About a decade ago, I purchased a piece of a mainframe on eBay — the name ID bar. Carved from a big block of aluminum, it says “IBM System/370 168,” and it hangs proudly over my desk. My time on mainframes was exclusively with the IBM System/370 series. With a beautiful IBM 3278 color display […]
To get the most benefit from the new world of cloud-native server applications, forget about the old way of writing software. In the old model, architects designed software. Programmers wrote the code, and testers tested it on test server. Once the testing was complete, the code was “thrown over the wall” to administrators, who installed […]
Loose cyber-lips can sink real ship. According to separate reports published by the British government and the cruise ship industry, large cargo and passenger vessels could be damaged by cyberattacks – and potentially even sent to the bottom of the ocean. The foreword pulls no punches. “Code of Practice: Cyber Security for Ships” was commissioned by the U.K. […]
“One of these things is not like the others,” the television show Sesame Street taught generations of children. Easy. Let’s move to the next level: “One or more of these things may or may not be like the others, and those variances may or may not represent systems vulnerabilities, failed patches, configuration errors, compliance nightmares, or imminent […]
AOL Instant Messenger will be dead before the end of 2017. Yet, instant messages have succeeded far beyond what anyone could have envisioned for either SMS (Short Message Service, carried by the phone company) or AOL, which arguably brought instant messaging to regular computers starting in 1997. It would be wonderful to claim that there’s […]
IT managers shouldn’t have to choose between cloud-driven innovation and data-center-style computing. Developers shouldn’t have to choose between the latest DevOps programming using containers and microservices, and traditional architectures and methodologies. CIOs shouldn’t have to choose between a fully automated and fully managed cloud and a self-managed model using their own on-staff administrators. At an Oracle […]
Despite Elon Musk’s warnings this summer, there’s not a whole lot of reason to lose any sleep worrying about Skynet and the Terminator. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is far from becoming a maleficent, all-knowing force. The only “Apocalypse” on the horizon right now is an over reliance by humans on machine learning and expert systems, as demonstrated by […]
Long after intruders are removed and public scrutiny has faded, the impacts from a cyberattack can reverberate over a multi-year timeline. Legal costs can cascade as stolen data is leveraged in various ways over time; it can take years to recover pre-incident growth and profitability levels; and brand impact can play out in multiple ways. […]
My Benchmade Bugout Axis knife arrived last week. I’ve been using it as an everyday carry (EDC) knife, instead of my usual Benchmade Griptilian or Mini Griptilian. Summary: The Bugout is very nice and light, with an excellent blade. The handle’s too thin for a sturdy grip, so I wouldn’t want it in a knife […]
Stupidity. Incompetence. Negligence. The unprecedented huge data breach at Equifax has dominated the news cycle, infuriating IT managers, security experts, legislators, and attorneys — and scaring consumers. It appears that sensitive personally identifiable information (PII) on 143 million Americans was exfiltrated, as well as PII on some non-US nationals. There are many troubling aspects. Reports say […]
At the current rate of rainfall, when will your local reservoir overflow its banks? If you shoot a rocket at an angle of 60 degrees into a headwind, how far will it fly with 40 pounds of propellant and a 5-pound payload? Assuming a 100-month loan for $75,000 at 5.11 percent, what will the payoff […]
When was the last time most organizations discussed the security of their Oracle E-Business Suite? How about SAP S/4HANA? Microsoft Dynamics? IBM’s DB2? Discussions about on-prem server software security too often begin and end with ensuring that operating systems are at the latest level, and are current with patches. That’s not good enough. Just as […]
To think, the U.S. Secretary of State wants to send me money! Interesting that he’s using a gmail.com address for outgoing mail, a German email address for replies, and a phone number in the African country of Benin. Obviously, this is spam. Delete such messages; don’t reply to them. From: “Mr. Rex W. Tillerson” email […]
The water is rising up over your desktops, your servers, and your data center. Glug, glug, gurgle. You’d better hope that the disaster recovery plans included the word “offsite.” Hope the backup IT site wasn’t another local business that’s also destroyed by the hurricane, the flood, the tornado, the fire, or the earthquake. Disasters are real, […]
The more advanced the military technology, the greater the opportunities for intentional or unintentional failure in a cyberwar. As Scotty says in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, “The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain.” In the case of a couple of recent accidents involving the U.S. […]
