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  • Jason Stadtlander

Our Legacy and What We Leave Behind
Our Legacy and What We Leave Behind 1707 1280 Jason Stadtlander

The movie “The Road” starring Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee is a movie based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Cormac McCarthy’s book, “The Road.” For those who haven’t seen the film, it is an extremely powerful film about hardship, the love of a child and survival instincts. The book is also an incredible read, but difficult.

That movie – and my novel, The Steel Van Man – have made me wonder about the connection to our children and families, and to ask myself what lengths I might be willing to go to protect my family.

I can attest to my own experiences and feelings toward family, children and the overwhelming need to protect them.

A Family to Live or Die for . . .

protect-the-childrenFor those of you who do not know, I have two children of my own, and I can say without thinking about it, I would kill to protect them. When I am gone from this world, all that will remain of me will be the words I leave behind and my children. Although I hope my writing endures, my children are paramount in all that I do, see, breathe and speak.

In The Road, a father is trying to guide his son to safety, and in doing so,  shows him what is right and what is wrong. At one point, attempting to protect the boy, the man steals the clothes from another man who has just robbed them. The boy later encourages his father to return the clothes to the man and leave behind food for him, showing the father what it means to retain a level of humanity during a time of distress and societal collapse.

At what cost do we allow humanity and society to influence our families? If you have children and are at home reading this, look at your children right now. If you are at work reading this, look at a picture of your children – I’m sure you have one around. What are their lives worth? What is their safety worth? Looking at your child playing on the floor or smiling up at you from that photo. You know that you will do absolutely anything to protect that innocent life. Your needs are (should) be secondary to theirs. You will carry the world on your shoulders, plow through any obstacle and face any challenge to help that little person – that little human who is part of you and someone else. You will help them to become someone special, to be more than you are right now.

Now, look at this from a different perspective. Times are constantly changing, rules of society changing. Some rules for the better and some not. How far will we allow humanity to dictate the final outcome of our children? How much do we allow society to control and skew the perspectives of our children for the betterment of society?

We as a species fight all the time over politics, race, gender classification, and religion. Your race doesn’t matter; neither does your class, gender classification, your spiritual denomination or your job. I know that sounds harsh, but it’s true. It matters to you, but in the great scheme of things none of this matters when it comes to the responsibility of raising your child. Hell, none of them really matter even when you don’t have children. In the end, when you are gone from this world, you are gone for good. Take control of the world around by starting with yourself and your family. Concentrate on what you can change in the immediate, then focus on what seems impossible to change.

Complicated Times – Simple Rules

family-time-is-most-importantWe live in an age of over-stimulation, an age of instant information, social media and media overload. These access points are constantly trying to change our perspective on the world around us. Worse, they are trying to change the perspective of our children, parents be damned.

In our home we have five (primary) rules:

  • Treat others with respect
  • Expect respect, but fight for it if you don’t get it
  • Eat dinner with no television, computers or phones while sitting AT the table – every night
  • Never hit someone, but know how to defend yourself
  • Never, ever lie to those you love

The most important thing to take away from all of this is; Believe in yourself and what you feel is right deep down in your heart, and what you know will guide your child in the right direction.

Because in the end. . . they are what we you leave behind. Our children are what we all leave behind.

 

the-power-of-love-jason-stadtlander
  • Jason Stadtlander

The Power of Love
The Power of Love 2400 1350 Jason Stadtlander

I have written many poems and stories on love within this blog. Just look at the keywords to the left of this article to read some of them or use the search box.

I attempted to define love as best I could in “Love Is…“, and although I get a LOT of hits on the article, I still find it doesn’t do the word ‘love’ justice.

In a word – Love

Arabic: حُب
Bulgarian: любов
Chinese: 喜爱
Czech: láska
Danish: kærlighed
Dutch: liefde
Estonian: armastus
Finnish: rakkaus
French: amour
German: die Liebe
Greek: αγάπη
Hungarian: szeretet
Icelandic: ást
Indonesian: sayang
Italian: amore
Japanese: 愛
Korean:애정
Latvian: mīlestība
Lithuanian: meilė
Norwegian: kjærlighet
Polish: zamiłowanie
Portuguese: amor
Romanian: dragoste
Russian: любовь
Slovak: láska
Slovenian: ljubezen
Spanish: amor
Swedish: kärlek
Turkish: aşk

Those are just twenty nine of the roughly 6,500 spoken languages in our world. Every single language has a word for love. Some languages have multiple expressions of love within a single word. So the concept of love itself is far from alien to our species, but the ability to completely understand it is as complex as the ability to understand faith.

The Force of Love

When Obi-Wan Kenobi told Luke Skywalker to “trust in the force”, he spoke of a power that surrounds us. This power can also be compared to love and hate. Love, being the good side of the “force” and Hate being the “dark” side of the force. Love can consume us, support us and tear us apart.

