SCP-NPM learning - SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM) Updated: 2024

Dubai, United Arab Emirates – SolarWinds (NYSE:SWI), a leading provider of simple, powerful, secure observability and IT management software, has released its predictions for the IT trends and themes that will dominate in the year ahead. This year, enterprises are likely to further embrace artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and automation to meet their efficiency, service delivery, and productivity goals.

As digital environments have become more modern and mature with the adoption of hybrid and multi-cloud deployments, they’ve also become infinitely more complex to migrate, monitor, and manage. With constrained resources, limited time, and mounting workloads, IT teams have embraced AI-powered automation to provide a critical lift.

“As AI becomes more sophisticated and its application more widespread—from consumer uses like ChatGPT to impactful enterprise implementations like automated service delivery and anomaly detection—it’s no longer the presence of AI that’s notable, but the application of it,” said Jeff Stewart, vice president of global solutions engineering at SolarWinds. “Thanks in large part to impressive strides in the advancement of AI and machine learning this year, enterprises are better equipped than ever to solve, or even avoid, costly hits to their systems, services, or bottom line in 2024.”

For 2024, SolarWinds forecasts these themes—powered and accelerated by AI and machine learning—will shape the enterprise technology landscape:

• Observability across the full tech stack will become a priority. According to SolarWinds research, the typical enterprise loses more than $13M annually to costs associated with the nine brownouts or outages experienced each month. Despite this, nearly half of IT professionals surveyed lack visibility into the majority of their organization’s apps and infrastructure. AI-powered observability solutions address this by collecting data to provide information on what’s not performing as expected and why—allowing teams to take a proactive approach to eliminating downtime, innovating, and exceeding customer expectations. 

• Organizations will prioritize getting to the root of database issues. One-third of IT professionals surveyed manage upwards of 300 databases. This year, teams will embrace AI and automation to ensure the health, stability, and scalability of their services. In addition to the ability to identify issues at their root cause, IT teams will benefit from real-time issue remediation, understanding database implications as new code is deployed, and even avoiding costly outages.

• Organizations will embrace Artificial Intelligence for IT Operations (AIOps) to support busy teams. With AIOps, organizations can integrate data from across complex hybrid IT environments and receive the actionable, predictive intelligence they need to optimize performance, resolve issues quickly, and relieve pressure on IT teams. Furthermore, AIOps are paving the way toward autonomous operations, which will require little to no human intervention.

• IT Service Management (ITSM) will support faster, more successful IT outcomes. On average, research shows that organizations surveyed who adopted AI-powered tools to meet their ITSM needs were able to reduce system downtime by 21% and decrease time spent resolving incident and service requests by 23%. Features such as virtual troubleshooting agents and guided incident resolution will continue to support the workload of IT teams in 2024. In fact, SolarWinds Service Desk customers surveyed reported saving 23 hours per week due to reduced ticket volume—nearly the equivalent of adding an extra employee to their team.

Throughout 2023, SolarWinds retained its position as an industry leader by continually developing modern IT and software solutions that evolve in lockstep with the challenges faced by today’s enterprises as they attempt to compete, scale, and innovate. SolarWinds solutions are rooted in the company’s deep connection with tech professionals. The company engaged directly with customers through THWACK®, its community of over 180,000 users, to develop and test the new AI capabilities and ensure they make it easier for IT pros to do their jobs.

For more information about SolarWinds Observability and ITSM solutions built to optimize today's hybrid IT environments, visit: https://www.solarwinds.com/

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About SolarWinds 

SolarWinds (NYSE:SWI) is a leading provider of simple, powerful, secure observability and IT management software built to enable customers to accelerate their digital transformation. Our solutions provide organizations worldwide—regardless of type, size, or complexity—with a comprehensive and unified view of today’s modern, distributed, and hybrid network environments. We continuously engage with IT service and operations professionals, DevOps and SecOps professionals, and database administrators (DBAs) to understand the challenges they face in maintaining high-performing and highly available hybrid IT infrastructures, applications, and environments. The insights we gain from them, in places like our THWACK community, allow us to address customers’ needs now and in the future. Our focus on the user and our commitment to excellence in end-to-end hybrid IT management have established SolarWinds as a worldwide leader in solutions for observability, IT service management, application performance, and database management. Learn more today at www.solarwinds.com.

The SolarWinds, SolarWinds & Design, Orion, and THWACK trademarks are the exclusive property of SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC or its affiliates, are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and may be registered or pending registration in other countries. All other SolarWinds trademarks, service marks, and logos may be common law marks or are registered or pending registration. All other trademarks mentioned herein are used for identification purposes only and are trademarks of (and may be registered trademarks of) their respective companies.

© 2023 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

The manual supply chain attack against SolarWinds’ Orion network monitoring platform has sent shockwaves throughout the world, with suspected Russian government hackers gaining access to U.S. government agencies, critical infrastructure entities and private sector organizations.

The injecting of malicious code into Orion between March and June 2020 allowed hackers believed to be with the Russian intelligence service, or APT29, to compromise Microsoft and FireEye, as well as U.S. Departments of Defense, State, Treasury, Homeland Security and Commerce, according to reports from Reuters and others.

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) ordered all federal civilian agencies Sunday to power down SolarWinds Orion products until all hacker-controlled accounts and identified persistence mechanisms have been removed. CISA said it has evidence of additional initial access vectors beyond SolarWinds Orion, but noted those other intrusion methods are still being investigated.

Michael Dell: Public Cloud Isn’t More Secure Than On-Premise
‘The things that led to a lot of these attacks are human-induced that can occur in a public cloud, can occur in a private cloud – it can occur anywhere,’ says Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell.

