Dramatic changes are emerging in geopolitics: The war in Ukraine has global consequences, the rivalry between China and the USA is coming to a head, and Switzerland's role in Europe remains unresolved. Restrictive corona measures in individual regions of Asia and high inflation worldwide have also brought geopolitical risks into sharper focus. Swiss boards of directors are also concerned about all this. Nevertheless, only a few are taking concrete measures, as the latest swissVR Monitor, compiled by the swissVR Board of Directors Association, the consulting firm Deloitte and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, shows.

BoD committees anticipate high geopolitical risks

Geopolitics is fundamentally relevant for the export-oriented Swiss economy. This is because many companies are dependent on developments in international markets. The current uncertainties tend to reinforce the high importance: 59 percent of the surveyed board members assess the geopolitical risks for their own company in the next twelve months as high or even very high (see chart). At the same time, the economic outlook is becoming gloomier: Around one third of the 420 respondents expect a negative economic trend in the coming year.

Geopolitics: No overreactions in boards of directors

The vast majority (93%) state that their board of directors generally takes measures with regard to geopolitical risks. A good two-thirds of boards (69%) regularly discuss geopolitical developments, and more than one-third conduct scenario analyses (39%) or make strategy adjustments (35%). The fact that, on average, only two measures are taken per board committee shows that many boards are vigilant and keep an eye on geopolitical risks, but do not overreact in the face of uncertain developments or leave the planning of measures to management. "We are experiencing a turning point in time - not only in politics, but also in business. The changed geopolitical realities require a rethink in the management floors of many Swiss companies. It is imperative that politics be taken into account as a new central dimension in strategic decisions," says Reto Savoia, CEO Deloitte Switzerland.

Developments in geopolitics as a challenge and an opportunity

Almost all companies (98%) face challenges in view of current geopolitical developments: The availability and cost of raw materials and energy (50%) and supply chain disruption (48%) are most frequently cited. In contrast, three-quarters of the BoD members surveyed (77%) also see opportunities in geopolitical developments. These mainly include product and service innovations (34%) and greater cost and process efficiency (30%). Increasing challenges in global markets require greater exposure to geopolitical risks. Christoph Lengwiler, lecturer at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, warns, however, not to lapse into actionism: "In crisis situations, there is a risk of operational hectic in the board of directors. However, strategic management should always have priority. The board must think in scenarios, evaluate options for action, and provide impetus. Concrete measures should then be initiated by the management."

Half of the companies directly affected by the Ukraine war

Despite regular exchanges about geopolitical developments, seven out of ten board members (71%) were surprised by the outbreak of war in Ukraine and its extensive economic consequences. Only just under one-fifth of the board members surveyed (19%) said that geopolitical risks in Eastern Europe and in connection with Russia had been addressed in risk assessments by their own board in recent years. Directly affected by Russia's attack on Ukraine this year, according to the survey, are about half of the companies (48%). The war in Ukraine forced numerous companies to take a stand. This is likely to become increasingly necessary in the future: "Companies will be increasingly confronted with the need to position themselves. In order to be able to make a decision for or against a market, in-depth analyses and strategic decisions by the board of directors are necessary," Cornelia Ritz Bossicard, President swissVR, is convinced. Sources: swissVR / Deloitte AG / Lucerne University

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/geopolitik-schweizer-unternehmen-sind-gefordert/

What influence does or did the Corona pandemic and the associated measures have on our personal well-being? And above all, for whom? Marketagent.com Switzerland wanted to know this in a current, representative survey. It was conducted from July 7 to 16, 2022 in German- and French-speaking Switzerland. A total of 1,036 people between the ages of 14 and 74 were surveyed.

The results confirm that the Corona measures, with their sometimes profound changes in everyday life, were a challenge for many. This is especially true for an age group that has often remained under the radar in the public discussion so far: young adults.

