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For Tech’s Sake

Practising safe tech

Season 2
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We are not the weakest link in the cybersecurity chain, at least that’s what expert Brian Honan says. Brian is internationally recognised for his expertise on cybersecurity and has advised Europol’s Cybercrime Centre along with several innovative security companies. He has even been inducted into the Infosecurity Europe Hall of Fame.


And, according to Brian, it’s the tech-makers that need to take more responsibility for the safety of our digital information. While he has some sage advice on passwords and protecting ourselves, he believes in a future where remembering dozens of different complicated sequences of letters and numbers can be a thing of the past. This will take innovative thinking from the tech-makers, resilience from attack victims to avoid paying ransoms that go on to fund more cybercrime, and for the industry to stop limiting who can become a cybersecurity specialist. Because we really do need more Brians and their brains to keep us safe.


Brian’s own cybersecurity company is BH Consulting and you can find him on Twitter @BrianHonan.


You can find lots of cybersecurity stories on SiliconRepublic.com, and a good place to start is their Cybersecurity Week collection from earlier this year. And here are a few more links you may find interesting:

— Brian recently weighed in on Ireland’s preparedness against cyberattacks for Silicon Republic: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/ireland-cybersecurity-cyberattacks-resilience-prepared-brian-honan

— If you need a refresher, this is what happened with HSE cyber attack: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/hse-cyberattack-explainer-conti-ransomware

— This is how Gmail plans to introduced verification: https://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2023/05/expanding-gmail-security-BIMI.html

— And here’s some background on Google’s plans to ditch the padlock icon in Chrome: https://www.theregister.com/2023/05/03/google_chrome_padlock/


We’ll release Brians’s interview in its entirety in our bonus feed next week, and we’ll be back in a fortnight with an all-new episode.


And follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.

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    Are data centres central to the Irish economy? Or is that just some inflated bluster from the government on behalf of Big Tech? A recent report from Maynooth University has debunked some of the government’s claims around the benefits we reap from being Europe’s data centre dumping ground, so we asked two of its co-authors, Patrick Bresnihan and Patrick Brodie, to talk to us about Ireland’s data centre dependency, and the motivating factors behind it.*** Good things we recommend ***>> Read the report, How We All Pay for Big Tech: The social, economic, and environmental costs costs of data centres in Ireland >> Check out the programme for Beta Festival 2026 >> Pick up a copy of the two Patricks’ book, From the Bog to the Cloud >> Check out the Workers’ AI Counter Summit in Dublin this weekend *** More from us ***Kelly’s Substack: kellysrubbish.substack.com FTS blog: for-techs-sake.ghost.io FTS TikTok: fortechssakepod FTS Instagram: fortechssakepod FTS Bluesky: fortechssakepod.bsky.social FTS UpScrolled: fortechssakepod

  • 19. How easy is it to scam a bot?

    34:25||Season 5, Ep. 19
    This week, Kelly and Elaine are talking about the emergence of the ‘AI shelf’, where products are marketed specifically at large language models (LLMs) so that they are recommended by chatbots and even purchased by automated ‘agents’. And their question is: Can you trust automated purchase decisions in a broken content ecosystem?*** Good things we recommend ***>> Learn more about AI manipulation tactics from ‘the Sophie Morris of chatbots’, WetClaude (AKA Deana Burke), on TikTok and Instagram >> And check our her newsletter >> Celebrate ICCL’s recent win against Big Tech >> Listen back to our episodes on trend simulation and online shopping scams *** More from us ***Kelly’s Substack: kellysrubbish.substack.com FTS blog: for-techs-sake.ghost.io FTS TikTok: fortechssakepod FTS Instagram: fortechssakepod FTS Bluesky: fortechssakepod.bsky.social FTS UpScrolled: fortechssakepod

  • 18. AI’s doomer cult

    01:10:32||Season 5, Ep. 18
    This week we dust off our corkboard and thread to connect the dots between problematic Silicon Valley ideologies and the doomsday AI talking points that have been gripping the world of late. Yes, this explanation of a cult-like culture that has infiltrated the highest echelons of business and government is going to sound like a conspiracy theory, but bear with us as we unpack the history of ‘superintelligence’ fantasies (and nightmares) in this bumper episode, revealing how every scary story about AI lately stems from known issues and very human failings.*** Good things we recommend ***>> Watch the Ghost in the Machine documentary >> Set up a daily games challenge with family and friends with PlayUs on Android or iOS >> Let us know what you think of the pod (and if you want an FTS PlayUs group) via fortechssakepod@gmail.com >> Better yet, rate, review and share the podcast with anyone you think might like it*** More from us ***Kelly’s Substack: kellysrubbish.substack.com FTS blog: for-techs-sake.ghost.io FTS TikTok: fortechssakepod FTS Instagram: fortechssakepod FTS Bluesky: fortechssakepod.bsky.social FTS UpScrolled: fortechssakepod

  • 17. Game over for discs

    42:27||Season 5, Ep. 17
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  • 16. Back to school!

    41:43||Season 5, Ep. 16
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  • 15. What social media bans get wrong

    43:27||Season 5, Ep. 15
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  • 14. Are data centres a drain? (with Prof Hannah Daly)

    38:35||Season 5, Ep. 14
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  • 13. Is technology making us lonely? (with Dr Colman Noctor)

    45:34||Season 5, Ep. 13
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  • 12. Get your clips out (with Aoife Barry)

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