media can result in decreased face-to-face communication skills and diminished personal relationships.

WHAT MATTERS TO PEOPLE?

Social networking has been immensely helpful in drawing attention to various social and governance-related issues.As a result, it has conclusively demonstrated to be an effective method for resolving grievances; its appropriate use in this context can enhance overall effective governance. People of all ages and backgrounds use social media, which has become ubiquitous in modern life. It has caused a significant shift in how people interact and communicate with each other and how they form and maintain relationships. On the one hand, social media has enabled people to connect and interact with a wider variety of people than ever before and to access new sources of information. However, it has also resulted in a culture of instant gratification and comparison and a tendency towards superficial interactions and relationships. The effects of social media on peoples lives can be positive and negative. On the positive side, social media has made it possible for people to connect with friends and family members who may be geographically distant, to stay up to date with current events, and to access helpful information quickly.

It has also made it easier for people to form and maintain relationships and share their thoughts and feelings with others more publicly. Unfortunately, social media has some adverse effects on peoples lives. Isolation can result from using social media, as people can become consumed by their online lives, neglecting the real-life relationships and activities that matter. Additionally, social media has become an essential tool for businesses, allowing them to reach larger audiences, engage with potential customers, and build brand recognition. Ultimately, social media plays an essential role in peoples lives, providing them a platform to connect, engage, and share.

GLOBAL & NATIONAL SCENARIO

Asper, a report by A business journal from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, emphasized that the Indian population has become entirely reliant on social media networks as a result of easy access to the internet in recent years, with slightly more than 326.1 million users in 2018, the country is expected to grow to 447.9 million users by 2023. India has the most Facebook users worldwide, with nearly 300 million as of January 2020. Furthermore, WhatsApp and TikTok mobile downloads peaked in India in 2020. The Indian government launched the Digital India initiative to capitalize on this opportunity as the country became more reliant on social media. Indias digital advertising industry, which is currently worth more than 160 billion INR and is expected to grow to 560 billion INR by 2023, must catch up.

SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE INDIAN CONTEXT:

Social media has revolutionized the way Indians communicate and connect. From the ubiquity of WhatsApp to the rise of Instagram, social media has become an integral part of everyday life in India. People can now access news and trends more quickly and efficiently than ever before thanks to the rapid dissemination of information enabled by social media. It has been essential in the Indian context, where access to the internet is still limited in many rural areas. Social media has also allowed for greater participation in political discourse, with many Indians using social media platforms to express their opinions and share information. The use of social media has also had a significant impact on the Indian economy. Social networking platforms like Insta, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have allowed Indian businesses to reach out to potential customers, resulting in increased sales and profits.

SOCIAL CAMPAIGNS AND ITS IMPACT ON GOVERNANCE:

Social media has evolved into a powerful tool for businesses to connect with their target demographic, build relationships, and foster brand loyalty. By leveraging the potential of social media platforms, companies can create conversations, attract attention and foster relationships. Social media also helps companies increase their visibility and reach, with more consumers now using multiple platforms. This has enabled businesses to create more personalized, targeted messages that are more likely to be seen and resonate with their target audience. Organizations can also use social networks to acquire insights into customer behaviour and preferences, allowing them to tailor their advertising and item offerings to meet the requirements that their clients have. In India, social media has been used as a means of promoting social change. Movements such as #MeToo, #UniteForJustice and #JusticeForBhuvaneshwari, like that, and many more campaigns have all used social media as a medium to raise awareness and gain support.

Additionally, social media has enabled entrepreneurs to showcase their products and services to a broader audience, leading to more investment opportunities. Furthermore, social media has been essential for social movements in India. From the 2014 Aam Aadmi Party election campaign to the #MeToo movement, social media has enabled activists to connect and mobilize support much faster than before. Social media has revolutionized how people communicate, interact, and stay connected. It has become an integral part of peoples everyday lives, allowing them to stay in touch with family, friends, colleagues, and strangers. People use social media to share their thoughts and feelings, keep up with the latest news and trends, and even discover new experiences.

