Monthly Archives: July 2021

Solarwinds, Orion Platform, a scalable infrastructure monitoring and management platform designed to ... [+] simplify IT adminstration recently fell victim to Russian Hackers. STAR MAX File Photo: A Solarwinds Logo shot off an iPhone. Photo by: STRF/STAR MAX/IPx 2020 12/24/20

Afghanistan was not the USs longest war. Not even close.Weve been at cyberwar for half a century and were losing.Globally,the US is losing, and the homeland is far from safe.Hell, why not just hack a municipality for a few hundred k?Its easy.Theres no cybersecurity strategy good enough to win a cyberwar. Sure, everyone talks a good game, but the very structure of American (and other businesses around the globe) makes it nearly impossible to, for example, deliberately and significantly reduce EBITDA to prepare for cyber warfare.

Its Sometimes Horrible to Be Right

I predicted this:

The number of severity of cyberattacks will explode in 2020.Cyberwarfare has now leveled the playing field in industry, in government, and in national defense:why spend ten or fifteen billion dollars on an aircraft carrier when you can disable it digitally?Why spend billions on new product R&D when you can hack into your competitions strategic plans?Why not just phish around municipalities for a quick $100K?Cyberwarfare is a cost-effective solution to all sorts of problems and opportunities:cyberwarfare is a revenue stream, a new business model, digital transformation with its own unique flavor but regardless of inexplicably unheeded warnings, (its) much worse than its ever been.Why?Simply because its the cheapest, easiest, fastest and most effective form of warfare weve ever seen, and because cyberwarfare defenses are more vulnerable than theyve ever been.

Tom Steinkopf, writing here,offered more predictions:

Hello, Is Anyone There?

So why do long lists of valid threats go unheeded and under-funded?As Ive reported here frequently, years ago, I assessed a huge enterprises vulnerability to cyberattacks.When my team finished its assessment, the results were downright scary.When I took the results to the CFO (to which technology weirdly reported), his only question was,whats all this going to cost me?,which of course was the wrong question.

Cyberwarfare is also inevitable because governments are reluctant to police themselves.Listen to what Andy Greenberg, writing inWired Magazinein 2019 said about why governments have been unwilling to deal with cyberthreats:

More fundamentally, governments haven't been willing to sign on to cyberwar limitation agreements because they don't want to limit their own freedom to launch cyberattacks at their enemies.America may be vulnerable to crippling cyberattacks carried out by its foes, but US leaders are still hesitant to hamstring Americas own NSA and Cyber Command, who are likely the most talented and well-resourced hackers in the world.

As usual, the US is the best, but in this case, it isnt.First,as Nicole Perlroth suggests, theres the hubris:

The hubris of American exceptionalism a myth of global superiority laid bare in Americas pandemic death toll is what got us here.We thought we could outsmart our enemies.More hacking, more offense, not better defense, was our answer to an increasingly virtual world order, even as we made ourselves more vulnerable, hooking up water treatment facilities, railways, thermostats and insulin pumps to the web, at a rate of 127 new devices per second.

But way back in 2016,Paul D. Shinkman suggested that America Is Losing the Cyber War:

Russia, China, Iran and North Korea routinely launch cyberattacks on civilian areas, hacking private companies or undermining foreign militaries, using online tools to manipulate information or digital propaganda to shape others' opinions, and employing digital mercenaries to do the work.

The Chinese military stole U.S. plans to the technically sophisticated F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, allowing Beijing to create the copycat J-31.Hackers with connect-ions to the Iranian government were charged earlier this year for attacks on U.S. banks and a dam in New York.North Korean operatives released a trove of damaging emails from Sony as the entertainment company planned to release a comedy with an unflattering portrayal of the country's leader.And Russia is widely suspected in a hack of the Democratic National Committee that could amount to a bid to undermine the integrity of the upcoming U.S. election the U.S., as of right now, is not fully prepared to match incidents like these.

John Donnelly and Gopal Ratnam, reporting forCQ-Roll Call, believe the US is Woefully Unprepared for Cyber-Warfare:

This inadequate attention is manifest in how infrequently U.S. leaders talk about cyber issues.On congressional defense committees, cyber is essentially an afterthought compared to weapons hardware and military pay and benefits.In the Senate Armed Services press release in May on its fiscal 2020 authorization bill, cyber was barely mentioned at the end.

Likewise, Bayer and his team found a dearth of cyber references in Navy leaders' speeches and a scarcity of cyber-related events on their calendars.

"You wouldn't even know that cyber is a Top 20 problem," he says.

