Inspiring Immigrant Stories & Cybersecurity Insights | Good News York Episode 1
Welcome to Good News York! In this exciting episode, hosts Matt Masur and Mike Brindisi sit down with Abel Ramirez, a young and inspiring entrepreneur from Cuba, and Mike Lisi, a cybersecurity expert. Abel shares his incredible journey from humble beginnings in Cuba to becoming a successful business owner in America. He talks about the challenges he faced, the value of hard work, and the importance of positivity and community. Mike Lisi dives into the intricacies of cybersecurity, providing insights into physical and digital security, ransomware, and the importance of networking and hands-on learning in the industry. Don’t miss this episode filled with motivation, valuable lessons, and a touch of humor!
00:00 Introduction and Greetings
01:07 Meet Abel Ramirez: A Young Entrepreneur
02:40 Abel’s Journey from Cuba to America
06:03 Starting a Career and Overcoming Challenges
11:11 Venturing into Real Estate and Business Ownership
14:34 The Entrepreneurial Mindset and Future Plans
16:48 Bayberry Uniform and Shoe: A Local Business Spotlight
23:02 The Importance of Customer Service and Community Engagement
27:43 Reflecting on the Present: A Pivotal Time
28:47 Welcoming Abel from Bayberry Uniform
29:06 Introducing Mike Lisi from Maltek
30:08 Cybersecurity Insights with Mike Lisi
38:49 The Importance of Specialized IT Roles
42:41 Getting Started in Cybersecurity
48:55 Real-World Cybersecurity Challenges
55:04 Ransomware and Cyber Threats
01:02:10 Mike Lisi’s Top Cybersecurity Tips
01:05:01 Conclusion and Farewell
Full Transcript:
GNY E01
Matt M: What’s going on, everybody. Welcome to a good news York. Yes. Is this the official? I don’t know. We’ve done like eight episodes now and asked, is this the official first one?
I know we’ve
Abel R: had eight
Mike B: fake
Abel R: episodes. Or Mr. B says your first hundred are gonna suck. So I’m glad you invited me on. Yeah, we only have 92 more to go I need to
Matt M: yeah, we said we’re gonna invite the really good guests in the following weeks. Yeah, you know, hey Abel, what are you doing? Welcome everybody. I’m Matt major from growth mode content.
This is good news York. I’m joined by my awesome Spiky haired sidekick. [00:01:00] No too much Mikey
Mike B: B. Yeah, Mike Brindisi. How are you? Good
Abel R: morning. We have a very
Mike B: Exciting guest here today. Yes.
Abel R: Good morning. My name is Abel Ramirez. I’m more than honored to be here today
Matt M: This is this is awesome to have our buddy Abel here This guy is I think he’s what what do you like 17 years old or something and you’re a billionaire is that?
Abel R: That’s about it. No, but I’m 15
Matt M: That’s fair you probably you get carded for literally everything don’t you you can’t even buy a lotto ticket can you
Abel R: know I can’t yeah, I show my ID every time I go to the store. Where’s your dad?
Matt M: These Cuban guys, man. He’s gonna be 60 and still look like this. I am not. My wife
is staying far away from him.
I’ll tell you that. I’m keeping her away from Abel.
Abel R: Yeah, you know, it’s funny, I try to grow a beard, but I can’t even grow a full beard. Because if I shave, you know, I don’t know, Mike. But you look good too, man. Well,
Mike B: thank you, but not around you. I, uh, you walked in and I went, well, I’m ugly for the next couple boy
Matt M: problems over here, man.
Rico Suave here. Say
Abel R: [00:02:00] hello to my little friend. Speaking of
Matt M: pretty boys, behind the board. We got our man, Danny. Yeah, Danny, our, uh, He’s dug, he’s dug
Mike B: in deep. Look at him. Look at our guy. Look at him. I love him so much. He’s got the Metroid shirt on. I do. Good call. Oh, man. Don’t you just want to snuggle with him?
Look at him. He’s just the best. Danny Downer. No, I mean, he’s not Danny Downer. When I say Debbie Danny, Debbie Danny. So he’s got good news. I
Abel R: think he should be the thumbnail for every single video you guys post. That’s a great idea Expressions from Danny, that’s it. All right.
Mike B: Well, here we are we’re doing it
Matt M: So yeah, so let’s uh, let’s jump right in man.
And let’s talk a little bit about our buddy Abel. So Abel I know the story, but so many people don’t. So give us just the quick, uh, background where you came from, what you’re doing right now.
Abel R: Yeah. Quick rundown. Um, so say my name is Abel Ramirez Gonzalez, not like speedy on salads, but it’s something along those lines.
He was
Matt M: pretty speedy.
Abel R: I am from Cuba. As you know, Cuban is a [00:03:00] communist country. You go, there’s like 60 years in the past. You still see the old Chevys and the 57. Dodge, you know, they’re still running around like it’s today.
Mike B: Don’t worry. We’re heading that way too. We’ll meet you there. You know, I think you’re right
Abel R: I think you’re right Mike.
