What if I’m right and these attacks are practice for larger attacks aimed at the US or the EU?  The source code is out there being modified in subtle or not so subtle ways.  The number of devices that can be slaved to attack is growing every day.  What more could a strategic attacker want?

http://www.computerworld.com/article/3138489/security/ddos-attack-with-mirai-malware-killing-business-in-liberia.html?google_editors_picks=true

DDoS attack with Mirai malware 'killing business' in Liberia

The malware behind last month's massive internet disruption in the U.S. is targeting Liberia with financially devastating results.

This week, a botnet powered by the Mirai malware has been launching distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on IP addresses in the African country, according to security researchers.  

These attacks are the same kind that briefly disrupted internet access across the U.S. almost two weeks ago.

…   Hackers have been creating botnets with the Mirai malware ever since its anonymous creator released the source code on a forum in late September.  About 500,000 poorly secured internet devices, including surveillance cameras and DVRs, are estimated to be infected with Mirai. 

Last month's DDoS attack in the U.S. came from 100,000 infected devices, according to DNS service provider Dyn.

That “worst case” scenario my IT Governance students are learning to resolve.

http://www.csoonline.com/article/3136204/security/fixing-the-communications-breakdown-between-it-security-and-the-board-and-c-suite.html?google_editors_picks=true

Fixing the communications breakdown between IT security and the board and c-suite

…   Communicating from the bottom up, IT security must talk to the c-suite in terms of the effects of security-related decisions and resource allocations on the business; otherwise the message fades into the background.  IT security needs to impress upon the c-suite the risks that certain resources will mitigate and the potential bleeding in financial losses that balanced, proper threat mitigation can avoid.

We (the US) work closely with Canada, so I wonder…

In scathing ruling, Federal Court says CSIS bulk data collection illegal

Colin Freeze reports:

The Federal Court of Canada faulted Canada’s domestic spy agency Thursday for unlawfully amassing data, for misusing its surveillance warrants and for not being forthright with judges who authorize its intelligence programs.  The court is also revealing that CSIS no longer needs warrants to collect  Canadians’ tax records because of changes wrought by Bill C-51.

The matter was said to involve the decade-long collection of volumes of data within the Canadian Security Intelligence Service’s little-known Operational Data Analysis Centre, which the judges who scrutinize CSIS are characterizing as a hidden and unlawful repository of data amassed by the spy agency.

Read more on the Globe and Mail.

Perspective.  So, is Apple doomed?

Android Now Powers 9 Out of 10 Smartphones

The mobile operating system war is now over. And Android won.  Because while Apple still sells shedloads of iPhones, 9 of 10 smartphones sold around the world is now powered by Android.  And those numbers are unlikely to change anytime soon.

Something I’ve been saying for years!

Why the Problem with Learning Is Unlearning

Ever since the publication of Peter Senge’s The Fifth Discipline, 25 years ago, companies have sought to become “learning organizations” that continually transform themselves.  In our era of digital disruption, this goal is more important than ever.  But even the best companies still struggle to make real progress in this area.

One problem is that they’ve been focused on the wrong thing.  The problem isn’t learning: it’s unlearning.  In every aspect of business, we are operating with mental models that have grown outdated or obsolete, from strategy to marketing to organization to leadership.  To embrace the new logic of value creation, we have to unlearn the old one.

I’m sure I mentioned this before. 

http://venturebeat.com/2016/11/03/u-s-government-launches-code-gov-to-showcase-its-open-source-software/?google_editors_picks=true

U.S. government launches Code.gov to showcase its open-source software

The White House today is announcing the launch of Code.gov, a website that shows off U.S. government open-source projects and offers relevant resources for government agencies.  By launching this site the White House is hoping to improve public access to the government’s software and encourage the reuse of software across government agencies.

The launch comes four months after the White House introduced the Federal Source Code policy, which specifically mandates that government agencies “make custom-developed code available for Government-wide reuse and make their code inventories discoverable” at Code.gov, with certain exceptions.

The new site already has almost 50 code repositories from more than 10 agencies, U.S. chief information officer Tony Scott wrote in a blog post.

…   The White House recently open-sourced the code behind President Obama’s Facebook Messenger chatbot.  Other existing open-source initiatives include Vets.gov and Data.gov.  Yes, even the code for Code.gov is open source.
Check out the new site here.

My reading list? 

www.bespacific.com/books-students-at-top-us-colleges-are-required-to-read/ 

Books students at top US colleges are required to read

by Sabrina I. Pacifici on Nov 3, 2016

Quartz: “The leaders of tomorrow will be well versed in dead philosophers, according to a new database of college syllabi.  The Open Syllabus Project, a collection of over 1 million curricula from English-language colleges and universities over the past 15 years, released its data on Friday (Jan. 22, 2016).  Plato, Hobbes, Machiavelli, and Aristotle overwhelmingly dominate lists in the US, particularly at the top schools.  The required readings skew toward the humanities—science and engineering classes tend to assign fewer titles—and not surprisingly, toward the Western canon…”

Perspective.  I look forward to the day I can lose $3 Billion!

http://fortune.com/2016/11/04/mark-zuckerberg-net-worth-facebook-stock/

How Mark Zuckerberg Lost a Record-Breaking $3 Billion in One Day

For my students who claim they have no time to read.

Turn Your Saved Articles Into Instant Podcasts Automatically

Daniel T. Willingham is the Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia.  He turned this question into a study and a blog post.  The short and quick version of his answer is that listening to an audiobook is exactly like reading print, except that the latter requires decoding and the former doesn’t.

With that misgiving out of the way, let’s turn to a wonderful little tool called Narro that can turn your heaped reading list into podcasts.  These personal podcasts can then help you get through your reading list faster.  Send your bookmarked articles to this cross-platform app and fill up those in-between minutes.

Narro comes as an Android app, iOS app, Chrome Extension, and as a bookmarklet.  It automatically turns any article into a podcast which you can listen to in any device and any podcast player.  It also integrates with a few other apps like Pocket and Instapaper.

…   Narro has Free and Pro versions.  The free version gives you 15 articles to convert and listen to every month.

I have got to try this!

Guest Post: Combine Math and Excel on iPad with Image to Excel Converter

…   Image to Excel Converter enables you to take a photo of a paper arithmetic and convert it into editable MS Excel spreadsheet in order to work on them faster and more efficient.  In that way it’s possible to combine traditional paper math and modern, advanced Excel functions.  

…   For example, you have different values written on a sheet of paper and you need to do analysis for a case study, in that case:

1. First download Image to Excel app
2. Then select Take a new photo option and take a picture
3. Just wait a little bit and you’ll have an editable Excel spreadsheet