The 20- to 29-year-olds are fighting on several fronts

For example, more than half (52 percent) of 20- to 29-year-olds say that the pandemic has been psychologically stressful for them. That is 14 to 24 percentage points more than among all other age groups.

"We can only speculate about the reasons," says Cornelia Eck, Managing Director of Marketagent.com Switzerland, and elaborates: "Many are facing a new phase of life at this age, starting their studies, positioning themselves in their careers. This is the worst possible time to have to do without interpersonal contacts and exchanges with fellow students and peers."

In addition, partnerships and relationships in this age group are usually also first established and strengthened, which is more difficult to implement in view of the isolation and limited opportunities. At least this is how the results can be interpreted: For example, one-fifth of young adults (21 percent) say that the pandemic has negatively affected their relationship. This proportion is significantly higher than among those aged 50 to 74 (9 percent) and also tends to be higher than among those aged 30 to 49 (16 percent) and those under 20 (17 percent).

Teenagers: thrown back on the family

As far as the family is concerned, the picture is somewhat different. Here, it is mainly the under-20s who have difficulty. This is not too surprising, since this is the age at which young people seek new, social contacts and distance themselves from the parental home. Instead, they saw the pandemic as being thrown back on the family. 38 percent of them say that Corona has had a negative impact on family life.

However, this is not the case for the representatives of those age groups most likely to have teenagers at home. Here, the proportion is significantly lower (30 to 49-year-olds: 17 percent; 50 to 74-year-olds:15 percent).

Hardly any influence on physical well-being

For a majority of 53 percent, the pandemic did not affect their physical well-being according to their own assessment. This is particularly true for 30 to 49-year-olds and 50 to 74-year-olds (52 percent and 61 percent, respectively). However, if we look at who felt negatively affected physically, the comparatively high proportion among young adults is again striking. One-third of 20- to 29-year-olds (34 percent) say Corona has negatively affected their physical well-being, while "only" a quarter (25 percent) of 30- to 49-year-olds say the same, for example.

As far as the professional situation is concerned, a majority of 55 percent see no influence. For one fifth of respondents (21 percent), the professional situation has even had a positive impact. Here, the flexibilization of working models will have been welcomed by many.

Bike sharing has become commonplace in many places, and you've certainly seen them in various Swiss cities: Electric bikes or e-scooters in bright colors that can be used at train stations and other public places - usually via app - to get from A to B quickly. But often enough, these vehicles are parked somewhere after use, for example on sidewalks, in building entrances or elsewhere in public space. There they often become a nuisance for other road users or for residents. And they have to be collected again by the city bike providers at great expense.

Users' expectations of bike sharing are diverse: They want a vehicle that is quickly available and functional. And they want it where there is a need for it, i.e. not only at train stations but also, for example, at concert halls, sports stadiums or restaurants, so that they can get home quickly and safely from there. A study by the Norwegian University of Technology and Natural Sciences (NTNU) in Trondheim has therefore looked at how cities and bike-sharing providers can improve the service and also traffic management.

How to shoot at a moving target

Providing bicycles or e-scooters where and when people need them is a challenge. The problem is described as dynamic because it is constantly changing, and stochastic because it changes in random and often unpredictable ways. Steffen Bakker, a researcher at NTNU's Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management, explains this as follows: "Users of the bike-sharing system pick up their bikes at one location and then take them to another. Then the state of the system changes because the bikes are suddenly no longer where they were originally, that's the dynamic part," he said. "On top of that, you don't know when the customers will pick up the bikes and where they will leave them. That's the stochastic part. So if you want to plan at the start of the day, you don't know what's going to happen." It's like shooting at a moving target. In other words, the aim is to develop a system that allows more accurate predictions to be made about where and when there will be an increased demand for bicycles and e-scooters. Bakker and his fellow researchers have therefore developed an optimization model that provides bike-sharing operators with recommendations on how they should schedule their bikes and scooters as well as their service vehicles. The aim is to improve the process of "rebalancing", i.e. collecting and transporting bikes from one parking station to another.