Measured in dollars, cyber also does not stack up. Unclassified cyber spending across the federal government in fiscal 2020 budget request totals just over $17 billion, considerably more than it was a few short years ago, but that is only a bit more than 2% of the roughly $750 billion annual national defense budget.

Is Cyber Warfare the Last Competitive Advantage & Risk?

You bet it is.Theres not a government or company on the planet that can ignore cyberwarfare and cybersecurity.Everyone must developboth offensive and defensive cyber capabilities. Competitiveness depends upon digital security on every level.Without security, governments and companies cannot operate.Public companies are especially vulnerable because they have shareholders and (sometimes) responsible Boards of Directors looking after the shareholders. Not to mention the entire US infrastructure which whenever a break occurs its treated like a Black Swan event, not a pattern or a predictor of things to come. No, just an isolated event to which a response is uniquely crafted.

Even60 Minutesthinks SolarWinds was a big deal.On Sunday, July 4, 2021,60 Minutes examined the SolarWinds breach of government systems.The segment felt like a voice crying in the wilderness.As a professional in the field of business technology, I was stunned to hear descriptions of how the attack occurred and how trusted systems management software was used to breach and infect thousands of computers and the networks on which they run.But what stunned me the most was when one of the experts said the only way to guarantee that the virus is completelygone is to replaceallof the computers it touched.I was immediately reminded of the CFOs question:whats this all going to cost me?But then I remembered another axiom:pay me now or pay me later.Common sense?Obviously.Commonly shared sense?Not even close.If the SolarWinds breach is not enough to see massive increases in cybersecurity spending and fundamental changes in preparation and response protocols, theres nothing that will move CFOs to open their wallets or C-Suiters to about face in spite of how many times they assure their shareholders and customers that everything is under control (when its clearly not).

Whats It Going to Take?

Cyber warfare and cybersecurity are human challenges.Not in the traditional definition of human, but in the human inability toproactivelydeal with most anything.Individuals abuse their health even though they know that will pay later.Companies underinvest in infrastructure even though they know eventually they will have to pay later.How many times do floods occur in exactly the same place? Or why public transportation isnt there?Or why hospital beds, ventilators, masks and toilet paper cant be found when we need them most?Or why crisis management is an oxymoron?I wrote about that too:

How many companiespreparefor cyberbreaches, infrastructure failures, terrorist events, environment problems, sexual harassment lawsuits, product safety recalls, social media attacks, regulatory surprises and talent shortages, among lots of other events that everyone knows will occur.Yes, this costs money, but its cheaper to prepare than react in a state of chaos.Everyone knows that, right? Then why do so few companies invest in the inevitable?Companies should work from anticipatory playbooks, not reactionary debates over Zoom, Webex, Skype and Teams.But do they?Hardly any.

Way back in 2003by Mitroff and Alpaslan described a 20-year study about crisis preparedness:

For most of the two decades, crisis-prepared companies were in a small minority:between 5% and 25% of theFortune500 companies at most.In other words, at best, 75% of companies are not equipped to manage an unfamiliar crisis.At worst, 95% are unprepared, which, of course, is extremely worrying.

Much more recently, Butler, Menkes and Michel suggest:

Whether the original crisis is self-inflicted or caused by external events, lack of preparation almost always makes the outcome much worse.And only one in 10 companies is prepared only one in five companies had ever simulated what a crisis might look like, four in 10 had no plan at all, and 53 percent of companies struck by crisis did not regain their previous share price.

Worse:

Many executives at even well-managed companies secretly believe that they can work their way out of a crisis when the time comes without having a plan beforehand.As a result, they treat crisis preparation as a less-than-useful scenario-planning exercise that, if it must, can be conducted sporadically.

All this suggests theres no cybersecurity strategy good enough to win a cyberwar.Sure, everyone talks a good game, but the very structure of American (and other businesses around the globe) makes it nearly impossible to, for example, deliberately and significantly reduce EBITDA to prepare for cyber warfare.Only Congress can spend money trillions of dollars to prepare for wars the country will never fight.Thats because the government has no shareholders or Boards of Directors, just lobbyists. Companies simply cannot even if they actually have the money invest heavily preparing for crises whose occurrence are uncertain and infrequent, even if the crises are crippling.Once crises occur, of course, theres always money to fight the competition, the government and hackers, Russian and otherwise.CEOs love to talk about how effective theyre managing the crisis at hand, while shockingly no one ever asks why they didnt avoid the crisis in the first place or prepare adequately for the crisis before it arrived.

