Job interview

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Reaching the end of a job interview, the Human Resources Officer asks a young engineer fresh out of Varsity, “And what starting salary are you looking for?”

The engineer replies, “In the region of $1,250,000 a year, depending on the benefits package.”

The interviewer inquires, “Well, what would you say to a package of five weeks’ vacation, all expenses paid holidays, full medical and dental, company matching retirement fund to 50% of salary, and a company car leased every two years, say, a red Mustang?”

The engineer sits up straight and says, “Wow! Are you kidding?”

The interviewer replies, “Yeah, but you started it.”

Little Johnny

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At Sunday School they were teaching how God created everything, including human beings.

Little Johnny seemed especially intent when they told him how Eve was created out of one of Adam’s ribs.

Later in the week his mother noticed him lying down as though he were ill, and she said, ‘Johnny, what is the matter?’

Little Johnny responded, ‘I have pain in my side. I think I’m going to have a wife.’

The heat is on

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We all know what a car is. Chances are, if you are reading this, then you drive a car. We all should therefore know what an engine temperate gauge is. Of course we do. It is an early warning system.

I have had a car engine overheat twice in in the past 30 years. The first time when I was a student, on the way to Sun City, and it resulted in the engine having to be overhauled – it was not a cheap exercise.  Luckily, I won at the black jack table, and managed to pay for the engine to be repaired with my winnings. The second time I had an engine getting hot was a few years ago, and I pulled over, called for a tow truck, and skipped a big headache.

If your engine is overheating then is it too late? Depends … if you are alerted when the gauge starts to rise, then you can save the engine. But if you never know then it will probably end with the engine seizing. These days, modern cars will have warning lights that come on when the engine overheats. With my first car, we saw smoke coming out of the engine – we never noticed the needle starting to rise, and there were no warning lights back then.

If your car engine is getting hot you want to know about it. The last thing you want is for the thing to seize or explode. And likewise, if your computer network is heating up, you want to know about it. An early warning can save you from a disaster – know before it is too late.

In short: when the heat is on, be in the know. Don’t overheat or you may never recover.

A car is something we all are familiar with. A computer network not as much. Sure, we all know that the ultimate computer network, the Internet, is the infrastructure that allows you to read this article, catch an Uber, check into a flight, communicate with people around the globe, etc. But most folk don’t know how any of this works, and shouldn’t have to.

The IT folk that are maintaining and building this infrastructure should know, but when it comes to cyber security, it is often overwhelming to try understand where all the different products and services fit in. That is my experience dealing with corporates these past 2 years here in SA, and in other countries on the continent. We have a serious skills shortage.

Everyone knows that a firewall is fundamental, but what if wrong-doers bypass the firewall (it happens constantly) because of phishing attacks, illegal modems, un-checked USB drives, and the most simplest and cheekiest, a criminal just strolling into your office campus, charming their way past the front desk, walking into a meeting room, ordering coffee noggal, and then finding a LAN point and plugging in their laptop.

We need early warning systems. Notification devices that tell us if something is not right. Protection is one thing, but detection could save your ass.

The recent breach scenario at Liberty Life is not something you want happening to you. So, be proactive and deploy early warning systems. Lay down network traps. Honeypots can go a long way to making sure your engine never seizes.

Click here to learn more about a honeypot : https://vimeo.com/237585905