Assemble the parts correctly

The Norwegian researchers carried out a pilot test in Trondheim for this purpose. "With this, we want to use existing city bike systems as a test base and increase the efficiency of the rebalancing teams by 30 % and the lifetime of the bikes by 20 % by developing new decision-making tools," says Jasmina Vele, project manager at Urban Sharing, the bike sharing company involved in the research project. "This can be achieved through better decisions in terms of rebalancing and preventive maintenance, which will lead to a major cost reduction in the existing urban bike systems." With the help of the optimization model, which is still in the development phase, a new plan can be sent to the drivers of the service vehicles every time they arrive at a bike station.

That's the tricky part. It's important not to be too short-sighted and only focus on the current state of the system, says Bakker, especially if certain stations are expected to have more demand in the next hour or so. "It's very complex because it's a big system," he says. "Maybe there will be a lot of demand at the station in an hour. So you already want to get some bikes there. At the same time, there may also be stations that are almost empty now and need bikes. So you have to find a compromise."

Bike sharing modeling with digital twin

Bakker and his colleagues are working with NTNU's Department of Computer Science to create a "digital twin" or computer simulation of the systems. This allows them to test different models and try out different approaches without having to test them in the real world. Initial tests have shown that the model created by the group can reduce the number of problems (i.e. either too few bikes in the place where the user wants one, or too many bikes so that the user cannot park their bike) by 41 % compared to not rebalancing.

Steffen Bakker's team also worked on a component of the optimization model called the criticality score. A criticality score is basically a score assigned to different bike sharing parking spaces based on the number of bikes they currently contain or require. These scores are relatively easy to calculate and can be provided to riders as they travel around the city to balance the number of bikes at each station. "It's a score that tells the service rider which station they should definitely visit," says Bakker. "It allows us to offer something that, while not the best, is probably good and much better than what bike sharing companies currently have available." Jasmina Vele from Urban Sharing also confirms that the use of this type of optimization model can help to make bike sharing an important part of urban transport. "Urban Sharing's vision for the mobility of the future is a transportation system that is responsive and adaptable. By using data and machine learning/optimization algorithms, we can combine the best of traditional and modern transport systems and create a resource-efficient system that responds to demand and adapts to the individual needs of users," says Vele.

The research paper was published in the European Journal of Operational Research. Source: Techexplore.com

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/servicequalitaet-bei-bike-sharing-verbessern/

Dr. Jörg Steinger has been appointed at Zürcher Kantonalbank ZKB to succeed Walter Seif, who has been Head of Internal Audit since 2015 and will leave the bank on June 30, 2023. To ensure an orderly transition, Dr. Jörg Steinger will join the bank as the new Head of Audit as early as April 1, 2023, according to ZKB.

For strong corporate governance

"We are very pleased to have been able to recruit Dr. Jörg Steinger for this responsible role. He is a recognized expert in the field of internal audit and a proven leader who also has broad experience in various banks," said Dr. Jörg Müller-Ganz, Chairman of the Bank Council of Zürcher Kantonalbank. "As part of a multi-stage selection process, the Bank Council carefully evaluated internal and external candidates. Dr. Jörg Steinger brings with him all the prerequisites to continue the strong corporate governance of Zürcher Kantonalbank and to tackle future challenges. His extensive experience in the financial industry and in the area of digitalization will stand him in good stead."

From Vontobel to ZKB

Dr. Jörg Steinger looks back on more than 30 years in internal auditing. He has been Head of Internal Audit at Vontobel since 2013. Prior to that, he spent around 15 years at Luzerner Kantonalbank, first as Head of Internal Audit and then as Head of Risk & Process Management. From 1994 to 1999, he worked in Internal Audit at Schweizerische Kreditanstalt and Credit Suisse Group respectively. He received his doctorate from the University of St. Gallen on digitalization in internal auditing and holds a degree as a Swiss Certified Public Accountant. Dr. Jörg Steinger is a Swiss citizen.

