A Cybersecurity Security

Full disclosure: I recently bought some Cisco Systems common stock.

Cybersecurity is becoming a very important national defense issue ... and I believe that the attempts to defeat these attacks on end-user and infrastructure sites (such as utilities) are a suboptimal solution. Cyber criminals seem always to be able to circumvent the latest end-user firewall or other security methods with, viruses, spear phishing, etc. ... because of one glaring weakness ... the sheer number of end-user sites and the logistics problems of keeping them all up to date security-wise.

Here is, I think, a better strategy. Companies like Cisco Systems who manufactures many routers, or the nodes in Internet communications, now could and should, because of much faster electronic technology and advances in AI, identify, intercept and destroy many of these malicious bit streams before they ever reach end users. Certainly "denial of service" attacks should be easy to spot and stop. And all sorts of other viruses, malware, and even ransomware might be quickly identified and squelched at these communications nodes through pattern recognition techniques.

Thwarting all this evil software from ever entering end-user computers would be an enormous revenue generating engine for the likes of Cisco Systems and its Internet brethren.

Please don't sue me if I am wrong ... I will have lost also.

Another Wall St. thought: Amazon's just announced its intended purchase of Whole Foods. IMHO this merger has a good chance of attracting an anti-trust reaction ... particularly since CEO Jeff Bezos' personal ownership of Trump's nemesis, the Washington Post.

Malware

Last night I finished a two day bout with a particularly insidious piece of malware, Binkiland ... as evil a piece of software that ever has been invented. It basically made my computer almost inoperable. In a way it reminded me of those parasites that kill their hosts ... not a very wise strategy for self propagation. Therefore I had to kill this monster ... which I eventually did, although it took me two agonizing days and $40.

I think I infected my computer with this malware when I saw a pop-up advising me to update my Adobe Flash Player. Stupidly I clicked on that fatal button and sunk into a funk of losing one of my best of friends and confidents ... my computer. The first manifestation of Binkiland is that it takes over your browser and throws all sorts of irritating pop-ups into whatever you are trying to do.

At first I tried my standard virus-fighter ... Avast ... which was not up to the task. It advised me to use a rescue disk and re-format my computer. So I called the Geek Squad at Best Buy and they gave me the number of where I could order one from Acer. Unfortunately every time I called this number I was told to call back later. So I went on my Ipad and searched "Binkiland" and found a few references on how to get rid of same. The first one was so technically detailed that I gave up. But then I found a recommendation to use Spyhunter ... which I downloaded and ran. It seemed to be doing the job, but wanted $39.95 before it fixed things.

I was desperate so I paid the money and took my chances. It worked! However it took the better part of a day to do its stuff. So, if you follow my lead, be patient.

And, for the developers of Binkiland, may you rot in hell.

Afterward: I sometimes get the impression that our federal government is infected with malware ...

Swiss Cheese

Recently, I am getting an annoying flurry of messages on my PC from my virus detection software, avast!, which say “Malicious URL Blocked!” Then when I ask for further explanation, I see:

avast! saved your computer from crashing

You just dodged a bullet

You may be wondering how you ended up with a virus, especially if you were visiting a ‘normal’ site. The latest research from the avast! Virus Lab shows that more than 80% of malware (viruses,spyware, and the like) spreads through legitimate websites, with only 1% coming from suspicious or ‘dodgy’ sites.

Now, how is it that my operating system and Internet browser, both from Microsoft, are so inept and insecure that, decades after their constructions, such malicious intrusions can happen? Simple answer – Microsoft has focused its business strategy on maintaining its revenue and profit stream … and ignoring the true wants and needs of its customers. This bloated company's software is so full of holes that is resembles a good Swiss cheese. To me, there in no excuse for this sloppiness and sloth … and this fault will eventually bring Microsoft down.  I predict that, within five years, this fate will become blatantly obvious to anyone watching.