Mimecast Axes SolarWinds Orion For Cisco NetFlow After Hack
Mimecast has decommissioned its SolarWinds Orion software and replaced it with a Cisco NetFlow monitoring system after hackers compromised a Mimecast certificate used for Microsoft authentication.

Microsoft’s Brad Smith Drags AWS, Google Over SolarWinds Response
‘There are other companies that... have not even alerted their customers or others that they were a victim of a SolarWinds-based attack. These are companies where their own infrastructure was used to launch the attack,’ says Microsoft’s Brad Smith.

AWS: SolarWinds Hackers Used Our Elastic Compute Cloud
‘The actors used EC2 just like they would use any server they could buy or use anywhere (on-premises or in the cloud). And, in fact, the actors did use several different service providers in this manner,’ AWS tells CRN.

SolarWinds To Spend Up To $25M On Security Following Attack
SolarWinds says the money will be put toward security initiatives as well as used to cover higher costs around both insurance and professional fees stemming from the massive cyberattack.

Partners: AWS Must Come Clean On Role In SolarWinds Hack
‘I do wonder whether AWS has made a judgment error in not coming out to publicly defend their position in this high-profile case with such far reaching consequences,’ says Karl Robinson of AWS partner Logicata.

10 Boldest Statements From The SolarWinds Senate Hearing
Senators and tech executives discussed how the SolarWinds hackers used AWS’ infrastructure, took advantage of Microsoft’s authentication process, dwelled in FireEye’s systems and remained undetected for months.

U.S. Senators: AWS Infrastructure Used In SolarWinds Attack
‘The operation we’ll be discussing today uses [Amazon’s] infrastructure, [and], at least in part, required it to be successful. Apparently they were too busy to discuss that here with us today,’ says Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.

U.S. Plans Russian Sanctions For SolarWinds Breach: Report
The Biden administration plans to classify the SolarWinds campaign as ‘indiscriminate’ and ‘disruptive’ to distinguish it from espionage activities the U.S. conducts against adversaries, The Washington Post reported.

Microsoft On-Premises Warning: Customers Must Protect Their Own Identity Infrastructure
‘We were also reminded of the importance of cloud technology over on-premises software. Cloud technologies like Microsoft 365, Azure and the additional premium layers of services available as part of these solutions Boost a defender’s ability to protect their own environment,’ writes Vasu Jakkal, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of security, compliance and identity, in a blog post.

SolarWinds Hackers Kept Going After Microsoft Until January
The SolarWinds hackers first viewed a file in a Microsoft source repository in November, and were able to obtain source code for its Azure, Exchange and Intune cloud-based products.

SolarWinds MSP Building New IT Systems Prior To N-able Launch
‘As we look to design the new N-able systems, we‘re going to have the benefit of all that [threat actor] knowledge and these world class experts to help us design this,’ says SolarWinds MSP President John Pagliuca.

SolarWinds MSP Hunts For New Security Chief Following Split
‘Tim [Brown, VP of Security] has been a fantastic advisor to the 25,000 MSPs that we have. So, we’re bummed. But we understand. So, we’re looking to see if we can clone him,’ says SolarWinds MSP President John Pagliuca.

10 Bold Statements From SolarWinds MSP After The Orion Hack
From comments on switching up CEOs and weeks of silence to building new IT systems and giving MSPs free security products, here’s a look at 10 notable remarks made by SolarWinds MSP President John Pagliuca and VP of Security Tim Brown.

SolarWinds Hacked From Inside U.S., 100+ Orgs Compromised
‘As a country, we choose to have both privacy and security. [As a result], the intelligence community largely has no visibility into private sector networks,’ says Anne Neuberger, a top Biden administration cybersecurity official.

Microsoft: No Evidence SolarWinds Was Hacked Via Office 365
‘The wording of the SolarWinds 8K [regulatory] filing was unfortunately ambiguous, leading to erroneous interpretation and speculation, which is not supported by the results of our investigation,’ Microsoft said Thursday.

Alex Stamos Attributes SolarWinds Hack To Russian Intel Service
New SolarWinds consultant Alex Stamos says the Russian foreign intelligence service is responsible for the massive hacking effort, although SolarWinds itself isn’t attributing the attacks to a specific group or nation.

SolarWinds CEO Confirms Office 365 Email ‘Compromise’ Played Role In Broad Based Attack
SolarWinds CEO Sudhakar Ramakrishna has Verified suspicious activity in its Office 365 environment, with a company email account compromised and used to access accounts of targeted SolarWinds staff in business and technical roles.

Mimecast To Lay Off 80 Workers Weeks After Disclosing Hack
Mimecast CEO Peter Bauer says cutting 4 percent of its workforce will help the company provide more resources to enterprises while leveraging automation and efficiency for mid-market and SMB customers.

Kevin Mandia: Discovering SolarWinds Hack ‘Validates Our Intelligence and Expertise’
‘This breach got everybody to recognize there‘s a way to compromise some of the most secure organizations on the planet in a surreptitious way, and that alarmed people,’ says FireEye CEO Kevin Mandia.

Chinese Hackers Exploit SolarWinds To Steal Federal Payroll Info: Report
Suspected Chinese hackers took advantage of another SolarWinds Orion vulnerability to spread across networks and break into computers at the National Finance Center and other U.S. agencies, Reuters said.

Sophos CEO Kris Hagerman’s 10 Boldest Remarks From Best Of Breed Virtual Winter 2021
From surging sales and profitability and securing the supply chain to combating complexity and doubling down on detection and response, here’s a look at 10 notable statements made by Sophos CEO Kris Hagerman.