~

A man sees a young woman in Grant Park in Chicago, finds her attractive and sits down at the bench next to her as she is feeding some pigeons and reading a book. He tries not to stare but admires how her long hair cascades over her shoulders and over her light jacket. Then his eyes trace down her arm to her delicate hands that hold the book. Sensing someone looking at her, she lowers her book and sees the dark-haired man with a five o’clock shadow, trying not to look at her but their eyes lock. It’s love at first sight.

As the days progress into weeks the two get to know each other and find multiple common the-power-of-love-jason-stadtlanderbonds. They grow closer and closer, and love becomes a comfort, a blanket that keeps them warm and carries them through each day. It’s the comfortable love of daily life.

One day, the woman gets a job that requires her to move back to France where she was raised. He goes with her temporarily to help her get established, intending to, and wanting to come join her when his own job will allow. They spend four beautiful weeks in France and she shows him sights that only the locals know, such as the markets of Marché St. Quentin and the historic movie theater of La Pagode. Then the day comes that he must go back to Chicago. His heart wrenches as he hugs and kisses her goodbye, never knowing when he will see her physically again and he walks through security at Charles de Gaulle Airport. The man forces himself to board the plane and talks with her on the phone until the flight attendant requests him to turn off the phone. He sits, staring out the window as the plane pulls away from the gate and for the first ten minutes, it feels as though someone has attached a cable to his heart and tethered it to the tarmac. For he breaks down, silently crying to himself as his heart is ripped from his chest. It’s the pain of love.

Love That Heals

Love has been shown to have healing properties. Holistic medicine firmly follows the idea that love has strong healing powers. In hospitals, it is now routine to use therapy animals. These are animals that are very good-natured and trained to be with the ill or injured patients and give them love such as the Comfort Dogs of Boston.

Sitting next to a loved one that is in a coma and talking to them is regular practice. Not only because it keeps the loved one in the lives of those that are conscious, but it has also been shown to help the patients heal.

Studies have shown that people who have someone to love or have someone who loves them, live longer than those who do not.

Love of a Child

To hold a brand new human in your arms, one that (ideally) has been created with someone you love, is overwhelming. The flood of undefinable emotions and the incredible reality that there is a new life in your world that will always be a part of you is a consuming love. As the days go on and you get to know this small life, this child, it knows how to do only four things; Eat, sleep, poop and love you (you like how I ordered those?). The love that a child shows for a parent is unconditional and conversely, the love that a parent has for the child is nurturing and encompassing.

Love Defined by a Child

In researching what love means, I came across a very amusing article that discusses how children define love. Here are five of my favorite children’s definitions of love:

  • “Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired.” Terri – age 4
  • “Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.” Karl – age 5
  • “When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore.  So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too.  That’s love.” Rebecca – age 8
  • “If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,” Nikka – age 6
  • “Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen,” Bobby – age 7

What does the power of  love mean to you?

The First Thanksgiving
  • Jason Stadtlander

The First Thanksgiving – A Festival of Food in 1621
The First Thanksgiving – A Festival of Food in 1621 1200 675 Jason Stadtlander

Famine and Celebration

It took the original colonists sixty-six brutal days to cross the Atlantic back in 1620, finally dropping anchor near the tip of Cape Cod. One month later, the Mayflower crossed Massachusetts Bay and settlers began establishing the first village of Plymouth.

The First ThanksgivingThrough that first brutal winter, most of the colonists lived aboard the Mayflower, suffering from exposure as well as many other contagious diseases and killing off half of the ship’s complement. In the spring, the remaining settlers moved ashore and were approached by an Abenaki Indian who surprisingly, greeted them in English. A few days later, they returned with another Native American named Squanto, a member of the Patuxet tribe, who had been kidnapped by an English captain and sold into slavery; Squanto later escaped to London and returned to his homeland on an expedition. The Pilgrims, suffering from disease and malnutrition, were educated by Squanto on how to cultivate corn, extract sap from trees and catch fish in local rivers. Squanto taught them which plants were safe for consumption and which were poisonous. He also helped the Pilgrims forge an alliance with the local Wampanoag tribe with which would they would remain allies for more than 50 years. Sadly, it remains the sole example of harmony between the colonists and Native Americans.

plymouth-thanksgivingFollowing a successful harvest in November of 1621, Governor William Bradford organized a celebratory feast and invited a group of the colony’s new Native American allies to join them. The festival of food lasted three days and became known as America’s first “Thanksgiving.” Ironically, the Pilgrims were completely out of sugar by this time, so they had no pies, cakes or other delicious confections we so often associate with Thanksgiving.

That’s right, not even a pumpkin pie.

