Crane's Corner: 6-10-21 Hackers are No Slackers

Crane's Corner

Sometimes, I’ll just shake my head, other times I just burst out laughing at the very idea of de funding the police. Some cops are as bad as the people they arrest. Most in my opinion are hard working and fair. Deserving of our respect and admiration. If you’re a CPA, a utility worker, a car salesman, a teacher or an insurance broker, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll come home from work in one piece. Work in law enforcement and there are no guarantees.
Yes, there have been some highly publicized cases of cops using excessive force, sometimes with deadly results, but read most of the cases and you’ll find the story began with illegal behavior, usually by a repeat offender who ignored a police warning, thought they were smarter than the cops or didn’t quite understand that when cops draw their weapons, they are prepared to use them, and they’re not taught to wound, they’re taught to immobilize the offender or in layman's terms, odds are they’ll stop what they’re doing on account of their dead.

You want to talk about reforms, more accountability, specialized training, I’m all ears. But defunding--cutting back..punishing law enforcement. No way. We need more cops---and not just the ones patrolling our neighborhoods and highways; we need on line cops, patrolling the information superhighway and can stay ahead of the hackers, who hit the little fish and the whales with impunity.

Not a day goes by that I don’t see some scams directed at me. There’s a FEDEX delivery, a gift card from my bank, a special settlement from the IRS or because of my impressive resume, a job waiting for me in a warehouse at a bustling third world sea port. The come-ons look real but they’re as real as a Rolex watch priced at 15 bucks on the street. It’s like a minefiel if I click on it, it will steal my identity or turn my IPhone into a can of Mountain Dew. Passwords? I have over a hundred of em because everyone asks for one. 8 letters or more, with some numbers and some special signs. Then there's the always annoying picture game, to verify it’s really you. How many crosswalks?

The other day my Ipad reminded me that I have old passwords and that one particular password was as hard to crack as Password 1-2-3. Funny, that particular pass word had the name of an ex-girlfriend, the nickname of a 1969 Met, the number of my high school football jersey, and a symbol. Go ahead Siri, try to guess it.

When your password is compromised, it’s either the result of a data breach that sends thousands of names and passwords to the Dark Web which is to cyber-cons what Ohio State is to 300 pound lineman who run a 4 second 40 yard das, or it’s human behavior. The online offer looked real the caller could have been from a well known charity or in desperation you let a caller flatter you through an application for a great job not thinking twice about giving out your social or drivers license number.

But America’s prisons are suddenly like M-I-T or Harvard for crooks. Armed with the knowledge that the feds wanted to get pandemic relief out to as many people as possible as fast as possible, they left the front/back and side door open when executing the Cares Act. CASH ALREADY ENROUTE TO SCAMMERS Act. Cons who could find a partner outside to steal mail, had a smooth scamming phone voice or just overwhelmed the bureaucrats got fake i-d’s, applied for the benefits and waited for the cash loaded debit cards to arrive,In California, the scam run on the E-D-D could hit 30 billion. The Labor Department says the national toll may surpass 500 billion. That's the kind of money that can fund a war, house America’s poor or homeless or cover the cost of finish the story at... www.edcranescorner.com/blog-page/