SMB Community Podcast

Topic 1: What works, works: Big Tech Targets DC via Old-School Media

Facebook, Amazon, and Google ads are blanketing inside-the-Beltway newsletters in a bid to rehab their tarnished reputations.

The big tech companies are getting ready to do battle. So they need to soften up members of Congress. Here’s the interesting part: They didn’t use social media to get the job done. They used good old advertising . . . in newsletters.

Of course we use this to look at the whole "Big Data vs. Congress" debate going on right now.

Link:

https://www.wired.com/story/big-tech-targets-dc-with-digital-charm-offensive/

Topic 2: Security Breach at Security Camera Company

IoT security came under a major attack in March. 150,000 Verkada surveillance cameras compromised by super simple hack. The "victims" were as widespread as you can imagine: Jails, gyms, Tesla, and more.

Never, never sell an internet-connected device without adding an additional layer of cyber security. That’s why “value added” resellers and service providers exist!

Link:

https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/9/22322122/verkada-hack-150000-security-cameras-tesla-factory-cloudflare-jails-hospitals

Topic 3: Massive Data Center Fire in Strasbourg, France

OVHCloud, Europe’s largest cloud provider, has massive fire affecting multiple data centers. OVHcloud's SBG2 data center in Strasbourg France was destroyed by a fire that also damaged SBG1. OVH manages four data centers on the same site, which we think is odd.

We look at several practices across industry and across the world.

Links:

https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/fire-destroys-ovhclouds-sbg2-data-center-strasbourg/

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/technology/ovh-data-center-burns-down-knocking-major-sites-offline/

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Host Karl caught up with John Hammond, the Senior Cybersecurity Researcher at Huntress. Right at the start is Karl's favorite new term: Ransomware canaries.

Here we discuss the Huntress "Hack_it 2021" event, March 22-24 online. In addition to an all-day "Hacking Windows" pre-day, the event features a variety of great hands-on training. You can see the full agenda at https://www.huntress.com/hack_it_2021.

John is a primary presenter of the event. One of the cool sessions is Making the Malware: A Choose-Your-Own Adventure Exercise. This is a true hands-on opportunity to see how hackers actually plan, design, and execute attacks. Check out all the details and register now.

Huntress is totally focused on cybersecurity detection and prevention. You can sign up for a free demo and kick the tires at https://www.huntress.com.

About John Hammond

Hammond is a cybersecurity instructor, content creator, red teamer, and Capture the Flag enthusiast. As a previous Department of Defense Cyber Training Academy curriculum developer and teacher for the Cyber Threat Emulation course, he educated both civilian and military members on offensive Python, PowerShell, and other scripting languages as well as the adversarial mindset.

Hammond personally developed training material and infosec challenges for events such as PicoCTF, the "Capture the Packet" competition at DEFCON US, and the HacktivityCon CTF with HackerOne. He speaks at security conferences such as BsideDC, to students at colleges such as Clemson University and the US Coast Guard Academy, and other events like the SANS Holiday Hack Challenge/KringleCon.

He is an online YouTube personality showcasing programming tutorials, cyber security guides, and CTF video walkthroughs. John currently holds the following certifications: Security+, eJPT, eCPPT, CEH, PCAP, OSWP, OSCP, OSCE, and OSWE.

Sponsor Memo:

Ready to Take Your Cybersecurity Skills to the Next Level? Save Your Spot for Hack_it 2021 on March 22–24, 2021!

Join Huntress for their 2nd annual cybersecurity training event, hack_it 2021! Sharpen your tradecraft, network with security professionals and get hands-on training you can actually use in your business. Three days, including a Hacking Windows pre-day and two full days of cybersecurity education. Want to sign up? https://www.huntress.com/hack_it_2021

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Topic 1: Drone-Killing Drones

Great video from "Drone Hunter." AI Powered Drone captures and eliminates drones over no-fly zones, concerts, football games, public addresses by politicians, etc. Karl notes that we hope California deploys these to take down drones flying around forest fires, endangering the pilots trying to fight fires.

Video here . . . scroll down a bit:

https://fortemtech.com/products/dronehunter/

Topic 2: Robots save people from drowning

One bot featured in this story. But toward the end you see there are several competitors. Who knew this is a market with growing competition? And that led us to look at robots that don't save people: They fight!