It’s a different story. I, my dad was a minister and we lived at the church. Oh, very humble Beginnings for us and as you know Cubans don’t like or not Cubans But the communist regime does not like any type of gathering that might threaten their power in government. And Christians are known for very, you know, very, uh, vocal about freedom and things like that.
So he was persecuted and even in prison a couple of times. And he applied for a political refugee back in the day when there was an It was an U. S. embassy within the Switzerland embassy in Cuba. Wow. So it wasn’t an official U. S. embassy, but they had like a They had a little office in the building. A little office in the building, right, where you can go and, you know, ask for asylum, that sort of thing, and um And he did, and it [00:04:00] took a long time, uh, a lot of money and a lot of processes, paperwork, interviews.
But it finally got accepted. We moved here in 2010. I’ll never forget it. It was October 19. The plane’s coming down. I see all the colors on the trees. It looked like a movie, because think about it. Cuba is 24 7 hot weather. Yeah. This stuff that we’ve been seeing around here for the last week or so, you don’t get to see it in Cuba.
I mean, it’s All year long and rain and storm and hurricane season. That’s it. And super hot and humid. So for me, it was like, Oh my God, it’s like the movies. I’m, I’m landing in Syracuse. Yeah. Um, but yeah, from there I went to Hennigar high school. Um, black night, proud black night. And then. I mean, one thing led to another.
Think about it. You come to to America. You don’t speak the language. You don’t have any relatives. You’re the only thing you’re bringing with you is the desire to work the desire to get ahead. Um, eventually, I brought my mom and my sister. So now all my [00:05:00] immediate families here and. Again, just a lot of, uh, will to, to get ahead and never forgetting where I’m from.
I’ll tell you a quick story. The first week in America, we did not know how to use the hot shower because we never had one. Oh my gosh. So we did it the old way. We took a bucket and we heated it on the stove and we did it the old way because that’s the only way we knew. Wow. We couldn’t figure out how to work the knob on the, on the hot shower.
It wasn’t after a week later that, um, a social worker came in and she goes, um. Oh, uh, how’s everything? Do you guys get a good hot shower and everything? I’m like, actually, it’s not working. She goes, Seriously? Let me go. Sure enough, she had to pull it out and then turn it and yeah, there was water. I’m like, Oh my gosh, water.
Yeah, it’s something that we were not used to. And some of the things that we take for granted here, something as simple as taking a hot shower and opening the refrigerator and having food there. Those.
Matt M: So, what’s really striking to me [00:06:00] is, uh, He’s gonna get to this part. Oh, we haven’t even got to the good stuff yet.
Uh, so through all that struggle, coming in here, figuring this out, From scratch, really, as, as sort of a teen, as a teenager, um, has got to be a tremendous experience. Um, but you met that challenge and then some, right? Like, tell, tell folks a little bit about your career as you, uh, have gotten a little bit older.
Which isn’t that long ago. This guy is incredibly young. It’s not that long ago. I was gonna say older.
Abel R: I was like Bitcoin, you know, it was very cheap and then boom, to the moon. That’s it. Um, no, no, it’s been really a journey with ups and downs along the way. But. Again, I think the mindset it’s so important.
You got to have a survival of the fittest. type of mindset, uh, for us is burn the ships, right? There is no going back. So now that you’re here, you better learn the language, you better learn the culture and adjust and embrace and get ahead because half the battle is just winning it up here, you know, getting it out there.
I’m not good enough. I don’t have the resources. Uh, [00:07:00] I can’t speak the language. I’m too young. I’m too old. All the excuses that we always held to ourselves. If you win that battle, that’s half halfway there. The other half, you will figure out as you go. Um, so as Matt was saying, after school, I did what any teenager in their right mind will do, and that is get married.
Yeah, yeah. I met my wife at church. She’s also Cuban. But here’s the funny thing. Two Cubans meet in Syracuse at a Puerto Rican church.
Mike B: That sounds like the beginning to a joke, right? I mean, that’s, that’s fantastic.
Abel R: But that’s how it all started. But I knew she was wifey material and I’m like, I wasn’t going to pass on that opportunity.
So I graduated June, right? June, uh, 2014 class of 2014. And I got married in October. From there, I was working as a sandwich guy at Columbus bakery. That was my first job. And let me tell you, that was my first [00:08:00] introduction to a small business. And I was part of the family. Um, I learned how to manage, um, a little store sandwich store.
And that’s actually, that was the first step into me speaking English. Because before in school, by year two, two and a half, I could understand almost 80 percent of everything, but I could stay quiet. I wasn’t talking to anybody, right? I remember one quick story in school where my global teacher was like, Oh, cause I learned how to say, I don’t know.
That’s the first thing I learned how to say. I don’t know. You need to
Mike B: say that. That’s an important phrase around here
Abel R: in
Mike B: America.
Abel R: I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know. And I’ve learned to say that so people will leave me alone. And one day in class, he asked a question and he goes, Abel, do you not know how to say anything other than, I don’t know?