SolarWinds Hack ‘One Of The Most Dramatic’ In Last Decade: Sophos CEO
‘You cannot think about your security only in the context of, ‘How well am I secured?’ You’ve got to go beyond that to say, ‘How well am I secured and how well am I securing everything that I connect to?’’ says Sophos CEO Kris Hagerman.

Fidelis Targeted By SolarWinds Hackers After Installing Orion
Fidelis Cybersecurity was a target of interest to the SolarWinds hackers after downloading an evaluation copy of trojanized SolarWinds Orion network monitoring software in May, the company disclosed Tuesday.

Mimecast Breach Linked To SolarWinds Hack, Allowed Cloud Services Access
Mimecast said Tuesday that its certificate compromise was carried out by the same threat actor behind the SolarWinds attack and provided hackers with access to customers’ on-premises and cloud services.

5 Security Vendors That Have Reported Cyberattacks Since December
Five cybersecurity vendors disclosed in recent weeks that hackers have attacked their internal systems, compromised their certificates or attempted to access their email accounts. Here’s a rundown of what happened when.

SolarWinds Hackers Access Malwarebytes’ Office 365 Emails
‘Attackers leveraged a dormant email production product within our Office 365 tenant that allowed access to a limited subset of internal company emails,’ Malwarebytes CEO Marcin Kleczynski wrote in a blog post.

SolarWinds Hack Could Cost Cyber Insurance Firms $90 Million
‘Although the SolarWinds attack is a cyber catastrophe from a national security perspective, insurers may have narrowly avoided a catastrophic financial incident to their businesses,’ says BitSight’s Samit Shah.

5 Things To Know About The Mimecast Hack And Stock Drop
From the type of certificate likely compromised to the impact of this hack on Mimecast’s email security rivals to whether the attack is tied to the SolarWinds breach, here are five big things to know about the Mimecast hack.

Hackers Compromise Mimecast Certificate For Microsoft Authentication
The certificate used to authenticate Mimecast’s Sync and Recover, Continuity Monitor and Internal Email Protect (IEP) products to Microsoft 365 has been compromised by a sophisticated threat actor.

Hackers Taunt FireEye’s Kevin Mandia At Home With Postcard: Report
The FBI is investigating a mysterious postcard sent to CEO Kevin Mandia’s home days after FireEye found initial evidence of a hacking operation on federal agencies and private businesses, Reuters reports.

SolarWinds CEO: Attack Was ‘One Of The Most Complex And Sophisticated’ In History
Hackers first accessed SolarWinds in September 2019 and went out of their way to avoid being detected by the company’s software development and build teams, SolarWinds CEO Sudhakar Ramakrishna says.

SolarWinds’ New CEO Will Make These 5 Changes Post-Hack
From resetting privileged credentials and re-signing all digital certificates to manually checking source code and rolling out threat hunting software, here are five critical security improvements new SolarWinds CEO Sudhakar Ramakrishna plans to make.

SolarWinds Fights Back With Chris Krebs, Alex Stamos Hires
‘Armed with what we have learned of this attack, we are also reflecting on our own security practices and seeking opportunities to enhance our posture and policies. We have brought in the expertise of Chris Krebs and Alex Stamos to assist in this review,’ SolarWinds tells CRN.

SolarWinds Hackers Compromise Confidential Court Filings
The Russian hackers behind the SolarWinds attack have apparently compromised the federal courts’ electronic case filing system, putting ‘highly sensitive non-public documents’ at great risk.

SolarWinds To Pay Ex-CEO $312K To Assist With Investigations
SolarWinds has agreed to pay former CEO Kevin Thompson $62,500 for each of the next five months as the embattled company faces a likely wave of lawsuits and government probes into its conduct around the hack.

SolarWinds Hackers Got Into U.S. Justice Department’s Emails
‘At this point, the number of potentially accessed Office 365 mailboxes appears limited to around 3 percent, and we have no indication that any classified systems were impacted,’ the Justice Department announces.

Feds: SolarWinds Breach Is Likely Russian Intel Gathering Effort
Nearly ten U.S. government agencies experienced follow-on activity on their systems after being compromised through a malicious SolarWinds Orion update, the Cyber Unified Coordination Group says.

SolarWinds Hit With Class-Action Lawsuit Alleging Securities Violations
The first class-action lawsuit brought against SolarWinds following its colossal breach accuses the company of making materially false and misleading statements about its security posture throughout 2020.

SolarWinds Hackers Gain Access To Microsoft’s Source Code
One Microsoft account compromised by suspected Russian hackers had been used to view source code in a number of source code repositories, but none of the code itself was altered, Microsoft disclosed Thursday.

Here Are 24 Reported Victims Of The SolarWinds Hack (So Far)
From tech giants, internet service providers and IT solution providers to federal agencies and county governments, here’s a deeper look at 24 of the publicly identified victims of the colossal SolarWinds hack.

CrowdStrike Fends Off Attack Attempted By SolarWinds Hackers
The suspected Russian hackers behind the massive SolarWinds attack attempted to hack CrowdStrike through a Microsoft reseller’s Azure account but were ultimately unsuccessful, CrowdStrike says.

Five Solution Providers Breached By SolarWinds Hackers: Researchers
The SolarWinds hackers called for proceeding with the second stage of their attack on Stratus Networks, Digital Sense, ITPS and Netdecisions, and had an unknown response to compromising Deloitte, Truesec says. Digital Sense said it wasn’t impacted by the campaign since the company doesn’t use SolarWinds.

