IT Essence

  Apple has condemned my MacBook Air to death. The execution date will probably be around the end of October next year. Samsung has probably already executed my Android Tablet, but I can’t find the information on their site. According to endoflife.date it’s been dead for a year. And Microsoft has condemned my fabulous Dell XPS15 laptop to death on Oct 14, 2025, and executed my XPS SE desktop and my Vostro 3500 Laptop 3 years ago. So I need to replace everything …. But Wait, Why? If I don’t bury all these systems, CyberScum around the world will try to turn them into weapons against me and my family. To extort money from me, destroy my digital memories and my online identities, and cause me untold pain trying to recover. Because that old tech no longer has security support   - from the companies that made it and sold it to me. Really? Is burying and replacing my tech the best, most cost-effective protection against the CyberScum? Or is the upgrade mantra just a mor...

  W e’ve signed up for the “Plus” version of ChatGPT and thought it would be interesting to see if the response to this prompt is different from five weeks ago. Our prompt to ChatGPT Pro : (Regenerate the response to the original prompt of Jan 12) “ what is the best way to manage my online subscriptions ” The Response : Managing your online subscriptions can help you keep your finances organized and avoid unwanted charges. Here are some tips for managing your online subscriptions: 1.      Keep track of your subscriptions: Make a list of all your subscriptions, including the name of the service, the date you signed up, the amount you pay, and the renewal date. 2.      Review your subscriptions regularly: Review your list of subscriptions regularly, at least once every few months, to see if you are still using each service and if it is worth the cost. 3.      Cancel unused subscriptions: If you find a subscription ...

Now  This week I listened in on a panel discussion on “Cybersecurity and Canadian Health Care”. A couple of decades ago I had the privilege of leading the IT teams for three hospitals that sadly now seem to be the latest victims of a serious cyber attack . So I have a perspective in this subject. Organized by the Globe and Mail and CIRA – the Canadian Internet Registration Authority -  you can see background at https://www.cira.ca/blog/cybersecurity/healthcare-cyberthreats . The panel made good points around funding, planning, core competencies, and Board and Province level responsibility for cyber risk management. However, I think they missed (or maybe glossed over) a key root cause of health system vulnerability – complexity, fragmentation, and the lack of a big picture viewpoint . A comparison to the private sector might shed some light on what I’m talking about … Then Prior to joining the healthcare sector I was Corporate IT Director for a small international high-te...

W e’ve been working for some time on our weBooks product-line and the first product, “ Cyber Services ”, is now available. So, we thought we’d ask an AI what we should have done for this. Our question to ChatGPT : What is the best way to manage my online subscriptions The answer:  To manage your online subscriptions, the best approach is to regularly review the subscriptions you have and make sure they are still useful and worth the cost. Here are a few steps you can follow to manage your subscriptions effectively: 1.      Make a list of all your current subscriptions, including the cost and billing date for each one. 2.      Evaluate each subscription and decide whether it is still providing value. Consider factors such as whether you use the service regularly, whether it is still relevant to your needs, and whether there are any cheaper or free alternatives available. 3.      For subscriptions that you no long...

Had enough? Is it worth it?  Tired of the exploding costs, escalating cyber-risks, and ever increasing time spent baby-sitting your cyber services? We are. Costs? Our Netflix subscription has gone up over 20% and our National Geographic subscription by over 50% in less than 3 years. And we now seem to have subscriptions to Paramount+, Apple+, Disney+, and more. In fact, over 100 subscriptions! Risks? Ransomware gangs and other crooks try to phish account logins from us and steal them from our services. To threaten our assets, reputations, and memories. And to extort money from us any way they can. Time? We're besieged by critical update notifications and even notices of subscription agreement changes that we never actually agreed to and never had time to read. And, maybe worse, spending time wondering about all the things we're not getting security update notices about. And what about life-changing events like identify theft and ransomware attacks?  What to do? Introducing t...