At this year’s EDUCAUSE, I sat down with Webster University and Collin College for a discussion hosted by The Chronicle of Higher Education. In our conversation we explored the possibilities offered b… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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At this year’s EDUCAUSE, I sat down with Webster University and Collin College for a discussion hosted by The Chronicle of Higher Education. In our conversation we explored the possibilities offered by hybrid campuses, including opportunities that sometimes go overlooked. We also discussed the results from a recent The Chronicle of Higher Education survey that can help our industry better understand where hybrid stands today with faculty and administration. 

Four key areas of hybrid work in higher education

Together with my friends from Webster University and Collin College, we focused on four areas of hybrid work in higher education that are key to how institutions approach hybrid campuses. These include:  

Student experience – Building a frictionless experience for students, faculty, and administration increases everyone’s success while delivering enhanced learning environments that can also help improve student retention as we face the approaching enrollment cliff in 2025.  
Staff and faculty remote work – Colleges and universities fall on a spectrum in terms of the extent to which they embrace a remote or hybrid workforce. Campuses, by their very nature of being a community of learners, are different from companies and the same remote work policies and protocols that work in business don’t always directly translate to higher education. However, like private sector companies, institutions of higher education are grappling with the set up that works best for their mission and goals.
Student services – Offering hybrid services gives institutions of higher education the power to meet students’ needs faster and on-demand. This unlocks the world of high-value services that today’s students not only seek out but expect, including health counseling, financial services, and academic advising – all in a hybrid mode, at scale, and without disruption.
Hybrid/online education – Higher education has a real need for their IT offerings to match the advanced expectations of tech-savvy students. That means delivering high-quality experiences for all stakeholders (including faculty, staff, and partners). To do so, schools must have the capability to successfully sustain their virtual environments end-to-end, regardless of a user’s time, location, device, and purpose – on campus and beyond.

Get the data: What we heard

To better understand how institutions are approaching hybrid work, we recently collaborated with The Chronicle of Higher Education to conduct a national survey (download now) of 873 college administrators and 436 faculty members, offering them the chance to share their perspectives on their own institutions’ policies for hybrid work in higher education, and how they are managing this new and evolving aspect of their campus culture. 

While reviewing the survey results, there were several takeaways that really stood out to me and my colleagues, including: 

The top 3 reasons institutions went hybrid were staff focused, rather than student:  
Benefits to staff and faculty morale (73%) 
Better work environment for staff (70%) 
To recruit faculty and staff (45%).

52% of academic and administrative leaders would prefer for their institution to offer a hybrid work option. 
The top 3 roles or offices on campus that have an option for fully remote work include: IT 47%, faculty 35%, fundraising/development/alumni relations 24%. 
93% of academic and administrative leaders and 84% of faculty strongly agree or somewhat agree that a hybrid work environment benefits employee morale. 
89% of academic and administrative leaders and 82% of faculty strongly agree or somewhat agree that having a remote work option has improved their work-life balance. 

At the end of the day, we know that hybrid is here to stay

Cisco is committed to powering inclusive learning for all. We believe that education is not about where you learn; it’s about what you learn. We are guided by the vision that all students can have equal access to education, no matter where they are. Learn how Cisco is working with institutions of higher education every day to help them meet the hybrid expectations of students and staff.  

  What's next for hybrid work in higher education? Find out as we share our survey results from 873 college administrators. Plus, discover key takeaways that can help you plan for the future of hybrid work at your institution.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

In today’s world, there is no shortage of data. So, you’d think that building a sustainable IT infrastructure is easy. Think again!

One of the biggest challenges[1] the sustainability community – tec… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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In today’s world, there is no shortage of data. So, you’d think that building a sustainable IT infrastructure is easy. Think again!

One of the biggest challenges[1] the sustainability community – technical and non-technical – is facing is the lack of data standardization.[2] Without standards, we cannot make meaningful data comparisons and we lack the ability to monitor, report, optimize, and consistently automate sustainability-related metrics. Simply put, without standardization, we are left comparing apples and oranges!

As sustainability becomes increasingly important to organizations, the standardization problem becomes more urgent. Data must support decision-making, performance tracking, compliance, stakeholder engagement, and continuous improvement, enabling organizations to track their progress and contribute to a more sustainable future.

