A world where contactless and socially distant solutions
                              are preferred has set the stage for robots to rise to the occasion.
 
The COVID-19 outbreak has given way to an era of innovation as entrepreneurs develop tools and services to meet new needs. Though there might have been concerns about automation and the future of work before the current health crisis, the pandemic has shown how robots are benefiting us while the world grapples with the novel coronavirus.

Post-contagion, the global industrial robotics market is expected to grow from $44.6 billion in 2020 to $73 billion by 2025, according to ResearchAndMarkets.com.

The safety provided by robots, as well as the fact that robotic solutions are helping businesses stay open, are making them popular companions in the current climate.

Here are three opportunities for robotics that have arisen from the COVID-19 outbreak.

Keeping Supply Chains Going. Shipping and delivery have seen challenges since the onset of the novel coronavirus outbreak. Robotics and automation can help U.S. manufacturers increase in-house manufacturing to mitigate global supply chain risks. Instead of outsourcing, companies can then rely on robotic material handling and delivery to keep businesses running.

Further down the chain, robots are also able to drop off packages and groceries to consumers safely. As contactless and online shopping experiences are on the rise, robotic and sterile delivery options are now desirable.

Automating Service. Social distancing rules are being kept in place with robot waiters and robot concierges. From greeting customers to serving food, robots can enable restaurants and hospitality businesses to stay open safely.

Robots can help reduce the number of staff that need to be at work physically. As human counterparts try to reduce their exposure to risks, robots can efficiently obtain registration and check-in information and return used cutlery.

Cleaning and Sanitizing. Robots can also safely sanitize workspaces and common areas. In health services, semi-autonomous or remotely monitored robots can disinfect large surfaces quickly, removing the need for cleaners to be exposed to the risk of contagion.
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Robotic solutions can also disinfect areas more efficiently and more frequently than manual cleaning.

Google might be about to disrupt the business card — and it’s starting with a trial in India.
In a new blog post, the company announced it is rolling out its ‘people cards’ across the country. It’s like a business card that will appear on top of Search when someone looks up your name. Google first began trialing the feature about six months ago, and it seems it’s finally ready to make it more widely available.

Up until now, you could only find detailed information about celebs and well-known public figures on Search, but the latest change will make it possible for civilians to control what people see when someone searches their name.

“If you’re a business professional, performer, or anyone looking to build up your online presence, you might have a website, social profiles, and other information spread across many sites,” Google product manager Lauren Clark said. “If you’re just getting started, you may not have a website or much of an online presence at all.”

“Today, we are solving these challenges with a new feature called people cards,” she added. “It’s like a virtual visiting card, where you can highlight your existing website or social profiles you want people to visit, plus other information about yourself that you want others to know.”

To create a ‘people card,’ you need to simply log into your Google account, search for your name or “add me to Search,” and then follow the prompt. You can then choose a profile pic (it will default to your Google account avatar), craft a description for yourself, and also add social media links and contact details.

In case you were worried about your privacy, the feature seems to be opt-in – and you can always delete your card if you so wish.

Google will allow only one card per account to prevent malicious actors from impersonating real people. It’ll also ask you to authenticate your account with a phone number. In case fraudulent cards slip through the cracks, there’ll also be a dedicated button to report them.

Alright, but what about people who share the same name, you might wonder. Well, Google says there will be a module that lets you compare people based on their location and profession, which should make it easier to find the right person.
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That said, there are specific challenges ahead of it. The fact that Google highlighted the numerous measures it has taken to prevent abuse makes it abundantly clear that the company foresees certain issues with the new feature. If it manages to stop users from gaming the system to gain an unfair advantage, ‘people cards’ can kill the business card as we know it.

