Category «Competitive Intelligence»

Propaganda, Mis- and Disinformation, and Censorship: The War for Hearts and Minds

Author and blogger Dave Pollard addresses the incendiary global war of lies vs. truth, reminiscent of the MAD Magazine cartoon Spy Vs. Spy for those who of us who can recall the scenarios they played which remain eerily prescient. Pollard posits the most effective way to win and retain political power is by seizing the hearts and minds of citizens through a mix of propaganda, mis- and disinformation, and censorship. He continues, this is especially true now, living with a ubiquitous and unceasing firehose of often-conflicting information, and exploitative for-profit “social” media controlled by a handful of dimwitted and unstable western oligarchs.

Subjects: Communications, Competitive Intelligence, Ethics, Free Speech, Information Management, KM, News Resources, Social Media

Using News and Social Media for Finding Financial Assets – 5 Top Tips

Private investigator Marcy Phelps searches social media and online news for clients on a daily basis and recommends specific sources as useful for asset investigations. Phelps notes that not everything will show up in public records, and news and social media research helps fill in the gaps. Phelps shares a few examples of useful sources and strategies that made a difference for clients.

Subjects: Business Research, Competitive Intelligence, Search Strategies, Social Media

Information Quality Resources 2022

Librarians, researchers, journalists, teachers and students are continually confronted with what can be described as a kind of information miasma when using online sites, databases, resources, images and social media. No sector or discipline is immune to misinformation, disinformation, hoaxes, lack of data quality, and biased research. This guide by Marcus Zillman highlights actionable resources to evaluate and identify online malfeasance, as well as sources to verify information and data quality that is critical to our professions. These two efforts often intersect, and require vigilance and continuing education respective to effectively confronting the challenges they present.

Subjects: Big Data, Competitive Intelligence, Education, Information Management, Internet Resources - Web Links, KM, Libraries & Librarians, Reference Resources, Search Strategies, Social Media, Technology Trends, Viruses & Hoaxes

Pete Recommends Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, January 16, 2022

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: You can actually make that old laptop last longer; Law Enforcement and Technology: Using Social Media; Google Drive accounted for the most malware downloads from cloud storage sites in 2021; and The Spine Collector: Man arrested for using fake email addresses to steal hundreds of unpublished manuscripts.

Subjects: Big Data, Competitive Intelligence, CRS Reports, Cybersecurity, Email Security, Government Resources, Legal Research, Privacy, Social Media

Remote Work Proves the Firm Library Is More Than a Physical Space

Marshall Voizard is a law firm reference supervisor. He shares significant insights into the profession in the time of COVID. Voizard states that the past 18 months have accelerated positive changes, illustrating to all that the library is no longer primarily a physical place, but rather an entire ecosystem of electronic legal information resources. Our expert guidance is needed more than ever.

Subjects: Business Research, Competitive Intelligence, KM, Law Librarians, Legal Marketing, Library Marketing, Online Legal Research Services, Technology Trends

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, December 11, 2021

Privacy and security issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: Convincing Microsoft phishing uses fake Office 365 spam alert; Consumer Reports conducted an in-depth test of 16 well-known VPNs; How and why people use password managers; and Senator Doubles Down On Data Privacy, Sends Letter to CFPB.

Subjects: Big Data, Business Research, Competitive Intelligence, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Financial System, Privacy, Social Media, Technology Trends

Finding People Resources and Sites 2022

This guide by Marcus Zillman identifies a wide range of free and fee based resources from which to choose to conduct people searches as well as brand and company reputation research, for business or personal reasons. It is important to note that the largest and most prominent data aggregators resell their content to other sites. In addition, data on free and some fee based sites may not be cleansed and can include inaccuracies that range from minor to critical. Also, many sites offer free search but charge a fee to review the results. It is therefore advisable to use multiple sources in your research and compare and contrast results before pursuing the use of these data.

Subjects: Big Data, Business Research, Competitive Intelligence, Data Mining, KM, Legal Research, LEXIS, Reference Resources, Search Engines, Search Strategies, Social Media, Westlaw

How Data Analytics Can Change the Way Law Firms Do Business

Lisa M. (Bradford) Mayo, Director of Data and Analytics at Ballard Spahr LLP identifies how and why data and analytics are on the forefront of much of the firm’s modern technology offerings. Unlike many firms, Ballard’s data and analytics function sits inside their Client Value and Innovation department, where they have some latitude with a research and development budget and the directive to “fail fast” if they determine a proof-of-concept did not meet our needs. The firm’s data management mission statement says in part that we “contribute to the firm’s strategic goals by using innovative technologies, a variety of flexible and adaptive data sources, artificial intelligence/machine learning, and ongoing data literacy education to help redefine the Firm’s internal performance objectives and accountability drivers and transform how the Firm delivers legal services to its clients.” Just 48 words but loaded with meaning and purpose, both for now and in the foreseeable future.

Subjects: AI, Big Data, Case Management, Competitive Intelligence, Ethics, Information Architecture, Information Mapping, KM, Leadership, Legal Marketing, Technology Trends

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, October 24, 2021

Privacy and security issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: Investigating Cybercrime and the Dark Web; Warranty Repairs and Non-Removable Storage Risks; Can Facebook’s Smart Glasses Be Smart about Security and Privacy?; and Study – How Facebook News Feed Works.

Subjects: Business Research, Competitive Intelligence, Court Resources, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Healthcare, Legal Research, Privacy, Technology Trends

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, September 25, 2021

Privacy and security issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: Landlords Use Secret Algorithms to Screen Potential Tenants. Find Out What They’ve Said About You; Even the NSA Agrees: Targeted Ads Are Terrifying; Massive Troll Farms Revealed to Be Operating on Facebook; and Ninth Circuit Says Warrantless Search of Google Files Automatically Reported to Police.

Subjects: AI, Competitive Intelligence, Congress, Criminal Law, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Financial System, Privacy, Search Engines, Social Media