IT Insights Blog — security

Hey, remember the data breach, announced last year, that compromised 500 million user Yahoo! user accounts? Remember how Yahoo! followed that up by announcing a second, separate incident that involved 1 billion compromised accounts? In case either of those slipped your mind, on Wednesday Yahoo! announced that they “may have” experienced yet another data breach. Naturally enough, perhaps, Yahoo! laid these nefarious deeds at the doorstep of state-sponsored hackers. They didn’t name any particular countries, but cybersecurity experts are pointing the finger of blame at either China or Russia.

Earlier today two of my colleagues were engaged in a skirmish in the long-running battle of defense versus offense. In the end, they both agreed that defense is important to winning a championship. Indeed, most people accept as a truism that “defense wins championships.” Just bringing up the topic causes pundits of all stripes to regularly roll out stats and charts proving the primacy of defense.

What does troubled web search titan Yahoo! have in common with Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert? Trick question: Yahoo! and Rudy Gobert are sort of the opposite of each other. Permit us to explain: Yahoo! users — the ones who pay attention to current events, at any rate — were rocked in September by the company's disclosure that, two years previously, hackers had broken through its security perimeter and made off with personal data connected to 500 million user accounts.

The day that was famously dubbed by then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt as a “date which will live in infamy” was 75 years ago today. The Japanese took everyone by surprise as they bombed the United States Naval stronghold at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. In total, 18 ships were sunk or run aground, 188 American planes were destroyed, and 2,403 American lives were lost.

For a few minutes every Nov. 11, I ponder the First World War. The senseless carnage and loss of life is sobering. Last Friday was the 98th anniversary of the armistice signed between the Allies and Germany. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the slaughter of the “War to end all wars” came to an end.