Funny passwords!

As a system admin you need to be on the lookout for people who make these. “[T]here were 1,862 data breaches in 2021 — a 68% increase over breaches in 2020. And, new year-over-year results indicate a fast start to data breaches in 2022, as more than 90% of data breaches are cyberattack-related.”
https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/97518-the-20-most-common-passwords-leaked-on-the-dark-web

Pandemic depression, self-harm and suicide jumps

It’s easy to blame the pandemic for everything, but there was a 45% increase in self-injury and suicide cases among 5- to 17-year-olds in the first half of 2021. We can blame social media, and we’d be right to, but it’s not all due to that either.

Now I don’t have children, but my interactions with friends’ kids and my nephews have made me realize that there is intense need for understanding and importance in our youth at those ages. Then in college, young adults are trying to grasp their meaning and place in the world through a career. Both of these times are critical in self development–but the last thing they needed was a pandemic shutdown (imho).

https://www.morningbrew.com/daily/stories/2022/04/24/the-teen-mental-health-crisis-mystery

Hebrew Worldview in Scripture

REPOST

Thinking here about the way the ancient Hebrews saw the Universe. This graphic from the University of Oregon’s Cosmology class can be found in various other versions. What do you think about the age of the universe and scripture? NOTE: I believe the scientists, and it doesn’t bother me if the Earth (uppercase earth) is 4.5 billion years old and the universe 14 billion.

I put a legend at the bottom of the pic here:

  1. Heaven of Heavens/Waters above the heavens Gen 1:7
    And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
  2. Storehouses of snow Job 38:22
  3. Storehouses for hail Job 38:22
    Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,
  4. Chambers of the winds Ps. 135:7
    He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.
  5. Firmament Gen 1:7
    And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
  6. Windows and Doors of Heavens (Sluice gates) Gen 7:11
    In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
  7. Foundations of Heaven/Pillars of the sky Job 26:10-11
    He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end.
    The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof.
  8. Foundations of the earth / Pillars of the earth Ps 75:3
    The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah.
  9. Fountains of the deep Gen 7:11
    In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
  10. Navel of the earth Eze. 38:12
    To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
  11. Waters under the earth Gen 7:11; 8:2
    In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
    The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;

Sheol
Numbers 16:30 But if the Lord make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord.
31 And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them:
32 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.
33 They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.

  1. Storehouses and Fountains of the earth / Rivers of the nether world Gen 7:11; 8:2
    In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
    The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;

 

Mailchimp: the hack, the user education?

Took some time with 300 accounts being compromised and getting personal information through them.  Used social engineering and hit client Trezor. Here a corporate policy that recommends exactly what they are hit with.

Took some planning:

“The phishing application is a cloned version of Trezor Suite with very realistic functionality, and also included a web version of the app,” the crypto wallet company wrote in a blogpost.”

As usual, some irony dripping off this one when compared to the recommendations on their site help:

“You received an unexpected email from Mailchimp staff or service teams. This may include forgot username emails or password reset emails you didn’t request…For an extra layer of security, we encourage you to set up two-factor authentication with SMS or a two-factor authentication app”

https://mailchimp.com/help/i-think-my-account-has-been-compromised/

Bermuda Citizen Number One

Larger than life.

At the Royal Bermuda Yacht club, Charles lifted his whisky again and let loose some blue language. Then with that twinkle in his eye flirted with my mother. He had just returned from the Arctic sailing trip with Warren “War Baby” Brown and was once again the center of attention in Hamilton.
Continue reading “Bermuda Citizen Number One”

Cyber recommendations for wartime

Saw these recommendations for cyber today. Organizations should be vigilant for the evergreen practices: employee training about phishing and social engineering, give only the permissions needed to users, and scan for vulns and lock down ports you don’t use. But it adds, clean up old accounts (a practice for admins) and resist trying out new security measures.

Four key cybersecurity practices during geopolitical upheaval | Malwarebytes Labs

CISA has also put out some recommendations: Shields Up | CISA

Two Realities

Been reading John Bolton’s The Room Where It Happened. I thought that Trump was reined in by the “adults in the room.” While that sometimes happened, those very same people failed in doing so in the long run.

The other reality? My relative just listened to another Trump rally today.

I don’t understand what the man is rallying for. Like my friend Gijo notes, neither Reagan nor the Bushes threw rallies after they left office. I also remember my first following politics in 1992. Bob Dole, while being unfortunately noncharismatic, was understandable and coherent. He didn’t fly off the handle, at least publicly. Trump brought vitriol and instability as he coped with a job he was unsuited for.

Is he planning a 2024 run? It seems so. There has to be a sane alternative.