May 15, 2012, 1:17 AM PDT

Takeaway: Securing data simply by defending the network perimeter is no longer enough to satisfy the law. IT departments need to consider a different approach.

Attacks have shown that a perimeter-based strategy is not enough to meet the needs of most networks. Photo: Shutterstock

Protecting personal data is an emotive subject thats long been an issue for CIOs. It became an even bigger concern when UK data privacy watchdog the Information Commissioners Office gained the power in 2010 to impose fines of up to 500,000 ($800,000) for breaching the Data Protection Act.

But breaches that affect commercially sensitive and secret information get less attention. Thats surprising because such incidents can result in companies being sued for breach of contract and directors facing action for breaching their fiduciary duties.

UK data protection law is based on eight principles and requires companies to take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information.

Against that, the law of confidentiality, which applies to commercially sensitive or secret information, is a common law right based on precedent and has not been codified. Consequently, people tend not to understand it so well, although the principles are easily stated.

This approach to protecting confidential and personal information is logical. It allows the law to remain flexible and relevant despite rapid changes in the technology industry.

The result is that regulators and enforcers have to take a purposive approach, which may appear quite subjective, when they decide whether appropriate protection has been provided.

The trouble with this approach is that it is relatively easy to apply in retrospect but not so easy to use when drawing up requirements. Furthermore, rapid tech changes can make solutions that are satisfactory now seem totally inadequate in six months.

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Personal data: Time to rethink our whole security approach?

ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Agencyport Software, a long-time contributor to the development of ACORD standards in the Property & Casualty insurance and reinsurance industry and a leader in the adoption of these ACORD standards through its various software products, announced today a significant contribution of data mappings to the Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development (ACORD), the leading non-profit standards development organization serving the insurance and financial services industries. Specifically, Agencyport has contributed its proven AL3 to ACORD XML mappings to ACORD to use in its efforts to provide mappings from ACORDs eForms to its other standards as well as additional mapping initiatives.

ACORD's AL3 (Automation Level 3) standards were first created in the 1980s so that carriers and independent agents could be updated more quickly by carrier data sent nightly via download from their carriers. This led to the significant implementation of AL3 batch download, and later to real-time processing using ACORDs XML V1.x standard. In 2003, shortly after it was founded, Agencyport brought AgencyConnect to market, an enterprise software solution that enables carriers to receive inbound AL3 and XML messages from independent agents and integrate a single, normalized XML feed to carriers rating and policy systems to handle upload, bridging and real-time rating.

ACORD standards have been incredibly important to the insurance industry since their inception and for us in North America and in Europe, these standards help our customers do business with tens of thousands of agents, brokers and other trading partners every day, said Steve Hauck, co-founder and co-CEO of Agencyport Software. The data mappings that have worked so well for us and our customers will help ACORD and its members by providing valuable data mappings used in the implementation of its standards. We are proud of the work we have done and the implementations of ACORD standards with our products AgencyPortal, AgencyConnect and most recently Turnstile. We feel that by ACORD having our interpretation of the standards, it can continue to work with other standards implementers to promote collaboration and achieve consistent implementations of its Property and Casualty standard. We are honored to partner with ACORD so that the market can more quickly and more easily utilize consistent standards in such products as eForms, real-time implementations, as well as other initiatives.

Agencyport provided its AL3 to XML mappings for more than 10 lines of business, including Homeowners, Personal Auto, Dwelling Fire, Personal Umbrella, Personal Package, Business Owners, Commercial Auto, Commercial Property, General Liability, Commercial Umbrella, and Commercial Package.

We are very excited to receive this contribution from Agencyport Software. They have been a long-time supporter and implementer of ACORD Standards and this action shows their dedication to advancing standardization across the industry. They also reinforce the importance to all stakeholders that standards are not standards unless they are implemented consistently, said Marcia Berner, Director of Implementation Services at ACORD. We hope that Agencyport's example spurs others to share in the movement. After all, its all about enabling automated transactions in real-time and making it more conducive to all implementers to do the same. We thank them for feeling so passionate about the use of Standards in the insurance marketplace and in realizing the benefits that true Standards implementations will have on the industry as a whole.

About Agencyport Software:

Agencyport Software (formerly Sword Insurance), makes the business of insurance more efficient through technology innovation. We offer the world's leading web-based distribution technologies, global policy administration solutions and robust business intelligence toolsa powerful mix that makes the complex business of insurance easier and smarter, and helps our customers seize opportunities and gain a competitive edge quickly. http://www.agencyport.com

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Agencyport Software Accelerates Open Standards Development for P&C Industry

BEAVER FALLS, Pa., May 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Nourish by Sensible Organics, Inc., a breakthrough organic beauty and personal care brand that is the first to offer an entire collection of 100% USDA certified organic bath and body products, announces today that actress Christine Taylor has signed on to be their national Brand Ambassador.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120514/NY03167-a)

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120514/NY03167-b)

Christine Taylor, who may be best known for her starring roles in films such as "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story," "The Wedding Singer," "The Brady Bunch Movie," and "Zoolander," is an avid environmental advocate and passionate enthusiast for living a greener lifestyle. In her new role as Brand Ambassador for Nourish, she will be the face of the beauty brand and its products, and will help raise awareness about the numerous health and beauty benefits of using 100% USDA certified organic personal care products.