CHALLENGES:

The social media landscape in India is rapidly changing, with more than 500 million users currently active on various platforms. However, several challenges need to be addressed to ensure that social media is used for positive purposes in India. One of the biggest challenges of social media in India is the need for more awareness about its potential risks. Since many users are unaware of the dangers of online harassment, cyberbullying, and other risks, they may put themselves in unsafe situations. Additionally, there is the potential for people to spread false information and rumours, which can damage communities and individuals. Another challenge is the need for more regulation and oversight of social media platforms, which can lead to misuse by individuals and organizations. With adequate regulations, controlling the spread of false information, malicious content, and other harmful activities can be easy.

Additionally, many social media platforms need more transparency, making monitoring user activities difficult. Finally, there needs to be more understanding of the power of social media in India. Many people need to realize the potential for social media to be used for good, such as for social movements, to raise awareness about important issues, and to promote positive messages.

Social media has become a powerful tool for spreading hate in India. It has created a platform for individuals to express their opinions and beliefs publicly, and it has become a breeding ground for bigotry, prejudice, and hatred. The ease of expressing hatred on social media has enabled people to share their hateful views and experiences without fear of consequence. This has resulted in increased levels of hate speech, targeting communities and individuals in India. Social media has also spread false information and malicious rumours about certain population members. This has caused people to become more divided and hostile towards each other. In addition, social media has been used as a tool for organizing hate campaigns. Groups have used social media to target religious, ethnic, and other minorities, leading to increased hate crimes in India. The rise in hate on social media in India has created a hostile environment and is damaging to the countrys social fabric. It is essential to rise awareness and put in measures to monitor and control hate speech on social media. This will help curb the spread of hate and create an environment of acceptance and understanding.

WAY FORWARD:

In conclusion, social media can be a powerful tool to enhance communication, knowledge-sharing, and awareness. However, it is essential to recognize and balance the potential adverse effects by setting boundaries, limiting screen time, and maintaining real-life relationships. With the rise of social media, controlling false information has become a significant challenge in India. It is absolutely essential to be aware of the information sources and to verify them through trustworthy sources. In order to control false information, people should be encouraged to take responsibility for the accuracy of the information they post on the platforms. One way to combat the spread of false information is to create campaigns that promote fact-checking and verifying sources. Social media users should be encouraged to use reliable information sources and double-check any claims made before sharing them.

Additionally, organizations should have a policy in place to penalize those who are found to be spreading false information. The use of social media can also be used for positive outcomes in the Indian context. The platforms can create awareness about critical social issues and encourage people to donate to charity. Additionally, social media can be used to engage with diverse opinions and to support campaigns for social justice. By controlling false information and engaging with positive campaigns, people can help create a better future. It has become major part of our lives, and it has the potential to be a powerful tool for good governance. By connecting people and organizations, social media can help to make governments more responsive to their citizens, increase transparency and create better communication between citizens and their elected officials. Social media can be used to foster public engagement and participation in the political process by allowing citizens to access information quickly and to express their opinion. Through social media, citizens can be informed of political events and news and participate in debates and discussions. It also allows citizens to contact their representatives and hold them accountable for their decisions, to increase transparency in government.

It can be used to share documents and data, which can help citizens understand and better evaluate their governments performance. Additionally, it can increase government services efficiency and streamline processes by providing citizens with easy access to information and the ability to report issues and complaints. Overall, social media offers an excellent opportunity for governments to create a more efficient, transparent and democratic system of governance. It can help ensure that citizens have access to the data they require to make informed decisions and hold their elected officials accountable for their decisions.

REFERENCE

About Authors:

For more info.

ktabrezshams@gmail.com

Follow @ktabrezshams

For more info.

sushant15991@gmail.com

Follow @Sushant_Mishraa

View original post here:
Social Media And Peoples Life: A Way Of Good Governance - Countercurrents.org

Good morning, Broadsheet readers! A Florida bill could ban girls from discussing their periods at school, the SVB crisis turned one founder into a social media star, and Fortune senior editor Claire Zillman shares a new story that digs into Chief, the womens networking startup worth $1.1 billion. Have a productive Monday.

