Thoughts From My Inbox
April 1st, 2022
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2nd Base, Carnivorous Gulls, and Land Yachts
There was so much good information in my inbox this week that I’ve already started next week’s edition (didn’t want to bury you today)! This week, however, looks to have a nautical spin to it; land yachts, carnivorous seagulls, and a crypto island, in addition to the usual sports and technology. And I think it’s all legit, considering that today is April Fool’s Day. |
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World Backup Day
Yesterday was World Backup Day, and while backing up your data is extremely important to the health and wellbeing of your business, one key part that many people don’t consider is the ability to actually recover your data in the event of a disaster. We regularly have businesses (not clients) contact us when they’ve been hit by ransomware and realized that either their data was never backed up properly, or they couldn’t restore their data. The most recent instance lead to two full weeks of a company being unable to transact any business. |
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Fake Shopping
Cyber criminals are now creating fake online stores that mirror those of actual brands. The hackers then set up paid Google advertising campaigns so that the fake stores appear at the top of search result pages, thereby leading users to click through to what they think are legitimate sites. Buyers order their merchandise and provide all the necessary info to do so; name, address, credit card, etc. And now the hackers have it all, and the buyer gets nothing other than a box of junk, or worse, an empty box.It seems as though this is taking place overseas rather than here at home, but it’s just another good reminder to “think before you click”. |
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Kaspersky
How many of you (or your employers) are using Kasperksy for your anti-virus solution? I’ll bet that there are a few hands going up as you read this. If you’re not aware, Kaspersky is the vendor with ties to Russia’s KGB that was banned from all US government networks a few years back. Now, they’ve been added to a list of firms that are ineligible to receive FCC funds. No mention as to whether this has anything to do with Russia invading Ukraine, or if it’s just one more organization realizing that Kaspersky products may be leaving their users open to the outside world. |
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Honda Hackers
Researchers (who seemingly have nothing better to do with their time) have discovered that certain Honda and Acura models are susceptible to being hacked through their remote keyless entry systems. I guess if you have the time, you could probably hack anything, but is the juice worth the squeeze? |
Ukranian President Zelenskyy recently appeared in a deepfake video; hackers used technology to simulate Zelenskyy telling Ukrainian troops to surrender. While the quality is pretty poor, it’s another good reminder to question anything you see and hear.
Seinfeld
It seems that not a day goes by without somebody making a Seinfeld reference (“man hands”, “Dolores!”, “close talkers”, “master of his domain”…). Sadly, there are a few people here in the office who’ve never even watched the show. Whether you know every episode and are happy to keep watching (me) or have never seen it, I just came across a website that could be big trouble… 24×7 Seinfeld streaming! |
I don’t listen to country music, and don’t think I’ve ever heard the name Eric Church until he made the news this week for cancelling his Saturday show in favor of the Duke/UNC Final Four matchup. A quick review of Twitter seems to show opinions split 50/50 as to Church making a great move to support his team or being an absolute ass for bailing on his fans.
And speaking of Twitter, I saw data the other night that there are 206M daily, active Twitter users in the world, which is far less than 1% of the population. Additionally, 25% of Twitter’s user base accounts for 97% of total tweets. So, for those out there who think that Twitter is a good barometer as to public opinion, I’ll let you do the math!
Ending this week on the lax goal of the year, even though I’ve never been a Syracuse fan.
Have a great weekend,
Jim |
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