Blue Scream of Jeff: Castles

Showing posts with label Castles. Show all posts

Sunday, January 31, 2021

When it comes to Cybersecurity, humans are the weakest link

In my day job, I keep watch over my company’s computer systems, not only making sure everything is
working correctly, but also to make sure no one’s accessing them who shouldn’t be.

It may sound like a simple task, but with over 6,000 employees scattered across 70-plus offices in 10 states, it’s not as easy as it sounds. Especially the cybersecurity aspect of it.

Yes, we have firewalls and other gadgets and software watching our systems so I’m not the only guard at the virtual castle gate telling every visitor: “Halt! Who goes there?” But as 2020 showed us in perhaps the most dramatic way possible, our collective workplaces are no longer a physical place that can be defended by virtual fortifications.

Nor are they even like the Iron Ring of castles that King Edward 1st of England built to subdue Wales back in medieval times.

In 2021, the workplace can be anywhere and it can change not only from day-to-day, but even hour-to-hour. The old way of constructing permanent, impenetrable walls around our workplace computer systems is about as useful as Edward’s quaint old castles against a modern army using artillery firing high-explosive rounds.

The key to cybersecurity these days is to protect the data no matter where it is. So instead of focusing on building bigger and better walls, we should instead concentrate on protecting the messengers who carry the king’s missives between his castles and cities.

IT folks like me are already doing this, but the more I learn about how to protect these messengers from the brigands and bandits who lay in wait in the dark alleys off the information superhighway, the more I realize that just throwing more technology at the problem is NOT the answer. In my opinion, it may actually make matters worse.

Adding complexity to any system, means there are more things that can go wrong, and as we’ve learned time and again, hackers are adept at exploiting the tiniest of flaws they find in any system. Adding complexity also makes it harder for regular folks to use and understand it. Human nature being what it is, means that people will then try to find a “quicker and easier” and way to get their work done, often bypassing the thing that’s meant to keep them safe.

And that’s really the biggest challenge in Cybersecurity these days.

The weakest link has – and always will be – the human element.

The average person does not know (or really care) about how technology works. Most only want to know which buttons to press to get a particular task done. The rest to them is magic.

And therein lies the problem.

IT professionals like me need to help to demystify technology and help regular folks understand how the devices they have come to rely on work. I’m not saying the average Joe needs to know how to debug a kernel panic, install an operating system or even swap out a memory module before using a cell phone, sending a text message or ordering pizza or toilet paper online. However, they should be taught how to apply the same basic safety tips and skepticism they use in the real world to the virtual one so they can keep themselves safe.

I know this seems rather obvious, but then again, so does driving a car. The gas pedal makes it go, the brake pedal makes it stop and the steering wheel lets you make turns.

Every kid knows this.

Yet we’d never give car keys to a teenager on their 16th birthday and let them figure out the rest on their own. Instead, we make them learn the rules of the road from a (hopefully) more experienced driver.

And that’s what I want to do over the next 12 months with a majority of my blog posts. I want to help folks learn how to detect possible scams and view every online transaction with the same degree of suspicion they’d have if someone claiming to know them came up to them on the street and asked them for their house or car keys.

I’m hoping this can be an open and interactive discussion, so please feel free to ask any questions, no matter how basic they seem, in the comments below and I’ll do my best to answer them for you either in the comments or in the next month’s post.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

What I did on my summer vacation

Marksburg Castle, the only castle on the Rhine
never to have been destroyed.

Now that summer is over and Labor Day has come and gone, I thought I’d engage in that classic of all beginning-of-the-school-year traditions, the “what I did on my summer vacation" essay.

But wait, I can hear you saying to yourselves, “Isn’t this blog supposed to be about all things geeky? How is telling me about your river cruise through the center of Europe even remotely geeky?”

I can answer that in one word.

Castles!

Lots and lots of castles!

I mean what could be more geeky than that? I’ve been a sci-fi/fantasy fan for a long time and to this day still play Dungeons and Dragons with my friends, so the chance to actually walk through or even see a real castle up close instead of having to image one in my head is always a special treat. And the opportunity to see more than a dozen of them in one afternoon was just pure Nerd-vana!

On the fifth day of our trip, we sailed down a portion of the Rhine River in Germany where there are some 18 castles lining the banks. We got to stop and explore one of them, Marksburg Castle, the only one of them never to have been destroyed by invaders and thus retains much of its Medieval character. The other castles we just sailed past. But it was a really cool experience I thought I’d share with you through some of the pictures I took of them. Along with the pictures below is a small bit of history about each structure.