The average cost of a “mega” data breach has risen astronomically over the past year, and enterprise players impacted by such a security incident can expect to pay up almost $400 million.
Data breaches are a commonplace occurrence now, and cyberattacks launched against companies have spawned a new cyber insurance industry, the emergence of regulatory and class-action lawsuits against firms that fail to protect data, and new laws – such as the EU’s GDPR – that can be used to impose heavy penalties against data controllers with lax security. 
Yet, the data breaches keep rolling in, some of which lead to the theft of consumer records for sale on underground forums and an increased risk of identities being stolen. 
To tackle the aftermath of a data breach, organizations may need to spend funds on repairing systems and upgrading architectures, they may need to invest in new cybersecurity services and cyber forensics, and they may also face lawsuits or regulatory penalties – and the cost continues to increase year-on-year when customer personal information is involved. 
Last week, IBM released its annual Cost of a Data Breach Report, which says that the average data breach now costs $3.86 million. While this average has decreased by 1.5% in comparison to 2019, when over 50 million consumer records are involved, these “mega” breaches can cost up to $392 million to remedy, up from $388 million in 2019.
If an organization is acting as a data controller for between 40 and 50 million records, the cost, on average, is $364 million, and organizations could face a charge of up to $175 per consumer record involved in data theft or leaks.
The study, conducted by the Ponemon Institute, includes interviews with over 3,200 security professionals working at companies that have experienced a data breach in the past year. 
Compromised employee and insider accounts, as highlighted by the recent Twitter hack, are one of the most expensive factors in data breaches today, bringing the average cost of a data breach up to $4.77 million. When insider accounts were involved, 80% of incidents resulted in the exposure of customer records. 
In total, stolen or compromised account credentials – alongside cloud misconfigurations – account for close to 40% of security incidents. 
IBM says that in one out of five breaches, compromised account credentials have been used as an entryway for attackers, leading to the exposure of over 8.5 billion records in 2019 alone. Cloud misconfigurations account for close to 20% of network breaches. 
The exploit of third-party vulnerabilities, such as zero-day or unpatched security flaws in enterprise software, is also a costly factor in data breaches. An enterprise company that suffers a data breach due to such vulnerabilities can expect to pay up to $4.5 million. 
State-sponsored attacks, including those conducted by advanced persistent threat (APT) groups, are far less common and only represent 13% of overall data breaches reported by enterprise companies. However, when these threat actors are involved, the damage they cause often results in higher recovery costs, represented by an average of $4.43 million. 
If cyber insurance has been taken out by organizations, this can reduce the damage bill on average by $200,000, with the majority of insurance payouts used for legal services and consultancy fees. 
Within the report, IBM cites AI, machine learning, and automation as valuable tools for responding to data breaches that may cut down incident response times by up to 27%.
“At a time when businesses are expanding their digital footprint at an accelerated pace, and the security industry’s talent shortage persists, teams are overwhelmed, securing more devices, systems, and data,” commented Wendi Whitmore, VP of IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence. “When it comes to businesses’ ability to mitigate the impact of a data breach, we’re beginning to see a clear advantage held by companies that have invested in automated technologies.”

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has sent an alert last week warning US companies about backdoor malware that is silently being installed on the networks of foreign companies operating in China via government-mandated tax software.

The backdoors allow threat actors to execute unauthorized code, infiltrate networks, and steal proprietary data from branches operating in China.

Making matters worse, the FBI says that all foreign companies are required by local Chinese laws to install this particular piece of software to handle value-added tax (VAT) payments to the Chinese tax authority.
FBI officials said the backdoor malware was spotted in the VAT software of two Chinese tech companies – namely Baiwang and Aisino.

Unfortunately, these are the only government-authorized tax software service providers allowed to operate VAT software in China, officials said, suggesting that any foreign company operating in China was most likely affected by this issue.

The FBI alert also listed two separate incidents where the infected companies have discovered the malware's presence on their networks.

GoldenHelper. "In July 2018, an employee of a US pharmaceutical company with business interests in China downloaded the Baiwang Tax Control Invoicing software program from baiwang.com. Since March 2019, Baiwang released software updates that installed a driver automatically along with the main tax program. In April 2019, employees of the pharmaceutical company discovered that the software contained malware that created a backdoor on the company's network," the FBI said – describing what later security firm Trustwave identified as the GoldenHelper malware.

GoldenSpy. "In June 2020, a private cybersecurity firm reported that Intelligence Tax, a tax software application from Aisino Corporation that is required by a Chinese bank under the same VAT system, likely contained malware that installed a hidden backdoor to the networks of organizations using the tax software," the FBI also said – describing what Trustwave identified as the GoldenSpy backdoor, believed to be a second and improved iteration of the original GoldenHelper malware.

The FBI warns US companies that the backdoor malware installed on their systems has dangerous capabilities that may allow "cyber actors to preposition to conduct remote code execution and exfiltration activities on the victim's network."

FBI officials said they believed US companies in the healthcare, chemical, and finance sectors operating in China are in particular danger, based on China's historical interest in these sectors.

