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Topic 1: Military practices controlling hundreds of robots and drones at once – with AI
Like it or not, AI is coming to military operations. It might be cheaper, but is it safer? But is the reliance on AI a problem?
Links:
Topic 2: What can we learn from the Colonial Pipeline hack?
How should companies respond? And are there real consequences for companies that get hacked?
We discuss.
Topic 3: Proposed law says discriminatory behavior should not be subject to non-disclosure agreements.
Is the NDA … too much?
Ifeoma Ozoma is a technology policy expert with experience leading global public policy efforts at Pinterest, Facebook and Google. When she left Pinterest, she couldn’t tell anyone that she left over complaints she had filed about wage discrimination and retaliation. She could not speak out because the company non-disclosure agreement forbid it.
Now she is pushing legislation to make it illegal to include this kind of behavior in NDAs. After all, NDAs are intended to protect intellectual property, not potentially illegal behavior.
Link: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/may/10/pinterest-discrimination-ifeoma-ozoma-nda
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Sponsor Memo –
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Danny Jenkins, CEO at ThreatLocker joins Ryan to discuss taking a Zero Trust approach to cybersecurity. Danny explains, ‘When deploying cybersecurity, more, doesn’t always mean better’. ‘Operate in the world of controls when securing your clients’. Great conversation touching on recent attacks and how they could have been avoided to having tough or not so tough customer conversations.
For more information on Threatlocker or to contact Danny, you can visit them in our Security Solutions Showcase.
Topic 1: Burger King diverts McDonalds customers – via Waze
This one is kinda cool because it’s so sneaky. With just a taste of big data. When people are close to a McDonalds billboard and headed toward a restaurant, Waze lures them off to a Burger King instead. Just sneaky, or actually immoral?
Link:
Topic 2: Girl Scout Cookies by Drone
Not a burrito or pizza. But it’s pretty cool to get your cookies by drone. Makes us ponder: Are there things you would actually pay a premium to get via drone? We’re thinking yes for cookies, and probably no for a ream of paper.
Link:
https://dronelife.com/2021/05/02/girl-scout-cookies-by-drone-wing-helps-local-troop-deliver-video/
Topic 3: Basecamp Fumbles the Diversity and Inclusion Conversation
Background: Some folks at Basecamp were doing something stupid (keeping a list of customer names to make fun of). That led to a discussion of appropriate behavior. But that discussion was cut off from the top. Some employees were still unhappy, and vocal about it. That led to an offer of a severance package for anyone who didn’t like it. Well, about one third of the company decided to leave!
Link:
https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/4/22419799/basecamp-ceo-apologizes-staff-new-post
Sponsor Memo:
PC Matic — Endpoint Security built on a zero trust philosophy, allowing only trusted applications and blocking all the rest. Light weight, simple to deploy, easy to manage, find out about PC Matic’s unique lead sharing program for MSPs backed by a prime-time national TV campaign. Together, we bring advanced security solutions combined with more than sales enablement … we bring actual leads. Find out more about PC Matic by visiting PCMatic.com/msp/.
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All too often we see IT Service Providers who insist on operating in a vacuum, out of fear, their competitors will learn their strengths and weaknesses to only use against them. However, we also see many who are engaged with peers and vendors, sharing information, providing feedback and keeping themselves at the forefront of industry knowledge and solutions. Matt Scully, Channel Chief with Mailprotector talks with Brian about the value of collaboration and how both IT Service Providers and Channel Vendors can leverage communication and engagement in order to succeed and grow in this constantly changing industry. After all, the bad guys are all working together…why shouldn’t we? We are all truly better together!
Michael Crean, CEO at Solutions Granted MSSP, talks with Brian about the return to the office and the challenges IT Providers are facing with the different customer requirements as we come out of this pandemic. Michael tells us, ‘Don’t forget about the fundamentals to chase a new product or service. Your stack is only as good as the foundation its sitting on.’
For more information about Solutions Granted or to contact Michael visit our Security Solutions Showcase.
Topic 1: Hacked Ice Cream Makers at McDonalds
A very strange right to repair! If you buy an expensive machine, do you have the right to buy a third-party add-on that makes it work better?
https://www.wired.com/story/they-hacked-mcdonalds-ice-cream-makers-started-cold-war/
Topic 2: EU looking to regulate “High-Risk” AI
High risk determined in two steps by considering whether it may cause certain harms and, if so, the severity of the possible harm and the probability of occurrence.
Possible damages include – death of a person – damage of property – systemic adverse impacts for society at large – adverse impact on financial, educational or professional opportunities of persons – adverse impact on the access to public services and any form of public assistance – adverse impact on [European] fundamental rights
Topic 3: Apple Announces AirTags. Do you care?