Related Links:

https://newatlas.com/robotics/underwater-lifeguard-robot/

https://boingboing.net/2021/02/25/artists-outfitted-robot-dog-spot-with-a-paintball-gun-in-commentary-on-futuristic-killer-robots-just-as-nydp-deploys-the-same-robot.html

Topic 3: Microsoft Stumbles on the Vaccine Software Front

Several companies, including Microsoft, have failed to create great, rock-solid software to track vaccines. We wonder how this task is so complicated that the most successful software companies in the world can't solve it.

Related Links:

Microsoft getting a black eye:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-28/microsoft-says-vaccine-tools-have-fallen-short-after-dc-snags

Using technology without the data:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/02/technology/college-coronavirus-tests.html

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Host James Kernan interviews writer Kate Frank about the strategic use to writing as a marketing tool.

Kate is a professional writer with decades of marketing expertise. She has a unique ability to tap into the genius of others and get their message on the page of a book or other media. Most people struggle with identifying their unique proposition for their customers and clients. For Kate, it is an instinct.

Kate is the Editor of Tech UP or Lose OUT, an author in 6 collaborative books, and a ghostwriter in many others.

Web Sites and Links:

• http://authorityredefined.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/ghostwritingkate/

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Topic 1: ChannelPro State of the Channel survey

Bruised but roaring back? We you bruised in 2020? Is this a real reflection of the real channel? Or is this a sampling issue?

As always, we think research is good. You just need to be careful about what the results mean. We discuss. And we give a few thoughts on eternal optimism - pro and con. We look forward to concrete house mod kits . . . and more.

Related Link:

http://digital.channelprosmb.com/publication/?m=24576&i=691606&p=18

Topic 2: 3D printed home. 1,500 sq feet. $299K

We're not sure how much the printer cost - but the houses are serious. The story here is from New York, so the price point of $300,000 is a serious value. We haven't covered 3D printing much, but this is just cool.

Related Link:

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/25/you-can-now-buy-a-3d-printed-home-heres-a-look-inside.html

Topic 3: Paying for news in Australia . . .

News agencies are finally pushing back on letting social media giants redistribute their product for free. Magazines and newspapers have mis-played the Internet opportunity for twenty-five years. Now they've decided to try to make money.

Australia passed a law forcing the major social media outlets to pay for news. In response, Google said "okay" and Facebook threatened to pull out of the country.

Social media have been taking advantage of content creators since day one. It may have taken twenty years longer than expected, but a realistic balance is probably on the way. The U.S. is a follower and not a leader on this front. So keep an eye on Australia.

Please see previous episodes: The Splinternet continues to splinter!

Related Link:

https://www.wired.com/story/plaintext-australia-facebook-google/

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Sponsor Memo:

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Host Karl sat down with Pete Matheson for the second time in two months. Here we get an update on Pete's YouTube channel traffic and the lessons he's learned.

Check out Pete's last appearance here: https://www.smbcommunitypodcast.com/2021/01/pete-matheson-using-video-to-grow-your-it-business/

Basically, Pete saw great opportunities with YouTube, so he jumped in and gave it a lot of his attention. In this podcast, he gives us the update on how he is growing revenue with his channel. He also gives us lots of great tips and tricks on building an audience AND providing business-related content.

Lesson number one: Start a channel!

Lesson two: Just start posting videos. Don't wait until they're great (or perfect). Just do it.

Lesson three: Get comfortable and let people see your personality. After all, that's what people buy.

Pete gives some great examples of the videos he produced as an IT consultant. These are client-facing. From there, he moved to helping IT pros figure out videos for their business.

Sites:

• https://petematheson.co.uk
• https://youtube.com/petematheson
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/petematheson/
• https://twitter.com/petematheson

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Topic 1: Zoom begins the next wave . . . getting back to the office

We were impressed with Zoom's announcement of touch-free office connections for receptionist via Zoom. What other emerging technologies can we look forward to as we emerge from the pandemic? Remember: Innovation and technology both affect culture and are affected by culture.