Another reason why60 Minutesstories like SolarWinds are only interesting, is because individual leaders almost always seek immediate tactical gratification, seldom long-term strategic success.Thats because corporate leaders too often optimize personal gratification over long-term corporate health since in all likelihood the leader will be gone in the long-term. Its the same reason why newly public company C-Suiters dump stock shortly after their IPO lockups expire.Personal rewards within the control of corporate leaders are usually maximized over long-term corporate rewards (which may have something to do withGordon Gekkos famous greed is good advice).

If, on the other hand, corporate boardsandshareholdersinsistthat management invest in cybersecurity and cyber warfare regardless of the impact on profitability or prices thingscould change,but only if the insistence is both positively and negatively incentivized:boards would have to pay C-Suiters to do the right thing or remove them if they failed to do what they ask.Thats the wakeup call they would take.Until then, we can expect more devastating cyberwars, more denials about whos to blame and more grandstanding about how well the wars are being managed.All that is also all too predictable.

See the article here:

Cyber Warfare Is The Last Competitive Advantage No One Sees & Why SolarWinds Is The Wakeup Call No One Heard. - Forbes

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.

As a child, I was a fan of the books of Jan Terlouw.

I dreamt about the hero, Stach, who slew a dragon and escaped by jumping from the tallest church tower into a pile of pillows created by the cooperating townsfolk.

Today, I dream of a different kind of cooperation: EU-topia. A federal Europe where everyone has equal opportunities to realise their unique potential. Where we pursue the highest standards of human, social, environmental, and technological development together. A Europe that protects democracy and the rule of law.

Only Europeans that work together can overcome the challenges of the 21st century. That cooperation, however, is not yet possible because our European society is paralysed by the stranglehold of national politics.

The various measures that followed the COVID-19 crisis are exemplary of the Pavlovian reaction of nation-states in times of crisis: everyone for themselves. Instead of coordinating the response to a threat that by definition does not know borders, borders were closed unilaterally, export bans on medical goods were established, and European citizens had to deal with absurd variations in public health measures.

Although Europe has learned a lot in terms of fighting the pandemic in the last year, and there were some great examples of solidarity, later on, it reveals a pattern that was overly dominant in recent decades. When faced with complex challenges, nation-states think first and foremost of themselves.

Such was the case in the refugee crisis. Instead of replacing the existing inadequate European asylum policy with a system that would distribute the pressure among Member States, a number of EU countries closed their borders.

While some took responsibility, others refused out of xenophobia or a fear of losing votes. National politics dominates the solutions - or non-solutions - of international problems.

Jan Terlouw, who as well as writing children's adventure books is a former Dutch minister of economic affairs, put the problem aptly: "I hope (...) that these times will make us realise that we have to look more internationally. The problems are becoming more global, while politics does not go along with that at all".

Across Europe, history is taught in schools from a national perspective. Such a perspective focuses on 'our heroic nations past and forges an "us" versus "them" thinking that is incomplete and short-sighted. It does not teach that the nation-state is a relatively new construct, spurred on by the nationalism of the 19th and early 20th century.

It is assumed that the nation-state has gradually learned from its history and has decided in all its wisdom to slowly but surely cede more sovereignty to the European Union. A misconception has therefore crept into the collective memory: The European Union exists by the grace of the nation-states.

But recent European history reveals a different story. After the catastrophe of the Second World War, European leaders realised that they had to work towards a transnational Europe, not only to secure peace within Europe but also for geopolitical reasons. The fall of the Iron Curtain brought independence for eastern European states eager to shelter under the umbrella of the EU.

Across the continent European integration served to protect the nation-states, and it did so very effectively.

By allowing for local differences, shaping common bonds through cooperation and common arenas for political debates, the EU and its predecessors achieved a prolonged phase of peace and prosperity. So it is actually the other way round: the nation-state exists by the grace of the European Union.

Angela Merkel said when discussing the Franco-German proposal for a 500 billion EU recovery fund that the nation-state alone has no future, but, as shown repeatedly in recent years, there is no longer a shared idea about where Europe should go. European integration has stalled and the European Union is limping along.

Competences are divided and shared between the EU and nation-states in a way that utterly paralyses the European project. There is a European currency union, but no fiscal union and no European competence to levy taxes, leading to the accumulation of fiscal imbalances and inequality across member states.

There is freedom of services, but no equal social policy. There is freedom of movement, but your rights to vote do not move along with you across borders. There is a transnational European Parliament, but its parties are national.

The inconsequential nature of the EU makes Brussels an easy scapegoat and leads to irritation and misunderstanding. To move forward, however, Europe does not only need to be consequential in terms of fiscal integration and social policy, the EU needs a new story - a story of a pan-European democracy.

