By now I’m sure you’ve heard what happened last week. Hackers, who stole malicious software from the National Security Agency, waged cyberattacks via email on Friday that affected nearly 100 countries. Everyone from hospital patients in Great Britain to government officials in Russia to FedEx employees in the United States were unable to access their systems.

As our collective and individual digital worlds continue to expand, we create and rely on more and more personal data being in the digital realm. In the process, our personal data becomes worth as much as – or more than – any valuable possession (family jewels, anyone?) we might lock up and safely store. That data also is every bit as vulnerable, maybe even more so.

For those of us not in the restaurant or retail industries, eating out and shopping could mean good food (no dishes!) and new clothes. We’re sure many of you also like to patronize places that provide good service. That hinges on a variety of factors from personnel to internal process. And data.

Intel announced earlier this week it will acquire Mobileye, a self-driving vehicle company in a deal valued at about $15 billion, as the tech giant pushes deeper into the growing autonomous vehicle market. Founded in 1999, Mobileye specializes in creating chips and software for self-driving vehicles, such as data analysis and mapping for autonomous systems.

While everyone is still talking about #envelopegate (It was the accountant, not Bonnie & Clyde!) we wanted to call your attention to Academy Award nominee, Kubo and the Two Strings. Created by Hillsboro, Ore.-based Laika, a stop-motion animation studio that specializes in feature and short films, Laika had been nominated for best animated feature film as well as best visual effects.

Many of us are thinking about the movies this week. Potential Oscar winners. Past Academy Award recipients. Timeless classics. Maybe even a few awful flicks we just can’t forget.

We are excited to participate in the annual Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society conference, #HIMSS17, in Orlando next week, Feb. 19-23. This is where the best and the brightest in the world of health care IT get together to discuss various issues and trends. One trend that will never go away is how to work with data privacy and security.

We spend a lot of money to secure our information. In fact, cybersecurity is one of the globe’s fastest-growing industries. According to Gartner, IT security spending will top $81.6 billion for 2016, an increase of 7.9 percent over 2015, and that market is expected to more than double in just three years.

The mobile workstation is going places. Don’t forget to bring removable devices with it.

Laptops and PCs continue to shrink, but storage space has never been so tight. With higher resolutions becoming widely available, video, photo and music files are growing even larger. And what do you do with all these massive files if you want to keep them backed up?