Inside Chief. You would think that launching a womens network shortly before COVID hit would have doomed the venture; we were barely leaving our homes, let alone schmoozing with strangers. But Chief, the exclusive, $5,800-per-year-and-up networking club for female executives, defied that conventional wisdom. Since launching in 2019, its grown to 20,000 members, amassed a waiting list of 60,000, and earned a valuation of $1.1 billion from backers like Alphabets VC fund CapitalG.

In a new story for Fortune, contributor Katherine Dunn digs into Chiefs pandemic-era success and some of the growing pains members claim its experiencing as it scales. (Editors note: Fortune offers its own membership groups for executives, including one for women.)

Cofounders Carolyn Childers and Lindsay Kaplan sought to provide exclusivity and group coaching to female executivesvice presidents and up. As COVID hit, it pivoted to digital, conducting its key offeringCore groups or cohorts of eight to 12 women who meet once a monthonline. Compared to startups like the now-defunct Wing, Chief was light on real estate, another COVID-era advantage.

Dunn interviewed 15 current and former Chief members for her story. Several credit Chief with helping spark incredible shifts in their careers. New York City member Sandhya Jain-Patel says her fellow Chief members coached her through the process of landing her dream job as manager of diversity and inclusion at Lucasfilm.

Yet other members interviewed for the story say theyre having a hard time seeing Chiefs value beyond the initial introductions it makes. They claim the network is suffering from high turnover and hit-or-miss matchmaking and failing to fulfill its mission to remake corporate leadership.

Chief, for its part, acknowledged growing pains, and says it has addressed operational glitches. It says claims of high turnover are false and that its making a real difference in womens careers.

Whats certain is that Chief has hit on a powerful observation: Senior women in corporate America are stressed out, often lonely, and eager to connect with peers who understand the demands of their jobs.

You can read the full story here.

Claire Zillman@clairezillmanclaire.zillman@fortune.com

The Broadsheet is Fortunes newsletter for and about the worlds most powerful women. Todays edition was curated by Emma Hinchliffe. Subscribe here.

SVB star. During the Silicon Valley Bank crisis, Omsom cofounder Vanessa Pham unexpectedly became a social media star. She shared the hour-by-hour reality of navigating the fallout of the banking crisis in a way that resonated with her Asian sauce kit startups community online.Fortune

Single life. A record 52% of American women are single. That number helps to break down social stigmas against singlehoodbut also stresses the personal finances of women. Three-quarters of Americans say it is more affordable to be in a relationship, with the opportunity to split costs like rent and utilities. Fortune

Safety at sea. Sexual assault at sea is an underreported problem, according to a new investigation by the U.S. Coast Guard. In the past 10 years, the branch has opened 25 criminal investigations into alleged shipboard sexual assault, but there hasnt been a successful sex crime prosecution of a credentialed mariner in the last 30 years. CNN

Workwear that works. Sarah LaFleur, the founder and CEO of the womens fashion and workwear brand M.M. LaFleur, shares what inspired her to start her brand. She wanted to escape the private equity industry, which she calls a poor culture fit. Now shes redefining the new era of workwear, including a category called power casual. Elle

Silenced conversation. A Florida state bill would bar elementary school students from discussing menstrual cycles and human sexuality, only allowing discussion of those topics after sixth grade. Opponents are outraged that the bill could prevent girls who get their period before sixth grade from discussing the experience.Associated Press

Meet me at midnight. Taylor Swifts Eras tour kicked off in Glendale, Ariz., over the weekend. The pop star obliquely acknowledged the Ticketmaster drama when she thanked her 150,000 fans in attendance for their considerable effort to be there. Small businesses, hotels, and bars all prepared for overwhelming demand in the city temporarily renamed Swift City. Insider

Why are so many people rewatchingGirls?New York Times

What we still dont understand about postpartum psychosisNew Yorker

An A.I. told me I had cancerWired

You werent going to march into a fantastic female protagonist out of SNL in 2002. But there were lots and lots of opportunities on stage.