Top Treasury Email Accounts Exposed In SolarWinds Hack: Report
The hackers performed a complex step inside Microsoft Office 365 to create an encrypted “token” that tricked the Treasury’s system into thinking the hackers were legitimate users, The New York Times said.

Microsoft: A 2nd Group May Have Also Breached SolarWinds
A ‘different threat actor’ may be responsible for the malware known as Supernova that has been found installed in SolarWinds Orion.

Kevin Mandia: 50 Firms ‘Genuinely Impacted’ By SolarWinds Attack
FireEye CEO Kevin Mandia acknowledges the SolarWinds hack ‘is an attack very consistent with’ what the Russian foreign intelligence service is known for, but didn’t want to officially blame the campaign on them.

Intel, Nvidia Swept Up In SolarWinds Attack: WSJ
The chipmakers say they are investigating the impact of downloading a software update containing malicious code for SolarWinds Orion — the trigger that has left many SolarWinds customers vulnerable — though there is no evidence of any negative impact.

Unclassified Treasury Systems Hit By SolarWinds Hack: Mnuchin
‘At this point, we do not see any break-in into our classified systems. Our unclassified systems did have some access,’ Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin tells CNBC Monday morning.

Trump Downplays SolarWinds Hack, Pompeo Blames Russia
‘Russia, Russia, Russia is the priority chant when anything happens because Lamestream [Media] is, for mostly financial reasons, petrified of discussing the possibility that it may be China (it may!),’ Trump tweeted.

Cisco Hacked Through SolarWinds As Tech Casualties Mount
Roughly two dozen computers in a Cisco lab were compromised through malicious SolarWinds Orion updates, Bloomberg reported. Cisco says there isn’t currently any known impact to its offers or products.

Datto Offers All MSPs Free Scanner To Find Signs Of FireEye, SolarWinds Hack
‘Now is a time to remain vigilant and take an active role in hardening systems against these, now known, tactics,’ Datto CISO Ryan Weeks writes in a blog post announcing the scanner.

VMware Flaw Used To Hit Choice Targets In SolarWinds Hack: Report
A VMware vulnerability that allowed federated authentication abuse was used by the SolarWinds hackers to attack valuable targets, KrebsOnSecurity said. VMware said it didn’t have any indication of this happening.

SolarWinds Should Have Been More ‘Vigilant’: Palo Alto Networks CEO
‘I am not going to give them a free pass,’ says Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora. ‘They should have been more vigilant and diligent, but I think this is a very sophisticated, very complex attack. The fact they (the Russians) got in there not only did they do sophisticated things, they also got lucky that this is a piece of software which then went unnoticed for six to nine months, and now it’s embedded in the infrastructure of thousands of customers.’

SolarWinds Hack Compromised 40-plus Microsoft Customers
A decisive plurality – 44 percent – of the Microsoft customers compromised through SolarWinds are actually in the IT sector, and include software and security firms as well as IT services and equipment providers.

Microsoft Breached Via SolarWinds As Scope Of Destruction Widens: Report
Suspected Russian hackers capitalized on Microsoft’s wide use of SolarWinds to infiltrate the software giant, and then used Microsoft’s own products to further their attacks on other victims, Reuters said. Microsoft pushed back on the report.

SolarWinds Deploys CrowdStrike To Secure Systems After Hack
SolarWinds says its breached Orion network monitoring platform now meets the security requirements of U.S. federal and state agencies following the release of a final hotfix Tuesday night.

Feds: SolarWinds Attack ‘Poses a Grave Risk’ To Government, Business
The U.S. government says it has evidence of additional initial access vectors beyond the SolarWinds Orion supply chain compromise, but noted that those other attack methods are still being investigated.

SolarWinds MSP To Revoke Digital Certificates For Tools, Issue New Ones As Breach Fallout Continues
‘I think they’re afraid. They’ve got liability, and they don’t know what to say, so everybody’s told to keep their mouth shut. Instead of being focused on the issue at hand, they’re worried about lawsuits,” SolarWinds MSP partner Rich Delany tells CRN.

SolarWinds Hack ‘One Of The Worst In The Last Decade’: Analyst
‘There are a lot of white knuckles around this attack ... Even though much of it is unknown, right now people are fearing the worst,’ Daniel Ives of Wedbush Securities tells CRN.

Malware Used In SolarWinds Attack Can Now Be Blocked: FireEye
‘Under certain conditions, the malware would terminate itself and prevent further execution... This killswitch will affect new and previous... infections by disabling... deployments that are still beaconing to avsvmcloud[.]com,’ FireEye tells CRN.

Microsoft’s Role In SolarWinds Breach Comes Under Scrutiny
Microsoft has become ensnared in probes surrounding the colossal U.S. government hack, with media reports and company messages focusing on Office 365, Azure Active Directory and a key domain name.

$286M Of SolarWinds Stock Sold Before CEO, Hack Disclosures
Silver Lake and Thoma Bravo said they weren’t aware of the cyberattack at the time of the sale, but didn’t respond to questions about whether they knew Sudhakar Ramakrishna had been selected as SolarWinds’ next CEO.

10 Things To Know About The SolarWinds Breach And Its U.S. Government Impact
From how nation-state hackers evaded detection to why federal agencies were ordered to immediately power down Orion to its impact on the SolarWinds MSP business, here are the most important things to know about the SolarWinds breach.

Homeland Security Latest Breach Victim Of Russian Hackers: Report
A spokesman said the Department of Homeland Security is aware of reports of a breach and is currently investigating the manner. The U.S. Treasury and Commerce Departments were also reportedly hacked.

US Calls On Federal Agencies To Power Down SolarWinds Orion Due To Security Breach
An emergency directive issued by the U.S. government calls on all federal civilian agencies to disconnect or power down SolarWinds Orion IT management tools because they are being used to facilitate an active exploit.

