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Employees are a weak link in cybersecurity: How to protect your business

Daniel Markuson Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Estimates show that 90% of corporate data breaches in the cloud happen due to hacker attacks that target employees, according to a report from Kaspersky Lab. With many of them forced to work remotely during the quarantine, companies are now more vulnerable than ever. Employee negligence is a great threat to business security. However, this particular risk is easy to control. There are many digital tools that can help protect organizations from data breaches.

How technology can help prevent workplace injuries

Terri Williams Business Management, Services & Risk Management

A few months ago, we reported on workplace fatalities being at their highest levels since 2008, although workplace injuries are trending down. And now, the National Security Council recently released its first Work to Zero research report, "Safety Technology 2020: Mapping Technology Solutions for Reducing Serious Injuries and Fatalities in the Workplace." The report identifies the most relevant workplace hazards, along with technologies that can help to mitigate the risks.

As COVID-19 cases swell, the trucking industry struggles to keep drivers…

Gail Short Transportation Technology & Automotive

While many Americans are sheltering in their homes to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, long-haul truckers are traveling down the highways day and night delivering food, medicines and other essential goods to grocery stores, hospitals and pharmacies. But what happens if a trucker gets coronavirus or feels ill while on the road? While driving heavy or tractor-trailer trucks has always put drivers at a high risk for accidents and injuries, COVID-19 poses an added danger. But, as the pandemic rages on across the country, truckers, their employers, associations and others are working to keep them healthy.

Alcohol sales spike during pandemic

Bambi Majumdar Retail

Has alcohol become a necessity during the time of COVID-19? It seems so. According to a recent Nielsen report, U.S. beverage sales, especially off-premise alcohol retail sales, have witnessed significant growth amid COVID-19. Consumers are not just stocking up on groceries and toilet paper but also on alcohol, with larger packages outpacing the growth of smaller ones. For the week ending March 21, Nielsen reported U.S. online alcohol sales being up 243%.

Travel industry steps up with generosity

Lark Gould Travel, Hospitality & Event Management

Not-so-random acts of kindness are in play in the travel industry as the coronavirus has decimated the jobs and stability Americans expect. As Americans try to make sense of it all, major travel industry brands are coming forward with measures of kindness that go a long way. These may be donations to food banks, hospitals or simple ways to relieve burdens or extend benefits.

Making healthy food choices during quarantine

Victoria Fann Food & Beverage

Many of us have become adept at social distancing, washing our hands regularly, sanitizing our groceries and packages, and using Zoom to stay in touch with family and friends. Perhaps many are even making healthy food choices, but given the level of anxiety and uncertainty, I know that lots of people are stress eating and drinking. While sugary, high-carb foods and alcohol may offer a temporary feeling of relief, they wreak havoc on the immune system and over time contribute to feelings of lethargy, brain fog and exhaustion.

How COVID-19 affects the school lunch program

Patrick Gleeson Education

In a couple of earlier articles, I wrote about how the coronavirus threatens U.S. education in general. Here, I'd like to concentrate on one particular aspect of the problem: how the coronavirus will make an already highly unequal K-12 education experience even less equal by depriving the neediest students of what may be their only substantial daily meal.

Study: Sweet tooth gene related to lower body fat, with some caveats

Amanda Ghosh Medical & Allied Healthcare

FGF21, or fibroblast growth factor 21, is a hormone secreted by the liver. It suppresses sugar and alcohol intake, stimulates the uptake of glucose by fat cells, and acts as an insulin sensitizer. At least one variant of the FGF21 gene, rs838133, is associated with higher consumption of sugar and alcohol and lower consumption of fat and protein. Approximately 20% of Europeans are homozygous for the rs838133 variant, and they consume more sugar and alcohol as a result. But, to what effect? A study published in Cell Reports investigates.

3 possible economic outcomes for the coronavirus pandemic

Lark Gould Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Surviving the coronavirus is currently top of mind for the American public. There are many likely scenarios possible within the possible epidemiological trajectories of COVID-19 and the economic response to this crisis will also develop over the next few months, bringing a new set of struggles to consider. The Conference Board, a New York-based think tank on the economy and public policy, has developed three scenarios for the development of the U.S. economy through the remainder of the year.

Quarantines, home-cooked meals give the fresh produce market a boost

Bambi Majumdar Food & Beverage

The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in much of the world being under lockdown or quarantine, and people are focused on stocking up on essentials as they prepare to be stuck at home for weeks. Empty aisles and long queues in front of Costco have become familiar sights. In the midst of this, retail sales have gone up, and fresh produce in particular has seen a big spike.

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