Turkey Did Not Make it to the First Thanksgiving

The Pilgrims had no oven to bake a turkey, so a group of men were sent on a “fowling” mission returning with five deer which were then prepared with traditional Native American spices and methods.

The second Thanksgiving was held in 1623 to celebrate the end of a long drought. It wouldn’t be until 1789 that George Washington would finally declare this day a national holiday. Thanksgiving wasn’t officially added to the calendar at that time, each state celebrated on its own chosen date.

For thirty-six years, author Sarah Josepha Hale (author of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”) pleaded with governors, senators, and presidents to establish a nationally-recognized holiday. Finally, in 1863, Abraham Lincoln asked the nation to ask God to “commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife” and agreed to schedule Thanksgiving for the final Thursday in November to “heal the wounds of the nation” following the Civil War.

Later, Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday back a week in an attempt to help retailers during the Depression in 1936. This was met with strong opposition – so Roosevelt reluctantly changed it back to the fourth Thursday of November.

Thanksgiving by any other name…

It may surprise you to know that several other countries also celebrate a Thanksgiving:

Canada celebrates its Thanksgiving on the second Monday in October to give thanks for the close of the harvest season.

thanksgiving-around-the-world

Liberia celebrates Thanksgiving on the first Thursday of November since in 1820 it was colonized by a group of free African Americans (formerly slaves).

Norfolk Island celebrates Thanksgiving on the last Wednesday in November, having been established by visiting American whaling ships.

The people of the Netherlands celebrate the American holiday on the same day as the United States, as many of the Pilgrims were originally from the Netherlands.

Grenada, a Carribean island in the West Indies, celebrates Thanksgiving on October 25th. Their holiday actually marks the anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of the island in 1983 in response to the execution of Grenadian Prime Minister Maurice Bishop.

Ads to con people
  • Jason Stadtlander

Fake Technical Support Links in Search Engines (Google, Yahoo and more) Conning Users
Fake Technical Support Links in Search Engines (Google, Yahoo and more) Conning Users 578 462 Jason Stadtlander

There has been an upsurge of fake technical support links and pop-ups being pushed out over the last few months and one of the latest tricks up their sleeves are Google Ads that look like legit sites. The scammers basically pay the search engines (just as any company would) to place their ads at the top of search results. Only these links don’t take you to legit websites, they take you to malicious websites.

I have had numerous people contacting me believing they are victims of ransomware, malware or viruses, only to find that they are actually just being served a fake tech support website. Unfortunately, many of the people (elderly) have been duped into calling the phone number that is presented and conned into providing their credit card information to get tech support.

Why do they do it?

  • Money or PII (Personally Identifiable Information) – Plain and simple. That’s almost all it’s for. Once in a rare while the goal is to add your computer to a ‘botnet‘. But mostly it’s just to get money or personal information (to sell).

The Scenario

Here’s what happens:

  1. A user opens Google or Yahoo (or other search engines) and types in “Amazon” or “Facebook” or anything else that people frequently go to – into the search box.
  2. They then click the first link they see (which is often a malicious ad to a fake company).
  3. The next thing they know, they have an alert telling them they are infected with a virus, malware or that their computer is being held for ransom. In reality, it’s just an image designed to scare them (and it works).
    Tech Support Scams

    Image courtesy Scammer.info

How to prevent this

  • Make sure you have a decent antivirus and that it is updated. Mac users (and I can say this, because I AM a Mac user), don’t be stupid. Of course your Mac can get a virus just like any other computer can. Despite what they (supposed “experts”) will tell you, Macs are actually very guilty of ‘passing’ viruses to the rest of the world because they are convinced they don’t need antivirus. Get something good, like Sophos (my preferred choice), Symantec or McAfee.
  • DON’T BE LAZY – If you know the website address (such as amazon.com, yahoo.com, tdbank.com, etc.)  don’t be lazy and ‘search for it’, actually type it into the address bar at the top of the screen. That way you know you are going to the real website.
  • NEVER click the first links that say “Ad” to the left of the links.
  • DON’T over-react. The scammers are counting on you freaking out and calling the phone number. Step back, think, take a breath and call a computer person you trust to check it out first. If you’re in the New England area you can always reach out to me (https://stadtlanderdesigns.com), I won’t charge you anything to just look at it and see if it’s legit.

 

 

 

 

Veteran's (Armistice) Day
  • Jason Stadtlander

What Veteran’s (Armistice) Day Means to Me
What Veteran’s (Armistice) Day Means to Me 1600 1038 Jason Stadtlander

This Veteran’s Day, there are two small stories I would like to share with you. Before I do though, it’s important to note that before this was Veteran’s Day, it was called “Armistice Day”. It marks the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. A day that there was a temporary cessation of hostilities declared between the Allies and Germany during World War I (then known as “The Great War”).