No organization likes to reveal that its network has been breached, or it data has been stolen by hackers or disclosed through human error. Yet under the European Union’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), breaches must be disclosed. The GDPR is a broad set of regulations designed to protect citizens of the European Union. The […]
The European Union is taking computer security, data breaches, and individual privacy seriously. The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will take effect on May 25, 2018 – but it’s not only a regulation for companies based in Europe. The GDPR is designed to protect European consumers. That means that every business that stores information about European residents will […]
The late, great science fiction writer Isaac Asimov frequently referred to the “Frankenstein Complex,” That was deep-seated and irrational phobia that robots (i.e, artificial intelligence) would rise up and destroy their creators. Whether it’s HAL in “2001: A Space Odyssey,” or the mainframe in “Colossus: The Forbin Project,” or Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Terminator,” or even […]
It’s hard to know which was better: The pitch for my writing about an infographic, or the infographic itself. About the pitch: The writer said, “I’ve been tasked with the job of raising some awareness around the graphic (in the hope that people actually like my work lol) and wondered if you thought it might […]
It’s difficult to recruit qualified security staff because there are more openings than humans to fill them. It’s also difficult to retain IT security professionals because someone else is always hiring. But don’t worry: Unless you work for an organization that refuses to pay the going wage, you’ve got this. Two recent studies present dire, […]
“Ransomware! Ransomware! Ransomware!” Those words may lack the timeless resonance of Steve Ballmer’s epic “Developers! Developers! Developers!” scream in 2000, but ransomware was seemingly an obsession or at Black Hat USA 2017, happening this week in Las Vegas. There are good reason for attendees and vendors to be focused on ransomware. For one thing, ransomware is […]
We saw “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was far better than the professional reviews; yes, the plot was a bit convoluted, and the yes, the romance between the major and the sergeant seemed forced and cheesy… but it was good fun. (And the romance was far less cheesy […]
A major global cyberattack could cost US$53 billion of economic losses. That’s on the scale of a catastrophic disaster like 2012’s Hurricane Sandy. Lloyds of London, the famous insurance company, partnered with Cyence, a risk analysis firm specializing in cybersecurity. The result is a fascinating report, “Counting the Cost: Cyber Exposure Decoded.” This partnership makes […]
People Queue Magazine has a fascinating new article, “No more queuing at the ladies’ room.” You’ll want to read the whole thing, because it has some fascinating mathematics (this is a scientific article, not a sociological one). Here’s a teaser: Although it’s a well-documented fact that women have to wait longer at the bathroom stall, […]
In my everyday life, I trust that if I make a panic stop, my car’s antilock brake system will work. The hardware, software, and servos will work together to ensure that my wheels don’t lock up—helping me avoid an accident. If that’s not sufficient, I trust that the impact sensors embedded behind the front bumper […]
Isn’t this exciting? Here’s an email received that promises me a significant payout ($620,000) for, well, am not really sure. I’m sure the scam would require paying some up-front fee and/or handing over bank account information. If you receive messages like this, simply delete them. Subject: Dear Talented, Dear Talented, I am Talent Scout For […]
We added a new friend to our back yard bird list, the Gilded Flicker, a type of woodpecker. We already knew about our Gila Woodpeckers, and also the more common Northern Flicker, but the Gilded Flicker really stood out. See those beautiful yellow/gold feathers? And the little patches of red on the cheeks? Gorgeous. Here’s […]
“Thou shalt not refer winkingly to my taking off my robe after worship as disrobing.” A powerful new essay by Pastor Melissa Florer-Bixler, “10 commandments for male clergy,” highlights the challenges that female clergy endure in a patriarchal tradition — and one in which they are still seen as interlopers to church/synagogue power. In my […]
This is what Daffy Duck would describe as “dethpicable.” Absolutely deplorable. We can now read emails exchanged last year between Don Trump Jr. (the president’s son) and Rob Goldstein, an intermediary with Russia. According to Mr. Trump, who released the emails today, the point of the discussion was the Magnitsky Act, which related to sanctions placed on […]
General Erich Ludendorff, one of the top German generals during World War I, was a prominent character in the recent “Wonder Woman” movie. In the movie, General Ludendorff was killed by Diana Prince. In reality, the general survived the war, helped Adolf Hitler with his “Beer Hall Putsch,” ran for president of Germany in 1925, […]