From Social Media to Cyber Security: What You Need to Know from IASA e-Learning Webinars

IASA e-Learning webinars are aimed at providing viewers with informative content and insights, and area great way to earn free CPE credits. As a new IASA volunteer on the e-learning committee, I had the opportunity to watch a few of the recent webinars and am excited to share my perspective as a viewer.

Webinar Review – Social Media 2.0: Take it to The Next Level

For better or for worse, social media is here to stay. In my experience, a lot of people are still navigating the overlap of social media in their personal and professional lives.

Insurers are no exception, and this webinar brought up timely considerations about social media strategies, and the evolution of personal privacy within the very public sphere of social media.

Like many millennials, my social media presence mostly involves interacting with friends and planning and tracking social events. And while I am aware that the things I post online are easily searchable and archived indefinitely, I was shocked by this statistic presented in the webinar: Of the 43% of employers who screen candidates on social media, 51% have found information that factored into their decision to NOT hire a candidate.

The webinar also explained how to create a “social media brand” that matches your personal online presence to your professional goals. With a new generation of people who have grown up using social media, and savvy employers who are optimizing their social media integration, this is a topic that will only become more pertinent.

The webinar was very energetic, fast paced, and informative. The presenters clearly knew the topic and their audience, and provided great resources for further research.

However, it did seem like the topic was a little broad for a single presentation. Looking forward, I hope to see more IASA webinars that explore the benefits and drawbacks of social media for young professionals. For instance, separate webinars tailored to those looking for employment and those seeking employees would each be valuable.

Webinar Review – What’s Your Risk? A Study in Cyber Security

As an employee at Clearwater Analytics, a web-based software solution provider, I am very familiar with the topic of cyber security prior. Even so, I really enjoyed this presentation. At Clearwater, we prioritize security above all else; watching this webinar really reinforced my perception of why that’s important, and why cyber security should be foremost in every business strategy.

Cyber threats are ever-changing, and cyber security solutions need to account for that. This webinar emphasized that security should be ever-evolving, and that persistent testing is vital. The experiment presented in the webinar made that abundantly clear: Ten companies were tested and all were found to have security vulnerabilities ranging from minor to critical, with information disclosure being the most common vulnerability. If the experiment outlined in the webinar occurred in “real life,” the vulnerabilities would have likely been much worse, since the test was conducted quickly and on a broad scale. In the current internet age, it is easy to forget that information we consider harmless can fall into the hands of people who know how to use it maliciously. The expert presenters did a great job of focusing on the balance of those vulnerabilities, however, and explained that the most common scanning errors can be avoided by applying updates and patches.

Janeen Blanton’s statement really hit home with me: “Over 70% of companies never disclose they have a breach. It’s no longer a question of IF, but WHEN a cyber incident will occur to you!”

My major takeaways from the webinar revolved around that fact. The topic of cyber security is complex and frightening, especially to people who aren’t aware of its implications and complexities. At the same time, managing security online is possible with a reactive and evolving approach. Cyber security is not the place to fall back on the tried-and-true; it is where you should really rely on experts to help contain attacks and keep up with evolving threats. Having the right tools in place to both recognize and respond to threats makes all the difference in how exposed your business will be when a cyber-attack inevitably happens.

Webinar Review – IASA Volunteer Development Webinar Event

This year’s volunteer development webinar was an informative primer for the Fall Planning Meeting. I found myself returning to the presentation often leading up to the event; it was a great resource for me as a new volunteer, with information regarding officers and committee heads, the volunteer training agenda, practical information about attire and other planning considerations, and some tips to help set expectations about how to get the most out of the event.

The webinar format was a huge improvement over last year’s pre-event training, which was held as a conference call. It was helpful to have all the information documented and accessible in one place.

CPE Credits and More

To watch these webinars, and learn about other upcoming opportunities, visit the IASA E-Learning Webinars homepage.

This article is slightly edited from it’s original version, which appeared in the IASA E-Interpreter Fall/Winter 2015 edition. Reprinted with permission.