Reporting to the Bank Council as Head of Audit

With over 50 specialists, Audit is responsible for the internal auditing of Zürcher Kantonalbank. It supports the Bank Council in fulfilling its statutory supervisory and control duties and performs the monitoring tasks assigned to it by the Bank Council. In particular, the Audit independently and objectively assesses the appropriateness and effectiveness of the internal control and risk management processes and contributes to their improvement. Audit reports to the Presidium of the Bank Council.

Source: Zurich Cantonal Bank

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/neuer-leiter-audit-bei-der-zuercher-kantonalbank/

Sales increased by 4.2 percent to CHF 520.2 million in the first six months, Salt parent company Matterhorn Telecom announced in its half-year report on Thursday. Operating profit before depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) climbed 3.8 percent to 264.7 million francs. EBITDA was held back by expenses for a national brand campaign in May.

Net profit at Salt parent company Matterhorn Telecom fell significantly in the first half to CHF 52.8 million from CHF 92.8 million a year ago. However, the marked decline is attributable to the sale of cell phone antenna masts a year ago, which at the time had flushed a one-time gain of CHF 48.2 million into the coffers and thus pushed the result upward.

Significant customer growth

The third-largest telecom provider in Switzerland grew in all three business segments. In mobile telephony, Salt gained 42,800 net new subscription customers in the first half of the year. In the second quarter alone, Salt reported the strongest customer growth in ten years.

This resulted in a subscriber base of 1.419 million as of the end of June. The company owned by French telecoms entrepreneur Xavier Niel thus broke the 1.4 million subscriber barrier. The positive momentum also continued in broadband Internet and TV services, as well as in mobile communications for corporate customers.

By way of comparison, Swisscom was able to attract around 72,000 net additional mobile subscription customers in the first half of the year, Sunrise as many as 92,000.

All three providers have thus gained over 200,000 new customers in the first six months. One reason is the population growth in Switzerland, said Salt CEO Pascal Grieder in an interview with the news agency AWP on the sidelines of the media conference. Another reason is the increasing use of multiple mobile devices and therefore also SIM cards.

Attack on Swisscom and Sunrise at SMEs

In the micro and small business segment, Salt now wants to attack its competitors Swisscom and Sunrise in the fixed network as well. To this end, the number three is launching a new broadband and fixed-network telephony offering that aims to win SME customers from the two competitors with significantly cheaper prices.

Demand for the new residential subscriptions launched in July is very good, Grieder said. Roaming revenues, however, are still below pre-Corona levels, despite the travel boom this summer, and are unlikely to reach them again.

On the one hand, there are more subscriptions that include roaming packages, said Grieder. On the other hand, customers without roaming packages would be more reluctant to use their mobile devices abroad. "We therefore assume that the roaming peak is behind us," said the Salt CEO.

Dispute with Bakom settled

The dispute with the Federal Office of Communications (Bakom) over excessive roaming limits, which led to bill shocks after returning from abroad, is over, he said. The limit has been lowered to 250 francs in the default settings, Grieder said. With the new subscriptions, the limit is even zero. Customers would first have to buy a roaming package, otherwise they would not be able to surf on their cell phones abroad.

Last year, consumer protection groups accused Salt of breaking the law with regard to roaming rates. Bakom had threatened the telecom provider with an injunction if Salt did not relent.

Looking ahead, Grieder is optimistic: "We had a very good first half and have carried good momentum into the second half."

The dispute between Swisscom and the Swiss Federal Competition Commission Weko over the type of fiber optic rollout has not yet been resolved. The Weko has stopped Swisscom's rollout, which also affects Salt, which has a cooperation agreement with Swisscom. As a result, Salt cannot put a six-digit number of fiber-optic connections into operation. (sda.)

 

The two presidents of the examination boards of the federal professional examinations for marketing and sales specialists, Robert Wernli (MFL) and Christoph Portmann (VFL), presented the Swiss Marketing Award to the best candidates of the respective professional examinations on Friday, August 19, at the Hotel Storchen in Zurich. A total of 955 people took the exams for marketing and sales specialists this year.

