Another day, another data breach–or so I thought.

But even though there have been a lot of other really big data breaches over the past few years; hearing about the one perpetrated recently by a hacker called USDoD, gave me pause. 

As reported by Bloomberg Law; it is possible they stole the Social Security numbers of every American, along with other personally sensitive information from a total of nearly 3 billion people in the US, UK, and Canada. This occurred in December 2023, when they cracked the defenses of National Public Data, which is a data broker offering personal information to employers, private investigators, staffing agencies and others doing background checks. 

With that in mind, along with the knowledge that in June 2023, the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles warned about an identity theft scam using stolen driver's license information, I began to wonder; do we need some new form of identification? 

To find out, I contacted Detective Troy Looney of the Akron Police Department's Financial Crimes Unit. 

He is a subject matter expert in several Criminal Justice Field disciplines, such as Internet Investigations, Digital Forensics, Cybercrime, and Marketing, and has a doctorate in Organizational Management/Leadership, a Master of Science in Internet Marketing, and a Bachelor of Arts in Business/Marketing. 

Looney is currently a Senior Lecturer at the University of Akron, teaching several courses in the College of Applied Sciences Department. Courses include Digital Forensics, Cybercrime, Digital and Scientific Evidence, File System Forensic Analysis, and Computer Forensic Methods II.

Listen now:

Although Wall Street Analysts, Stockbrokers, and Traders already use sophisticated computer programming to help them make what is in some case dizzyingly vast sums of money; rapidly developing Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools could vastly change the way they do their jobs.

On the other hand; they could also completely replace a lot of those jobs, leaving the people doing them today, out of work and wondering how to get back in the game.

That in fact, is a scenario that is going to play out for billions of workers in all sorts of different fields over the next five to ten years, according to AI Developer, Professor, and Author, David Shrier. I talked to him last week about his new book “Welcome to AI: A Human Guide To Artificial Intelligence”, in which he predicts that within five to ten years; unemployment in the US and other countries could hit 30 to 50 percent. (To listen to that interview, click here).

Obviously; that is not the kind of blow that the US, or any other economy could absorb without either buckling, or at least being severely crippled for time, without some sort of serious intervention. He talked about the need for government to step in with a safety net solution, like Universal Basic Income, and large-scale programs to retrain employees so they can work with, and not try to compete against, AI.

With that in mind; I approached Kent State University Finance Professor, David Pelleg, about how they adapting to the new and at this point, still nascent technology, so that when their students who may be headed to jobs on Wall Street after graduation, will have the kind of AI-related skills they need to grow and prosper, despite the major changes that lie ahead.

Imagine if the outrage Apple stirred up this week over the ad showing their super thin new Ipad Pro "crushing" images representing art and music, amplified billions of times over. Imagine that instead of just crushing just digital images of human creativity, another tech creation; artificial intelligence, actually crushes our entire world economy, by eliminating 30 to 50 percent of all jobs, leaving millions of people, including today's top earners, in the dust, on the dole, and in despair. Then, imagine another reality, and in this one; all the boring bits of your job disappear, and you are left free to concentrate on the creative bits, with the time and freedom to innovate, and collaborate in new ways that could usher in a new age of prosperity. Now, imagine that you get to choose, but you have to do it right now. What would you do? How could you choose>? Who could you ask for help? These are the kinds of questions that our guest today, David Shrier, attempts to answer in his new book, "Welcome to AI" A Human Guide to Artificial Intelligence". Find out more. Listen now. David Shrier is a globally recognized author and expert on technology-driven innovation. He is a Professor of Practice, AI and Innovation, at Imperial College Business School, cohead of the Trusted AI Alliance at Imperial College London, Academic Director of the Imperial College Centre for Digital Transformation, and Managing Director of venture studio Visionary Future. He previously held a dual appointment at MIT and the University of Oxford. Shrier has advised public companies, private enterprise, and more than a hundred governments on fields such as artificial intelligence, data analytics, and financial technology. In addition, he has launched multiple AI-based university spinouts.

CNN posted an intriguing story this week, about how several voting machine manufacturers are conducting "stress tests", to uncover possible flaws that might need to be fixed before the upcoming 2024 election.

While that was of course, welcome news; it did make me wonder just how secure voting machines really are, in general, and what cybersecurity experts do to ensure they stay in tip-top shape.

