In this podcast of Bottom Line I.T. with Mike Maddox and Erik Jacobsen you will hear industry professionals talk about the latest Facebook changes, future of air travel and data mining.
Segment 1
Facebook overhauls news feed to focus on friends and family
Mark Zuckerberg announced recently that Facebook will change its news feed to prioritize posts from friends and family, instead of posts from brands and publishers. The idea is supposed to provide users with more “meaningful interactions,” and making sure that time on Facebook is time well spent. Facebook has been under fire under late as Russian trolls allegedly abused the algorithm to spread misinformation on Facebook to influence the US election. Zuckerberg states that while Facebook may take a hit as a result of the change, Zuckerberg continued “If we do the right thing. I believe that will be good for our community and our business over the long term too.”
Segment 2
Future of Air Travel
https://www.cntraveler.com/story/how-air-travel-will-change-in-2018
The year 2017 was a pretty poor year for air travelers, from customers being dragged off flights to new security restrictions, it quite frankly has not been fun to fly. However, 2018 brings some new excitement. Checking in may be a thing of the past, robots will be deployed to help service customers in terminals, in-flight wi-fi may be significantly improved, and biometric screening should speed up check-in lines. However, it’s not all good news as comparing flight prices should be getting significantly more difficult, and elbow room may be at a premium in the back of planes as planes adopt lie flat beds.
Segment 3
A New Way to Track Down Bugs Could Help Save IoT
https://www.wired.com/story/a-new-way-to-track-down-bugs-could-help-save-iot/
Like something out of a movie, security researcher Ang Cui and his firm Red Balloon are researching how its Internet of Things threat-scanning tool performs on the building control systems of an industrial facility on an island off the tip of Long Island. The island is only reachable by ferry, and the dock is protected by armed guards. The goal of Cui’s research is to find vulnerabilities, before hackers do. The tool doesn’t find zero day vulnerabilities, but instead finds “n-day” vulnerabilities in IoT devices, or vulnerabilities that have been public disclosed, but haven’t necessarily been yet identified in specific products.
Segment 4
The Brutal Fight to Mine Your Data and Sell it to Your Boss
HiQ Labs, a “people analytics” firm that makes software for corporate human resources departments, is collecting data on you. Its Skill Mapper program graphically represents the credentials and abilities of a workforces and its Keeper program determines when employees are at risk of leaving for another job. The services parse through data on LinkedIn to make determinations about individuals with varying degrees of accuracy. As the company, battles with LinkedIn in a classic debate about privacy vs free speech, one must consider the service from both sides. Credit Suisse Group estimated that reducing attrition by 1 percentage point saves it from $75 million to $100 million each year. HiQ was envisioned by owned Darren Kaplan, as a defense for the rapidly growing recruiting companies, in the hopes that early warning systems would help bosses to entice workers to stay.
Segment 5
North Korea is Suspected in Bitcoin Robbery
Recently in Seoul, a bitcoin exchange collapsed, and South Korean authorities are inspecting possibilities of North Korean involvement. The incident is not the first, as a similar attack occurred in South Korea last April supposedly orchestrated by the North Koreans, and this on top of White House official stating that North Korea directed this year’s WannaCry ransomware attack.
Segment 6 – Bottom Line Security
Six Cyber Threats to Really Worry About in 2018
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/609641/six-cyber-threats-to-really-worry-about-in-2018/
Mike and Josh get together to discuss the 6 most pressing cyber security issues for 2018. More data breaches, Ransomware in the cloud, weaponization of AI, Cyber-physical attacks, Mining cryptocurrencies, and Hacking elections.