"It's a pleasure to represent Nourish because I strongly believe in their commitment to creating 100% USDA certified organic personal care and beauty products that are affordable, effective, andfeel great on your skin," said Taylor. "I look forward to working with Nourish to promote the benefits of natural and organic living and the philosophy that what you put on your body is just as important as what you put in it."

"Christine Taylor is an ideal choice to represent the Nourish brand as our Ambassador. She is authentic in her beliefs of living a greener, healthier lifestyle, and as a busy mother of two young children, Christine can speak to her own personal journey of integrating better beauty, health, and wellness solutions into her family's lifestyle," said Rick Ruffolo, CEO and President of Sensible Organics, Inc.

Nourish-Organic Food for Healthy Skin is the first beauty brand to create attractive, enjoyable, and affordable personal care products that are based solely on effective, nutrient-rich 100% USDA certified organic fruits, vegetables, and plant extracts. Unlike other brands which claim to be "natural" or "organic," yet still have artificial chemicals in their products, Nourish uses only USDA-certified ingredients nothing more to feed and treat the skin the way nature intended.

Nourish introduces the first complete line of clean, healthy, and eco-friendly products, including an Organic Body Wash, Organic Hand Wash, Organic Body Lotion, Organic Body Butter, Organic Deodorant, and Organic Exfoliating Body Polish, that all proudly display the USDA certified seal. This USDA seal promises consumers that all Nourish organic claims are 100% reliable, as its products are inspected and required to contain at least 95% organic ingredients and be certified to the USDA National Organic Standards. The USDA National Organic Standards are the highest in the industry, and personal care products within this category are held to the same rigorous standards as USDA certified organic food.

Nourish launches this month exclusively at Whole Foods Market nationwide. For more information, please visit http://www.NourishUSDA.com.

ABOUT SENSIBLE ORGANICS, INC.

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NOURISH - ORGANIC FOOD FOR HEALTHY SKIN™ Signs Actress Christine Taylor as Celebrity Brand Ambassador For its New USDA ...

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. today unveiled the new UNI-CUB personal mobility device, designed for harmony with people. Featuring a compact design and comfortable saddle, UNI-CUB offers the same freedom of movement in all directions that a person enjoys while walking.

Representing the evolution of the U3-X personal mobility device that Honda announced in 2009, UNI-CUB features Hondas proprietary balance control technology and the worlds first omni-directional driving wheel system (Honda Omni Traction Drive System). These technologies allow the rider to control speed, move in any direction, turn and stop, all simply by shifting his or her weight. Since the rider can freely move forward, backward, side-to-side and diagonally, he or she can quickly and easily maneuver among other people.

Moreover, UNI-CUBs compact saddle-style packaging makes it easy for the riders legs to reach the ground and maintains eye-level height with other pedestrians. This configuration promotes harmony between the rider and others, letting the rider travel freely and comfortably inside facilities and among moving people.

Starting in June 2012, Honda will jointly conduct demonstration testing of UNI-CUB with Japans National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation. In addition to testing the feasibility of using UNI-CUB indoors, this project will explore the practical applications of the device in a wide range of environments in Japan and other countries.

The balance control technology of UNI-CUB is part of the Honda Robotics family of technologies, which originates with Hondas research into humanoid robots, including the world-famous ASIMO.

Going forward, Honda will continue its proactive research and development of next-generation mobility technologies, aiming always to offer more and more people the joy and fun that comes from freedom of movement.

Key specifications of UNI-CUB

Key features of UNI-CUB:

Maneuverability promotes compatibility with people in many environments:

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Honda Announces New UNI-CUB Personal Mobility Device Designed for Harmony with People

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwire -05/14/12)- Is it time for a change? Is your love of health and fitness something you'd like to turn into a career rather than just a hobby? If for you, the time has come, to swap the suit for your trainers you could become a personal trainer in less than two months.

With the fast-track personal training course form the Training Room you could have all the necessary qualifications under your belt in just six weeks.

Fast-track from the Training Room

The Training Room's fast-track personal trainer courses provide entrants with the most comprehensive route to becoming a fully accredited personal trainer in the UK.