Although in this article I am specifically mentioning American Veterans, it is very important that we acknowledge not only our American Veterans but the veterans of all countries who have fought for and continue to fight for the future peace of our children and all of those who will lead this world long after we have gone.

My Grandpa Joe

My Grandpa Joe

Joe

In this first memory, I am four years old, sitting on my grandpa Stadtlander’s lap. I am unencumbered by what other’s think of him, I don’t know his past nor do I care at this age. He is wearing denim overalls with maybe a dozen pockets in them.  He smells like an old cigar and turpentine. He’s talking to someone, perhaps grandma, perhaps Dad, I can’t recall. I remember being obsessed with all these little tools he had in his pockets. Pulling out carpenter pencils, and putting them back in. Pulling out a ruler here, a measuring tape there, a file, and then putting them back where I found them. I remember looking up at his weathered face as he smiled at me and I remember hugging him and I remember his big arms hugging me back.

A year later my mother and father sat me down and told me that there was something growing inside him called cancer. That there was something the size of a grapefruit attached to an organ called a pancreas. Shortly after they told me this, he died. He was fifty-five years old, ten years older than I am now. It was the first great loss I can remember.

B17G Flying Fortress

My Grandfather’s Plane

Years later I found out that grandpa was an aircraft mechanic and a belly gunner (someone who sits in the machine gun pod on the underside of the aircraft) on a B17 Flying Fortress during World War 2. He was stationed in Labrador near the arctic circle where he served along-side his identical twin brother.

Grandpa passed away 40 years ago (almost to the day). I’d like to say I miss him, but I don’t really remember him very much. I do wish I had gotten to know him better.

My Grandpa Virgil

My Grandpa Virgil

Virgil

My maternal grandfather, Virgil is a completely different story. I have so many memories with him that I treasure, that to pick out a single one would do all the other memories injustice. He is my grandfather, my best friend, and my hero.

I have had the honor of putting together a movie of his life and in the process have learned all about his service as a Korean War veteran. He has told me stories about being stationed in Soel and Fort Carson, Colorado. This has also encouraged me to research more on World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Grandpa turned ninety years old this year and I treasure every day that I am blessed to have him around.

Veteran’s Day to me is a family affair. I am proud to have two grandfathers, several great-uncles and MANY dear friends that I have grown up with that have helped to make our country a better place.

I have traveled all over the world and every country I visit, every person I meet outside of the U.S., continually makes realize what a great country we have (despite some of our leadership). Seeing the way many people live… I do wish we could make our country, their country. Yes, we have (a LOT of) problems, all countries do. We are all human, and it’s important to know that without our humanity, there is no country worth living in. It is human lives that have been given and I have the highest respect for everyone out there that has fought for and continues to defend our country.

Thank you to both of my grandpas, Joe and Virgil, to my Uncles Harold and George, to my friends Chris, Joyce, Torrey, Howard (RIP), Bernardo, Dave, Jessica, and probably two dozen other names that are just not popping into my head right now. To all of you, who have served and continue to serve to make this country the type of place that I want my children and my children’s children to grow up in.

Jason Stadtlander - Barnes & Noble Book Signing
  • Jason Stadtlander

Fall Book Tour 2019 Starts This Sunday
Fall Book Tour 2019 Starts This Sunday 906 960 Jason Stadtlander

My Barnes & Noble book tour starts this Sunday (in Peabody at North Shore Mall) following the release of my new book on September 26th! I’m very excited to meet up with my readers and hope to see you all there!

At each of the locations, I will be signing my new book Ruins of the Mind and there will also be copies of The Steel Van Man on hand as well. I will also be doing a reading from one of my new stories in Ruins of the Mind and answering questions.

NOTE: Supplies will be limited, so please make sure you call in advance and preorder your books.

Below are the dates for the appearances and you can also find them on my home page:

  • Sunday, October 6th at 11am
    Barnes & Noble, Peabody, MA
    (978) 573-3261
  • Saturday, October 12th at 3pm
    Barnes & Noble, Walpole, MA
    (508) 668-1303
  • Saturday, November 2nd at 1pm
    Barnes & Noble, Burlington, MA
    (781) 273-3871
  • Friday, December 13th at 6pm
    Barnes & Noble, Portsmouth, NH
    (603) 422-7733

 

fraud-attempt-using-equifax-data-breach-personal-information-and-masquerading-as-santander
  • Jason Stadtlander

Fraud Attempt Using Equifax Data Breach Personal Information and Masquerading as Santander
Fraud Attempt Using Equifax Data Breach Personal Information and Masquerading as Santander 1400 950 Jason Stadtlander

I have never seen such a well-engineered fraud attempt, so I thought that I absolutely must share it with my readers for your own protection. I will also note that it was something that I began to actually fall for, but then started to see red flags. I will note the red flags I saw in red and I’ll note the red flags that I should have seen but did not, in orange. I want to extend my deepest gratitude to Santander and the customer service representative that helped me identify this fraudulent attempt.