Actor Ana Gasteyer on the path her career took after she leftSaturday Night Live

Originally posted here:
Inside the growing pains at Chief, the exclusive womens networking club with a waitlist of 60,000 and a valuation of $1.1 billion - Fortune

The UK ban on installing and using social media app TikTok on government devices brings our countrys policy in line with that of other jurisdictions including the US and member states of the European Union.

Announced yesterday in the House of Commons by Oliver Dowden, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the ban covers devices in ministerial and non-ministerial departments, and is a precautionary move that has not been taken in response to any specific incident or threat.

Its the latest step in a long-running feud between the West and China over data privacy issues, that besides TikTok has drawn in the likes of Hikvision, a manufacturer of IP surveillance cameras, and most famously, networking and comms giant Huawei, which found itself banned from the UKs core communications infrastructure in 2020.

All of these cases arise from concerns shared by Britain, the US and other Western states. Broadly speaking, these concerns centre on the possibility that the Chinese government may be able to extract sensitive data from these companies for espionage purposes.

China has a long history of industrial espionage, and its state-backed cyber operations are widely acknowledged as a particularly dangerous threat, so these concerns are not wholly unjustified, and its not a stretch to imagine how Beijing could exploit the personal data of UK government officials should it fall into their hands. In light of this, Chris Vaughan, vice-president of technical account management at Tanium, said its no surprise to see Westminster following in the footsteps of Brussels and Washington DC.

Chinese intelligence tactics are usually focused on longer-term objectives and are fuelled by the sustained collection of data, he said. The immense collection of user data, to now include commerce and purchasing information, combined with biometrics and activity tracking, feeds detailed intelligence into Chinese state departments.

This data can also be leveraged to deliver targeted, timely and often personalised psychological operations against individuals or groups of citizens. These tactics could potentially be used during election cycles and politically charged events in the coming years.

Vaughan regards the UKs TikTok ban as speaking to a wider issue around how much Chinese influence is deemed acceptable in national infrastructure and everyday life (similar issues dogged Huawei previously).

We have seen concerns increase in the West in recent months, with the use of Chinese surveillance technology being restricted, he said. There have also been numerous reports of Chinese efforts to sway politicians by way of lobbying and donations, and the public via social media and the spread of disinformation.

Historically, Russia has been the most prominent user of information operations as we saw from its activities related to the 2016 US election and the Brexit referendum. China has been more focused on stealing intellectual property which it can then use to its own advantage. However, there are indications that the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] will start to focus more on information and influence operations to achieve its strategic goals which adds to the concerns about the use of technology such as TikTok.

Any instances of these activities need to be met head-on by Western political leaders who should take a strong stance against it at the government level, rather than leaving the responsibility to individual organisations.

In her response to Dowdens statement yesterday, Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner was scathing in accusing the government of being behind the curve and making sudden U-turns, and for some in the cyber security community, there is something distinctly fishy about its decision.

Matthew Hodgson, co-founder and CEO of secure comms services provider Element, said that in one important way, the ban is downright hypocritical.

The UK government banning officials having TikTok on their phones while pushing through legislation that will give the UK government access to all UK communications screams of double standards, said Hodgson.

Outwardly it looks like theyre taking the security of data seriously by stopping China having a backdoor into UK data, albeit only for government officials currently. However, the UK government is pushing through the Online Safety Bill, which creates a very similar backdoor into every communications platform used by UK citizens.

So, its not OK for China to access government communications but it is OK to provide a route for them to access citizen communications via Online Safety Bill weaknesses? We need to protect the privacy of UK citizens today from bad actors and nation states of all shapes and sizes, he said.

Naturally, Westminsters thoughts are not shared by TikTok, which continues to stress that its never been asked to hand over data by the Chinese government, and insists it would never do so if asked.

In a statement following Dowdens announcement on 16 March, a TikTok spokesperson said: We are disappointed with this decision. We believe these bans have been based on fundamental misconceptions and driven by wider geopolitics, in which TikTok, and our millions of users in the UK,play no part.