Adding to the complexity, data sources involved in sustainability are diverse. For every deployment that we do, those of us in technical roles need visibility beyond our own technology. We need to include: Supplier data,[3] Government data,[4] Industry data,[5] Third-party data.[6]

While all that data allows organizations to identify inefficiencies, pinpoint opportunities for optimization, and identify patterns and trends, structure is required to turn them into meaningful Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). There is a need not only to determine which are the right data sources but also to define the specifics of the semantics and units of measurement. We need to know how to compare those data sources and build those metrics that will determine thresholds and alert us when conditions are non-desirable.

You will ask me: Doesn’t measurement without standards still provide some value at an individual organization level? Yes, but it becomes challenging to aggregate and compare data across organizations or sectors. It may also result in discrepancies and inconsistencies when reporting to stakeholders.

How can we enable organizations to report against the same metrics? How can we help our customers decide which solution or vendor can support their own goals? How can we build trust with our customers and openly share what and how we are performing as part of their metrics?

We must learn how to make our improvements stick with standardization.

Standards and guidelines provide frameworks and methodologies aimed at consistent and accurate measurement and reporting. They support transparency and comparability among organizations. Some notable standards and guidelines in environmental sustainability include the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHGP),[7] the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI),[8] CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project),[9] LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design),[10] Environmental Management Systems (EMS).[11]

The lack of Standardization leads the industry to perform a conservative analysis, which in turn degrades the accuracy and consistency of the output, including for reporting purposes. Let me explain why.  The GHG Protocol provides requirements and guidance for companies and other organizations to prepare and publicly report a GHG emissions inventory. Per these requirements, we estimate the emissions from the “scope 3, category 11: use of sold products” category based on the following formula.

One of the key inputs above is the total product lifetime, which is currently between 5 and 10 years for most vendors’ products in our market. But, when it comes to the electricity consumed by those products – which is another key input – there is room for wide variability based on the level of optimizations done during deployment. Any small variance in how a company calculates energy usage and product lifespans can change the total reported value drastically, making tracking collective progress extremely challenging in the absence of a standard, agreed-upon approach.

To conclude, data can be a powerful tool in the fight against climate change, but not if we continue to compare apples and oranges. We need to create industry-wide consensus on data standards – and allow room for their evolution – to report on our progress and protect our planet.

Notes

[1] It should be noted that the lack of Primary Data (first-hand data gathered by the manufacturer) is adding to the challenge. While the industry is making progress in this domain, in legacy environments often the specifications of every single component are not known.

[2] Standardization is the process by which specifications are set. In the ICT sector, specifications are primarily used to maximize interoperability – the ability for systems to work together.

[3] Information related to circularity, and information provided by suppliers and partners regarding environmental performance.

[4] Publicly available data from government agencies, references from emissions inventories, and environmental databases.

[5] Specific to a particular industry, sector, or technical domain. These are often collected by research institutions, industry associations, and specialized companies.

[6] Obtained from external sources. A clear example of a metric that needs third-party data is “carbon intensity”. Carbon intensity is a measure of how clean our electricity is. Specifically, how many grams of carbon dioxide are released to produce a kilowatt hour of electricity. Fossil fuels are very carbon intensive, whereas renewable energy is low carbon. Carbon intensity has a strong dependency, on location, time of the day, season, and electricity sources.

[7] Provides guidelines for measuring and reporting GHG emissions.

[8] Framework for sustainability reporting, including environmental indicators and metrics.

[9] Platform that collects and reports environmental data from organizations.

[10] Certification system for sustainable building design and construction.

[11] Standards such as ISO 14001 provide a framework for managing and improving environmental performance.

  Data can be a powerful tool in the fight against climate change, but not if we continue to compare apples and oranges! Learn how standardization can help monitor, report, optimize, and consistently automate sustainability-related metrics.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

Do consumers today care enough about protecting their privacy that they are willing to act? There was a time — just a few years ago — when consumers felt they had already lost the privacy battle. The… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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Do consumers today care enough about protecting their privacy that they are willing to act? There was a time — just a few years ago — when consumers felt they had already lost the privacy battle. They believed their data was already “out there” on the internet, they didn’t know exactly what data companies had about them, and they felt they had little control and little choice. Fortunately, that is not where we are today.

