A shot in the arm

I’ve decided that the theme of this week’s blog will meander a bit more than usual, since there’s a couple of topics to check off the list.

First off, I wish you all the best health as it feels like it’s finally transitioning to fall here in Arizona. That’s normally the time of year when bugs start going around. This might be the first year on record that the virus you have to watch out for is a computer virus. I want to say the past two months have been host to some really high-profile ransomware attacks that have affected infrastructure and healthcare providers among others. Even my local hospital got hit! However, at this point I think it’s safe to call 2023 the year of the Ransomware, I mean it really has been awful.

Which is why I was glad to see the news that the National Security Agency (NSA) is establishing an AI security center, uh, probably. In any case I hope that strengthening the country’s cybersecurity is on its list of priorities and not just teaching missiles to fire themselves more efficiently. You know what, let’s put a pin in that one.

My other topic tonight is a school shooting, yes, another one. They happen so frequently here that I can almost always count on them to be a timely blog topic. As of writing this I believe the shooting only occurred roughly five or so hours ago at Morgan State University in Baltimore. Five people were shot, four of them students although thankfully with non-life-threatening injuries. However, the police also have no suspects at this time.

If by chance there are any school administrators or campus security directors reading this blog, might I point you to some recent articles I’ve published from the folks at Athena Security, ZeroEyes, or even last week's blog discussing Shooter Detection Systems (SDS)? The security industry doesn’t have the answer to gun violence, but it does have solutions meant to save lives, and I hope you’ll consider that.

Preparedness is the best defense.