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Views: Zoom America vs Doom America

How you experience the COVID Crisis depends almost entirely on the type of work you do.

For some — let’s call it Zoom America — the crisis is an inconvenience.   Video conference calls.  Work from home. Social distancing.  Annoying masks.  The health risks are real, but the work — and the financial certainty that comes with it — goes on.

For others — let’s call it Doom America — the crisis has been nothing short of a catastrophe.   Thirty-six million jobs lost.  The jobs that do exist are essential and high risk.  Many need government assistance.  And it’s possible we’ll see a new lost generation.

Politically, President Trump has to demonstrate that he not only understands the enormous challenges facing Doom America but that he has the focus and discipline to manage both the public health and economic crises facing our nation.  This is his challenge over the next five months.

The challenge before Vice President Joe Biden is substantially different.  He has to navigate the landmines and distractions that the President is placing before him (see “Obamagate”).  More importantly, he has to convince Zoom America that he has the competence to do the job and convince Doom America that he understands their pain and has a better approach than the current Administration.

As the stay-at-home orders lapse and the country gets back to work, this battle will move from the sidelines to center stage.  It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Cyber Corner

Courtesy of Josh Zecher

The Power of Ransomware

The U.S. government is focusing on implementing new regulations to protect the nation’s utilities from cyberattacks, including a new Presidential Executive Order and supply chain risk management requirements from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom suffered a ransomware attack this week, which focused on Elexon, a key cog in the U.K.’s power grid. In a short message posted on its website, the company acknowledged that its internal IT network and employee laptops had been affected.

This is another reminder that every company needs a before, during and after plan in the event that it becomes the target of a similar attack.

No Room for Cyber in $3 Trillion Package?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rolled out Stimulus Package #4, another installment in the federal government’s effort to save the economy during this time of unprecedented decline. The $3 trillion package has lots of provisions including bonuses for first responders, additional cash for Americans in need, the extension of unemployment benefits and billions for testing and tracing.

Nowhere in the package, however, do you find a reference to the increasing cyber needs of an economy that will forever rely on a remote workforce. No grants for small businesses that need to bolster their defenses. No focus on training American workers to fill the hundreds of thousands of available cyber jobs.

We’ll see if this holds as the bill moves through the legislative process.

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