Infected SolarWinds Updates Used To Compromise Multiple Organizations: FireEye
Nation-state hackers gained access to government, consulting, technology and telecom firms around the world through trojanized updates to SolarWinds’ Orion network monitoring tool, according to FireEye .

8 Big Things To Know About The State-Sponsored FireEye Hack
From who’s suspected to be behind the FireEye hack and how they remained hidden, to what FireEye and intelligence officials are doing to minimize the fallout from the attack, here’s a look at what partners need to know.

FireEye Hacked By Nation-State Group Seeking Government Info
‘This attack is different from the tens of thousands of incidents we have responded to throughout the years. The attackers tailored their world-class capabilities specifically to target and attack FireEye,’ says CEO Kevin Mandia.

CTO, Caresoft Global Technologies, Inc.

Machine learning is a rapidly growing field with endless potential applications. In the next few years, we will see machine learning transform many industries, including manufacturing, retail and healthcare.

In manufacturing, machine learning can be used for quality control, automation and customization. For example, machine learning can be used to detect defects in products before they reach consumers. It can also be used to automate repetitive tasks such as assembly line work. And finally, manufacturers will increasingly use machine learning to customize products for individual consumers.

In retail, machine learning can be used for data analysis to help businesses make better decisions about inventory and pricing. Personalization will become more common, with retailers using machine learning to recommend products to customers based on their past behavior. Robotics will also become more prevalent, with machine learning being used to automate tasks such as shelf stocking and order picking.

In healthcare, machine learning can be used for diagnostics, treatment and prevention. For example, machine learning can be used to diagnose diseases earlier and more accurately. It can also be used to develop personalized treatments based on a patient's characteristics. Machine learning can also be used for preventative care, such as identifying risk factors for disease and providing tailored recommendations for healthy living.

So far we have only scratched the surface of what is possible with machine learning. As technology continues to evolve, we will see even more amazing applications of this transformative technology.

Machine Learning In Manufacturing

In the past, quality control for manufactured goods was a time-consuming and expensive process that required human inspectors to examine each item for defects. However, machine learning can be used to automate this process by training algorithms to identify defects from images or other data sources. This can help reduce the cost of quality control while also increasing the accuracy of the inspection process.

Automation

Machine learning can also be used to automate manufacturing processes. For example, robots that are equipped with machine learning algorithms can be trained to perform tasks such as welding or fabricating parts. This can lead to a more efficient manufacturing process and can free up human workers for other tasks.

Customization

Another way that machine learning is transforming manufacturing is by enabling customization at scale. In the past, it was difficult and expensive to create customized products due to the need for manual labor and individualized production lines. However, machine learning algorithms can now be used to automatically generate custom designs based on customer specifications. This allows manufacturers to quickly and easily produce personalized products without incurring significant additional costs.

Machine Learning In Retail

In the past, retailers have relied on data from customer surveys and transactions to make decisions about their business. However, this data is often incomplete and doesn't provide a full picture of customer behavior. Machine learning can help solve this problem by analyzing large data sets to identify patterns and trends. This information can be used to Boost customer service, optimize stock levels and make other strategic decisions.

Personalization

Machine learning can also be used to personalize the shopping experience for customers. For example, Amazon uses machine learning to recommend products that customers may be interested in based on their previous purchase history. This helps shoppers find what they're looking for more quickly and makes the overall shopping experience more enjoyable.

Robotics

Robots are increasingly used in retail settings to perform shelf stocking and order fulfillment tasks. While these machines cannot replace human workers completely, they can free up employees' time to focus on more critical tasks, such as helping customers. In the future, robots may become even more involved in the retail sector as machine learning technology develops.

Machine Learning In Healthcare

Machine learning is already being used in healthcare to diagnose diseases. For example, Google has developed an algorithm that can detect breast cancer based on images. In the future, machine learning will be used to diagnose more complex conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and cancer.

Treatment

Machine learning can also be used to develop new treatments for diseases. For example, a company called Insilico Medicine is using machine learning to develop new drugs for cancer and other diseases. In the future, machine learning will be used to develop more effective and personalized treatments for patients.

Prevention

In addition to diagnosing and treating diseases, machine learning can also be used to prevent them. For example, IBM's Watson system is being used to predict patients' risk of developing certain diseases. In the future, machine learning will be used to create more personalized and effective prevention plans for individual patients.

Conclusion

Machine learning is set to transform a wide range of industries in the coming years. In retail, machine learning will enable more accurate data analysis, personalization of products and services and even the use of robotics in stores. In healthcare, machine learning will revolutionize diagnostics, treatment and prevention. And in manufacturing, machine learning will Boost quality control, automate processes and allow for greater customization. These are just a few examples of how machine learning will change the landscape of the industry as we know it. So whatever sector you're in, it's time to start preparing for the machine learning revolution.

While ML and associated technologies like natural language processing are gaining traction in current workflows, it's important to pay close attention to ethical standards that differentiate humans from machines. Today, ML has come to a point where it can replace humans in many intelligent tasks. The future is clearly AI/ML-driven, and it will eventually become part of our lives to the degree the mobile phone is. We will take it for granted. Given all of this, those using and developing AI must keep ethics in mind when dealing with it, whether that's focusing on consumer privacy rights or keeping up to date with laws and regulations surrounding the technology in this space.

