Jediah Logiodice's Blog

To the Left and the Right… troubling times are here…

I found this draft blog post today after seeing another attempt of the Obama administration using coercion to try and override the Democratic process. Things haven’t changed in over a year. smh.

http://www.allenbwest.com/michellejesse/breaking-justice-department-makes-huge-ruling-on-transgender-bathrooms

[cont. from almost a year ago]

This quote I ran into this afternoon is worth pondering… put the most recent ruling aside, because no matter which side you are on, you should smell danger.

Some of the most recent areas of contention: marijuana, Obama Care and equal rights based on sexual proclivities underlines a growing pattern: when the government overrules the democratic process, how long will it be before the people rise once again to say “enough is enough”?

Today, I can think of only one thing that is providing the glue that keeps us in a cohesive bond across this country… and that alone, is scary, given its ephemeral, coercive nature: money and the federal reserve bank. How long will states allow their constitutional sovereignty to be overridden based on the color of printed paper? How would the government respond if states decided to secede from the union?

We need to find a democratic way to bring us back to our democratic roots, because, based on history, our republic is not really “our” republic, and ‘our’ government, created by the people and for the people, will not hesitate to take unilateral action to remain in control… it’s the nature of humanity.

Definitely worth pondering…

Here is the quote:

“It appears the American Experiment (i.e. can man, acting in concert with his Maker, govern himself free of despots and tyrants) has largely terminated after only a couple of hundred years. I am thankful to God to have been given a fleeting glimpse of the tail end exiting freedom’s door.”

Layer 8 security: hacked by email.

Last week I received a letter in the mail claiming to be from the city of Suffolk. They want me to pay a tax on my cars. The tax is less than $100, but you know what; I already paid a fee to register my cars. Perhaps the request is legit, but it seems just a little bit suspicious. What if that letter came through email with a link to click for me to make a PayPal payment? Is email any more secure than the US Postal service? How do you know the letter, or the email, that claims to have come from a certain person actually came from that person. The postal system, like the internet is kind of the wild, wild west.

There are plenty of technologies that can help solve this issue – if someone expresses interest, I would be happy to dig into those technologies in the near future. However, as a quick way to raise your awareness of the dangers of trusting email (or snail mail) without a discerning eye, pop over to the New York Times and read the post about the Magazine Publisher that just lost 1.5 Million dollars due to an email scam.

The short story:

Someone hacked into the email of the CEO and sent an email to the Accounts Payable department to wire 1.5 million dollars to an offshore Chinese bank account.

The dutiful employee complied.

The problem here is not that someone hacked the CEOs email, this type of stuff happens every single day in the real world. The problem is that the receiver on the other end didn’t apply any type of analysis or intelligence to the request (e.g. is this risky, is this unusual?). It is interesting to note that the “CEO” sent a second email to Accounts Payable. This second employee thought “Hey, this seems odd, maybe I should double check with the CEO”.

Result: 1.5 Million dollars saved.

Who knows, perhaps a 1.5 million dollar transfer request through email was a normal day in the Accounts Payable office of Bonnier Publications. If so, shame on them (see the opening paragraph).

Summary: Enterprise organizations need to eliminate email from their business processes, both from an efficiency and a security perspective. As an individual, you need to approach email with a certain amount of discernment, even if they appear to come from a trusted individual (see the opening paragraph).

I promise not to send you email from your boss asking you to buy lunch for the office: but I can’t speak for everyone.

Asking a few additional questions might just save your company 1.5 million dollars.

Remember: Security is everyone’s responsibility.

Is security your responsibility? The case of the insecure security system.

I have recently contracted with a local security company to install a fairly extensive security system into my home. The system cost thousands upon thousands of dollars, and is made by one of the top brands in home security systems. This system provides full automation, including video monitoring and recording with coverage both outside and inside my home. I have large screen TVs that display every angle at the touch of a button, I have programming interfaces which allow me to extend the capabilities of the system limited only by what I am able to cook up in today’s Z-wave enabled IoT platforms. I can monitor my home from my bedroom or 2,500 miles away – it makes no difference. This is the ultimate enabler for the security conscious home owner.

There is however, one big problem about my home security system… the system is not secure.

Wait, what? I am saying that one of the top brands of home security companies is putting security systems onto the market that are not secure? Yes, that is what I am saying: my home security system has not been designed by the manufacturer nor configured by the installer in a secure fashion. In essence, the moat around my castle has multiple unprotected drawbridges by which a minimally savvy technical person could enter and plunder booty. My booty.

Interestingly, the installer has taken a fairly disinterested stance stating that technology changes so fast and they can’t be expected to understand how to secure computerized and network devices. I feel their pain. The manufacturer will (once I contact them) undoubtedly take the position that there are WAYS to secure the system, so the problem is due to the lack of knowledge and understanding of the installer. The homeowner is a consumer and expects that the security system they have contracted out for, will allow them to secure their homes. Everyone has been fooled.

