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5 Takeaways From Cicsco's 2024 Cybersecurity Readiness Index

R+ IQ

Cisco’s 2024 Cybersecurity Readiness Index offers a timely look at how prepared diverse industries are to face a cyberattack. The report surveyed 8,136 private sector business leaders with cybersecurity responsibilities across 18 industries in 30 territories in North America, Latin America, EMEA, and Asia Pacific.

Kicking off with an alarming tagline – “Underprepared and Overconfident Companies Tackle an Evolving Landscape” – the report contains a lot of important information. Here are 5 of our takeaways.

1. Slow Progress in Cybersecurity Readiness

Although the index highlights how organizations recognize cybersecurity threats, the lack of readiness is substantial:

“This lack of readiness is substantial despite almost three-quarters of companies (73%) believing a cybersecurity incident will disrupt their business in the next 12-24 months. What is surprising, though, is that despite this lack of readiness, 80% of companies feel moderately to very confident in their ability to stay resilient amidst this evolving cybersecurity landscape. While this number is down from last year, it does underline a gap that suggests companies may have misplaced confidence in their ability to navigate the threat landscape and are not properly assessing the true scale of the challenges they face.”

It's alarming that only 3% of organizations achieved a “Mature” cybersecurity readiness level in 2024 when cyberattacks are rising – especially against manufacturers.

A (Brief) Guide to ESG for Industrial Manufacturers

Rexel Automation Solutions

As the manufacturing industry continues to transform, so do the standards by which they’re evaluated by shareholders, stakeholders, and the public. In addition to that, rules and regulations are changing, and manufacturers are facing increased scrutiny around the environmental impact of their operations, products, and services. But it goes further than solely focusing on the environment and sustainability – manufacturers are being evaluated on their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance.

What does ESG mean for industrial manufacturers? Let’s dive in.

First, let’s take a quick look at what ESG is.

What is ESG?

ESG is a framework designed to assess a company’s broader impact beyond their financial results. Here’s a brief breakdown of each component:

Environmental (E) focuses on your company’s environmental footprint. It covers factors like energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, waste management, resource depletion, and pollution. You may have heard of material Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – those fall into this category.

Social (S) looks at your company’s relationships and impact on people. This includes employee relations, workplace diversity and inclusion, community engagement, human rights practices within your supply chain, and workplace safety. In short – what are you doing to provide equal opportunities and a safe place for your workers and the community?

Governance (G) relates to how your company is run. This includes leadership ethics, board diversity, executive compensation, transparency in reporting, and risk management.

5 Tips to Optimize Safety Circuit Design in Industrial Manufacturing

Rexel Automation Solutions

Safety circuit design is the engineering process of creating electrical circuits designed to safeguard people and equipment. These circuits use safety switches, relays, and other technology to detect dangerous situations – such as open safety guards or unexpected obstacles. When a hazard is detected, the circuit triggers protective actions like shutting down machinery or isolating electrical power to prevent accidents and injuries.

When it comes to designing these safety circuits, there are a few lesser-known aspects that deserve attention to create a truly robust safety system. Here are five tips you can use to optimize your safety circuit design.

1. Know Your Resets

When deciding between automatic and manual resets, you’ll need to consider a few factors. These include the severity of the hazard, likelihood of re-injury, and the complexity of the restart process. From there, you’ll be able to select the most suitable reset mechanism for each safety circuit, optimizing safety and production efficiency.

You Have to Teach Your Sales Team How to Use Marketing Content

AMA | Rochester

You've invested time, resources, and expertise into crafting valuable marketing content—blog posts, case studies, white papers, ebooks—all of it. You collaborated with subject matter experts (SMEs), it speaks directly to your target audience, educates them about your solutions, and positions your brand as a thought leader. But your work isn't done once you hit publish. The content you create is also a valuable sales enablement tool for your selling organization.

What is Sales Enablement?

First, a definition.

Sales enablement means strategically equipping your sales team with the resources, knowledge, and support they need to provide solutions to customers and prospects. This can come in the form of blog posts, social media and email copy, brochures, line cards, or all of these things assembled into a guide. You’re giving them additional tools to use in their interactions.

But creating great content and dumping it on your sales team isn't enough – you need to empower them to effectively leverage this content so they know how to maximize its value in conversations with customers and prospects.

Marketers Love Data - But How do Your Customers Really Feel?

AMA | Rochester

“We’re a data-driven organization.”

“I’m a very data-driven person.”

We’ve all heard – and even said – these quotes before. Data has become a powerful way for businesses and marketers to make strategic decisions. With more data available than we know what to do with, it’s easy to pour over reports, demographic information and survey results to build content. However, as a marketer you need to do more than just rely on analytics, surveys, and metrics to understand your audience and tailor your content accordingly.

Especially with the end of third-party cookies looming at the start of 2024, creating impactful content needs to be delicately balanced in a way that incorporates human insights, sales collaboration, and direct customer engagement.

Military Mom Pounds the Ground for Her Son

Veterans Outreach Center

"To show him my support – this is the only way I can do it.”

When Diane Krawczyk’s son, Zachary, said he wanted to enlist in the military, it came as a complete surprise. He’d never expressed interest in the military before, but Diane, who has worked at the Batavia VA for the past 13 years, knows the benefits of serving and was nothing but supportive of his decision.

“A friend of his enlisted in the Army National Guard and went to boot camp during the summer between 11th and 12th grade,” Diane said. “He told my son all about it – all of the advantages you can gain from being in the military.” Zachary was invited as a guest to one of the boot camp drills. “He loved it and said, ‘this is what I want to do.’” Diane, who works in the insurance sector of the VA, encouraged her son’s decision and told him of all the benefits he could get, from school to housing, so Zachary also enlisted in the Army National Guard.

Riding Royalty

(585) Magazine

Many of us have undoubtedly had visions of speeding down the highway with just two wheels beneath us, the wind charging by as we careen for our destination. In a world of crises and bills and overloaded stress, motorcycles help us connect with the world around us and be the cathartic expression some of us need.

Bikes are popular, but a growing trend in Rochester, with roots dating back to before Harley Davidson became a household name, is the Royal Enfield.

“There’s a cheesy quote about motorcycles,” says Mithun Mukherjee, who owns two Royal Enfields. “‘Four wheels move the body; two wheels move the soul.’ That’s what motorcycling feels like. Folks get into riding for a multitude of reasons—because they grew up around adults who rode, or maybe they discovered motorcycling later in life because a friend rides or because they’re curious. Some enjoy it for the speed; others enjoy it for that simple feeling of the wind in your face. Whatever the reason, once they try it it’s almost like meditation or therapy—you just have to focus your senses on the road when you’re on a bike, so in a sense it is a lot like meditation.”