Reverse gender distribution

Of the 521 examinees in the "Marketing specialists" professional examination, the proportion of women was 70.1 percent. The picture was exactly the opposite at the "Sales specialists" vocational examination. Of 434 candidates, 68.4 percent were male.

Success rate shows high academic and practical level

Among the marketing specialists, 386 or 74 percent, and among the sales specialists, 272 candidates, just under 63 percent, were pleased with a positive result. This rate shows the high academic and practical level of the federal examinations.

Swiss Marketing, the two examination presidents and all those involved in the examinations would like to congratulate all graduates, and especially the year's best, on their well-deserved federal certificates.

Swiss Marketing is the leading professional association for marketing and sales. It pools the expertise of around 2,000 specialists and managers from various industries. Swiss Marketing is also the sponsoring association for the professional and higher professional examinations in marketing and sales.

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More information on swissmarketing.ch

The annual IT procurement conference was organized by the Institute Public Sector Transformation of the Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH) and the Institute of Business Informatics of the University of Bern, in cooperation with the Digital Transformation and ICT Steering Division (DTI) of the Federal Chancellery, the Federal Office for Buildings and Logistics (BBL), Digital Administration Switzerland (DVS) and the associations swissICT and CH Open. The event was aimed at procurers, consultants, lawyers and specialists working in the field of public procurement.

Targeted promotion of sustainability with new criteria in public procurement law

Public procurement of information and communication technology (ICT) goods is complex. Procurers of ICT equipment must constantly weigh up the legal minimum social and ecological requirements, rising expectations of the products and the cost pressure of the client. In the process, applicable standards are rarely monitored, and sustainability has not played a significant role in the balancing act until now. This could now change.

New opportunities through revision of public procurement law

With the current revision of the Federal Law on Public Procurement (BöB), procurers can not only define additional sustainability requirements as exclusion criteria, but also reward innovation and a better life cycle assessment as part of determining the most advantageous offer. In addition, compliance with minimum standards in particular can be better verified. How these criteria are actually used in tenders and how
The discussion among invited experts focused on the actual extent of the impact in practice.

Some insights from the IT procurement conference

Dr. Peter Pawlicki of Electronic Watch, representing a monitoring organization, notes "a great demand for industry-independent monitoring of contractual obligations to comply with human rights and labor standards". Another promising approach is the use of digital solutions that support the procurement process end-to-end and thus have great potential to support not only effectiveness and efficiency in purchasing, but also the enforcement and assurance of compliance with legal requirements.

How can the new law be implemented in such a way that real change becomes tangible? Both the WTO panel and the specialist session on sustainable procurement revealed that cooperation between the public procuring entity and the trade associations is essential.
of the IT industry can decisively advance the issue of sustainability in the IT sector. This is vividly illustrated by the example of the negotiations between the Ministry of the Interior and the IT industry association BITKOM in Germany.

More information

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/it-beschaffungskonferenz-vorbildfunktion-der-verwaltung-bei-oeffentlichen-vergaben/

Anyone who thinks of invasive neophytes or a Japanese remedy when they hear the four letters is not entirely wrong, but should familiarize themselves with the meaning of the acronym of the same name as soon as possible. KuZu, or customer satisfaction as it is written out, is currently being surveyed everywhere, but unfortunately it is usually treated like invasive neophytes in the industry. Why is that?

There are parallels between the plant and the state of customer satisfaction in the industry. Let's start with the plant: Kuzu, Latin Pueraria lobata, is a climbing plant native to Japan similar to our native vetch, but much more vigorous. In the U.S., it was also originally used as a means to combat soil erosion, which makes another analogy to customer satisfaction obvious, because if it erodes, business erodes. Therefore, it is better to measure than to believe.