I was ending my day at work this afternoon when my cell phone rang with a toll-free number (877) 768-2265. I didn’t immediately recognize the number, so I figured I’d let it go to voicemail and if it’s legit, they’d leave a voicemail. Well, no voicemail. Then I got another call, and another, and another. Seven calls later I finally pick up the phone, “Hello?”

“Hello, this is Daniel Morgan from Santander’s fraud prevention department, is this Mr. Stadtlander?” the man asks.
“It is,” I reply.
“Is your home address ***************, Massachusetts?”
“It is.”
“Do you have a debit card ending in ****?”
“Yes, it’s right here in my pocket.”
“We are showing two charges at a Walmart in Atlanta, Georgia for $280.87. Are you currently in Atlanta sir?”
“No, I’m in Boston.”
“This was registered as an alert in our system and we wanted to reach out to you to resolve this. Do you have a few minutes?” the man says.
“Yes of course,” I reply.
“We would like to close this card and send you out a new one. Let me just confirm that there are no other charges appearing other than these two. One moment.”
He did not bother to verify any transactions with me. This did not occur to me until later.
There is silence as he ‘checks his computer’.
A moment later he comes back, “Yes. It looks like those are the only attempts. We will need to send out you out a new card just to be safe. Can you verify your mailing address as **************?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“And the best number to reach you is ***************?” he asked stating my cell phone number.
Yes, that is correct.” I reply.
“And your debit card ends in **** with an expiration of ** of ****?”
“That’s correct.”
“Ok, we will send out a new card via Fed-ex and you should have it by tomorrow. Let me just check with my supervisor that we can waive the $15.00 charge for overnighting it.”

Despite my irritation that someone must have been using my card, my eyebrow raises, why would they charge me to overnight a card if I’m their customer? But, I go along with it. In the meantime, I put him on speaker and google the phone number, which sure enough comes back as Santander’s customer service number. I am aware that it is not hard to spoof (fake) a caller ID number, I’ve demonstrated how to do it myself. But at this point, I’m not on full alert yet.

A moment later he comes back on and says, “Ok, no problem. We can have this to you by tomorrow morning. We want to reset the PIN as we aren’t allowed to use the default pin. What is your current PIN so we can reset it?”

WHAT?! Why on EARTH would they need my PIN? I think to myself. Now my ‘bullshit’ antennas are quivering like there’s a thunderstorm coming.

“I’m sorry, I’m not comfortable providing that over the phone,” I reply.
“I can understand your concerns sir, I assure you that this is just to protect your own confidentiality and ensure that we expedite your card back to you as soon as possible.” he begins calmly. “If it helps, I can verify additional personal information.”
“Ok, thank you,” I say. (At this point not believing a word that’s coming out of his mouth.)
“Can I verify that your date of birth is __________ and your social security number is _________?” repeating back to me my true date of birth and my full social security number. My jaw drops open and my mind is reeling.
“Yes, that’s correct,” I begin, “My PIN is _____.” I stated, giving him a fake PIN, then I say “can you hold for just one second, I have an emergency call coming in on the other line from my child’s doctor. One second.”
“Certainly sir, I’ll hold and see if I can get this input while I wait,” he states and I press the mute button.

I get on my work line and dial the same number that called me (which is also on Santander’s website) and after a series of verification prompts a woman picks up. “Hello, this is Beth (name changed to protect her identity) from Santander, how can I help you.”

I take a moment to explain the whole situation to her and I can sense her jaw also dropping open. “What?! We would never ask you for your PIN and we would never give out your social security number.” At this point, the man is asking if I’m still there and I ask her to stay on the line and listen in to the speaker call on my cell phone which she graciously agrees to.
“Hello, I’m sorry – are you still there?” I ask the man.
“Yes. Not a problem Mr. Stadtlander. I entered your PIN into our system and it says that the PIN is incorrect, is there a chance you gave me the wrong PIN?”
“No, it was definitely the correct PIN.”
Then Beth says to me in the other ear, “Ask him for his name and employee ID.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name, what is your name and employee ID? I’m just taking notes here and want to make sure I get everything.”
“Certainly sir,” he begins, “My name is Daniel Morgan and my employee ID is 45321409.”

In my other ear, Beth states “Nope. Our employee IDs do not use that format. This is completely made up. Ask him to speak to his supervisor.”

“I’m sorry, Daniel, can I speak to your supervisor?” I ask.
“Certainly sir, one moment.”
There is a pause of about a minute and then another male voice comes on the phone, “Hello, this Roger with Santander. I understand my colleague attempting to help you by getting a replacement card out to you? How can I help?”
“I’m sorry, what was your name?” I ask.
“Roger Smear.”
“Thank you, Roger. I’m sorry can you hold one second, I have an emergency call I am still trying to deal with, just give me two seconds.”
“Absolutely Mr. Stadtlander.”

