Mike Elgan

Amira took this photo yesterday around sunset during our drive from L.A. to the Bay Area. 

As businesses grow, so does their attack surface. More network-connected devices drive innovation and efficiency. But with more devices comes more cyber risk.  Protecting the ever-expanding attack surface is more important than ever, with high-profile vulnerabilities being exploited more frequently—and with more impact. 

One of the most effective ways to mitigate cyber risk is by creating and maintaining a robust vulnerability management program.

Personalization is good. It makes people feel good about brands that offer it. Good old-fashioned personalization typically uses data points such as name, title, purchase history, zip code and behavioral data to present relevant information.

The most common example of personalization is mass marketing emails that address each customer by name. Another is when a consumer is browsing for a brown jacket and are then shown online ads for brown jackets on other sites.

Hyper personalization takes it up a notch with artificial intelligence and near-real-time data to provide extremely relevant and timely content to customers. 

Using AI, customer behavior and preferences can be finely captured, and that data can be turned into specific messaging delivered at the right time and place for maximum effect.

Here's how to do hyper personalization right.

If a store you visit often suffers a cyberattack, you might feel like someone went through your wallet. This kind of attack or data breach, and this kind of feeling, isn’t new. The growing frequency, cost and impact of cyberattacks are new — and consumers notice. Consumers are more aware of attacks than ever before. After all, they affect the public directly more often now, such as when attackers steal their personal information from a large company.

Here's how consumer awareness is changing as the result of the rise in cyberattacks. 

Mashed potatoes with butter and a little garlic, combined with chanterelle mushroom gravy!

Sourdough fermented three days. 

I have no idea what this complicated mixture is that Amira made for Squishyface to rub on the turkey, but it’s delicious. 

Every year we drink for Thanksgiving this stunning amber wine called Veto — both made by our wonderful friend, Sara Meneguz, whose winery is in the Prosecco Hills district of Veneto (just north of Venice). The color of Veto is mind-blowing. The taste is indescribable, unlike any other wine I have ever tasted. And it’s the only wine I know of that pairs with all our Thanksgiving foods. I always try, but fail, to capture the color in photographs. But I love the way this Italian wine sparkles in the California sunshine. I’ll keep trying. 

Pumpkin pie made with fermented emmer and whole spelt crust and butternut squash (which tastes better than pumpkin). 

If you drive around the parts of Morocco where they grow argan trees for argon oil, you'll always find herds of goats that love to climb the trees. They're cute and I miss them. But the good news is that we'll be going back to Morocco in February! 

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a powerful boon to business. But it also represents a massive potential expansion of the cybersecurity attack surface. So far, IoT inclusion in many organizations has been poorly organized, haphazard and poorly planned. This needs to change. After all, IT security depends on IoT security.

Cybersecurity threats, risks and challenges vary a lot from one region to the next and one nation to the next. Targets vary based on local resources to exploit. Cyber criminals and nation-state attackers zero in on specific nations, companies and organizations for varying incentives. 

Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated cybersecurity threats. Attackers might launch remote work-enabled attacks or social engineering attacks using COVID-19 fears as the content. The pandemic caused supply chain and economic woes, too. 

Here are the top cybersecurity issues in each corner of the globe today. 

Getting breached is the surest way to learn your organization’s cybersecurity vulnerabilities. And that’s why you need to hack yourself before threat actors do. A cyber breach and attack simulation, also called red teaming, is best to understand vulnerabilities in practice, rather than just theory. What can you do before, during and after a simulated attack to boost your defenses?

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been making news lately by talking about the “metaverse.” Zuckerberg says it’s the future of Facebook — and the internet. He’s so committed to the idea that he intends to hire 10,000 Europeans to work on it, and even change the name of his company from Facebook to a metaverse-related brand.

Are we all going to live and work in Facebook’s “metaverse”?

Most organizations take what you might call an active approach to cybersecurity, They’re prepared to do certain things once an attack happens. Or, they take a reactive approach, taking action after an attack is completed. A proactive cybersecurity strategy is about acting before any attack occurs; it’s a good cybersecurity posture of readiness.

Take a look at the policies, tools and practices that make up proactive cybersecurity measures.

It’s called the Carajillo. Delicious!