Sterrenberg and Liebstein castles Sterrenberg (white structure, left) and Liebstein (darker building right) castles are known as the “Hostile Brothers” because of a family quarrel that took place between the Sterrenberg and Liebstein families who built them. It is believed that the two sons of Sterrenberg and Liebstein initiated the fight over inheritance, but according to our cruise director, local legends say the fight began because the sons were in love with the same woman.
Maus Castle Maus Castle, also called Deuernburg or Thurnberg Castle, was one of the most technologically advanced and most splendid installations of its time. The castle got its name from the counts of Katzenelnbogen, who said it was “small like a mouse” and could be eaten by their larger Katz Castle which was just up the river.
Rheinfels Castle and Fortress This castle, which sits 370 feet above the Rhine on a cliff, was once five times the size it is today. Like most castles on this river, French invaders destroyed it and it sat vacant for many years until it was eventually bought and converted into a hotel.
Katz Castle (Nue-Katzenelnbogen) Known locally as Katz Castle, this fortress’ real name is Nue-Katzenelnbogen and was owned by the same family as Maus Castle. It was completely destroyed by Napoleon and his army in 1806. Ninety years passed before its reconstruction, and in 1989 a Japanese businessman purchased it and expanded the property, turning it into a luxury hotel.
The town of Oberwesel Okay, so this isn't exactly a castle, but the town of Oberwesel, located on the Rhine at the 550 km marker, used to be surrounded by a curtain wall and you can still see the remnants of one of the wall’s guard towers in the picture. But these towers also served a second purpose as flags were flow from it to alert captains of ships sailing the river about traffic coming the other way.
Schonburg Castle In its day Schonburg Castle was one of the few in this region which got passed down to all its duke’s sons rather than just one. To accommodate so many generations of heirs, the castle could house up to 250 people from 24 different families. Locals call this place the “Red Castle” because of the red wall on the great hall which is visible on the left side of the picture. The place was plundered by the French in 1689 and left in ruins for about 200 years. It has recently been turned into a luxury hotel.
Gutenfels Castle This medieval castle was renamed Gutenfels (solid rock) after Wilhelm of Hesse tried unsuccessfully to besiege it in 1504. It’s also one of the only castles on the Rhine that features its own vineyard which has been producing wine for 600 years. Today, this castle, like many others, has been converted into a hotel.
Pfalzgrafenstein Castle This picturesque little castle sits on a rocky island in the Rhine and was one of my favorites. It is unique because unlike most other castles in the world, it was constructed for purely economic reasons and was used as customs house. It has been recently renovated.
Stahleck Castle Stahleck Castle, whose name means “impregnable castle on a crag,” was built in the 11th century. However no one told the French that because they managed to blow the castle to ruins in 1689. Among the more notable features of this hillside fortress is the water-filled moat, something the other Rhine Castles don’t have. Today it is a youth hostel for the town of Bacharch.
Furstenberg Castle Furstenberg Castle was built in 1219 by the Archbishop of Cologne to protect his estate around Bacharach. It was destroyed by the French in 1689 and never rebuilt.
Nollig Castle Nollig Castle was built around 1300 by the Archbishop of Mainz to control the Rhine and Wisper valley trade routes. Though it looks like a ruin, it’s been refurbished into a private residence, thus proving a man’s home can be his castle.
Heimburg Castle Like many other castles on the Rhine, Heimburg Castle served as the collection house for river taxes in the 13th and 14th centuries. But like the nearby castles of Reichenstein and Sooneck, Heimburg also became a retreat for robber barons until Rudolf of Habsburg put an end to the wheeling and dealing. The castle was destroyed by the French in 1689 and restored in the late 19th century. It, too, is one of the few castles still in private hands.
Sooneck Castle Built by the “robber knights” von Bolanden and von Hohenfels in the mid 1200s, these two lords made their fortune by stealing from travelers and charging excessive tolls. They also randomly raped locals and pillaged nearby towns.
Reichenstein Castle Built beginning in the 11th century to protect a nearby abbey, Reichenstein Castle was also destroyed by the French in the 1600s and recently converted to a hotel.
Rheinstein Castle This is one of the oldest castles on the Rhine River and it is believed to have been started in the 9th century. It looks like it’s carved out of the stone of the cliff. It never served as a customs house and was actually built as an imperial palace. The castle has gone by many names but earned the name Rhinestone Castle because of its beautiful Romanesque architecture, ivy-covered walls and classic drawbridge.
Ehrenfels Castle Ehrenfels Castle gets its name from the Ehrenfelser white grape that grows along the hillside where it stands. It was built in the 12th century and destroyed by the French and never rebuilt.
Mauseturm Sometimes called “Mouse Tower,” this 10th-century watchtower is set on a small rocky island and was built as a customs house and guard post for Ehrenfels Castle, which you can see in the background. The name comes from the word “Maut” which means “toll.” However a local legend tells a story of a cruel Archbishop who ruled here and was attacked by a legion of mice after indulging himself while ignoring the pleas for help from his starving people.
Klopp Castle Built on the site of an old Roman watch tower, Klopp was home to the Archbishop of Mainz in the 10th century. It was blown up by the French in 1713 and the great hall was rebuilt from 1875-79. It is now owned by the town and is the last castle we saw that day.