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“When you're green, you’re growing. When you're ripe, you rot,” the late McDonald’s leader Ray Kroc liked to say. Maybe being too “ripe” rather than a little “green” explains why some people feel stalled in their careers and teams don’t make progress as expected. In a recent conversation, Eduardo Briceño, CEO of Growth.how, cofounder of Mindset Works and author of The Performance Paradox: Turning the Power of Mindset into Action, explains how we can become trapped as chronic performers—trying to do everything perfectly—rather than operating in the learning zone, actively exercising our capacity to grow and change.

We get stuck in performance “when we focus on getting things done as best as we know how, trying to minimize mistakes,” Briceño contends. “It’s a mental state where we’re focused on getting things done and we use strategies to do what we know works and try not to take risks. The learning zone is where we go beyond what we have done before, what we have already mastered. We focus on what’s unknown. We pay attention to the things that surprise us, to the mistakes that we make. And we use strategies that are not just about getting things done but that lead to improvement.”

It’s appropriate to be in performance mode if the stakes are high, says Briceño, when success depends on minimizing errors and doing whatever has been proven to work. In the long run, though, organizational strength comes from being willing to take risks, experiment and acknowledge mistakes. Briceño provides several examples of how to prime a growth mindset that lets us intentionally experiment and “extract the lessons” from things that go wrong, thereby enhancing organizational culture and effectiveness.

Help People Spend More Time In The Learning Zone

Briceño encourages leaders to identify what people care most about and what they want to accomplish, and then to assess how their approaches or habits might make it harder for them to achieve their goals. But since it can be stressful for people to accept corrective feedback, perhaps the most important thing leaders can do is to “solicit feedback frequently and broadly” for themselves and model the idea that this practice is “important for everyone in the company to do.”

For example, if all executive team members “share one thing that they’re working to Boost so that they can support each other” in making that change, then other team members can provide relevant information, access to networks or other resources, thereby supporting each other’s development. When executives consistently model that approach for their own functional teams, the habit of sharing for mutual improvement can take hold across the organization.

A willingness to be vulnerable, exposing one’s errors and accepting feedback and support demonstrates humility as well as a willingness to grow and change. When executives take this stance they show employees at all levels that acknowledging mistakes and weaknesses and asking for support are valued behaviors worth emulating. Over time, notes Briceño, openness and humility become normalized and less vulnerability is required overall.

Foster Growth Through Relationships

Good relationships at work foster well-being. They make it feel safer to focus on learning and show imperfections and inadequacies, rather than remaining stuck in performance mode, feeling required to appear at the height of our game without deviation or rest. When colleagues collaborate and support each other, they develop mutual understanding and deeper connections. “In sharing what I’m trying to improve, in sharing what I’m unsure about—sharing my mistakes and my lessons—I’m disclosing more of myself to you,” says Briceño. This creates an opportunity to “know each other more deeply in ways that other people might not get to know me as deeply because I’m not sharing as much with them. I’m not sharing as much of my thoughts and emotions. And so that creates a deeper bond with you, because I am more transparent with you than I tend to be with other people.” The result is a virtuous cycle of closeness and growth that fosters both stronger collaboration and retention.

Get More Benefit From Providing Varied Learning Opportunities

“The most powerful learning happens when the person is choosing it—when they are saying, ‘I want to learn X and I’m going to do Y about it,’” says Briceño. In strong organizational cultures, there are clear standards and required competencies, and people receive feedback about where they’re doing well and what skills they need to develop to be considered for promotion. Once they’ve received feedback, they have options and choices about how they would like to Boost themselves. Companies often invest in specialized development programs for high potentials and employees on the leadership track, but it benefits the whole company when everyone has opportunities to grow and develop. Organizations can provide a range of developmental support like access to LinkedIn Learning or other inexpensive, self-organized, peer teaching programs.

Make Meetings More Valuable

Many meetings are really exercises in performance, with executives delivering pro forma reports and making plain that they have no problems. But when everyone looks perfect, it’s likely that no one is improving. So, stop conducting meetings in which the same syllabus are always discussed and nothing changes. Instead, try fostering new learning and individual growth by shifting meeting agendas. For example, says Briceño, devote part of meetings to “learning zone conversations” and encourage attendees to share something they learned the prior week. This lets them not merely focus on what they might have got wrong but to identify the learning they gained from the mistake and how it could drive future actions. If senior leaders do this kind of reflection in their own meetings, Briceño says, their example will percolate down and foster similar transparency and learning at all levels of the organization.

As former SolarWinds CISO Timothy Brown faces charges from the SEC for fraud and internal control failures tied to undisclosed cybersecurity risks, it’s clear that the liability landscape for security executives has changed.

Although CISOs have always carried the complex responsibility of securing critical systems and data, the SEC’s decision to assign personal liability to Brown for failing to fully disclose these risks has signaled a major shift for the CISO community. Expectations and consequences are changing, and the SEC can now hold CISOs legally and financially accountable for cybersecurity shortcomings or improper cyber risk assessments that occur under their watch.

In addition to liability concerns, these types of incidents also pose significant risk of hefty compliance fines and a negative public perception. To prevent these issues, CISOs are tasked with implementing important changes to protect their organization’s security posture. Today, we see a pressing need for industrial organizations to better understand their cyber risks, and it’s also imperative to eliminate silos between CISO/CSOs and other C-suite executives like CFOs to mitigate the detrimental impacts to a company’s bottom line when risk does not get documented properly. We need to equip CISOs to perform this new duty and bridge the chasm between different teams that usually have different drivers and speak a different lingo.

Weaknesses within the critical infrastructure industry

Organizations with a tie to operational technology assets and industrial control systems for critical infrastructure – including the transportation, manufacturing, large data centers, energy, and oil and gas industries – are particularly susceptible to cyberattacks. This susceptibility has been exacerbated by the integration of remote monitoring tools like IT and IoT, which have introduced new avenues for cybercriminals to attack and increased the stakes for CISOs.

