Christopher Six
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We can’t bury our heads in the sand over cybersecurity

12/20/2016

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Ran in the December 21-27, 2016 edition of the Fauquier Times, Gainesville Times and Prince William Times.

Whatever you may believe took place in regards to the 2016 presidential campaign, cybersecurity is no longer a topic we can ignore.

Throwing out politics, there is no doubt private information was stolen and released to the public, and that information did have an effect on this election. 

The fact that someone was able to have that kind of influence on our political process is alarming, if not necessarily all that surprising. But from a national security standpoint, we should not be pooh-poohing this as fodder for sore losers.

Why?

Because the risk is real. The existence of the United States Cyber Command is all the proof we need. This year’s National Defense Authorization Act seeks to lift it a full combatant command.

Russia, China, North Korea and Iran routinely use cyberwarfare. China’s theft of the plans to the F-35 directly led to their own version of the fighter. How quickly we forget North Korea’s hack of Sony. Countries all over the globe, the United States included, have long used all the tools at their disposal to destabilize foreign powers.

So there should be no doubt that if the Russians thought a President Trump would be more acceptable to their expansionist, anti-NATO agenda than a President Clinton, they would use their long established cyberwarfare apparatus to their best advantage. 

What should be most alarming is the relative ease it appears they had in hacking into the DNC. But really, should we be that surprised?

A Forbes.com article on the top 10 hacks of 2015 lists among the victims Experian (in regards to T-Mobile accounts), Anthem, Premera BlueCross/BlueShield and CareFirst BlueCross/BlueShield. It also included cybersecurity firm Kaspersky and password management company LastPass. And, of course, The United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Yes, the government.

Just days ago, Yahoo acknowledged a breach effecting more than 1 billion user accounts, breaking the previous record of 500 million. The previous record holder? Yahoo. 

I have had a Yahoo Mail account for close to 20 years. I’m a fairly vigilant user. My passwords tend to be 15 or more characters. I don’t click on rogue links. I had 13 years of routine, annual cybersecurity training from the Department of Defense. Yet my email has been hacked at least three times over the last five years. I am by no means flawless, but I have to think that wasn’t operator error. 

This final breach is the straw. I am in the midst of the arduous process of moving my email to a more secure operation, and let me confirm for you, it is no easy task.The email address is tied to all sorts of other accounts. Subscriptions. Money. Job sites. And each and every one will require updating. Twenty-years worth. Not to mention all of the personal and professional contacts that need to be updated. 

I’m guessing that many of us are in the same boat.

I was also an early adopter of online shopping. Several times in the last five years I have been contacted by companies I’ve done business with claiming my information was compromised in a security breach. The usual perk is a year of free credit reports, from a company like Experian. In fact, last year OPM picked up the bill. A side benefit of having worked for the government. 

And twice in the last five years my debit card info was swiped. At a store, restaurant, gas pump or ATM? Who knows. Can you say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, where your information is safe?

The simple fact is we live in an electronic world. Our money. Our Social Security numbers. Our health records. Our tax records. Our addresses, our families. Everything. I used to tell people the only way to keep yourself completely safe is to go off the grid. But even then, the government has your info. And all of that is stored in servers vulnerable to cyberattack. 

Thus, we, as individuals, must remain vigilant and use every tool at our disposal to protect our electronic information. Turn on two-step verification on your email. Make passwords complex and change them often. Suspect email messages asking for your password. Report suspicious activity to your provider.

In my mind, there really is no doubt foreign powers, terrorists and criminals are trying to hack us all the time. To bury our heads in the sand would be at best, naïve, and at worst, negligent. 
​

Chris Six is Managing Editor of the Fauquier Times, Gainesville Times and Prince William Times. Email him at csix@fauquier.com and follow him on twitter @christophersix1
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Think about the price of freedom

12/6/2016

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Ran in the December 7-13, 2016 edition of the Fauquier Times, Gainesville Times and Prince William Times.
 
“Yesterday,
Dec. 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy…”

Seventy-five years.

Three quarters of a century.

World War II has always been a part of my life. As a student of history I soaked up my grandfather’s stories about serving on PT boats in the Pacific. Through the big bands I played in, I met veterans from all walks of life and helped raise funds to build the National WWII Memorial.

When I first gained an interest in World War II, the attack on Pearl Harbor was a mere 40 years in the past. Seventy-five is hard to fathom. For my grandfather, it was a lifetime.

Obviously, there have been, before and since, attacks and wars fought on American soil. In comparison, in 1941, Hawaii had yet to become a state. In fact, as news came in about the attack, many had no idea where it was, and yet, few moments in our history have been so monumental.

In the years between the world wars, the United States had begun to find its footing on the world stage. U.S. involvement in World War I, just two decades earlier, had helped decide the “war to end all wars.”

But as is so often the case, the attack on Pearl Harbor proved that a war to end war was a false hope, and thus the final chapter of our nation's innocence. The fight against imperialism and fascism, and the following cold war with the Soviets, put to rest that America could isolate itself from the world.

As of May, the VA says there are less than 700,000 WWII veterans left, a number that will drop dramatically in coming years.

So let’s take a moment to think about what has been famously called our “Greatest Generation.”

This was a generation born into the optimism of the roaring ’20s. They suffered through the Great Depression. And at an age where many of us and our children graduate high school and choose colleges and careers, they took up arms to stand with their backs against the abyss and save the world from evil.

They came out the other side profoundly different people. They fought communism. They reached for the moon. They raised a generation of children, and their children's children, to live in a better and safer world of unmeasurable opportunity.

It is important to remember as we raise the next generation, as we fight the urge to hover and be overprotective, just what we as a people were capable of at such a young age. As we complain about the end of days because of who was elected president, or who wasn't, it is important to be reminded what the true face of evil looks like, and what to do about it.  

So we have a promise to keep. To be bigger than we are, to be better. To give something of ourselves. This generation made the world safe for us and built our nation into what it is today, and now, as they pass the baton, it is our job to continue to move forward.

They say that those who choose not to learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and if the books teach us anything, it is that few people learn from history. But all is not yet lost to history. Veterans are still out there. Talk to them. Listen to their stories. Get it down on paper. Or record it for many of the oral history projects that continue to be compiled.

Sixteen years ago, I wrote (paraphrasing slightly) these words:

"Those generations fought and sacrificed so the later generations didn't have to. As one member of Tom Brokaw's Greatest Generation told him while he was researching that book, perhaps their children were spoiled a little, but that was what was wanted.

Nevertheless, it is important to remember, freedom doesn't come cheap....

… It was a cost paid not just for that generation, but for the generations that followed, and prospered, as we strove to achieve a society in which there would be no more war....  I ask something of each and every individual -- pause and reflect on those who sacrificed everything for the cause of freedom. Those who came home to a new world, and those who never returned.

Think about the price of freedom.

Honor their memory."

That still holds, not just on the anniversaries and holidays, but whenever we have the opportunity.

Chris Six is Managing Editor of the Fauquier Times, Gainesville Times and Prince William Times. Email him at csix@fauquier.com and follow him on twitter @christophersix1
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