“How we did it” articles are always worth reviewing. You never know when you might learn something.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2019/07/30/how-4-technicians-saved-arizona-hospital-hacker-ransomware-wickenburg-community-hospital/1842572001/

How 4 IT technicians saved an Arizona hospital from hacker ransomware

… After some reading up on ransomware attacks on the internet, the Wickenburg IT team determined that in other Ryuk attacks, which have targeted public- and private-sector victims, cybercriminals would ask for more than the small hospital could afford to pay anyway.

… So instead of seeing what the hackers wanted, Beckham said that Wickenburg’s IT staff, a total of four people, including himself, began rebuilding the hospital’s computer systems from scratch.

“We threw it in the trash and started over from a software perspective,” Beckham said. “We sat down and decided what is most important, what was absolutely needed both short term and long term. And when I say short term, I mean in the next hour and long term is the next 12 hours.”

… The hospital had already started to strengthen its security measures, and it had been backing its data up on physical tapes, which Beckham described as “halfway between a cassette tape and a VHS tape,” that were stored in a safe, an archaic-seeming strategy that cybersecurity professionals are increasingly advising organizations to use to protect critical data. A brand-new backup system was being shipped to Wickenburg when the attack hit.

Seems like a very small slice of vulnerability here. Most small planes operate under Visual Flight Rules, that is they do not fly blind, relying only on instruments.

https://www.securityweek.com/us-issues-hacking-security-alert-small-planes

U.S. Issues Hacking Security Alert for Small Planes

The Department of Homeland Security issued a security alert Tuesday for small planes, warning that modern flight systems are vulnerable to hacking if someone manages to gain physical access to the aircraft.

An alert from the DHS critical infrastructure computer emergency response tea m recommends that plane owners ensure they restrict unauthorized physical access to their aircraft until the industry develops safeguards to address the issue, which was discovered by a Boston-based cybersecurity company and reported to the federal government.

… The warning reflects the fact that aircraft systems are increasingly reliant on networked communications systems, much like modern cars.

… The Rapid7 report focused only on small aircraft because their systems are easier for researchers to acquire. Large aircraft frequently use more complex systems and must meet additional security requirements. The DHS alert does not apply to older small planes with mechanical control systems.

Your phone will rat you out!

https://www.bespacific.com/how-you-move-your-phone-can-reveal-insights-into-your-personality-creepy-study-finds/

How You Move Your Phone Can Reveal Insights Into Your Personality, Creepy Study Finds

Science Alert – “It may sound strange at first, but a team of researchers in Australia has come up with a method to predict your personality traits using just the accelerometer in your phone. Well, that and your call and messaging activity logs. Also, the system works for some traits better than others. But it’s an interesting take on how we may find connections through such seemingly unrelated things. There’s a wealth of previous research investigating how different aspects of your smartphone and social media use – such as your language in messages, how you style your Facebook profile, or how much physical activity you do – can be used to predict your personality traits.

“Activity like how quickly or how far we walk, or when we pick up our phones up during the night, often follows patterns and these patterns say a lot about our personality type,” said one of the team, computer scientist Flora Salim from RMIT University in Australia. In this case, we start at the Big Five personality traits. These have been used in psychology since the 1980’s to help classify five dominant parts of our personalities…” (The study has been published in Computer – Predicting Personality Traits From Physical Activity Intensity [paywall])

Almost everything will rat you out.

Amazon: You are not fooling Ryan, or Joe, or any of us

Alexa Guard will listen for breaking glass or fire alarms. https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/14/cnn-underscored/alexa-guard-amazon-echo-basic-security/index.html … Could it be more obvious that this is Amazon's test balloon for always on microphones that will listen for everything.

The next big thing? (Links to studies and policies)

https://www.natlawreview.com/article/internet-things-regulatory-ecosystem-and-consumer-product-health-and-safety-part-i

Internet of Things: Regulatory Ecosystem and Consumer Product Health and Safety – Part I

Technological Revolutions are quiet and astonishing. Step by step new technological applications are pushing existing paradigms and changing the way business is transacted by consumers, companies and in society. In the past, electricity and printing had a revolutionary role in social development, shifting all sectors of life. These days, the Internet of Things (IoT) is pivotal in creating quick, profound and quiet transformations.

According to the Committee on Digital Economy Policy of Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation of OCED:

The Internet of Things (IoT) could soon be as commonplace as electricity in the everyday lives of people in OECD countries. As such, it will play a fundamental role in economic and social development in ways that would have been challenging to predict as recently as two or three decades ago[1].