Recently, the US Department of Justice levied an indictment against three North Korean military hackers for their role in cyber-related crimes (see video below). These included (but not limited to): Targeting of and Cyberattacks on the Entertainment Industry: Such as the destructive cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment in November 2014 in retaliation for the farcical movie The Interview. Cyber-Enabled Heists from Banks: Attempts to steal more than $1.2 billion from banks in Vietnam, Bangladesh, Taiwan, Mexico, Malta and Africa. Creation and Deployment of Malicious Cryptocurrency Applications: Development of multiple malicious cryptocurrency applications including Celas Trade Pro, WorldBit-Bot, iCryptoFx, Union Crypto Trader, and more, which would provide the North Korean hackers a backdoor into the victims’ computers. Spear-Phishing Campaigns: Multiple spear-phishing campaigns that targeted employees of United States cleared defense contractors, energy companies, aerospace companies, technology companies, and more. Ransomware and Cyber-Enabled Extortion: Creation of the destructive WannaCry 2.0 ransomware in May 2017, and the extortion and attempted extortion of victim companies involving the theft of sensitive data and deployment of other ransomware. And it is to that last point that I thought a brief discussion on Ransomware would be warranted. Even Digital Batman’s own father was a victim of a ransomware attack that left him $400 poorer! In 2019 over 187.9 million users were affected by this bold malicious threat to online activities such as web‐surfing, e-commerce, gaming, and more. Put simply, this highly‐disruptive form of Internet‐viral malicious software (malware for short), not only infects your computer but holds all of your most precious files (i.e. photos, documents, apps, etc.) completely hostage—via permanently encrypting such files—until the victim is forced to pay a “ransom” to the criminal entity behind the attack for a decryption key to unlock the files. Usually to the tune of $100 ‐ $400 or more for...
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January 21, 2020So I was talking with my good friend, SaaS VP Keith Berling at PTC, about coffee recently. I told him how I prepare the perfect cup of Digital Batman coffee before and after my killer morning Bat-workouts! Brew Dunkin’ Dark Roast coffee (because Digital Batman is a Dark Digital Knight) Add Stevia (a healthier sweetener alternative) Add pure dark chocolate cocoa powder (for the anti-oxidants, and keeping with the dark theme) Add pure Ceylon ground cinnamon (for its anti-inflammatory properties) Add almond milk-based creamer like Califia Farms (for zero cholesterol) And finally add a splash of non-alcoholic Bailey’s Irish Coffee Creamer. A healthy way to start the day!
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December 13, 2019Happy Friday the 13th Everyone! Why do I mention this? Well, it seems to be an old American tradition that if a Friday happens to fall on the 13th day of any given month, then strange and unexpected things are supposed to happen. The number 13 is often regarded as unlucky; furthermore, in Italian culture Fridays are considered an unlucky day. Therefore, when the famous Italian opera composer Gioachino Rossini passed away on Friday, November 13, 1868, it came as no surprise that the fateful calendar day played a part in his untimely demise—of course it had nothing to do with him suffering from an incurable illness at the time. Some sources also say that this unpopular day may also have some historical precedence with Jesus Christ’s last days before his crucifixion on what is referred to in Christendom as Good Friday. Regardless, popular culture has also played apart in fostering this notion that a specific date on the Gregorian calendar can cause so much grief. For example, authors like Dan Brown and John J. Robinson mentioned a rather bleak historical episode concerning the arresting and subsequent execution of Knights Templar by King Philip IV of France. Of course, there’s the ever-popular Friday the 13th series of horror-genre films that certainly help to perpetuate this superstition. And let’s not forget the ubiquitous Black Cat. Heaven forbid one should cross your path! That’s a trip to “Bad-Luck-Ville” right there. LOL! The ominous mystique of black cats can be traced back to Ancient Egyptian times when they were worshipped at emissaries of the Gods. Anyone who killed a cat would have been severely punished or even killed back then. Later, during the Dark Ages through to the Pilgrims of the New World, black cats were considered familiars to witches and agents of...