Currently, the FBI Flash Alert AC-000129-TT is being distributed to companies in the previous sectors so they can investigate further.
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Indicators of compromises, such as malware file hashes and network communication URLs that may help companies identify the presence of any of the two backdoor versions, are available in Trustwave's GoldenHelper and GoldenSpy reports.

While the FBI alert didn't point the finger at the Chinese government directly, the warning said that both Baiwang and Aisino operate their VAT software under the management and oversight of NISEC (National Information Security Engineering Center), a state-owned private enterprise, with "foundational links" to China's People Liberation Army, suggesting a well-orchestrated nation-state intelligence-gathering operation.

The fitness industry is in the midst of a digital transformation. Fitness, like just about every industry from transportation to leisure, has witnessed the emergence of digital as a force for change, and brick and mortar gyms are having a tough time keeping pace. Entire companies have been successfully launched to capitalize on the rise in digital fitness, as evidenced by the popularity of companies such as MIRROR Home Fitness, Peloton, FiiT, and SWEAT. These are just a few fitness providers that have leveraged digital technology to engage audiences that are looking for customized fitness experiences that meet their individual schedules and routines.

We have Jane Fonda to thank for bringing fitness into the home back in the ’80s with her Original Workout video on VHS that went on to become the biggest selling video of all time. Fast forward 40 years, and we can thank technological innovation for taking home fitness to a new level.

But there is another factor at play which speaks to the preferences of Generation Y/millennials and Generation Z, who account for almost 50% of all health club members: These consumers have a preference for on-demand services and are less attracted to locking in annual membership fees. Remember, it was the recurring annuity stream of yearly membership fees that attracted private equity to brick and mortar gyms, which need stable and predictable cash flow to service debt and to cover high operating expenses. Working out at home or in private sessions with a personal trainer (in-person or virtual) doesn’t require an annual membership.

Paying as you go is where the market is moving. Facilitating this trend is the emergence of mobile apps that provide fitness trainers and coaches with a business-in-a-box so professionals in all aspects of fitness, but who are not necessarily astute in how to run a business, can manage scheduling, client on-boarding, invoicing, payment processing, and communication. The many thousands of certified trainers who have been laid off from gyms are now empowered to run their businesses thanks to cloud-hosted back offices and video conferencing capabilities that provide real-time delivery of services.

Disruption creates winners and losers in any industry. Sometimes disruption is a gradual process, and the eventual losers don’t detect the shifting landscape for periods that can extend for years. Think of Kodak and digital photography or Sony and its inability to capitalize on the success of the Walkman, thereby allowing Apple to become the dominant player in digital music. Disruption has been underway in the fitness industry for several years, but until recently, it has been a slow and steady disruption.

COVID-19 accelerated the pace of disruption in fitness, and studios and clubs, both small and large, are increasingly vulnerable. 24-Hour Fitness recently filed for bankruptcy, citing Coronavirus-related causes. With 420 clubs in the US, 24-Hour Fitness is the second largest fitness chain after LA Fitness. With the filing, the company announced it would permanently shut down 100 of its gyms, leaving roughly one million members to find a new place to exercise. Also, Town Sports, owner of Boston Sports Club, and several other club brands announced they would likely file for bankruptcy in the coming weeks. Gold’s Gym filed for bankruptcy in May.

Demand for fitness isn’t going anywhere but up. The $30 billion fitness industry has been growing 3 – 4% annually for the last ten years. How it is delivered, however, is changing before our eyes. The often-quoted expression “Never let a good crisis go to waste” speaks perfectly to the opportunity in the industry today.

Stuck at home, trainers and consumers have had to adapt and get creative about how they think about fitness. Many have also discovered a new meaning of community through virtual experiences that were never seriously considered just 12 months ago. No surprise that MIRROR and Peloton have experienced record sales during the pandemic because they provide consumers a workout experience that feels pretty close to being in a room surrounded by fellow workout enthusiasts. And now that they have gotten into the routine of working out from home, either with a trainer or on-demand through an app, many will never go back to a traditional gym.
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The implications of COVID on the fitness industry offer insights into the way several industries will shift as a result of the shelter in place orders. Restaurants will get more creative about take-out options that engage the diner with the preparation, travel experiences may turn to staycations, and the beauty industry may have to move to home services or even more training than doing for their customers. The winners in every case will be the ones that are agile and ready to adapt to the change.