Related Link:

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/03/zoom-will-let-companies-deploy-virtual-receptionists-for-office-visits.html

Topic 2: Texas Electricity

You heard about Texas' problem with electricity. If not, follow the link below. We're tempted to draw an analogy to the availability question regarding bandwidth. And we are reminded: All this stuff costs money!

On what this means for the bigger picture, tune into Dave's point at 18:45 . . . There's a great analogy here to zero trust access to data and security.

Background on the Texas electrical grid and why it's not connected to the rest of the U.S.:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Interconnection

TXU - Your Texas Electricity Company
https://www.txu.com/

Texas Public Utilities Commission
https://www.puc.texas.gov/

Topic 3: Episode 1 revisit on Ethics

At Show 100, we harken back to Episode 1, in which we addressed ethics and Artificial Intelligence. It turns out, that's still a relevant discussion. See the last several shows.

Technologists always have to balance what we can do and what we should do. After all, the technology we love can grow much faster than our understanding of the ethics related to that technology.

. . . And, of course, we give an update on the Drone vs. Robots delivering pizzas and burritos.

What do you think? Give us your feedback.

Sponsor Note:

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Karl and Mike get together for an update on security. As you know, 2020 was quite a year. There was new legislation at the state and local levels, primarily in response to an explosion of sophisticated attacks of ransomware.

We went into a good deal of detail on new NIST and CMMC recommendations, as well as a major update on HIPAA.

Mike Semel is a noted thought leader, speaker, blogger, and best-selling author. He is the President of Semel Consulting, focused on compliance regulations; cyber security; and Business Continuity planning. Mike has also developed Semel Systems, a series of cybersecurity and compliance training and go-to-market systems for MSPs.

Link:

• www.mikesemel.com

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Topic 1: Jargon of the Week . . . DBIO

Take it apart: Digital Business Infrastructure Operations. Is this usable terminology? Just another four letter acronym?

"Digital Business Infrastructure Operations (DBIO) is an end-to-end approach to delivering managed services. It spans the entire digital value chain – from the core to the edge – and is supported by robust network and security infrastructure."

One aspect - building things backwards - just amounts to selling solutions instead of selling “stuff” and integrating it. That sounds like the advice for last 50 years.

https://techcentral.co.za/time-to-turn-the-managed-services-model-on-its-head-dbio-thrprom/104714/

We'd love to hear comments on this one.

Topic 2: Jay McBain sees the Future

We love looking at the future of our industry. It's kinda what this podcast is about. We dig into this a bit and then introduce Topic Three - then discuss both of them together.

Jay McBain's 2021 Channel Predictions:

https://go.forrester.com/blogs/what-i-see-coming-for-the-channel-2021/

Topic 3: Techaisle see the Future at Little Differently

One important topic here is "Digital Equality" vs. "Digital Divide."

https://techaisle.com/blog/437-top-10-smb-and-midmarket-predictions-for-2021

Again, great topics here: Give us your feedback!

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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.

:-)

Karl caught up with a fellow CompTIA Executive Committee member, Pete Busam from Equilibrium Consulting. Pete and Karl sit on the Advancing Tech Talent and Diversity E.C.

Pete Busam is the founder and owner of Equilibrium Consulting, LLC, a management consulting and outsourced marketing firm specializing in assisting channel and technology services organizations with establishing partner relationships, and directing IT channel strategy, design and execution.

He has more than 35 years of experience in the channel, where he began as a technician. Since then, he has operated several successful technology services providers and continues to be recognized by clients, partners and channel publications for his outstanding performance, commitment and contributions to the industry.

His thought-provoking insights on the channel have been published by numerous industry-leading trade publications, including CRN, ChannelPro, Channel Futures and Channel Insider. An industry thought leader, he has given presentations and participated in panel discussions at numerous channel events over the years. He has also provided commentary on the industry for The Philadelphia Business Journal, Entrepreneur and the Wall Street Journal.

Fully committed to the communities he immerses himself in, Pete is an active member with CompTIA, The Sales Association Sales Leader Council, Forbes Coaches Council and the American Legion. He is a United States Navy veteran.

Websites

• equilibriumconsult.com
• connectmyPSA.com
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/equilibrium-consulting-llc/
• Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/EquilibriumConsulting

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