The Cisco 2023 Consumer Privacy Survey, released today, highlights the increasing number of consumers who are acting to protect their privacy, particularly among the younger generations. These consumers are exercising their Data Subject Access Rights and leaving providers over their data practices and policies. They want their governments to take the lead role when it comes to privacy and are overwhelmingly supportive of their country’s privacy laws. They believe Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the power to improve their lives, but they are concerned about how it is being used today. This survey, our fifth annual look at consumer privacy issues, draws on anonymous responses from 2600 adults in 12 countries.

Here are some highlights from the survey:

Younger consumers are leading the way in privacy. Forty-two percent of consumers aged 18-24 have exercised their Data Subject Access Rights, enabling them to find out what personal data companies have about them. But only 15% of consumers aged 55-64 and 6% of consumers aged 75 and older have done so.
Younger consumers are also more likely to take action by switching providers over their privacy practices, requesting changes or deletions to their data, and feeling confident that they can adequately protect their personal data.
Consumers want governments to take the lead role in protecting privacy, and perhaps as a result, consumers overwhelmingly support their country’s privacy laws. Sixty-six percent of survey respondents said privacy laws have had a positive impact, compared with only 4% who said they’ve had a negative impact.
Awareness of privacy law is a critical enabler of consumer confidence. Among consumers who are not aware of their country’s privacy laws, 40% felt confident they could protect their personal data. Among consumers who are aware of the privacy laws, it’s 74%, a significant difference.
Consumers see value in AI, and over half said they are willing to share their anonymized data to make AI products better. At the same time, they are very concerned about how AI is being used today, and 60% have already lost trust in organizations over their AI use.
A relatively small segment (12%) of consumers are using Generative AI (Gen AI) tools regularly. These consumers are generally aware of the privacy risk — i.e., that the data could be shared — but only 50% say they are refraining from entering personal or confidential information into Gen AI.
Consumers are split on the value of data localization requirements, with many indicating that mandating local storage may not be worth the added costs.

Check out the associated infographic that provides easily consumable descriptions of the key data. This and other information can be found on the 2023 Consumer Privacy Survey page on the Cisco Trust Center.

At Cisco, we believe that privacy is a fundamental human right. Governments, organizations, and individuals all need to act to protect personal data and build consumer confidence in how this data is being used. Some recommendations for organizations include:

Educating consumers about privacy laws and their rights. Individuals who know about these protections are more likely to trust organizations with their personal data and have confidence that their data is protected.
Adopting measures for responsible data use. Consumers are very concerned about organizations’ use of their personal data in AI. Organizations need to build and maintain consumer confidence by implementing a governance framework centered on respecting the individuals’ privacy, increasing transparency on how data is used, and working to eliminate bias in automated decision-making.
Considering alternatives to data localization. These restrictions add significant costs to operations, and consumers are not nearly as supportive of data localization if it makes products and services more costly.
Enacting appropriate controls on the use of Gen AI. Regular Gen AI users are aware of the risks that the data they enter could be shared, but only half are refraining from entering personal or confidential information. Organizations need to establish controls to help protect this information.

Consumers are demonstrating that they are willing to act to protect their data, and privacy remains a critical element of their confidence and trust. Especially as the technology unlocks new capabilities, it is incumbent on governments, organizations, and individuals to take action to protect data privacy.

As we are in Cybersecurity Awareness Month in the US and other countries around the world, it’s a great time to empower, protect, innovate, and collaborate to advance cybersecurity. Explore our Cybersecurity Awareness Month site for educational content, upcoming activities and more to build a safer digital environment and more secure future.

We’d love to hear what you think. Ask a Question, Comment Below, and Stay Connected with Cisco Secure on social!

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  The Cisco 2023 Consumer Privacy Survey highlights the increasing number of consumers, particularly younger generations, who are acting to protect their privacy.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

Supply chains have become intricate webs of interconnected suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and consumers who benefit from these associations. While this global ecosystem has ushered in new… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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Supply chains have become intricate webs of interconnected suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and consumers who benefit from these associations. While this global ecosystem has ushered in new heights of efficiency and productivity, and streamlined many processes and workflows, it has also exposed vulnerabilities that can jeopardize the security of entire enterprise operations.