So, I asked Dr. John Nicholas, who many people in our area will remember as a Professor teaching Cybersecurity at the University of Akron for many years, but who also just recently; began his new job as the Director of the Center for Information and Communication Sciences, at Ball State University, in Muncie, Indiana.

Listen now, to learn not only about the machines, but also about the people who work behind the scenes to ensure our votes are counted accurately, and without interference.

Imagine being able to fly to LA for lunch, have a business meeting, and then be back home in time for dinner.

It could happen, if a research project currently underway at NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland is successful in demonstrating that a new, high tech airplane can break the sound barrier without causing the noisy and destructive sonic booms that helped end commercial supersonic air travel in 2003.

Listen now to our conversation with the Deputy Project Manager for the commercial supersonic technology project at NASA Glenn, Peggy Cornell, and with Walsh University President, Dr. Tim Collins.

Cornell's background includes hands-on experience with jet engines, test engineering expertise in the effort to power space missions, and leadership roles in aeronautics, she has demonstrated exceptional and sustained contributions to aeronautics and space. In addition, she has more than 28 years of experience at NASA, most recently as an integral part of leadership teams supporting commercial supersonics, electrified aircraft, electric vertical takeoff/landing vehicles, unmanned aircraft systems, and other groundbreaking areas.

Collins, who heads the North Canton-based Walsh University, is also a former Aviation technology researcher at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory , and US Air Force fighter pilot. He has more than 4,000 flying hours, including over 260 combat hours, as a command pilot in a variety of unmanned and manned fighter, tanker, reconnaissance, and command and control aircraft. He is a U.S. Air Force Command Pilot, a military parachutist, and is a credentialed Board President for both aviation Safety Investigation Boards and Accident Investigation Boards.

We'll explore the history of supersonic flight, including the iconic Concorde Airliner, and find out what NASA is doing that they believe will completely revolutionize air travel. out what NASA is doing that they believe will completely revolutionize air travel.

What if your insurance company could use your DNA to raise your rates if they think you might get cancer someday? Or, what if a foreign adversary, like China, for example; could use DNA to reveal the true identity of all of our spies?

Think that's farfetched? Well, Akron-based journalist, author, and cold-case DNA expert, James Renner doesn't think so.

Find out why, as I explore advances in cold case DNA technology, and talk about the how the science we use to catch killers, could one day catch all of us in invisible data nets, violating our privacy in ways we can only barely imagine, today.

Thanks to a $450 thousand dollar grant from the National Science Foundation, Kent State University will offer a new summer robotics program open to undergraduate students from all over the country. We talked about it with Assistant Professor, Dr. Ye Lu, and Associate Dean Joycelyn Harrison, from the KSU College of Aeronautics and Engineering. Listen now.

Following up on our March 3 episode about clean water technology; today, we're talking about proposed new federal EPA regulations that would require testing for exceptionally dangerous chemicals that cannot be filtered out by the common methods used to make drinking water safe nationwide right now.

We'll find out exactly what those "forever chemicals" are, how they're detected, and what would be necessary to remove them from our drinking water supply.

Listen now, as I interview City of Akron Water Supply Bureau Manager, Jeff Bronowski.

The federal government's efforts to protect US citizens' sensitive data took on new urgency this week, as reports surfaced that the phones of more more than 50 top level government officials had been infected with sophisticated spyware.

Also this week, President Biden issued an executive order banning US government agencies from using spyware that is deemed a threat to US national security or is implicated in human rights abuses.

In addition, a bipartisan effort is underway in Congress that would give the federal government the power to ban foreign made hardware and software deemed to be a threat to national security, including (but not limited to) the popular Chinese-owned social media app, TikTok.

But, why is TikTok being singled out for such intense scrutiny? Don't all mobile apps do the same thing? Shouldn't we all be concerned about the spies we carry around in our pockets?

We talked about it with Computer Information Systems Professor, and Cybersecurity expert, Dr. John Nicholas, from the University of Akron.

The fallout from the recent Silicon Valley Bank collapse continues.

Listen now as we talk about it with Kent State University Political Science Professor, Dr. Mark Cassell, who wrote two books on the banking industry. You can find "Banking on the State: the Political Economy of Public Savings Banks", and "How Governments Privatize: The Politics of Divestment in the United States and Germany", on Amazon.com.