A story of tech infiltration broke about how a server manufacturer was compromised by the Chinese security folks (allegedly). The Big Hack: How China Used a Tiny Chip to Infiltrate U.S. Companies, outlines how many US firms use the technology that was compromised. Why am I talking about this here? This is a game changer for technology. Most of your technology is assembled by small companies in the far east, and now that it has been proven that they are compromised, how the manufacturing chain works will have to change.
Who is compromised? Every firm that matters: Apple, Amazon, NASA, Banks, Government Agencies, etc., etc.,. Expect statements soon from all of them, attempting to downplay the scope of this hack (however it is very big).
The current U.S. regime is already xenophobic, there will now be a push to “Buy BUILT in America ONLY”, especially in the tech area (and absolutely on Government contracts).
This leads to the other big news this week the completion of NAFTA USMCA. The new agreement has changes that will screw affect farmers, but it seems to be better than nothing. It did not remedy the “buy America” policy the U.S. governments currently have, thus Canadian firms still cannot easily penetrate the lucrative U.S. government contract world.
The tech infiltration will not help with this lack of access to the U.S. Government contracts. If anything rules will get tighter in this area.
Are you feeling paranoid about your own tech security? You should, since Wired just told us, How Russian Spies Infiltrated Hotel WI-FI to hack victims up close. Remember if you are using any kind of public WiFi, don’t use your banking app, better still, just don’t connect to it. Your phone will tell you it is not secure, believe your phone. If you get a VPN (virtual Private Network) you might be safer, but never completely.
Hell of a Wind
We were lucky that all that happened to our house, during the Ottawa Tornadoes, was we lost power for about 49 hours. This meant all food in all of our freezers and refrigerators had to be thrown out (about $1000 worth is my guess). Given my home insurance deductible, it is not worth claiming. We have friends that were much worse off, and my wife and I actually were in Burlington the weekend (visiting my Grandson).
My daughter got to enjoy Barrhaven in the Dark for the weekend, and did an excellent job taking care of the house. Our City Councillor and Provincial MP did a great job helping folks out as well.
I will be putting together a better power outage plan, as the current one wasn’t very good. A generator is an idea, but would entail a great deal of work on our house wiring too. Maybe Solar or a Tesla house battery system?
My Recent Writings
Keeping with my technology theme here, I did write, FinTech’s Foundations COBOL. I loved COBOL at school, it was so easy to comprehend, and maybe I can retire and get some contracts programming in it? Maybe my skills are a bit too rusty though.
Wonder what kind of Tech Infiltration there is on the COBOL side of things?
Deep Money Thought
“Fortune aids the audacious” -Virgil
“What Fortune has made yours is not your own.†-Seneca
A stoic thought about money, what Fortune gives you, you must be wary of, and plan for when it is not there. Virgil’s comment is the more popularly quoted, but Seneca’s view is important to remember as well.
Winter is Coming
The days continue to get shorter and colder, and in some places there is actually snow falling, yikes. The trees are changing colour which is lovely, but I am not enjoying the shorter days.
- There has been a great deal of talk about FIRE, and not just because it is getting colder. Michael James asks, What Does FIRE mean? He gives a personal perspective on the topic that is always enjoyable.
- Staying on the fire theme, Get Rich Slowly, has a podcast about how Suze Orman hates the FIRE movement. She hates it, she hates it, she hates it. I used to like Ms. Orman a lot more, she seems to have gone off message in my books. If you can retire early, why not do it?
- The Blunt Bean Counter brought us, CRA Adjustment and Information Requests and Tax Update, always entertaining to read about other folks’ issues with the CRA. I do enjoy their daily phone calls about how I am about to go to jail, if I don’t call them right back. I work in the government, nothing moves that fast, you can’t fool me.
Financial Tweet of the Week
I do enjoy Scott Terrio’s tweets, and he is well worth following. This one made my stomach turn. Have I said scumbag payday loan companies lately?
This one from Postsecret is a little more macabre (but true).
The New 2018 Random Thoughts
- Back to School, London Calling, Basic Cable and #MoneyTalk (September 14th)
- Tighter Money, the 13th , Hydro Savings and #MoneyTalk (July 14th)
- Ganja Tourism, Sneaker Smuggling, Solar Potential and #MoneyTalk (June 22nd)
- Mothers Day, Counterfeit Reality, Higher Stress and #MoneyTalk (May 11th)
- Decisions, Bitcoin, Inflation and #MoneyTalk (April 20th)
- Stock Picking Update, Crypto Credit, and #MoneyTalk (April 13the)
- RDSP, Easter, Thanks Rusty and #MoneyTalk (March 29th)
- Facebook, Spring is here and #MoneyTalk (March 23rd)
- Still Financially Crazy after 13 Years (March 16th)
- Steady Interest Rates, Spring Forward and #MoneyTalk (March 8th)
- Budgets, Phoenix Death, Inflation and #MoneyTalk (March 2nd)
- Potholes, Tuition Increases, and #MoneyTalk (February 23rd)
- RRSP, Lent, Happy Year of the Dog and #MoneyTalk (February 16th)
- Roller Coaster Markets , Olympics and #Moneytalk (February 9th)
- Superb Owls, RDSP Deposit and #MoneyTalk (February 2nd)
- OHIP Overload, Doomsday minus 2 minutes, and #MoneyTalk (January 26th)
- Tighter Money, Best Investment, Go North! and #MoneyTalk (January 19th)
- Paper Delivery, Bitcoin and #MoneyTalk (January 12th)
- Polar Vortexes, Minimum Wage and #MoneyTalk (January 4th)
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