The intensive six week course is able to be completed at any of their personal training academies throughout the UK and requires Monday to Friday commitment. If you put in the time and effort this may well represent the best chance to get on the road to your new career as quickly as you can.

Fast-track course benefits

The fast-track personal training course from the Training Room has the following benefits:

- A full and comprehensive support structure

- Professional development and mentoring throughout the programme

- Student welfare contacts providing all the necessary support

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Achieve Your Personal Training Goals in Just Six Weeks

COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Adirondack Insurance Exchange (AIE), Financial Stability Rating of A, Exceptional, and Mountain Valley Indemnity Company (MVIC), Financial Stability Rating of A (A Prime), Unsurpassed, have created a separate, stand-alone multi-state personal lines platform that joins the writing capacity of AIE with the geographic footprint of MVIC. As a result of the transaction, AIE and MVIC will be positioned for further organic growth and expansion as a dedicated personal lines platform with a geographic footprint that covers 22 states.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120123/MM39893LOGO)

While AIE has writing capacity, it is licensed only in New York. MVIC is licensed in 22 states in addition to New York. By acquiring and reinsuring MVIC, AIE will have exposure, through reinsurance, to business in jurisdictions other than New York, thereby diversifying AIE's geographic risk profile. Separate and apart from any benefits of this transaction for AIE or other members of the Tower holding company system, this transaction will be a positive development for MVIC.

By joining MVIC's licenses with AIE writing capacity, the sale to AIE will give MVIC a market niche that is unique in the Tower holding company system, and should cause it to feature prominently in future growth strategies. The combined personal lines platform of AIE and MVIC will play central role in personal lines strategic development, initially in the northeast, with potential for expansion into other areas.

About Tower Group Companies

Tower Group Companies is one of the 50 largest providers of property and casualty insurance products and services in the U.S. Through its insurance company subsidiaries, Towerprovides personal and commercial insurance for small to medium-sized businesses through its network of retail and wholesale agents across the country. Tower also offers specialty insurance products through a national network of program underwriting agents. Visit http://www.twrgrp.com for more information.

ABOUT DEMOTECH, INC.

Demotech, Inc. is a financial analysis firm specializing in evaluating the financial stability of regional and specialty insurers. Since 1985, Demotech has served the insurance industry by assigning accurate, reliable and proven Financial Stability Ratings (FSRs) for Property & Casualty insurers and Title underwriters. FSRs are a leading indicator of financial stability, providing an objective baseline of the future solvency of an insurer. Demotech's philosophy is to review and evaluate insurers based on their area of focus and execution of their business model rather than solely on financial size. This philosophy was the catalyst for the Demotech Company Classification System, which was developed and published in Insurance Journal, in order to stratify and categorize insurers into operational categories. Visit http://www.demotech.com for more information.

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Personal Lines Strategic Development for Tower Group Companies

Hamdan student programme supervisors attend workshop

(Staff Reporter) / 16 May 2012

DUBAI - The Hamdan bin Mohammed Students Personal Development Programme launched last year by Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, held a five-day workshop for public and private school supervisors assigned to ensure that the students acquire the skills aimed to be developed by the programme.

The workshop was held to familiarise the supervisors with their role under the third phase of the programme.

The workshop was opened by Abdulla Al Shaibani, Secretary-General of the Dubai Executive Council.

Al Shaibani referred to the great attention paid by Shaikh Hamdan to the youth and his directives to support the young people as they are the real wealth to build this nation and bolster its march.

The programme is working in line with the objectives of the social development scopes of the Dubai strategic plan 2015 on backing education in a strategic manner and to achieve the goals set by the programme, Al Shaibani noted. He expressed happiness at the vital role played by school supervisors in following up the implementation of the programme with students.

The programme is making big strides thanks to the good cooperation among the General Secretariat of the DEC, the Human Resources Department of the Dubai government, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), the Dubai Education Zone and the schools participating in the programme.

A total of 18 supervisors of schools signed in the programme attended the workshop.

news@khaleejtimes.com

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Hamdan student programme supervisors attend workshop

By JOHN R. BECKER , The Leader Herald

AMSTERDAM - The owners of the Crystal Ristorante on Lyon Street have filed for personal bankruptcy to protect their personal assets during foreclosure proceedings against the restaurant.

Tony and Carolyn Centi filed a Chapter 7 petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of New York. A summary of the petition lists $857,050 in assets, including the restaurant itself, which has a value of $611,000, and $2.14 million in liabilities, including more than $1 million on the mortgage they took out to build a new banquet hall, $110,000 owed to the Montgomery County Industrial Development Agency and $85,000 to Advance Me Inc., a Georgia-based company which gave Centi a personal loan.

The list of creditors includes several regional food and beverage distributors, among them Quandt's and Bartyzel's, both in Amsterdam. The amounts owed to many of these vendors are listed as unknown.

