I’m a little late in getting this one out this week, but there weren’t a whole lot of items that jumped out at me from my inbox. So, I had to dig a little deeper to see what I could find. It’s been a quiet week on the technology front with news about the US Department of Education being hacked and Microsoft’s on-premise Sharepoint servers suddenly being highly vulnerable, but neither of those (especially the on-prem Sharepoint) have much bearing on our readers. So, scroll on down to learn about autonomous farms, why not to book your next trip on the dark web, smart bathrooms, and more. Enjoy!
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Dark Web Travel Agents
Having once gotten a tour of the dark web from a local cybersecurity firm, it’s safe to say that anything you want is available there. And that now includes travel. Hackers are now luring people to the dark web with significantly discounted travel rates. The only problem is, when you book the travel, the “travel agent” (hacker) users stolen credentials (credit card info, loyalty points account info, etc.) to do so. You’ll most likely receive a valid confirmation email, but risk the likelihood that when you arrive at your destination, you’ll be under investigation for fraud. So, as is always the case, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
Autonomous Farms
Drones, data analytics, self-driving tractors, robots, and AI… they’re all combining to make for fully autonomous farms. And after having picked enough blueberries for one pie a few weeks ago, the idea of robots that find berries, determines whether they’re ripe enough, and then picks them sounds amazing.
And on the topic of farming, I’d never heard of ‘corn sweat’ until I saw this piece. If this doesn’t make you the most interesting person at your next dinner party, then you’re beyond hope.
158 Years
A British trucking company that had been in business for 158 years recently closed its doors (and 700 people lost their jobs) after being hit by ransomware. Of those 700 employees, one had a password that was easily guessed, allowing the hackers entry into the network. No ransom figure was published, but experts suggest is would’ve been over $6M.
While the trucking company had cyberliability coverage, not all policies will pay the ransom in the event of a loss. While it doesn’t seem that the hackers wanted any specific data from the trucking company, they obviously knew that without their ability to access their own data, the company could not perform even the most basic daily functions.
Things to remember; cybersecurity is a multi-layered solution, including managed detection and response, you may not have data that’s valuable to someone else, but if you can’t access it, you can’t work, and check your insurance policy (you do have one, don’t you?) to ensure that it covers all that you expect it to cover.
Smart Bathrooms
Not even sure where to start with this one on ‘smart’ bathrooms that are meant to improve public facilities. They’re off the grid (so are pit latrines at campgrounds), they identify the user to know who treats them well and who destroys them (literally and figuratively), and the doors pop open after 10 minutes in use (don’t get comfy in there). And they’re much cheaper than the $1.7M for a SINGLE toilet in San Francisco. Ahhh, locaol government at its finest.
Nancy's Nuggets
Nancy tells me that a house in Boston connected with John Hancock (unsure whether he ever lived there, but his younger brother did) is on the market. The city recently valued the property at $1.6M and while it’s been used for the past 50 years by a law firm, it’s in a mixed zoning area so it could be turned back into a house. How cool would that be???
That’s all for this week. For my friend Forrest, I’ll leave you with a crazy lacrosse goal from the PLL, scored by Brennan O’Neill, and for all you chefs, how ’bout some good ol’ squirrel pie this weekend? The Indians are making a run and the Browns open training camp tomorrow, which means that we’re already close to August. How’d that happen so quickly?
Have a great weekend.
Abbey