Researchers Find ‘eFail’ Threat to Email Privacy

Cybersecurity experts in Europe have identified flaws in the popular PGP and S/MIME email encryption standards that could expose plaintext versions of encrypted messages to hackers.PGP, which stands for Pretty Good Privacy, has protected the privacy of the messages of journalists, whistleblowers,...

By Matthew Heller • May 15, 2018

HSBC Claims Blockchain Breakthrough for Trade

In a milestone for trade finance, HSBC announced Monday it had used a blockchain platform to process a shipment of soybeans for agribusiness giant Cargill.The U.K. bank said the digital transaction involving a bulk shipment of soybeans from Argentina, through Cargill’s Geneva trading arm, to Mala...

By Matthew Heller • May 14, 2018

Explore the Trendline➔

The CFO Strategy for Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence’s impact on the office of the CFO continues to evolve, and finance chiefs must be aware of the opportunities it will create for growth. 

By CFO.com staff

Future of Finance: Humans and Machines Unite

Today, it seems you can’t go even a few days without hearing about the exciting — and also disruptive — implications of emerging technologies and advanced use cases for data and analytics. For finance leaders in particular, the promises of new developments in machine learning, predictive analytic...

By Eric Dowdell • April 30, 2018

Data Privacy Hoopla Is a Wake-Up Call

With Mark Zuckerberg enduring another day of grilling by members of Congress on Wednesday, it’s difficult to escape the conclusion that a watershed moment in the annals of consumer data privacy is at hand.But even before the Cambridge Analytica scandal came to light, consumers were up in arms ove...

By David McCann • April 11, 2018

Hackers Hit Hudson’s Bay in Latest Retail Breach

Hudson’s Bay has become the victim of one of the largest data breaches to hit a retailer, with cybercriminals stealing up to five million payment cards issued to customers of its Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor stores.The Toronto-based company disclosed Monday that it had become aware of ...

By Matthew Heller • April 2, 2018

Atlanta Hack Highlights Ransomware Dangers

The city of Atlanta is still struggling to recover from a devastating cyberattack that its mayor has compared to a “hostage situation” and security experts say is a reminder of the vulnerabilities of government computer networks.The ransomware attack on Thursday targeted Atlanta’s online systems,...

By Matthew Heller • March 28, 2018

IBM Adds Watson Assistant to AI Portfolio

IBM has launched a new service based on its Watson technology that businesses can use to power voice-activated virtual assistants for their own products.An enhancement of IBM’s “Watson Conversation” service, the Watson Assistant is not tied to any one device but can be used by partners who licens...

By Matthew Heller • March 22, 2018

Spending on Digital Tech Will Spike This Year

Companies are planning a major boost in spending on digital transformation over the next year, according to a survey of senior finance executives by Grant Thornton in partnership with CFO Research.Among 304 executives surveyed, more than two-thirds (69%) said they plan to make greater investments...

By David McCann • March 9, 2018

Equifax Hack Could Cost ‘Well Over $600M’

Equifax’s massive 2017 data breach, which compromised the personal information of more than 147 million consumers, could turn out to be the most costly in corporate history.The credit reporting bureau disclosed Friday that it expects to incur another $275 million this year in costs related to the...

By Matthew Heller • March 5, 2018

IBM, Maersk to Bring Blockchain to Shipping

IBM has announced a joint venture with Danish shipping giant Maersk to use blockchain technology to cut through the red tape of global trade.The companies said their “global trade digitization platform” is designed for use by the entire global shipping ecosystem, including shippers, ports, custom...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 17, 2018

Patches for Chip Flaws May Slow Down PCs

Microsoft has reported performance issues with computers and servers resulting from security patches for vulnerabilities in hardware chips from Intel and AMD.Patches for the memory corruption flaws known as Spectre and Meltdown were first released on Jan. 3. The bugs could allow hackers to bypass...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 11, 2018

Kodak Plans Cryptocurrency for Photographers

An iconic name is joining the blockchain as Kodak announced plans to launch a cryptocurrency as part of a blockchain-based rights-management service for photographers.The KodakOne service uses blockchain technology developed by Wenn Digital and is designed to allow photographers to track the use ...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 10, 2018

Amazon Launches In-Car Alexa With Panasonic

Amazon is revving up its voice activation system for cars,  announcing a partnership that will integrate its Alexa device into Panasonic’s in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) system.At the CES trade show, Amazon on Monday introduced Alexa Onboard, offering in-car users the opportunity to control everyt...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 9, 2018

The Problem with Pie Charts

Eighteenth century Scottish engineer and economist William Playfair was one of the founding fathers of presenting data visually. He is credited with inventing the ubiquitous line and bar charts. That’s more important than it sounds, given that research since shows humans process visual informatio...

