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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Uncategorized

  November 17, 2010 6:00 PM 1240 AM KFOR Lincoln, NE Awareity is proud to announce that Rick Shaw, President and CEO, will be featured in an interview on November 17 discussing his experiences as an entrepreneur, what led him to Awareity and how lessons learned continue to play a role in developing new services and solutions. The Pursuit of Success is a local radio show sponsored by Leadership Resources and Waddell and Reed Financial Advisors showcasing regional entrepreneurs, business and community leaders, sharing key ideas of success designed to help other become more successful while making an impact in their company and community. TheRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Emergency Management, Incident Reporting, Information Security, Legal, Regulatory Compliance, Risk Management

  How is your incident reporting system working for you?  Or perhaps the question should be – Is your incident reporting system working against you? Lessons learned continue to show that organizations find themselves in ‘reaction mode’ more than they are in ‘prevention mode’.  How can this be when most every organization claims to have an incident reporting system in place? Are traditional incident reporting systems obsolete? Multiple surveys reveal that 90% of bystanders who witness a bullying incident DO NOT report the incident.  So why aren’t bystanders not reporting incidents? Perhaps bystanders are not reporting because of one or more of the following reasons:Read More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Regulatory Compliance, School Safety

  Legislators in New Jersey have proposed what may be the toughest anti-bullying law in the nation with a “bill of rights” as its charter.  On the heels of the recent tragedy at Rutgers University when freshman Tyler Clementi jumped to his death, the proposed legislation builds on current laws that have not adequately protected students who are intimidated every day. New Jersey’s Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights would: Apply to bullying at school, near school and on school buses and to cyberbullying. Require training for nearly all school employees on how to identify, prevent and report acts of intimidation Set deadlines for incidents of bullyingRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Risk Management, School Safety

  I read a couple online articles recently that boggled my mind.  The title of a recent blog from ZDNet was: Does cyberbullying exist, and is technology to blame? My responses: Does cyberbullying exist?             YES Is technology to blame?                NO Blaming technology for cyber bullying is like blaming the swing set or the teeter totter for playground bullying. Cyber bullying is very real, very hurtful, very serious…and only the tip of the iceberg. The effects of bullying and cyber bullying on students can lead to suicide, loneliness, low self-esteem, aggression, vandalism, weapons, truancy, lawsuits and much more. Student safety is a HUGE passionRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, School Safety

  As we see in the news on almost a daily basis, bullying and cyber bullying are major challenges for students, school leaders and communities.  The bullying school officials see is only the tip of the iceberg and only a small part of serious and escalating challenges.   Lessons learned clearly show that most shipwrecks occur because the ship’s captain can only see the tip of the iceberg and not the entire iceberg.  School and community leaders must realize they are the ship captains and bullying can lead to: Loneliness Low Self-Esteem Depression Anxiety Suicide Aggression Weapons Violence Revenge Crime Vandalism Sexting Alcohol/Drug Abuse Declining GradesRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, School Safety, Workplace Violence

New data released this week revealed: 17 percent of American students report being bullied 2-3 times a month or more within a school semester. Over 9% of girls and 14% of boys just watch their fellow classmates get bullied. Over 30% of girls and 22% of boys think they ought to help the bullied students, but don’t do anything about it. 80% of bullying is witnessed; but only 10% of witnesses/bystanders report incidents. Why are bystanders not reporting incidents? There are many reasons and some of the most common include: Some feel threatened or intimidated when reporting a bully or suspicious incident. Some do notRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Incident Reporting, Risk Management, School Safety

  Do you know what the legal definition of “deliberate indifference” is? The conscious or reckless disregard for the consequences of one’s acts or omissions. If you are a school leader, school board member or community leader, you might do a quick web search using the words below:                 deliberate indifference lawsuit school 2010 Over 8,000 results came up from my search and many of the results were related to lawsuits being brought against schools and universities under violation of Title IX.  I heard the term “deliberate indifference” over the weekend when one of the national news channels did a bullying feature on a schoolRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Information Privacy, Information Security

  One of my last blogs discussed the risks of third-party contractors and their responsibilities for protecting information.  This blog will address yet another third-party risk – your janitors. A janitor was recently arrested for removing boxes of records from a Southern California health care clinic.  Interested only in getting money for the paper, the janitor sold 14 boxes of patient records to a recycling center for $40.  This janitor was not interested in identity theft, but the next one might be… In an earlier case, a janitor stole personal information from patient files at a Chicago hospital, participating in an identity theft ring thatRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Emergency Management, Incident Reporting, Risk Management, School Safety

  Did you see the story from the San Jose International Airport this past weekend? Just before 3pm on Saturday, an SUV pulled up to the arrival curb outside Terminal A at Mineta San Jose International Airport.  Two men dressed in black got out of the SUV and approached the information desk to inquire about flight 1205 from Dallas.  Both men carried assault rifles that were strapped across their chests and they had handguns in their holsters. One of the volunteers politely asked if they were one of those people on planes that look for terrorists…one of the men simply answered no. The volunteers commentedRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Human Resources, Information Security, Legal

  In a recent incident, a man called a 24-hour Wal-Mart in Ohio and explained to an associate that he was with Wal-Mart’s IT department and needed the associate to activate several gift cards, read to him the card numbers and then provide the authorization codes from the back of the cards.  The associate willingly did so – and not until $11,000 in online fraud later, did the store realize they had been tricked. This is a great lesson learned to share with your employees (and third-parties).  Do your employees understand your organization’s policies on providing/protecting information in different situations? The Wal-Mart caller did notRead More →