The internet can seem like a scary place, especially after talking to Kevin McDaniel. The IT consultant spoke about all the threats, along with security, during the April 4 Waunakee Rotary Club meeting. 

The Waunakee Rotarian stressed that hackers are getting better all the time, and that currently, not enough cybersecurity experts are in the workforce. 

Kevin explained how phishing works, where by opening an email, you can provide a hacker with all of your email contacts, allowing them access to each of their contacts, so the process blooms into 5,000 hacked computers.

Generative AI can make these phishing attacks seem more credible and less obvious, sending emails now with perfect English grammar. He expects phishing attacks to get even more sophisticated and better at getting people to click on links. 

One technique hackers are using to get at larger companies is to home in on their suppliers to find a breach.

Kevin said while the 5G network is great technology, it has its flaws and some foreign adversaries have built malware into the hardware. 

Working on the cloud can also cause a security risk when people put information on platforms that are not secure. 

Kevin talked a little about quantum computing, which is thousands of times faster than a normal computer and will eventually be a real threat, once hackers are able to use it. 

Right now, hackers are going after municipalities, health care, financial and power companies, Kevin said. 

To protect yourself, Kevin advised tight security that is driven from the top down in companies and being sure to follow through with updates. Those are for security reasons. 

If you do get hacked, don’t pay the ransomware, as that’s no guarantee that you’ll get your data back or that it won’t make it onto the dark web. 

Training your employees is the number one thing you can do, Kevin said. 

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Other News: 

-April 20, just before Earth Day, is the village-wide clean-up around Village Hall, the Village Center Pond, the library and dog park

Guests: Brisa

Visiting Rotarians: None

Birthdays: none

Anniversaries: April 14, Jeff and Kathleen Smith.

Greeters: April 11, Todd Schmidt and crew; April 18, Tracy Graber and Shauna Hughey; April 25, ???

 To sign up to greet or to find out if you are greeting, visit: 

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/805054CAAAA2CA7F85-44320149-2023#/