Beth and I are both in shock at the level of detail on this and she recommends that I let him know that I have Santander Fraud Prevention on the other line and see what he does.

“Hello, Roger are you still there.”
“I am, do you have that PIN so that we can help get your card reset?” he asks.
“Actually, I just have a question. I have Santander’s Fraud Prevention and the local police tied in on the other line and they feel that things aren’t adding up. Do you mind if I patch you in?”
One second later he hangs up.

Now, I thanked Beth graciously and she did some further investigating while I had her on the phone and she was able to determine that there were two attempts to check my account balance using my debit card in Las Vegas a few minutes prior. But it registered as an invalid PIN and did not work. We talked for a bit and she also told me that she had recorded the entire conversation which I was happy for. She then helps me to cancel my card and send out a new one.

I am still floored at the level of detail and social engineering that went into this. As best I can figure, they got my debit card number and expiration (most likely from a card scanner in an ATM – it’s easy to do) and then matched up my relatively unique name to my information in the Equifax Data Breach (to which I am also one of the millions of victims).

Please, I cannot state this enough – be very aware anytime anyone is asking anything from you. Get validation and if there are any doubts, call your bank on the other line and confirm the validity. I would hate to guess how many people fall for this scam.
  • Jason Stadtlander

Women and Men, How Safe Are You? (In Your Daily Life) – 10 Tips to Protect Yourself
Women and Men, How Safe Are You? (In Your Daily Life) – 10 Tips to Protect Yourself 720 480 Jason Stadtlander

As I delve more and more into protecting personal information, protecting networks and helping with physical security – I tend to find myself thinking a lot about the security of the average person on the street. I walk down the street, mentally assessing each person’s vulnerability. Yeah, I know… it sounds a little creepy, but it’s amazing how many people are unaware of their surroundings.

So I want to take a moment and give you a few pointers on what I would term “S.A.R.E.”: Self Awareness at Recognizing Enemies.

It’s not about seeing everyone around you as an enemy. It’s about recognizing what your vulnerabilities are to an attack anytime you are in the public. I am shocked at how many people walk through the city, not paying attention to what is going on around them. Staring at their phones or simply not being aware of their surroundings.

I could make this list 20-30 items long, but these are what I would say are the most critical. And trust me men, this applies to you as much as to women.

How Safe Are You (In Your Daily Life) - 10 Tips to Protect YourselfTen Tips to Protect Yourself:

  1. Don’t be predictable. Be sure to alternate routes that you take when walking. Change up your schedule a little (even 5 minutes plus or minus can make a difference)
  2. Don’t stare at your phone while walking or being on the street. Glancing at your phone is fine, especially when following directions. Being fixated on your screen can cause you to trip, or more importantly be a target for an attack. Do not try and catch up on facebook or Instagram as you stand on the platform waiting for your train. You can catch up on that when you get on the train. Train platforms and bus stops are ideal locations for attackers and thieves.
  3. Don’t look down at your feet. Keep your eyes ahead of you. Looking down at the ground is a natural psychological trait. It enables us to not have to make eye contact with those around us (which in a city can be a LOT of people) and it allows us to be focused on our own little microcosm. But it’s very dangerous, especially when mixed with tip 3. If you’re looking down, you won’t see someone coming if you are their target and you also won’t be able to identify someone or a car if there is an incident that you ‘witness’. Look around at people constantly. You don’t need to make eye contact, but you need to be able to identify people if something happens.
  4. Be careful when wearing headphones while walking. Keep the volume low. If you can’t hear someone coming up behind you, then you can’t protect yourself, your purse or your backpack. If I were targeting someone for theft, I would absolutely look for someone with headphones on and looking down.
  5. Watch people watching you. It’s critical on the street, in the gym, even in the locker room to be aware of those around you. Try and mentally assess their motives, how much they are observing you, what kind of vibe do you get from each person. Trust your gut.
  6. Look around and be aware of the cameras that are watching you. This isn’t just seeing security cameras to ensure that you walk in areas that will see you if something happens. It’s also about making sure that you are not being videoed or photographed by someone with a phone without your permission.
  7. Watch out for tailgaters. A tailgater is someone that acts like they have access to the same building/gate that you have access to and following you in. If you don’t recognize someone and they are following you into a secure area, question them. (“Can I help you?”)
  8. Password protect your phone and don’t leave your phone at your workspace. Today’s phones are not cheap (as we all know). They are prime targets for would-be thieves.
  9. Keep your backpack/purse secured on yourself. Holding the strap of your backpack or your purse will ensure that even if someone ran by and grabbed your bag, they will have to handle the fact that you are already holding onto it.
  10. Be aware of your electronic presence. Google yourself regularly. See what shows up. Be aware of the photos you post. Don’t ever “check-in” when away from home, it’s a blazing announcement that it’s ok to go rob your home. Never post photos when on vacation on the same day you take them.
  • Jason Stadtlander