"I filed personal bankruptcy to protect my home," Tony Centi said Friday.

The foreclosure originally was scheduled to take place May 5 but was postponed by Ciena Capital, the bank holding the mortgage. Ciena Capital was formerly known as BLX Capital.

No new date has been set for the foreclosure. Meanwhile, business continues as usual.

"The restaurant is open just as normal, from 11 a.m. to closing," Centi said. "We're booking parties. Nothing's changed on my end."

Without a new date for the foreclosure, Centi doesn't know how long the restaurant will remain open.

"The restaurant is open until the foreclosure takes place," Centi said. "I don't have an answer that on such-and-such a date it's going to be closed."

Continued here:
Crystal Bar owners file for personal bankruptcy

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA (PRWEB) May 11, 2012

From personal trainer career resources to business mentoring and from unique personal training business models to personal coaching, a brand-new website at http://personaltrainerbusiness.biz/ was created as the go-to resource for personal trainers interested in growing their fitness business.

The personal training career and business solutions site offers a variety of targeted programs for personal fitness trainers of all levels across the globe.

Whether you want to make more money as a personal trainer, develop a specific niche, build your social media presence, earn a new personal fitness training certification or focus more on nutrition and exercise, this site is designed to help you reach your personal training business goals, said John Spencer Ellis, founder John Spencer Ellis Enterprises, a fitness and personal development solutions company. We want to help personal trainers find the coaching and business models they need to grow their business, their clients and their overall success.

In particular, the website offers personal trainer business models, business coaching and business systems, including:

Fitness Fortunes: A personal trainer coaching and mentoring program that benefits personal trainers and other fitness pros interested in career growth, Fitness Fortunes offers a blueprint for success that helps personal trainers boost their business. In addition to full-length online training videos which provide a proven, step-by-step blueprint for unlimited financial success in personal training and fitness businesses, the program includes a variety of special bonuses and is now available for just $1 for the first month. FitNews.TV: A fitness marketing solution for personal trainers, coaches and fitness instructors, FitNews.TV offers social media integration for trainers who want more leads, connections and business. This business system includes email newsletters, text campaigns and complete mobile marketing outreach for personal trainers.

The NESTA Personal Fitness Trainer certification: The online, self-paced certification, which costs about 30 percent less on average than other certifications and is valid for four years, rather than just two, is approved and recognized by all major gyms and health club chains. In addition, the training includes easy-to-follow blueprints for launching and running a successful personal training business.

Boot camp, martial arts, nutrition programs and more, all designed as a complete personal training business and career resource.

All of the information on personal training business systems and coaching is available at http://personaltrainerbusiness.biz/.

About John Spencer Ellis Enterprises John Spencer Ellis Enterprises is a solutions provider for fitness and coaching professionals around the world, providing education, turn-key business programs, coaching and resources for new and advanced fitness and coaching professionals. For more information about John Spencer Ellis Enterprises or personal trainer business ideas and resources, please visit http://personaltrainerbusiness.biz/

Original post:
New Personal Trainer Business Resources Website Offers Business Models, Coaching and Ideas for Personal Fitness ...

Friday, May 11 14:20:08

Incoming President of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Tom Murray, said today that any further delays in publishing the Personal Insolvency Bill will harm business development and job creation.

His comments were made to senior financial professionals at the ACCA's Annual General Meeting, which was held in Dublin today.

In his address, encouraging the Government to publish the legislation no later than the revised June deadline, Tom Murray stated that he recognised the Government's need to get the Bill right, and accepted that there are a significant number of issues that need to be considered in the drafting of what could be the single most important piece of legislation that this Government enacts.

"It is no secret that a significant number of people are waiting to see the final Bill in order to understand what options they may possibly have. Experienced business people are in limbo due to personal debt, which in many cases arises from personal guarantees given to support businesses. As it stands the options available are bankruptcy under the current archaic system in Ireland or the availing of 'bankruptcy tourism' in the UK. In this context, without the timely introduction of the Personal Insolvency Bill, many experienced business people in Ireland remain paralysed by the uncertainty, and as a result are not in a position to contribute to the overall recovery of the economy. Unfortunately, this is having a negative knock-on effect on the SME market and its capacity to create sustainable employment," he said.

Calling on the Government to prioritise the matter and ensure that the deadline date does not slip any further, he said that there is a real danger that Ireland could lose many talented and experienced people to the UK and beyond, which in turn will only continue to slow down the process of job creation and recovery.

A Chartered Certified Accountant, Tom Murray is a leading corporate recovery specialist. A partner with Friel Stafford, he also specialises in Forensic Accounting and is a Certified Mediator.

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ACCA want no delay in insolvency Bill