Apple’s new AirTags just launched with tracking and location data … and they’ve also thought ahead to include an “anti-stalker” feature to protect your privacy.
https://www.tomsguide.com/news/airtag-vs-tile
Sponsor Note:
Want to learn about Trends in Managed Services, increasing sales, governance or winning in Biopharma? How about an MSP peer panel, or CompTIA’s Carolyn April with their latest research in managed services trends? Egnyte’s first annual MSP summit is coming May 11th, keynoted by Karl Palachuk on setting a cloud strategy. The first 300 attendees even get a copy of Karl’s book on becoming a Successful MSP in 30 days! Win prizes, network with peers, all in a half day online event. Register for free right at engyte.com/mspradio
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Wes Spencer, VP External CISO Product Management at Perch Security a Connectwise Solution sits down with Brian to discuss the evolution of the bad guys since 2018 when they first discovered MSPs. What Wes refers to as ‘Buffalo Jumping’ and how they are leveraging this as their attack vector. He clarifies the focus on Ransomware when really it should be on the breach itself and ransomware is simply the result or payload of full unfettered access to your network…The payload and associated cost to businesses are growing exponentially with exfiltration now standard practice with the bad guys.
Topic 1: Racist (and other offensive) Tech Jargon
Words matter. The most obvious example is “master/slave” but there’s plenty of other insensitive terminology around. Remember, these terms might make sense to you, but you clients may hear it and wonder exactly what you’re talking about.
Link:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/13/technology/racist-computer-engineering-terms-ietf.html
Topic 2: Facial Recognition Update.
Facial Recognition has evolved considerably in the pandemic. It has been banned in a few places. It has been regulated a bit at the local (not federal) level.
Amateurs are now getting in the game (e.g., Used to identify police during protests). And the police have adopted it for several purposes, including identifying protesters. It is over-used in China, and illegal in Portland.
Big picture: Don’t rely on tech for the answer. Looks to society and local governments.
https://www.wired.com/story/how-face-recognition-destroy-anonymity/
Topic 3: The ethics of geo-location technology.
The “Ethical Geo” web site has posted ten founding principles to begin a worldwide conversation about using geo-location technology from an ethical perspective.
The ten founding principles presented to the public for further input and refinement are:
We discuss.
Links:
https://ethicalgeo.org/launching-the-locus-charter/
Launch related video webinar – https://vimeo.com/528738906
Sponsor Memo:
Want to learn about Trends in Managed Services, increasing sales, governance or winning in Biopharma? How about an MSP peer panel, or CompTIA’s Carolyn April with their latest research in managed services trends? Egnyte’s first annual MSP summit is coming May 11th, keynoted by Karl Palachuk on setting a cloud strategy. The first 300 attendees even get a copy of Karl’s book on becoming a Successful MSP in 30 days! Win prizes, network with peers, all in a half day online event. Register for free right at engyte.com/mspradio
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Travis Ray, Director of Channel Sales with High Wire Networks talks with Brian about the challenges of patching during a pandemic while its proving to be even more important than ever. Stepping up security assessments and disaster planning so that we are ready for any potential supply chain attacks. The evolution of cyber attacks over the past year has clearly showed us that these attacks aren’t going anywhere and will only continue to escalate and evolve so we better ensure that we have strategies in place for our businesses and our customers.
Topic 1: Will Bots Take Jobs?
AI Robots are coming for your jobs! Or – in a much more realistic interpretation, they are coming to reduce the amount of mundane process work that humans do so they can focus on interpersonal stuff that robots can’t do.
We take a mostly positive spin on this one.
Related Link:
Topic 2: 100 Million IOT Devices Compromised
Scary fact: As the number of deployed devices continues to grow exponentially, the size of these incidents will also continue to grow. This will also have an effect on our liability insurance and state/provincial legislation.
Related Link:
https://www.wired.com/story/namewreck-iot-vulnerabilities-tcpip-millions-devices/
Facebook group mentioned: MSP Regulation and Legislation = https://www.facebook.com/groups/3011459202301532
Topic 3: Data programming and analytics on Fiverr
This is the gig-afying of some very cool new skills. This is an area where we think IT service providers can make some good money.
Fiverr is at www.fiverr.com – Now offering database development, data analytics, machine learning, and more.
See specifically https://www.fiverr.com/categories/data.
Book Mentioned: A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink
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Sponsor Note:
Are you still relying on a frustrating patchwork of legacy solutions? Modernize your cybersecurity and data protection with Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud. It’s a single solution that combines backup, anti-malware, and endpoint protection management. As an MSP, you can easily improve clients’ security posture, eliminate complexity, and generate more recurring revenue. Learn more about Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud at Acronis.com.
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