Unfortunately, they are all right and all wrong at the same time. There are technologies and architectures that could be layered on the home security system that would ALLOW the installer to install and configure the security system in a secure fashion, and the homeowner should be savvy enough about their own personal security that they should spend some time asking questions and understanding the technology they are using. And yet, there is a significant lack of knowledge that intersects between understanding how information security and physical security need to coexist.

This has got to change.

This past week, I spent the week at Gartner’s 2015 Risk Management Summit. Gartner has decided it is now time to stress the fact that Physical Security and Information Security need to work together for the health and safety of the world. This is exacerbated by computerized healthcare devices, and computerized cars; and it is only going to get more and more challenging and risky as the physical and digital worlds amalgamate.

So, here is the question: when someone exploits the weaknesses of my home security system and breaks into my home and destroys or plunders whatever it is that I hold dear… who is responsible? Is it the manufacturer that has created a system that can easily be poorly installed and configured, is it the installer who trusts the manufacturer and knows only how to crimp the wires and program the interface, or perhaps it is the homeowner who has put their trust in the installer and only knows how to click a few buttons?

The answer is “yes”: the security of the home system is the responsibility of the installer, the manufacturer and the home owner. It comes down to this: trust, but verify.

Security is everyone’s responsibility.

Check back in a few weeks; once I have an opportunity to secure the vulnerabilities introduced by the manufacturer and the installer; I plan on documenting what the issues were, and if you have this security system, what you can do to protect your home, and more specifically, the types of questions you should continue to ask yourself as your digital lines continue to blur.

It is all about education.

I must go down to the sea again

There is something indescribable and wondrous about the vast and endless sea. The call of the ocean, echoing in history, throughout the future. I cannot recall physically going into the ocean for the past 30 years. It is an amazing feeling, a feeling of both insignificance and of fortitude: insignificance in the realization of how tiny and insubstantial I am, but strength in realizing that of all creatures in creation this world was made for me.

I, as human, represent the pinnacle of crowning achievement for creation; the most complex, the most intriguing of all creatures with my abilities to think and love and reason in unique ways: being granted the blessing (or curse) of being one of the few known reasoning creatures that will spend most of my lifetime contemplating my own mortality.

I started this weak on Cocoa Beach officiating the wedding of my brother-in-law, and new sister-in-law: Jeremy and Rebecca Jewers. It was an honor and a privilege to be asked to perform the ceremony, it is the second time in my life I have been called upon to do such an amazing thing. Marriage is as wonderful as birth, and baptism; both representing a transition, a newness, a transformation from old to new; from form to form.

The wedding started with the scene from the Princess Bride: Mawage, Mawage is what bwings us togethwer today. It was the perfect fit, a perfect couple: a farm boy turned pirate and a princess. Two people, that were meant to be together.

On our last night on the beach, Amanda and I were taking a walk down the beach in the moonlight and we ran into a majestic but ominous looking foot long crab. We were in awe at his size and amazed at his beauty, until we saw that he held in his claw a baby hatchling loggerhead turtle.

We immediately went into rescue mode. I took on the crab (and he was vicious!) and encouraged him to drop the turtle (ok, I might have kicked him in the rear with my bare foot while Amanda kept his attention). Then, while I kept the crab occupied (he continued coming after me), Amanda guarded the baby turtle as it made it to the water.

In the end, we both were able to watch the turtle swim out to sea, and we then returned to the crab to take a picture of him. He belongs on the wall of shame! This was one of the most amazing things I have experienced in nature.

Being saved from Crab — Being saved from Monster Crab

Attempting to eat a Loggerhead — Wall of Shame: Attempting to eat a baby Loggerhead

We are now preparing, after a full week of God’s beautiful nature to head back to the city of San Antonio. We miss friends there, but honestly, we are not overly excited to go back; we miss the nature, the openness, the sea breeze of the east coast. It’s hard to say what the future will hold for us, but one thing for sure. Home is where the heart is, and there is no place like home.

On Capitalism, Socialism and Ride-sharing

In the article linked below, the writer argues that unconstrained capitalism must be stopped as it allows an entity to use their advantages (i.e. money, skill, intelligence) to come out ahead of others.

To be fair, the writer doesn’t say to get rid of capitalism as a whole, what the writer is really arguing is that sameness and fairness needs to be controlled by a few powerful people rather than the dictates of the buying and selling power within the market. The end result: the company with advantages should be forced to sacrifice to the others to create equality and sameness, for the good of the whole.

I am left wondering: how is that different from the end goal of socialism?