We remain committed to working with the government to address any concerns, but should be judged on facts and treated equally to our competitors. We have begun implementing a comprehensive plan to further protect our European user data, which includes storing UK user data in our European datacentres and tightening data access controls, including third-party independent oversight of our approach.

The organisation believes it is inaccurate to describe it as Chinese-owned as its European presence is incorporated and regulated in the UK and Ireland, and its parent, Bytedance, is incorporated outside of China, so would not be subject to laws that require it to hand over data to Beijing if asked.

The firm recently announced Project Clover, a dedicated secure European enclave to harbour its UK and European Economic Area (EEA) user data. The fulfilment of this project will also see UK user data currently stored in datacentres in Singapore and the US moved within European jurisdiction.

It has also named a third-party cyber security company to audit its controls and protections, monitor data flows, and verify its compliance with relevant laws, which it believes goes beyond what any other tech platform is currently doing.

Venari Security chief technology officer Simon Mullis agrees that the TikTok ban is politically motivated, to some extent. The concerns are really rooted in the ability to assure the chain of trust of data protection from beginning to end, and at all steps in between, he said. With TikTok, this has proven to be extremely difficult for a variety of technical and political reasons.

In fairness, the ban is as much political as it is a consequence of the technical design of the application, said Mullis. Is the TikTok design and architecture so wildly different from other social media applications in widespread use as to cause massive security fears? The answer is probably not.

But Jamie Moles, senior technical manager at ExtraHop, said that given what we do know about how TikTok works, and most importantly, what we know about the data it requests and must have access to in order to run on a device, its mystifying why the UK government has dallied for so long.

Im a security expert who downloaded and used TikTok when it came out like so many others, including those working in the UK government, he said. But heres the difference: I removed it as soon as it became clear that the app could harvest anything from my phone including contacts GPS data, authentication info from other apps, and so on.

Having this app on your phone is tantamount to giving the Chinese government the keys to our economy.

Arctic Wolf chief information security officer (CISO) Adam Marr said: TikTok is collecting massive amounts of information from consumers like user location, voiceprints, calendar information and other sensitive data. The issue is we dont know what this data is being used for, or if a foreign government has access to it.

With the rise of data brokers who make a living out of selling user information, this platform can serve as a vessel for malicious actors to leverage. They can then sell this information, which can be used to target people via phishing emails, influence via propaganda, or even control or access devices. Let this be a reminder that nothing is truly free and that we should all exercise caution.

Faki Saadi, UK and Ireland sales director at SOTI, said: Any app that harvests the data you put into it should be treated with caution. Especially for people trusted with sensitive company information.

TikTok being banned from UK government devices should act as a wake-up call to other organisations do you have full visibility over the apps your employees have on their corporate devices? If not, perhaps now is the time to take stock. And it doesnt need to be a heavy lift there are solutions available that can do this for you, and wipe any unwanted apps in an instant.

Marr and Saadi both speak to a wider issue with social media in general. Other social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram owner Meta have shown themselves repeatedly to be highly blas with regard to their user data and security policies. Twitter, under the control of the erratic Elon Musk, is heading in a similar direction.

And Robert Huber, chief security officer at Tenable, said that focusing only on TikTok means we risk missing the forest for the trees. There are hundreds of software applications used in government agencies every day that introduce risk, and unpatched known vulnerabilities are the most likely source of data breaches, he said.

The key is for security leaders to understand their organisations unique risk profile, discover where vulnerabilities exist and prioritise remediation efforts to root out those that could be the most harmful first.

Ismael Valenzuela, vice-president of threat research and intelligence at BlackBerry, said he is already seeing CISOs considering banning the use of TikTok on company devices. This is particularly relevant to those working for organisations that operate in highly regulated environments, such as the financial services sector, where companies are rightly expected to conduct their own product security testing and legal review of privacy policy positions to, at the very least, limiting use on corporate devices or by high-value users.

There is no doubt that organisations with regularly updated threat models based on contextual intelligence, mature asset management practices and integrated management endpoint solutions are better positioned to manage this risk enterprise-wide, said Valenzuela.