Why KuZu has a healing effect

Anyone who takes customer satisfaction seriously in product design, marketing and sales must first and foremost focus on the wishes and needs of their customers. Ideally, focusing on customers is directly integrated into the corporate philosophy; in practice, however, it is often more of a tenacious effort to break away from one's own navel-gazing.

Back to the Kuzu plant. It is so invasive that it is now also called "Mile-a-Minute". It grows at a rate of one meter per day and overgrows everything in its path. The KuZu measurements also progress quickly, but after that it's usually over. Maybe a customer experience or customer centricity manager is hired here and there after a customer survey, but rarely more. The leaves, roots and beans of the Kuzu plant contain healing substances or can be used as energy food.

Both would also be in the acronym KuZu and would be just as healing for companies. True customer centricity requires that the customer is always at the center of decisions that have to do with the provision of a service or products. If you can do that, you increase customer satisfaction, and that can work wonders. So what CLV (Customer Lifetime Value) is to business economists, CCS (Customer Centricity Score) should be to marketers. The former is the key figure that describes the contribution margin that a customer realizes for a company during his entire existence as a customer, minus acquisition, retention, and recovery costs. The second describes what motivates them to be a customer in the first place.

In successful companies, KuZu is not an isolated measurement of marketing, but a basic strategic attitude that flows through the entire company. That's why anyone who really wants to be customer-centric measures KuZu both from the inside (how customer-friendly we are) and from the outside (how customer-friendly we are perceived to be). So next time, please take part and don't click away, hang up or throw away when you, as a customer or employee, are asked about your satisfaction. Maybe they will stop the erosion of their business.

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* Benno Maggi is co-founder and CEO of Partner & Partner. He has been eavesdropping on the industry for over 30 years, discovering words and terms for us that can either be used for small talk, pomposity, excitement, playing Scrabble, or just because.

The International Symposium on Non-Destructive Testing in Civil Engineering, the NDT-CE Conference, is held every three years at selected locations worldwide. This year, SVTI had the privilege of hosting and organizing the event on August 16-18, 2022. The conference with over 160 presentations, poster sessions, panel discussions, pre-conference workshops aimed to contribute to the continuous development of structural diagnostics. The international audience was provided with a platform for exchange on the current state of NDT technologies and perspectives for future initiatives. 

An excerpt from the conference program presents itself as follows:

• Building diagnostics with non-destructive testing methods such as ultrasound and radar
• Artificial intelligence for data analysis
• Digital building models
• Case studies on structural damage and diagnostic possibilities

A highlight of the event was the Start-up Innovation Special, which showcased the high level of innovation and entrepreneurship in the field of non-destructive testing in construction.

The constellation of professors, scientists, doctoral students and engineers meeting equipment manufacturers and product managers as well as architects and planners at the NDT-CE Conference in 2022 confirmed that sustainable construction must go hand in hand with modern quality assurance tools and data-based asset management. Reliable technologies for diagnosing and evaluating the building structure are also crucial, particularly in the case of existing buildings.

More information about the event

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/erfolgreiche-ndt-ce-conference-zur-zerstoerungsfreien-pruefung-im-bauwesen/

The new book "Controlling Canvas" from Haufe-Verlag, which has just been published, offers support in setting up and implementing goal- and result-oriented controlling. Founders and executives learn everything about the new methodology and the (graphical) structure of the controlling model canvas and get to know the different application possibilities by means of five case studies. Based on the business model of the specific company, the book provides an easy-to-understand guide that does not require any special prior knowledge of controlling.

From the general benefits of controlling to the identification of relevant success factors, the book leads to the controlling canvas and helps to determine the necessary controlling for the specific company. Hints for the introduction and implementation of controlling help with the practical work. The author Klaus Schopka has many years of practical experience with leading tasks in the controlling and service area of international IT companies with interfaces to group companies, specialist departments, development, IT operations and suppliers on a national and international level. Today he is an independent consultant based in Unterföhring/Munich. He heads the project controlling working group of the International Controller Association, is a member of the Munich regional management of the German Association for Project Management and of the IT controlling and project management specialist groups of the German Informatics Society. He is also a juror at the Munich Business Plan Competition and active as a technical author, lecturer and speaker.

