Latest headlines: Paul Konikowski on the Colonial Pipeline hack, Gary Kayye with advice about InfoComm 2021, plus news from Panasonic & more
July 27, 2021 | Volume: 7 | Issue: 14
In today’s AV Buyers.Club, Paul Konikowski is back to talk about another cyberattack. This one hits a little closer to home for me since it’s all about the Colonial Pipeline attack in May. This attack greatly affected North Carolinians — as gas quickly became a scarce resource for a few weeks. As end users, you may be thinking: What does this have to do with me? Well, if you’re a tech manager, AV/IT specialist, or any other similar job position, understanding cybersecurity issues and risks is a must. They can frequently ripple effect into chaos; the Colonial Pipeline attack demonstrates that point perfectly. (I never want to see someone panic-buying a clothes hamper full of gas again in my life.)
Our second column this week from Gary Kayye encourages us to prepare for InfoComm 2021. I don’t expect to see as many end users at InfoComm this year, but I think 2021 is a great time to set the show up for success for future years. What do you think? Will you be attending InfoComm this year? How do you think the show will compare to past years?
Let me know — add me on LinkedIn. I’m very interested to hear your thoughts.
On May 7, 2021, the DarkSide ransomware locked up the “business end” of the pipeline, shutting down office computers, file servers and phone systems. According to statements put out by Colonial, the attack did not directly impact the pipeline operations, but the company decided to shut down the pipeline. Colonial likely did this for two reasons: One, as a precaution, to make sure the ransomware didn’t spread any further; two, without the business office computer system, they could not bill customers for the oil flowing through the pipeline.
don’t think we need to review how and why we came to where we are with this year’s event being in late October in Orlando, Florida but, it’s worth noting how this year’s show will — more than any show in the history of our industry — steer the next two years of our businesses. With that in mind, and a lot of still-unknowns due to the brutally obvious, I have decided to publish a series of recommendations to help us all get the most of our InfoComm 2021 experience — and these will serve both the exhibitors (manufacturers) and the integrators as well as systems designers and distributors, too!