It underscores the importance of managing risk throughout the organisation and the need to assess, and thereby control, the impact of the introduction of new products and technologies upon overall organisational security. This includes the use of seemingly innocuous chat and social media apps.

I suspect that only a limited number of CISOs are aware of TikToks privacy policy statement, he continued. While attacks on the supply chain are a real concern today, privacy risk should also be a top priority for CISOs of high-risk organisations. This is because personal data on company executives and other important individuals can be of great value in the hands of financially motivated attackers or the state.

Ultimately, the question of whether or not security leaders should ban or restrict the use of TikTok on company-owned devices is one that only they can answer. But given the growing number of government bans being proposed or enacted, at the very least, a thorough risk assessment is in order, coupled with a wider audit of corporate social media activity.

Continue reading here:
UK TikTok ban gives us all cause to consider social media security - ComputerWeekly.com

TikTok

Shou Zi Chew, who joined ByteDance, the parent company in 2021, wont let his children use the app

Thu 23 Mar 2023 10.47 EDT

Shou Zi Chew has said the most gruelling experience of his life was a five-day survival course in the jungles of Borneo when he was serving as a conscript in Singapores armed forces.

The TikTok chief executive, whose trans-global academic and business career has rapidly propelled him to the top job at one of the worlds biggest tech companies, will need to display some of that mettle as he battles to ensure the corporate survival of the controversial but immensely popular social video app.

The 40-year-old Singaporean, who faces questioning by US lawmakers on Thursday amid talk of a possible ban in the US, came from a relatively modest background: his father worked in construction and mother in bookkeeping. His fate was transformed at the age of 12 when high marks on a national exam got him into an elite high school, where he added fluency in Mandarin to his native English.

Following his military service Chew is a reservist officer in the Singaporean army until he is 50 he obtained a bachelors degree in economics from University College London.

He stayed on in the UK capital, becoming a banker at Goldman Sachs for two years, investment experience that would eventually lead him to meet a young Zhang Yiming, the founder of TikToks parent, ByteDance, when he was developing the company in a crammed apartment in Beijings university district.

In 2010, Chew gained his MBA from Harvard Business School, where he got his first experience of life in the tech sector with an internship at Facebook while the social networking company was still in startup mode before going public in 2012.

It was also where he met his Taiwanese-American future wife Vivian Kao, with whom he has two children. Chew whose TikTok profile was created in February last year and has just 23 posts, including videos of him attending the Super Bowl and NBA games as well as meeting celebrities such as Bill Murray does not allow his children to use the app, having said last November that they are too young.

After business school, Chew joined the venture capital firm DST, founded by the Israeli-Russian IT billionaire Yuri Milner, where his Mandarin qualified him to be its China-focused partner.

This would see him make his pivotal visit to Zhangs ByteDance in 2012 before the team created TikTok, resulting in Chew and his partners investing in the startup the following year.

He also led investment in Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone maker with global ambitions to take on Apple, which he joined as chief financial officer in 2015 at the age of 32.

Chew helped to secure financing that led to the companys public listing three years later. At the time this was one of Chinas biggest ever tech initial public offerings, although its share performance has since been mixed. He was made head of its international business in 2019.

In 2021, Zhang persuaded Chew to join ByteDance as its first chief financial officer. Two months later, he was elevated to chief executive following the abrupt departure of the former Disney executive Kevin Mayer after just three months, as the Trump administration attempted to force a sale of TikToks US assets.

Chews rise to the top of the tech industry landed him a spot on Fortunes 40 under 40 list in 2021.

The low-profile exec is now embarking on a media offensive as part of TikToks wider efforts to galvanise support to avert a ban in the US and other countries.

This could take TikTok away from all 150 million of you, he said in a post appealing to US TikTok users.

{{topLeft}}

{{bottomLeft}}

{{topRight}}

{{bottomRight}}

{{.}}

Read the original post:
From Facebook intern to the crosshairs of Congress: TikTok chiefs stellar rise - The Guardian