Controlling Canvas. Guide for new business models, start-ups and entrepreneurs
By Klaus Schopka
First edition, 2022, 240 pages, softcover
Haufe Publishing House
ISBN 978-3-648-16572-0
ISBN 978-3-6481-6574-4 (ePDF)
ISBN 978-3-6481-6573-7 (ePUB)

https://shop.haufe.de/toptitel-fachbuch

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/buchtipp-sicherheit-beim-aufbau-eines-controllings-mithilfe-von-canvas/

Zürcher Kantonalbank has embraced the change in banking and has also expanded its communications with digital formats in line with changing media consumption. However, it is also clear that a 150-year-old bank with a social mission must act somewhat more cautiously than a young neo-bank if it is to achieve acceptance of digitization across all its customer groups.

The task of sound

How far can the bank modernize itself while remaining a trusted financial partner? As with the rebranding, this overriding question was also at the heart of the development of the brand sound. And it gave the sound a clearly defined role: "For us, there are two decisive drivers in the brand context: technology and trust. Our sound identity should establish a link between the two, while making our unique identity comprehensively tangible," explains Daniel Locher, Senior Brand Manager at Zürcher Kantonalbank.

Execution and empirical confirmation

These ambitions were realized through a combination of organic and digital sounds, which are familiar and familiar, but quite surprising and unconventionally staged. The brand sound system is designed in such a way that specific applications and target groups can be addressed with different characteristics. In the process, the appeal of a dynamic banking innovator is successively linked to the feeling of trust towards the state bank.

The sound survey developed by Department of Noise together with the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland FHNW was used to fine-tune the sound identity, with which the effect was surveyed among both internal and external stakeholders of the bank and then adjusted accordingly.

Successive roll-out

Over the next few months, the dynamically designed sound ecosystem will be audible on more and more of the bank's channels: from marketing, sponsoring, and moving image activities to the service center experience and the branch offices. For the latter, a playlist strategy and various soundscapes have been developed to ensure that the Zürcher Kantonalbank brand is also consistently and consistently felt at this touchpoint.

"Sound is often underestimated as a brand element, but it is an important building block for the holistic, emotional experience of a brand," says Monica Dreyer, Head of Marketing and Brand Management at Zürcher Kantonalbank.

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Responsible at Zürcher Kantonalbank: Daniel Locher (Senior Brand Manager), Dominik Streich (Creative Director), Simon Baumann (Multimedia Producer). Responsible at KMS Team: Robert Börsting (Design Director). Responsible at Department of Noise: Florian Goetze, Ph!L!pp Schweidler (Strategy & Creative Direction), Michael Stuber (Strategy), Yves Gerber (Creative Producer).

For 2021, the manufacturer of cybersecurity solutions could see little light and a lot of shadow. There were new negative records in almost all branches of cybercrime. These poor prospects are joined by a new front: unprotected digital identities, which virtually invite criminal activities by hackers due to the careless behavior of consumers.

Windows system remain major targets for cybercriminals

Of the many threats that targeted Windows systems last year, five major categories remained unchanged: Exploits, Trojans, Ransomware, Coin Miners, and Potentially Unwanted Applications (PUAs). PUAs in particular seem to be popular in attacks on Windows systems. They account for one-third of all threats directed at Windows systems. On Macs, there is slightly less variation in terms of malware. On macOS, Trojans were analyzed, potentially unwanted applications (PUA), adware and coin miners. The vanishingly small proportion of ransomware, at a full one percent, creates a false picture. It disguises the fact that many solutions recognize a Trojan as the prelude to a larger attack right at the beginning. Trojans are the gateway to prepare the way for subsequent payloads: Such as ransomware, hijacking resources for cryptominer, or even more advanced malware.