These vulnerabilities come with great costs – monetarily and also in terms of increased legal implications. The interconnected nature of these environments also means that a breach could result in a domino effect with sequential failures and the potential to endanger the health and safety of the public. Because the tie to public welfare, the likelihood of legal repercussions following a security breach in one of these industries remains higher than others.

Relationships between CISOs and CFOs evolve

The SolarWinds case points to the necessity for clear and consistent communication between CISOs and other C-Suite executives. Without ongoing, open dialogue between these leaders, it’s impossible to ensure complete awareness of the range of complications associated with potential cyber risks. Now that we’ve seen how these risks can easily extend beyond security concerns and into catastrophic financial and legal issues, it’s important that conversations about these risks are not taking place exclusively among CISOs.

The roles and responsibilities of CISOs and other C-Suite executives vary dramatically, which can naturally result in siloed processes and priorities. However, to ensure alignment and effectively protect an organization from data breaches and legal recourse alike, it’s imperative that business leaders learn to “speak the same language” and share information to align their efforts and goals.

CFOs and CISOs must collaborate to evaluate the relationships between cybersecurity incidents and legal risks. We can facilitate this by leveraging cyber risk quantification and management tools, which congregate data to calculate, quantify and translate information about threats and vulnerabilities into lay terms and easily digestible data.

Considerations looking forward

The recent SolarWinds news has also highlighted that simply meeting requirements is no longer satisfactory for compliance purposes. The heightened accountability we’ve seen demonstrated in this case further emphasizes the need to continuously monitor security infrastructure and confirm that adequate cyber defenses are in place before a breach occurs. By embracing proactive cyber risk management and integrating tools that offer a comprehensive picture of risk exposure, CISOs can stay ahead of potential incidents and close critical gaps, safeguarding themselves and their organizations from a wide range of issues.

Looking ahead, organizations would also greatly benefit from adopting a “team sport” approach to security operations. By creating space for everyone to participate in security-focused conversations, CISOs can establish an emphasis on cybersecurity that spans the entire organization. Along with reinforcing the importance of cyber risk management to business operations, clearly communicating risks and concerns to senior leadership teams and advisory boards increases the likelihood of receiving approval for funding and resources necessary to fully mitigate identified risks. Additionally, incorporating other employee teams into an organization’s cyber risk strategy establishes cybersecurity as a shared business priority as opposed to a siloed goal within the IT and OT departments.

Jose M. Seara, founder and CEO, DeNexus

Emphasis on Learning Engineering, Experience Design, Educational Technologies and Leadership 

Learn to lead the strategy, creation, and implementation of learning design and development systems using emerging educational technologies that based on the learning sciences with an online Master of Science (MS) degree in Learning Technologies. This innovative program prepares students to create learning solutions for a dynamic and interconnected world. The curriculum is built on a framework of national education standards, digital literacy, design thinking, instructional design approaches, learning sciences, learning engineering, artificial intelligence, assessment, learning analytics, and applied STEM content all tempered by social justice perspectives. In a world that depends on instant information, the learning technologies graduate program is the ideal preparation for a broad range of careers in education and business settings that involve STEM content.

The Learning Technologies leadership program also embeds several online Graduate Certificates (Instructional Design for e-Learning, Learning Analytics, Learning in Game-Based Environments) that enable students to develop a specialized foundation in the field, along with (elective certificates in cognate areas including “Creativity Tools & Techniques for the Classroom or Workplace,” “Mind, Brain, Learning,” and “Higher Education Leadership”, If you choose to complete one of these certificates prior to enrolling in the MS degree in Learning Technologies, up to 18 credit hours may be transferred to the Learning Technologies Master's degree upon admission.

The Learning Experience

The Master’s in Learning Technologies degree program is offered entirely online but emphasizes experiential and applied learning with high levels of faculty-student interaction. We are committed to providing convenient, flexible, and rigorous online technology-based degree programs that offer the same faculty, curricula, and degrees as our distinguished on-campus programs.

Drexel is ranked #1 in the Philadelphia region for online education programs by US News and World Report. In this context students will develop creative design skills through hands-on experiences with new media tools, design methodologies and learning formats.

The Master’s in Learning Technologies program at Drexel University School of Education is a comprehensive program whose mission is to integrate design thinking and the learning sciences into applied areas of practice in instructional design, game-based learning, and on-line learning. This degree program is designed and facilitated by faculty who are recognized scholars, practitioners and researchers in educational technology and subsidiary fields of practice. Courses are personalized to the needs of individual students and outcomes are oriented to career aspirations. The 15 courses are each 10-weeks long totaling 45 credit hours.

Program Leadership

Having pioneered on-line learning methods, the program director, Dr. William Lynch, continues to lead cutting edge developments in Learning Engineering, Experience Design, Technologies, and Leadership. Join him and the program faculty experts for the curricular content of this program in developing your own customized program in alignment with your passions and professional aspirations.

The M.S. in Learning Technologies is designed to equip you with the hands-on design skills and experience, interdisciplinary knowledge, and technical experience you will need to respond to the needs of contemporary learners of all ages. Our dynamic world needs learning professionals who can help schools, colleges, nonprofits, companies, and government agencies design engaging, accessible, and effective learning experiences drawing on the most current learning technologies and research.