As a Home User – Should You Move to The Cloud?
As a Home User – Should You Move to The Cloud? 1200 800 Jason Stadtlander

“Technology professionals (and retail software and service providers) have done a phenomenal job of seriously screwing up the perspective of what the “cloud” really is and how it should properly be defined. “

Let me first state that I am an Information Technology Security Professional with over twenty years of experience dealing with everything from high-level multi-site network communications down to the home user who can’t get their iPhone to connect to their computer. I have helped the State Police with child pornography investigations and I have taught foster parents how to protect their foster children online. So, I have basically seen it all.

That being said, when I am approached by my home user clients (most of whom I have known for years) and they ask me “Should I move to the cloud?” I cringe. Not because I have any problem what so ever with my home users, what I cringe at is the fact that this is a much more complicated question than they know.

What is “The Cloud”?

Technology professionals (and retail software and service providers) have done a phenomenal job of seriously screwing up the perspective of what the “cloud” really is and how it should properly be defined.

In short, all “the cloud” really is – is your data existing on someone else’s computer data center. It’s not sitting out there in some mysterious nebula where it has the ultimate protection. It is controlled and managed by humans, albeit humans who know technology better than most people (generally speaking). But there is still the human element of controlling how safe that data is, ensuring that it is protected from viruses, hardware failures, and even natural disasters.

Where In The World Is It?

First, let’s be clear. Your data is out there somewhere, physically. It’s sitting on a computer just like your computer at home but with a TON more power than your computer.

  • Amazon Prime Drive: If you are in the U.S. and use Amazon Prime’s Drive, your data is sitting in a server (or set of servers) in Northern Virginia; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA or Northeastern Oregon. If you are in Europe, your photos and documents are sitting on a server in Dublin, Ireland.
  • Google Drive: If you are in the U.S. and use Google’s Drive feature, your data is sitting on a server (or set of servers) in Dalles, OR; Atlanta, GA; Reston, VA; Lenoir, NC or Moncks Corner, SC. 
  • Dropbox: If you are using Dropbox to move files around or share files, then your data is sitting in one of three data centers in the U.S. or in one data center in Europe. Although I do know the location of these, I am not allowed to disclose the true location. It’s the same situation though, your data sitting on someone’s server in a physical location.
  • Microsoft’s One Drive: If you are in the U.S. and use the free drive software that comes with Office 365, then your data is sitting in Quincy, WA; San Francisco, CA; Cheyenne, WY; San Antonio, TX; Des Moine, IA; Chicago, IL; or in one of two locations in VA. 

There really is no way to know (unless you work at one of these facilities) exactly which location your data is actually calling home. Companies look at your IP address (the unique address that you use to connect to the internet) and determine your approximate physical location based on that. Then they generally try to keep your data physically close to that location, just so that you don’t have very many hops (a distance term on the Internet) to deal with.

Is My Data Safe?

Well now, this is the million dollar question, isn’t it? As evasive as it sounds, your data is as safe as the people operating the facility and the service. These companies are bound by privacy laws just like most companies in the U.S. and Europe. However, being bound to the laws and actually adhering to them are two different things. It takes a lot of manpower and a lot of work to ensure that encryption algorithms are kept up to date and maintained. We all know about the TJX data breach of 2007, the Experian data breach of 2017 and the Marriott / Starwood data breach of 2018. These are just three of the more than 300 data breaches that have occurred within the last 15 years in fortune 500 companies.

Keep in mind, those are JUST the fortune 500 companies. That’s not even looking at the thousands of companies that do not fall into that category. Here is a small list of known data breaches that have occurred just in the last 6 months: 2019 Data Breaches.

My Take on it All.

In my humble opinion, it is one thing for your private information to be stolen or destroyed out there in some corporate breach or disaster. It’s another for your priceless photos or documents to be irretrievable. It is my personal belief that no one can protect my data better than I can. I am responsible for maintaining these files. It is what I cherish and plan to pass down to my children. The photos of them being born, the articles and stories I have written. The interviews I’ve done of my family members on video. I frankly do not trust these irreplaceable files to be sitting in someone else’s hands.

I do have my data on “The Cloud”, but it’s my cloud. (I also happen to hold the data for most of my family as well) I am not oblivious to the fact that there could be a fire in my house or some kind of a disaster, so I work hard to make sure that it is all well protected. I back up all of my data to a special storage server in my home. That server replicates instantly with two other storage servers. One is located sixty miles from me at a friends house and the other is located seven hundred miles away at a family member’s house. I also connect (almost daily) just to make sure security patches are performed and that the data is replicating without any problems. The data is encrypted and cannot be viewed without a special encryption key that only I possess. Also, the people who do back up to my storage solution (such as my family members and friends) are the only ones who can see their own data. If I go look at it, it’s just a bunch of encrypted files that don’t make any sense without the encryption key (password) that is located on each of the devices that I back up.