The man who speaks of sacrifice to you, speaks of slaves and masters … and intends on being the master. – Ayn Rand

Review the post @ Salon and tell me what you think.
Why Uber must be stopped or why Capitalism is bad

For a sports literate culture perhaps a tongue-and-cheek on Ayn Rand’s hypothetical Super Bowl prediction will hit closer to home.
Ayn Rand predicts superbowl results

From generation to generation

LOGIODICE, PETER PAUL, JR. Peter Paul Logiodice, Jr., age 85, of Orange, passed away on Thursday, March 27, 2014 peacefully in his home. He was born on June 25, 1928 in West Haven to the late Peter Paul and Anna Pucillo Logiodice, Sr. He was employed for over 35 years as a Cable Splicer for the Southern New England Telephone Company. After retiring, he drove a bus for the Orange School System. An active member of the community, he was a member of the Orange Volunteer Fire Department and was a coach for the Orange Little League, an avid gardener and camper in Cape Cod and in his spare time, he attended his grandchildren’s sporting events. Mr. Logiodice is survived by his loving wife, Veronica Molyneux Logiodice, devoted children Peter Paul (Dawn) Logiodice III of Maine, James (Jackie) Logiodice of Rhode Island, William (Roseann) Logiodice of Guilford, CT, Kathleen Logiodice of Madison, CT, Veronica (Louis) Pisano of Orange, CT, Russell (Bouaneung) Logiodice of Milford, CT and Jennifer (Paul Fischer) Logiodice of Idaho, 20 grandchildren, 15 great grandchildren, and sister Mary Benz of Orange. Besides his parents, he is predeceased by his son Thomas John Logiodice, grandson Louis Pisano Jr., brother Pasquale Logiodice and sister Ann Passariello. The family appreciates all the help and support of the nurses and staff at Milford Hospital and Life Choices Hospice. Calling hours are Monday, March 31, 2014 from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm at the Smith & Sefcik Funeral Home, 135 N. Broad St., Milford. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday at 10:00 am directly in Holy Infant Church, RaceBrook Rd, Orange. Internment will follow in St. Lawrence Cemetery in West Haven. Donations may be made in his name to Life Choices Hospice, www.lifechoicehospice.com, or Orange Volunteer Fire Dept., 625 Orange Center Rd., P.O. Box 878, Orange ,CT 06477 or Leukemia Society, 300 Research Parkway, Suite 310 Meriden, CT 06450. To leave condolences or for directions, please visit our website at: www.georgejsmithandson.com

Published in The New Haven Register on Mar. 30, 2014

Four Generations of ‘Pete’

Weep not

Weep not for those who have gone on before; but for those who are left behind. #NoTearsInHeaven

Up and running (again)

The blog has been down for a couple months – blame it on the juniper; although the Cisco is still acting flakey. In the mean time, life is about to change drastically for me (again). This week marks the last week of my graduate level courses.

After friday, I will have conferred upon my personage the Degree of Master – and there will be time in my life for new and different things. I think I shall require everyone to call me “Master Jediah” from now on. It’s only fitting for the accomplishment, right? 😉

So in futuristic contemplation, I have no idea what I am going to do with my life yet. School has consumed every waking free hour for the last 6.5 years. So this weekend, I will be celebrating the new life. I guess.

I will break the posting silence by stating: and so the next chapter advances, the page turns, the sun cycles on yet another day: opportunities await. To me, my next directive is to go forth and live – whatever living looks like.

Never a fear of tyranny – from a citizen of America

Has anyone else noticed that with the failure of trying to make the Zimmerman case about race, the liberal media is now running a significantly higher number of stories about gun violence in an attempt to capitalize on fears of the uninformed american people.

Remember when the British tried to disarm us?

It was Noah Webster in a letter to Benjamin Franklin who once said:

“A people can never be deprived of their liberties, while they retain in their own hands, a power superior to any other power in the state… Before standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any preten[c]e, raised in the United States (Webster, 1787).”

References

Webster, N. (1787). An examination into the leading principles of the federal constitution proposed by the late convention held at philadelphia: With answers to the principal objections that have been raised against the system. Prichard & Hall, in Market Street, the second door above Laetitia Court. Retrieved from Google Scholar.

No it is not ok to email me my Credit Card Number…

This is a copy of an actual email I had to send today… I guess there are still a lot of people out there that do not understand the perils of the internet.

[Name removed] –

Good evening. Thank you for emailing the rental confirmation: however, I am surprised and disappointed that the image attached to the confirmation email contained the credit card number we used to book the rental property. By trade, I am an information security technologist – I protect computer systems and data assets from digital theft.

Your email to my wife provided everything necessary for a digital thief to not only commit fraud against my credit card company, in my name, but it also encourages identity theft, as you included personally identifiable information and financial information within the attached image.

Unless very specific precautions are taken, email is an insecure medium and it should be assumed that the contents of email are made publicly available on the internet.

As a secondary example to underline the importance of discouraging the emailing of sensitive information, you accidentally misaddressed the email (sent to *******@******.com rather than ******@*****.com). While the email was still redirected to a domain I have ownership in, because of my specific configuration, the email could have just as easily, sans my configuration, resulted in a scenario where my credit card was sent to some random person somewhere out on the internet.

As a necessary precaution, I now have to cancel my credit card, get a new card reissued, and go through the long and time consuming process of updating all my billing relationships – a set of tasks I had not planned on spending my evening completing.

I would recommend, in the future, that the practice of emailing sensitive information (such as credit card numbers) be eliminated from HOA procedures.

Thank you.

[Signed]