- Professor William Lynch, PhD

• William Lynch, PhD
• Aroutis Foster, PhD
• Kareem Edouard, PhD
• Kristen Betts, EdD
• Stephanie Sutcliffe, PhD
• Elizabeth Haslam, PhD
• Salvatore Falletta, PhD
• José Chavez, EdD
• Larry Keiser, PhD
• Bruce Levine, LLD

What Can You Do with a Master's Degree in Learning Technologies?

Graduates with a master’s in educational technology will be able to:

• Apply instructional design principles to create high-quality learning formats that align with ISTE standards
• Take roles as future-focused, collaborative leaders to build connected learning communities
• Develop digital performance support tools and formats for just-in-time learning and support throughout the workflow
• Evaluate and assess emerging technologies as part of the in-classroom learning technologies movement (e.g., assistive technologies, mobile devices, simulations and online assessment tools) as they may be applied to learning

Careers with an MS in Educational Technology

As schools and workplaces recognize the need for greater performance through customized learning, expert instructors who understand how people use educational technology will be the key to designing instructional technologies and integrating these new training systems. Graduates of the MS in Educational Technology degree program have a multitude of career opportunities. Here are just a few examples:

• Instructional design leader
• Learning coordinator
• Instructional program manager
• K-12 Classroom technology expert
• Learning Development Professional and leader
• Curriculum software consultant
• Graphics and content webmaster
• Multimedia developer
• Director of integrated technology
• Manager of learning and development
• Technology coach
• Corporate training director

If you are looking for a program with professional and caring advisors, faculty, and support personnel who will listen to YOU and help you achieve your goals. The MS in Educational Technology is what you’re looking for. Do not wait another day to begin the journey to your dream career. Pursue an educational technology degree with Drexel University! You can get started by filling out the Drexel Online application or call us at 215.571.4471 to discuss your opportunities for success.

What will you study?

Students in the MS in Learning Technologies program will develop creative design skills through hands-on experiences with new media tools and learning formats. Join us for the best adult experience anywhere in online learning!

Master’s in Educational Technology Courses

The following courses comprise the curricular sequence of the Master’s degree two-year program of study:

Year One Curriculum

Year Two Curriculum

Mind, Brain & Learning

• EDHE 620: Mind, Brain, and Learning
• EDHE: 621: Neuropedagogy and Assessment
• EDHE: 622: Neurodiversity in Education and Workforce
• CRTV 615: Neuroscience, Creativity and Innovation

U.S. Education Policy 

• EDPO 620: Education Policy: Concepts, Issues, and Applications
• EDPO 628: American Educational Policy and U.S. Competitiveness
• EDPO 636: Access & Equity in Educational Policy Making 

Course descriptions may be found in the Drexel University Course Catalog.

Capstone Course information for the Educational Technology Graduate Program

Students in the MS in Learning Technologies program complete a research capstone course where they are introduced to various types of research designs and learn to be both consumers and producers of research. Following completion of the research course, students will complete a capstone experience by selecting one of the two-course multi-disciplinary sequence options below:

• Thesis (Part I and II) - Students who select this option will be required to complete a master’s thesis which consists of a well-written research paper, comprised of five chapters that posits a research question and uses logical arguments & data to address/answer a gap in research
• Lesson Study (Part I and II) - Students who select this option will be required to complete a research-based lesson design and analysis project
• Practitioner Course (Part I and II) - Students who select this option will be required to complete a master’s project. Examples include: A reform initiative narrative, program or grant proposal, white paper or policy analysis, or program evaluation

Who is eligible to apply for admission?

Our goal is to develop leaders, designers, and facilitators of effective learning environments for all levels of education and training, including business, K-12 schools, higher education, military, and informal learning environments. If you are seeking a career in advancing learning through the design and creation of superior learning environments, our faculty and curriculum can help you achieve your goals.

The MS in Educational Technology is offered 100% online. You can get started by filling out the Drexel Online application.

Students generally complete the program in two years taking two courses per quarter year-round. If you are interested in a face to face program, please contact an advisor.

Admissions Criteria

• A bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution
• Undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher (graduate degree GPA will be considered along with the undergraduate GPA)
  • Provisional admission may be granted with an Undergraduate GPA below a 3.0
  • For undergraduate GPA’s below a 2.75, an admissions interview is required

Required Documents

With multiple ways to submit documents, Drexel makes it easy to complete your application. Learn more by visiting Drexel Online's Completing Your Application Guide.

• A completed application
• Official transcripts from all universities or colleges and other post-secondary educational institutions (including trade schools) attended
• Two professional letters of recommendation
• Personal Statement (500 - 750 words) describing your interest in the program. Specifically:
  • How the program relates to your previous educational and professional activities
  • If changing course, why you are moving in this new direction with your educational goals
  • How the program relates to your current line of work
  • How you plan to apply the program to your future goals
• Current Resume
• Additional requirements for International Students

How to Apply to the Master’s of Science in Educational Technology Program

The MS in Educational Technology is offered 100% online. You can get started by filling out the Drexel Online application, or call us at 215-571-4471 to discuss your opportunities for success! Additionally, if you wish to talk to the program director, Dr. William Lynch, before applying, call 215-490-3035 and he will either answer or call you back as soon as possible. Be sure to leave your phone number.

Games and Learning in Digital Environments (GLIDE) Lab

The Games and Learning in Digital Environments (GLIDE) Lab at Drexel University allows students the opportunity to conduct research and develop games and digital learning environments. In the GLIDE Lab, students from multiple Drexel University Schools and Colleges work together to explore the role of gaming and digital interaction in helping to Boost learning.

Students in the MS in Educational Technology program are eligible to support the work of the lab through a co-op or as a student volunteer. To learn more about the GLIDE Lab, please visit https://glide.soe.drexel.edu/ or email glidelab@drexel.edu.