It’s not a perfect solution, but I know that even if I have a fire or flood, I can still access my data and protect the data of my friends and family. I also have instructions in my will that state how to access the data and deal with it in the event of my own demise. This is the era we live in and it’s important that we understand the impact that a loss of data can have.

What Can You Do as a Home User?

First, check and see how much data you are talking about. Most home users don’t need more than 100GB to be protected. If this is the case, then my advice is – have two backup hard drives that will hold at least three times your data (300GB hard drive if you have 100GB of data). Then back up your data to both hard drives using software such as Acronis or EaseUS and keep one hard drive in a fireproof safe at home and take the other one somewhere that is at least ten miles from your home (take it to work and keep it in your desk or store it at a family member’s home). And here is the most important part: KEEP IT UP TO DATE!! Make absolutely sure you update your backups at least every thirty days.

Lastly, if all this seems too daunting, you can always reach out to me and I can do it all for you 😉
  • Jason Stadtlander

The Opinion Driven War of the Media – Fears for my Children
The Opinion Driven War of the Media – Fears for my Children 1600 784 Jason Stadtlander

The Great Media War is underway and we are their front line.

In the James Bond movie “Tomorrow Never Dies”, media giant Elliot Carver is attempting to take over the world through media (successfully I might add). Watching this back in 1997 I thought it was entertaining but found it hard to believe that anything like that could ever happen. I will also admit I never thought of the true implications that the filmmakers were making.

I’ve always considered myself open to listening to objective opinions. Especially more in recent years. I hear about a problem, I listen to the person telling me about the problem and then I seek out additional opinions or solutions and try to objectively come up with my own opinion.

Listening to (NPR) National Public Radio, Fox News and the BBC, it is becoming increasingly clear that there are no longer any objective opinions out there. Very few people are flat out stating the true facts of the world. I encourage you to stop and take a moment to listen to them. Not just your favorite news media, but all the other ones too. If you really stop and listen to what specific stories the outlets are choosing to tell you, whose opinions they are choosing to share and the tone of the reporter’s voice, it becomes quite clear – the leading that is going on. When you listen to them, does what they are saying rapidly anger you or irritate you? This is exactly what they are counting on.

This morning I tuned into NPR and listened to them talk about D-Day’s 75th anniversary (which was the one thing I was glad to hear about) as well as President Trump’s proposed tariffs on Mexico. To listen to the reporters on NPR, they make it sound like the tariffs are a done deal and President Trump will be meeting with Mexico officials in D.C. to hopefully come to a resolution. Trying to decipher the truth, reading various outlets and trying to piece it all together I have found that the tariff threat at the moment is just that – a threat. To listen to Fox News the reporters are all talking about the “crisis” on the southern border. Their voices are quickened and panicked (nearly all of them). Just listening to them gets you feeling nervous.

The Real Point

My point here isn’t whether the Mexico tariffs or even immigration are indeed real threats. My point is the danger of the media itself as well as the lack of available non-opinionated facts to the public. We are living in a time when people are no longer making objective opinions based on educating themselves in the world around them. Instead, society is making ‘drop of the hat’ impulsive opinions based on a thirty second (or 280 character) blip of information. The more emotional the person stating the opinion can be on the news, in the tweet or on a Facebook post, the more they will sway public opinion. If they can even throw in some people that are in dire circumstances (and let’s face it – all over the world media can find someone in dire circumstances somewhere and convince the public that it’s related to their story), then they can garner strong opinions.

What I am most concerned with is our future as a community, a nation and ultimately a world society. How can we as a people, raise our children to come to their own opinions and objectively look at the world around them so that they can improve it? How can we encourage them to see out the real facts when they are so slyly hidden or camouflaged by those with money and power (and I’m talking about the media here, not specifically politicians)?

What can we do?

I think the most critical thing to do is to ensure that our children do not blindly follow any opinions. As parents, we need to encourage our children to listen to liberal views, conservative views, centrist views, and then read historical precedent on the issues at hand before they arrive at their own conclusion. We need to ensure that our children are reading, processing and reading again, as much as they possibly can. Because, if you look at all the opinions, the facts and compare them all together – the truth is hidden in there. It’s hidden in between the words and the emotions that are being blasted out at us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It’s buried under emotional outbursts and dramatic photos and videos and skewed facts. The Great Media War is underway and we are their front line. We just need to make sure that our children are well trained to see around it all.

Copyright © Jason Stadtlander - All Rights Reserved

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