A pan-European democracy cannot exist without pan-European parties. The current set-up of the European Parliament is just as logical as a national democracy that only has local parties.

This is where Volt, a pan-European political party with members in every EU member state, comes in. Volt presented itself as a European party in the last European elections. Under the same name and with the same electoral programme, Volt participated in elections in eight EU countries.

Volt's ambition is to participate in local, regional and national elections in Europe. We already have local representatives in Germany, Italy and Bulgaria, members of the national parliament in the Netherlands, and one seat in the European Parliament. Volt wants to go beyond the "us and them" mentality and the limited national perspective, to put the collective European well-being first.

The lack of a European perspective in the national debate often causes people to blindly follow their government's position within Europe. How often do Dutch people hear that, in the eyes of Italians, they are stealing their tax money?

How often do Italians hear that their budget deficit could be largely reduced by addressing their black-market economy? How often do Austrians hear that their country is amongst the biggest net beneficiaries of the single market?

Every time, the answer is: almost never. Yet todays challenges have a European dimension that needs to be acknowledged in national discourse. The times where a Dutch Prime Minister says Italy is "geographically unlucky" to have to deal with the influx of refugees must come to an end.

De facto, Italy and the Netherlands along with all the other Member States of the EU share the responsibility of dealing with the challenges of the 21st century. That is why a European perspective in national debates is important.

When asked whether we are capable of change, Jan Terlouw, referring back to the comment that politics must become more global, replied:

"As a politician, I say that it remains to be seen whether politics will have the courage to seize the opportunity."

The greatest changes take place in the context of crises. The world is getting smaller, the problems are cross-border and the solutions must be sought together, in Europe and beyond.

National politics is a dead end. We need more European parties. Therefore, my appeal to the reader is to join or start a pan-European party, or encourage your political party to truly merge with like minded parties in other countries.

A political European space needs a variety of European parties representing all visions and ideas for a common European democracy that are present in our societies, let it be socioliberal, conservative, more leftist, or ecologist visions.

Only then can we free ourselves from the stranglehold of national politics. Only then can we say goodbye to the flaws in the current EU that gives ammunition to the - sometimes very justified - criticism of Eurosceptics. Only then, we can find in true democratic competition the right solutions for the challenges on our continent.

I am sure there are countless obstacles. A thousand reasons not to do it, but things always seem impossible until they're done.

Do you, like Stach on the edge of the tallest church tower, have the courage to take the plunge?

See original here:

Pan-European politics: The EU 'needs a new story' to help solve its problems - Euronews

Youthrelocatefrom intolerant situations for summer of work, play, community

Summer of Sass participant Stacy Starr, 21, sings at Spiritus Pizza in Provincetown, Mass.

Stacy Starr, 21, sings Ed Sheerans The A Team outside of Spiritus Pizza in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Starr is in the Summer of Sass program.

Wicked Local

PROVINCETOWN "It gets better."

The decade-old messageaims topreventsuicide among LGBTQyouthby havingadults who have been on the receivingside ofbullyingandstigmatell stories of a beautiful and hopeful life ahead.

The Summer of Sass work program is meant to take the message one step further.

It'swhat "better" looks like,founder Kristen Becker said.

Stacy Starrcalmlystrumsherukulele while sitting on thestoopofSpiritus Pizza. It's been just a few weeks since she arrived atthe LGBTQ and artists "safe haven,"known asProvincetown, Massachusetts.

In between songs, people walkingby stopto chat, complimentingher performance.

"I found my confidence, the21-year-oldsaid.

Starr, wearing silver star-shaped earringsand pink star sunglasses, has let the transphobiashesbeen met with throughout her young life movepast her.

People really hate trans people, Starr said.Shewas nearly jumped on the street and chased down by a car when she moved to Buffalo, New York. She moved to Buffalo after her parents kicked her out of thehouse, she said.

Growing up in Farmville, Virginia, "Ispent so much time worrying about a lot of the things I wasnt allowed to do," she said.

The Summer of Sassprogram invites LGBTQ young adults, usually between the agesof18 to 20,torelocatefrom oppressive areas in the United States for a summer of work and play, community and independence.

Another "sasser," 18-year-old EthanJackson, grew up in a religious environment in Defiance, Ohio. His first night in Provincetown, he had the realizationhehadnever seen two people of the same sex hold hands in public.

Ive seen that in movies,pictures and stuff,but never in person.Butyou see that everyday around here. That is the norm. Its great,Jacksonsaidbefore smiling.Even now, Im seeingsomeone,and we walked down the street holding hands.

