Sorry to miss you last week. Nancy and I were in Montana (it’s good to have friends in high places) where we spent a day in Yellowstone (amazing), three days fly fishing (Gallatin and Madison rivers), and also got in some golf (nine holes), hiking, and sightseeing. If you’ve never been, I’d highly recommend it. None of the pictures do it justice, so you’ll just have to go see it for yourselves. A week off was nice, and since we’ve been home, aside from getting caught up at the office, we’ve been moving my mom from independent living to assisted living; downsizing from a two bedroom apartment to a one bedroom suite. The amount of furniture, pictures, and other things has been amazing, and her old apartment, new suite, and our house all look like bombs went off. The official move was yesterday, and I expect to have everything put away sometime in December…
Lucky for you, I was able to put together this week’s edition of Thoughts From My Inbox… scroll down to read about Wile E. Coyote, compromised drivers licenses (153 million of them), floating islands, and more. Enjoy!
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Drivers Licenses for Sale
It would seem that 153 million drivers licenses, including images of front and back and all pertinent information, have recently gone up for sale on the dark web. One of the biggest victims was Hertz, which makes me very happy considering I just rented a car from them last week in Montana.
I got in touch with the Ohio BMV via online chat, and after being told that Ohio implemented some sort of increased security solution after 41 other states had already done so since 2018 (clearly, we have leading edge bureaucrats in our great state), it was explained to me that there’s nothing I can do to secure my information or change my license number until fraudulent activity has actually taken place.
I guess it makes sense that they’d rather wait to see what happens than to be proactive, considering their leading edge security solutions.
Malicious Insiders
With companies making more effort to secure their networks, it’s getting harder (in some cases, anyway) for hackers to gain access. So, what do they do? They pay somebody on the inside to give them access. Whether it’s an upfront payment for credentials or a cut of the ransom after it’s been paid, there’s a lot of money to be paid (and made).
Privileged access management, proper network clean up when an employee leaves, limited admin rights, and better network monitoring are all important steps to ensure that you don’t get hacked by an insider. And as the article states, “You don’t want to piss off the guy who’s in charge of your network.”
And just as I was about to send this out, I got another piece about a different type of malicious insiders… AI. We speak with a lot of people who’ve never considered the security ramifications to AI, and this is a perfect example.
Wile E. Coyote
While cell service was spotty in Yellowstone, I did have a phone and laptop with me last week and still somehow missed that there’s a new Wile E. Coyote movie in theaters. The best part of my Saturdays mornings back in the 1970s was the Warner Bros. cartoons on tv, and I still think those are the best cartoons ever. Depending on the weather this weekend (see below), we’ll either hit the Great Geauga County Fair on Sunday afternoon, or go see this movie!
Cyber Resiliency
Here’s a good piece listing five issues that hinder companies’ ability to become ‘cyber resilient’ (meaning that they’re able to withstand cyber crime incidents). I’ll let you read the specifics, but some of those five reasons include skills shortages (that’s why Ashton is here), technical debt/outdated systems (have talked plenty about that, recently), and untested readiness (your data is backed up, but when’s the last time you checked to see how quickly it could be recovered?)
Floating Islands
Ever seen a floating island? Neither had I. This one exists in British Columbia and is making it’s way around a large reservoir.
AI Weather
If you live in Cleveland and pay attention to the weather forecasts, you’d know that we were supposed to have a sunny Friday. And instead, it started raining at 9A and has just now let up (although it’s still overcast). I think the typical weatherperson seems to be right about 30% of the time, which doesn’t seem great. But in Major League Baseball, those are Hall of Fame numbers!
Now, Google has released a new AI forecasting tool, and while the teaser I read listed a lot of stats about how much improvement exists in this new one, one stat jumped out; this new solution is 50% better at predicting rain. But let’s say that the current version gets it right two out of every 10 times. My fourth grade math would tell me that a 50% improvement means that this upgrade now gets it right three out of every ten times. As my son Jimmy likes to remind me, 78% of statistics are made up on the spot. Regardless, maybe we’ll have some nice weather this weekend.
That’s all for this week. Leaving you with one that would’ve appeared last week (I can never exclude a Seinfield piece), one about technology going too far, and one that will ensure you’re the most interesting person at your next cocktail party.
The Buckeyes get rolling this weekend before next weekend’s big one against Texas, and the Browns (proud to say I didn’t watch one second of preseason football) are giving us a week off from their usual agony. Otherwise, the Blue Angels are in town and seem to be up and about, even with the overcast skies; I can here them flying, but can’t see ’em! Two of the best summer events we have are this weekend (Airshow and Geauga County Fair), so make sure you get to one of them!
Have a great weekend!
Abbey