On this episode of The Ron Burgundy Podcast, Ron Burgundy and his producer, Carolina, talk about the Internet, which Ron informs us was βoriginally created by the US military as a way for members of our armed forces to trade baking recipes with each other,β and that Alexander Graham Bell connected the first computers to one another back in 2004. βAnd itβs never been more dangerous,β Ron warns. βI don't like to contribute to the culture of fear, but the Internet is truly terrifying. Right now, look at your children. They aren't safe. The elderly are at constant risk.β Fortunately, for this episode they have cybersecurity expert Richard Greenberg in the studio to ask about everything from passwords to pop-ups to how to protect yourself on the web. βItβs going to be fascinating to crack open his skull and figure out whatβs swimming around in there,β Ron tells Carolina. βMetaphorically, I mean.βΒ
Ron asks Richard - donβt call him Dick - about hacking first. βWho are the hackers? Are they a musical group?β Turns out, they arenβt, and not all hackers are criminals, either. Richard says theyβre called black hat or white hat hackers. White hats try hacking into systems in order to find and fix the vulnerabilities; black hat hackers try to steal peopleβs personal data, banking information, and so on. βEvery piece of information, credit card, social security, medical records, it has a value on the dark market,β Richard tells us.Β
In that case, passwords must be very important, Ron muses. βNow for myself, I just use the same password for everything in my life. Is that the right thing to do?β Richard advises against it, telling Ron, βBlack hat hackers now...have ways where they can run scripts in computers and try thousands, hundreds of thousands if you will, password combinations, just random letters,β enabling them to crack Ronβs password - βboobsβ - in about a minute. βIβll take those chances,β Ron says, and Carolina replies incredulously, βYou will?βΒ
What about terms and conditions? Ron wants to know. βNow, I actually take the time to read every single word and then I send it to my lawyer and...he makes changes, and it takes forever, but I think itβs worth it.β Unfortunately, itβs not, in Richardβs opinion; he says essentially all Internet providers are saying the same thing: βwe might get your stuff and...we might sell it. Thatβs the unfortunate part...there are rules in the European Union and they might come our way, which affords us a bit more control of our personal data.β But as far as Ronβs changes, theyβre probably being βfiledβ straight into the trash can. βBut my attorney charges me hourly,β Ron protests. βYouβre saying itβs a waste of time?βΒ
Ron discovers that the next big move in tech will probably be people getting chips implanted, rather than using phones like we do now. βPeople are getting chips installed now to protect themselves from kidnapping...if they're political, in office, and certain questionable countries," Richard says. "So the technology's there.β Ron got a chip installed because he got lost once, he tells Richard, but it turned out to be a poker chip instead of a microchip. βIt did nothing. The guy ripped me off,β Ron says. βAlso, it's horribly infected.β Carolina makes a note to get that looked at.Β
Join Ron, Carolina, and Richard to find out more about how to protect yourself on the Internet, Ronβs favorite CB radio lingo, and if robots are friends or foes, on this episode of The Ron Burgundy Podcast.Β
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