Unfortunately, supply chain security is often overlooked, creating vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit. In today’s video, Wolfgang Goerlich, and Dave Lewis, Global Advisory CISOs for Cisco, shed light on risks, assessments, metrics, and collaboration needed to strengthen supply chain security.

According to Goerlich, companies focus on securing the enterprise from external attacks, but neglect third-party vendor access that could provide a backdoor for attackers.

“What’s going to happen if they get breached? What’s going to happen if they already have access to our systems?”—Wolfgang Goerlich

Generally, Lewis explained, organizations usually “don’t pay mind to the third-party connections we have, [including] the vendors and suppliers that we’re working with that have direct access to our environments.”

It’s important to understand that interdependence creates cyber risks if vendors are breached, while supply chain disruptions threaten operations.

Companies historically have assessed vendor risks through questionnaires. But more rigorous, ongoing methods are needed like technical control evaluations, risk information sharing, and automated data analysis with AI. Qualitative surveys should be augmented with continuous quantitative data about emerging threats.

Additionally, supply chain security is tied to regulations covering assets and data. By calling out supply chain specifically, companies pay more attention to non-linear attack paths via third parties. Attackers always seek creative entries, Lewis said, just like the infamous fish tank used to breach a casino.

“Defenders need to understand that the attackers are not going to come at you in a conventional
sense. They’re going to look at new and exciting ways to give you heartburn.”—Dave Lewis

Both Lewis and Goerlich detail vital performance indicators (KPIs) to track supply chain security. To learn more straight from the experts, watch the full video below:

We’d love to hear what you think. Ask a Question, Comment Below, and Stay Connected with Cisco Secure on social!

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  Your business's security is only as strong as your supply chain. Discover the overlooked risks and expert insights.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

In the past decade, governments and financial institutions have become increasingly targeted by criminal organizations and nation state operators who seek to extort and disrupt key societal functions… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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In the past decade, governments and financial institutions have become increasingly targeted by criminal organizations and nation state operators who seek to extort and disrupt key societal functions (see examples from countries Martinique, Tonga, and Vanuatu, and public healthcare system UK National Health Service). Individual organizations have been exploited for financial gain and entire banking sectors have been disrupted for political or financial purposes (see examples from countries Ukraine and Taiwan, and cyber espionage group Fancy Bear). Ransomware is a key focus of regulatory bodies in adapting to the new environments, and with this, the cybersecurity regulations and guidance are being updated to adjust to the new threat landscape.

The cybersecurity resource guide was released in 2018 to assist financial institutions with sourcing best practices and third party resources for helping mitigate their exposure to cybercrime, and manage responses. This guide was updated in 2022, with the main expansion being a focus on new resources for controls and guidance around managing ransomware.

The FFIEC’s guidance to use the CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) resources leverages their best practices as the nation’s cyber defense agency. As part of a holistic ransomware and threat defense CISA leverages PDNS as a core capability.

“Due to the centrality of DNS for cybersecurity, the Department of Defense (DoD) included DNS filtering as a requirement in its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) standard (SC.3.192). A core capability of PDNS is the ability to categorize domain names based on threat intelligence.”

One of the industry leaders in the CISA guide to ‘selecting a protective DNS service’ is Cisco Umbrella. What was once called OpenDNS is now part of Cisco Umbrella, and is a key part of a holistic security approach to defend against ransomware disrupting financial institutions. Through blocking the reach-back it can disrupt the attack chains attempt to download the ransomware package, as well as disrupt the command and control. This can help prevent malicious links from being unintentionally used by trusted insiders, and help control impacts to social engineering attacks.

