Tech:NYC Digest: October 3

Tech:NYC Digest: October 3

October 03, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Monday, October 3, 2022

Welcome back! In today’s digest, health officials prepare for a winter ‘4-alarm blaze,’ a plan to expand charging infrastructure for delivery workers, and why New York wants you to “see yourself in cyber.”

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  • The winter season has been met with surges in COVID cases over the past two years, and New York public health officials are warning that simultaneous monkeypox and polio outbreaks are also possible this year. (Politico)

    • The newest bivalent COVID-19 booster is the strongest defense against a surge in cases similar to that in previous years, but research at the end of September indicated that nearly half of adults had heard little or nothing about availability of the updated vaccine. (New York Times)

    • As Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine says: “If you haven’t received a COVID booster this year, you aren’t up to date.” Book an appointment here.

  • A new initiative announced by Sen. Chuck Schumer, Mayor Eric Adams, and Los Deliveristas Unidos will allocate $1 million to convert unused city-owned newsstands into rest stops for food delivery workers to charge their e-bikes and phones, as well as take shelter from weather elements. (THE CITY)   

  • A proposed bill from the New York City Council would allow everyday citizens to report cars illegally parked in bike lanes and other protected spaces — and get paid for it. (New York Magazine)

  • A heads up, especially for United Airlines MilagePlus members: The airline said it would end service in and out of JFK International Airport at the end of October after struggling to gain a competitive foothold there. (New York Times)

  • NYC has officially entered the period in which heat must be provided to renters. Here’s what you need to know to get your landlord to flip the switch.

In other reading:

The month of October, as declared by Gov. Kathy Hochul, the White House, Zoom, and many others, is Cybersecurity Awareness Month. And they’re all rallying around a common theme: public and private sectors alike want you to “see yourself in cyber.”

Breaches have gotten worse through the pandemic: Illegitimate use of identity credentials was responsible for 48% of breaches, up from 37% in 2017, according to new Verizon data.

  • Password theft has long been a part of the hacker playbook, but more complex identity-based breaches have become more prevalent as a result of the larger number of employees who are now operating outside of a corporate network firewall. (Protocol)

  • Experts say stronger authentication and authorization systems are key, and startups like NYC-based Sonrai Security offer tools to automatically remove unneeded permissions in cloud environments. 

A new special report from Protocol highlights some of the ways businesses can improve information security, including those authentication upgrades, more up-to-date awareness training for employees, and more formalized, data-driven processes for combating cyberthreats.

The good news is that employers are taking it seriously in a world of hybrid work: Tech:NYC research released in May 2022 found that 64% of C-suite executives surveyed identified cybersecurity as the top area of expertise they expect to expand hiring for this year.

  • Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President of Security, Compliance and Identity Vasu Jakkal says more positive messaging about protecting people’s digital lives is always a better strategy than scare tactics: "Security is not this dark thing, this bad thing," she said. Rather, "it needs to be a symbol of hope, and positivity, and innovation, and creativity."

In other reading:

  • Airplane, a NYC and San Francisco-based software platform for building internal developer tools, raised $32 million in Series B funding. (TechCrunch)

  • Caraway, a NYC-based home and lifestyle e-commerce brand, raised $35 million in funding. McCarthy Capital led the round. (Insider)

  • Grow Therapy, a NYC-based startup that helps therapists launch private practices covered by insurance, raised $75 million in Series B funding. TCV and Transformation Capital co-led the round and were joined by insiders SignalFire and SVB. (Pitchbook)

  • Onyxia, a NYC-based cybersecurity strategy and performance platform, raised $5 million in seed funding. World Trade Ventures led the round and was joined by Silvertech Ventures. (FinSMEs)

  • Town Hall Ventures, a NYC-based venture capital firm focused on health care for underserved communities, raised $350 million for its Fund III. (Forbes)

  • October 7: In-person: Latinx in Tech: Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, with Tech:NYC, Mastercard, Google for Startups, and Inicio Ventures. Register here.

  • October 10 – 16: Virtual & in-person: New York Tech Week, featuring events across the city hosted by General Catalyst, EmpireDAO, Brex, Carta, Techstars, and more. See the full agenda and register here.

  • October 11: Virtual: Building Information Security Teams and Practices for Growth-Stage Startups, with Two Sigma vice president of information security Grace Ward, DigitalOcean vice president of security Tyler Healy, and Honeycomb lead security engineer Jam Leomi. Hosted by Brooklyn Bridge Ventures. Register here.

  • October 24 – 25: In-person: SCNY Urban Tech Summit, with Tech:NYC executive director Jason Myles Clark, NYC Chief Climate Officer Louise Yeung, JustAir co-founder and CEO Darren Riley, and others. Hosted by Cornell Tech. Register here.

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