Ransomware: USA is the most important target for attackers

Solar Winds, the Colonial Pipeline, Kaseya and Brenntag are just some of the big names that have been involved in high-profile ransomware attacks. The extortionists favored industries with big-name companies and large critical infrastructure - important characteristics that indicate a victim is likely to pay the ransom. The US led the way with 33 % of the attacks, followed by Germany with a notable 12 %. The extortionists concentrated their activities primarily on countries that they considered to be profitable.

IoT devices still a problem

The world of networked smart devices also continues to pose major challenges for IT security. The risk of using them for DDoS attacks is particularly high. Neither the mobile device industry nor the IoT ecosystem have significantly improved their security posture. This means that many of the problems from the past are still present: The operating systems of many devices have numerous security vulnerabilities, are difficult to update. Passwords are still preset and don't need to be force reset. Apparently, IoT security is still not a priority for vendors. One trend seems to be catching on: Popular usually means secure. This means that widely used devices from well-known manufacturers are on average more secure than niche products from small manufacturers.

Unprotected digital identities challenge criminal activity

Digital activity has reached an all-time high during the pandemic, with careless consumer behavior further darkening the global cyberthreat landscape. According to Bitdefender Digital Identity Protection telemetry, only 21 % of users have a digital identity with a low level of secrecy. At this level, only one to five pieces of data are exposed online. 62 % of users are obviously not worried about their data being disclosed. More than ten pieces of data about themselves are publicly available. Even though 17 % of users have a medium position with five to ten data items available online, the global average of exposed data items is 26 unique personal data items.

Regardless of the concerns users express about privacy in the digital age, they are dropping their guard and willingly sharing personally identifiable information online. Bitdefender Digital Identity Protection's analysis of telemetry data also shows that URLs (26 %), job titles (21 %) and physical addresses (20%) are among the most vulnerable types of personal data. These records are supplemented by a variety of additional personal information, including usernames, educational background, full names and email addresses, and date of birth.

Android security still needs improvement

With a market share of 70 %, Android dominates the mobile world, exposing it to more risks than iOS, which is second with 27 %. Official Android stores remain a major infection vector, despite their supposed inherent security. Combined with the fragmentation of the operating system, one of the platform's biggest problems, it is easy to understand why Android is plagued by so many threats on a daily basis and why criminals invest time and effort into developing new threats.

A good example is the TeaBot and FluBot campaigns, which have a global reach and use very different methods for organic distribution. For example, TeaBot was spread via fake apps, sometimes even hosted in official stores. The attackers went even further and bought ad slots in legitimate, widely used Android apps that referenced malicious Trojans. For example, it was observed that a QR code reading app hosted on Google Play Store spread 17 different TeaBot variants in a short period of time. Although Google removed numerous malicious apps from its official store several times, the damage had already been done. Samsung's official Galaxy Store was also used to spread malware in the form of Showbox clone apps.

Increased on the road: cryptominer

Resource hijacking by coin miners is becoming increasingly important. Hackers use numerous infection vectors, such as exposed information, potentially unwanted applications, or even warez downloads. Regions that give the hackers rich prey in the form of sufficient computing power are main distribution areas. These include the U.S. with 26 %, APAC with 10 %, and Eastern and Central Europe with 8 %. The EU countries Italy, Denmark, France, Romania, Germany, Spain and the UK account for 34 %.

2022 will be different? Perhaps in certain areas

A look back at the year 2021 shows: The threat landscape is and remains diverse. The spectrum ranges from annoying spam to dangerous malware and digital identity theft. Cybercriminals are extremely creative and constantly on the lookout for new methods to make money with hacks. Computational power, personal identities, and ransomware have been drivers of many attacks. The 2022 Annual Review is sure to provide new insights in this regard. Because the war in Ukraine creates new occasions for spam, as well as phishing. And new motives.

Source: Bitdefender

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/globaler-kampf-gegen-cyberkriminalitaet-zeigt-kaum-fortschritte/