Old Woman Leads Japanese Elderly to Tech Era

Masako Wakamiya. KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP
Masako Wakamiya. KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP
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Old Woman Leads Japanese Elderly to Tech Era

Masako Wakamiya. KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP
Masako Wakamiya. KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP

While dancing and swaying on "Oh, Pretty Woman", the 80-year-old Masako Wakamiya dances on stage before making an inspiring speech. Wakamiya, who launched an application for iPhones last year, says before a Japanese audience of about 200 elderly people in the coastal city of Yokohama "time has changed.”

Wakamia motivated older people to get rid of negativity, and highlighted their need to efficiently search for the information that helps them keep up with everyday life. "It's also important to build your own communication and presentation skills," she says.

After launching her app last year, the Japanese developer won a trip to Apple's headquarters in California to attend the company's Worldwide Developers Conference, and had a meeting with its CEO, Tim Cook, according to the German news agency (dpa).

After working in banks for more than four decades, Wakamia bought her first computer at the age of 60. She then began to communicate with other senior users, through an online club, along with caring for her aging mother at home.

After she started teaching basic computer skills to other elderlies, Wakamia felt frustrated by the lack of online entertainment content targeting older people. So she dealt with it herself, and devised a way to produce art using Excel and then share it with others.

She began to learn English and published many books, including a book entitled “Your life gets more interesting when you hit 60.”

Wakamiya is currently the vice president of Milo Club, a nationwide e-club that organizes lectures. She is also a member of “the 100-year period”, a government committee led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.



Paris Olympics Expected to Face 4 Billion Cyber Incidents

A general view of the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower a day before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics, in Paris, France June 25, 2024. (Reuters)
A general view of the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower a day before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics, in Paris, France June 25, 2024. (Reuters)
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Paris Olympics Expected to Face 4 Billion Cyber Incidents

A general view of the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower a day before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics, in Paris, France June 25, 2024. (Reuters)
A general view of the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower a day before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics, in Paris, France June 25, 2024. (Reuters)

As the Paris 2024 Olympic Games approach, cybersecurity officials are bracing for over 4 billion cyber incidents. They are setting up a new centralized cybersecurity center for the Games, supported by advanced intelligence teams and artificial intelligence (AI) models.

Eric Greffier, the technical director for Paris 2024 at Cisco France, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Tokyo 2020 Games saw around 450 million cyber incidents. He added that the number of incidents expected for Paris is at least ten times higher, requiring a more efficient response.

Greffier explained that a single cybersecurity center allows for better coordination and a faster response to incidents.

This approach has proven effective in other areas, such as banking and the NFL, where his company also handles cybersecurity, he added.

The Extended Detection and Response (XDR) system is central to the company’s security strategy.

Greffier described it as a “comprehensive dashboard” that gathers data from various sources, links events, and automates threat responses.

It offers a complete view of cybersecurity and helps manage threats proactively, he affirmed.

The system covers all aspects of the Olympic Games’ digital security, from network and cloud protection to application security and end-user safety.

In cybersecurity, AI is vital for managing large amounts of data and spotting potential threats. Greffier noted that with 4 billion expected incidents, filtering out irrelevant data is crucial.

The Olympic cybersecurity center uses AI and machine learning to automate threat responses, letting analysts focus on real issues, he explained.

One example is a network analytics tool that monitors traffic to find unusual patterns.

Greffier said that by creating models of normal behavior, the system can detect anomalies that might indicate a potential attack. While this might generate false alarms, it helps ensure that unusual activity is flagged for further review.