Leaving Spiritus Pizza after a long workday at Gale Force Bikes, Jackson stops to compliment a street performer outside, saying that he appreciates when he sees others chase their dreams.

Jackson himself likes to sketch and sing. He's thinking about being a storyteller and possibly going to college.

Becker, a comedian,founded the programin 2016, following her 20thhigh school reunionin Shreveport, Louisiana.

While there, she read a story in the local paper about a gay teenager who had to graduate high school early because he was bullied so much.

I was just like 20 years have gone by and its still the same thing. That was my motivation for starting the program, she said.

When Becker left Louisiana herself to pursue acomedy career, she realized that the worldwas notloaded with shame everywhere and that there were places "queer people can be themselves.

The teenager she read aboutin the newspaper,TeddyLowery, became the first participant of the program the following summer.

"Everyone told me I was crazy, and I didnt know what I was doing, and they were 100% correct, Becker said.

Despite her doubts,she pushed on: raising money for housingand travel, connecting withactivistorganizationsin the Southand talking with local businesses that often face worker shortages during the busy summer season.

This year marks the fourthSummer of Sass group to come to town. Groups usually range from three to six participants.Noone came last year due to the COVID-19 virus threat.

Each season, Beckercatersthe programs to the needs of the youthparticipating, learning as she goes, she said.Weekly group outings will include anything fromgoing on a whale watch to counseling.

In thefirst few years of the program, Provincetown Compacta local non-profit working to advance the year-round communitywas the program's fiscal sponsor. In 2020, the program became its own registered non-profit with a board of directors.

Participants often learn about the program from connections Becker has made with advocacy organizations throughout the South. Youth across the countrycan also apply on the Summer of Sass website. Becker hasonly ever had to turn two people away because there wasn't enoughspace, she said.

"Normally, they come to me when I need them," she said. "I always seem to have enough. I don't have to work too hard for that part because there's an abundance of kids living in bad areas for being gay."

Participantsin the program pay rent weekly, but its subsidized, Beckersaid.

I make up the difference for what a youngqueercan afford and what it costs to be here, she said. So,there is a sense of responsibility and I think thats really important. Its not a free ride.

About twenty years ago, Provincetown attracted many young queer people, Becker said.But with a rising real estate market, it has become a lot less feasible for a group of queer friends to rent a place for the summer, she said.

Its very clear that were getting priced out, she said.Local businesseslike Sals Place restaurant, Provincetown Brewing Company andGreg SalvatoriGalleryhave been a big help with fundraising efforts, she said.

'Sass'growth

We have a huge social media campaign were going to launch this summer, she said.

The number one priority is obtaining a permanent house, Becker said. That way agroup of eight to ten peoplecan come to town and some who would stay year-round.

Ideally,the nonprofitcould raise $1 million for a town propertythat can bebought and paid off, Becker said.

"I don't know how to sustain this, truthfully, without it," she said.

It has been rewarding to see the growth of the program's participants throughout the years, Becker said. A group ofsassers, now a few years older,recently moved to New Orleans together. Anotherfirst-yearparticipant, KhloeMitchell, got a nursing certificate and is a performer in town.

It's been a lot of growth. They really do thrive, Becker said.

The program opens up LGBTQ youth to see their own potential, wherethere's a whole community of queer peopleliving in million dollar houses, Becker said.

Its a visibility theyve never had before," she said. "It changes what you believe about yourself and it changes what everyone has told you about yourself."

For Jackson, sitting at an outside table at Spiritus Pizza, he compares the isolation he felt as one of the onlyqueer people in his Ohio hometownto the freedom he feels now.

Its refreshing to know theres a whole community of us," Jackson said. While moving to somewhere he's never been before was frightening and took abig leap of faith, it was necessary for his personal growth, he said.

Ive also learnedtonot be soafraid," Jackson said.

Outside the popular pizza shop, Starr smiles beforesingingher original song entitled "Tripped Wire." The song reflectswhatshe's learned as she's become a young adult.

Im living on a tripped wire. Im walking on a line. I cannot be defined for who I am. Im not a good actress. I do not know my lines," she sings. "I do not tell the lies that you want to hear,wannahear. Cause if we live on eggshells, can we ever be ourselves?Were cracking from the pressures of the lectures forced on us.

INFORMATION

Learn more about Summer of Sass:https://www.summerofsass.org.

Here is the original post:

Summer of Sass: Where LGBTQ youth find summer jobs, safe haven - Wicked Local