By Vincent Ryan • Dec. 29, 2017

Solar Boom Ends Amid SolarCity Slowdown

After years of stellar growth, home solar installations are expected to fall for the first time this year, reflecting a slowdown at SolarCity in the wake of its acquisition by Tesla.The residential solar market increased 19% in 2016 and more than 50% in the four years before that. But in a new re...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 15, 2017

Mobile App Spending to Top $110B Next Year

Mobile app monetization will continue to grow next year with worldwide consumer spend across all app stores increasing about 30% to more than $110 billion, according to a new report.App market researcher App Annie also highlighted several signs that the app economy is maturing, with, as of Octobe...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 6, 2017

Equifax Failed to Patch Software Flaw: Ex-CEO

Former Equifax CEO Richard Smith has confirmed the company failed to patch a software vulnerability that hackers exploited to compromise the personal information of more than 140 million Americans.In written testimony to be delivered to a congressional committee on Tuesday, Smith said the Departm...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 3, 2017

Deloitte Confirms Hack Breached Email System

Deloitte, itself a provider of cybersecurity services, has confirmed a hack breached its email system, possibly exposing confidential client information.According to The Guardian, the “big four” accounting firm discovered the hack in March, but it is believed the attackers may have had access to ...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 26, 2017

SEC Discloses 2016 Hack of EDGAR System

In another illustration of the vulnerability of financial infrastructure, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has disclosed a data breach that may have resulted in cyber criminals using its EDGAR online database to make illicit trades.SEC Chairman Jay Clayton said hackers had obtained acc...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 21, 2017

Equifax Hack Exposes App Patch Vulnerability

The massive data breach at Equifax appears to highlight a security vulnerability for many large companies — they do not maintain a proper inventory of their applications.Equifax confirmed on Wednesday that the hackers exploited a flaw in Apache Struts, a popular open source framework for creating...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 14, 2017

Three Ways to Generate Profit With Your Data

Build it and they will come. That is the view many organizations maintain about their data lakes and data warehouses. Companies are rapidly investing in systems and processes to retain business data that they know is valuable. But they have no clue what to do with it.Andrew Wells Most organizatio...

By Andrew Wells and Kathy Chiang • July 17, 2017

Microsoft Launches Azure Local Cloud Solution

Heating up its cloud competition with Amazon and Google, Microsoft has launched a long-awaited platform for organizations that prefer not to use the public cloud.Azure Stack offers the same management tools, straightforward provisioning, and usage-based licensing as the public Azure cloud, but ca...

By Matthew Heller • July 10, 2017

Anthem Agrees to Record Settlement Over Cyberattack

Anthem Inc., one of the nation’s largest health insurers has agreed to pay $115 million to settle litigation stemming from a 2015 hacking incident that compromised the personal data of some 79 million people, according to nbcnews.com, which cited lawyers for the plaintiffs.Proceeds from the settl...

By William Sprouse • June 26, 2017

Square-Off: Are Corporate Cyber Defenses Adequate?

It’s not just about the technology, stupid. That’s the collective message of the four expert commentators in this CFO Square-Off opinion forum, which addresses the issue of how CFOs and their corporations should be addressing cybersecurity in the face of rapid advances on the hacking front. Inste...

By David Katz • June 21, 2017

Apple to Launch Peer-to-Peer Payment Service

Apple has announced that its new iOS 11 operating system will enhance Apple Pay by including a feature that allows direct peer-to-peer payments through text messages.With the new service, users will be able to send and receive money inside Apple’s iMessage app, authenticate payments with Apple’s ...

By Matthew Heller • June 7, 2017