Cisco Umbrella has a number of capabilities to help financial institutions meet their FFIEC (and other regulatory) requirements. These include:

DNS-layer Security: Cisco Umbrella provides a cloud-delivered security service that blocks malicious domains and IPs at the DNS (Domain Name System) layer. This helps prevent users from accessing phishing websites, malware-infected sites, or command and control infrastructure used by cybercriminals. By implementing DNS-layer security, a financial institution can significantly reduce the risk of data breaches and unauthorized access.
Secure Web Gateway: Cisco Umbrella acts as a secure web gateway by inspecting and filtering web traffic for potential threats. It can enforce granular policies to control access to specific websites or categories of websites, ensuring compliance with FFIEC guidelines regarding appropriate web usage within the financial institution’s network.
Threat Intelligence: Cisco Umbrella leverages threat intelligence from a vast global network, analyzing billions of internet requests and identifying emerging threats in real-time. By continuously monitoring and updating its threat intelligence, Cisco Umbrella can provide proactive protection against new and evolving threats, enhancing a financial institution’s cybersecurity posture and compliance with FFIEC requirements.
Cloud Application Control: Cisco Umbrella enables financial institutions to gain visibility and control over cloud applications used within their network. By enforcing policies that govern the use of cloud services, financial institutions can ensure compliance with FFIEC requirements related to data protection, privacy, and vendor management.
Reporting and Analytics: Cisco Umbrella provides detailed reporting and analytics capabilities, allowing financial institutions to monitor and analyze their network traffic, security events, and user behavior. This helps financial institutions meet FFIEC requirements related to audit trails, incident response, and monitoring of security events.

Cisco Umbrella fits in with the extensive Cisco security portfolio to help financial institutions protect themselves, protect their customers (and their data), and meet the regulatory requirements in doing so. Through managing the DNS vector as part of a comprehensive ransomware posture, Cisco is helping protect financial institutions.

  Ransomware is a key focus for regulatory bodies, like the FFIEC, in adapting to the new cyber security environments. See why Cisco Umbrella is a recommendation for a protective DNS service.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

Cisco Automation Developer Days are returning to New York on December 5-6, and registration is now open!
Spaces are limited, so make sure to check out the agenda and secure your spot as soon as… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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Cisco Automation Developer Days are returning to New York on December 5-6, and registration is now open!
Spaces are limited, so make sure to check out the agenda and secure your spot as soon as possible.

This event will bring together the Cisco Automation Developer Community for the fifth time, with a focus on service development and best practices for successful automation and operations. Specifically, the gathering will address use cases related to 5G, RON, and Sustainability. We are eager to hear about your experiences with the NSO 6.x upgrade, as we introduced new features and significant performance improvements last year. Your feedback is valuable to us, and we will share our own field experience to encourage those who have not yet upgraded.

You are Wanted!

This event is primarily for Service Developers, NetDevOps Engineers and Operations using or considering to use Cisco Crosswork Network Automation suite including but not limited to Network Service Orchestrator (NSO), Crosswork Workflow Manager (CWM) or Crosswork Network Controller (CNC).

Nils Petter Tisell, Engineering Product Manager, speaking at Developer Days US, 2022

Why should you attend?

Automation has immense potential, but as an industry, we have not fully achieved automation even for basic tasks like software upgrades and Day Zero configuration. However, some of our customers have made significant progress independently, or with the assistance of Cisco CX and partners like Data Ductus. We aim to share these experiences with you so that you can also reap the benefits. Take advantage of this event to learn, share, and connect with others in the industry.

Intense discussions in the Operations Track at Developer Days US, 2022

What can you expect?

We will provide news and announcements about the Crosswork Network Automation portfolio, including product updates and roadmaps. Our customers and partners will also share their automation journeys, and in the afternoon sessions, we will dive deeper into specific tracks that explore new and popular features, teaching you how to use them effectively. You can choose to attend sessions from the Developer Track, the Operations Track, or join the Managerial workshop on Day 1. Additionally, we are planning an optional third day for hands-on activities. After an intense first day, we will conclude with a casual mingle event to allow ample time for networking and socializing. The end of day 2 will be reserved for your input, as we value your ideas on features, usability, and more. Understanding your needs is crucial to us.

If this sounds interesting, learn more and register for the Automation Developer Days now!

Related resources

Explore Cisco’s Service Provider technologies
Explore Cisco Crosswork APIs, SDK, and sample code
Visit the Cisco DevNet Network Automation Resource Center

  This event is for Service Developers, NetDevOps Engineers, and Operations who are using, or considering to use, Cisco Crosswork Network Automation suite. The focus will be on service development and best practices for successful automation and operations.  Read More Cisco Blogs