And I was like, I don’t know. And the whole class started laughing. But yeah, I, I will not speak English because I keep it to myself. I would get tongue twisted and it was very embarrassing. So when I was working as a sandwich guy, I [00:09:00] had to interact with customers, get their order and ask them. Another funny story.
One time a customer walks in and, and I’m going, Oh, you want, um, onions and you want lettuce and blah, blah, blah. And she goes, yeah, purse. Guess what? Guess what I did? I put peppers, put peppers on their sandwich. So she was great. Oh my God. Like, I’m sorry. I thought you said peppers, right? Yeah. Purse. Yeah.
Another story. But from there. I started a professional career in microelectronics. So I moved to, uh, what a jump, right from sandwich. I think that gave me the confidence boost that I needed. The fact that now I can communicate with customers. I think every kid out of high school should work at customer service.
It should be a requirement
Mike B: able. I have said for years, I worked over 10 years as a bartender and server and I said, everybody should have to work in this industry just once because minimum, the things that you learn, just, just in, in interacting with people [00:10:00] and the appreciation of why you tip and why it’s important to tip and what.
People go through, you know, along the way we have a lot of times we have these shitty jobs, right? And we’re like, I’m stuck in life. What am I doing? Then you find out ten years later when you’re successful doing it at whatever it is You’re doing you look back on those shitty jobs and you’re like that that’s part of what made me who I am It’s the phone that sandwich job that sandwich shop was probably so Important in your in your your rise.
Abel R: Oh, I always remember it, you know, because it was it was the foundation Think about it. When you’re dealing with customers, especially when it comes to food, people are in a hurry. People are hungry. People maybe are having a bad day. So you get to deal with very difficult people on a daily basis. Once you master that and you go into the business world and you go into a professional world, you’re like, Oh, this is nothing.
Yeah. You know, and nowadays in this day and age where everyone is texting and texting and texting, there is no interaction. You know, and we’ve seen it, especially after COVID, when everyone was isolated, you go to [00:11:00] places and customer service is
Mike B: terrible,
Abel R: terrible, right? So everyone should have at least once on their life, a job in customer service, because that’s going to set you up for success for the rest of your life.
You get it. Well, from there, I went to Anaran, what’s now TTM Technologies. And that was my introduction to the professional world, right? Now you draft emails with deer and comma, best regards, and you, you learn how to communicate on emails, which I hate it too, because it sounds so fake, like, just get to the point.
What do you want? What do you need? Right? But that allowed me to see how an organization works at a larger scale. And they did have a lot of great benefits. I did go back to school first for business and management. And, Then I was like, I’m hiring people at minimum wage with a business degree. So this might not be the right avenue.
So I forgot about business and management, and I went to electrical engineering because a lot of the successful people that I worked with, sure, electrical engineers. But then I realized after a [00:12:00] couple semesters that all day and every day they’re sitting in front of a computer trying to solve complicated problems.
Matt M: Yeah.
Abel R: I don’t like that, so I quit. And I went to mechanical engineering because that was more, uh, hands on. It was more fun. Sure. Did a few semesters of that. And by the time I was done with the almost I was like, you know, I’ve learned enough. I’ve grown in the company. Um, I’m making enough money. Um, I’m going to get my real estate license.
So I got my real estate license and started selling real estate right before the COVID shutdown. I got my license in March 14. And on the 19th or the 20th is when everything was shut down. I’ll never forget that literally right before. So I had a first great year. I mean, I killed it. I got a bunch of awards, rising star.
I got nominated for, um, a bunch of other, um, what do you call it? Awards at the GSAR, the realtors [00:13:00] association here. And I was like, okay, great real estate. That seems to be a good path because now that I can speak Spanish, I can support my own community here and educate them because think about it. When you come from a different country, you don’t know anything about credit.
You don’t know anything about a mortgage and insurance and all this stuff that goes into buying a house. So you have to educate them a lot.
Mike B: Which is why your story is even more impressive to me because of the cultural barriers that you had to go through on top of. What it takes to do all of that. So, I mean, my God, you are impressive.
Yeah. Thank you,
Abel R: Mike.
Mike B: Thank you. I guess it’s
Abel R: definitely been a journey and each experience have had its ups and downs, but I just look at it as you either win or you learn, there is no failure actually on, on my WhatsApp, um, what’d you call it? A slogan or whatever the status every day, you only fail when you stop trying.
It’s a hundred percent. The moment you throw the towel, that’s when you fail. If you keep going, I don’t know if you saw the fight of, uh, [00:14:00] Amanda Serrano, the day that Jake Paul fought, uh, Yeah, oh yeah. I did. That was the best fight of the night. That was the best fight of the night. That was
Mike B: incredible.
Abel R: And I’m surprised that they didn’t, you know, stop the fight because of how bad her injury was.
Mike B: I couldn’t concentrate because all I was looking at was her eye. And I was just waiting for it to explode on camera. I, I couldn’t, it was awful, but man, that was a great fight.
Abel R: And
Mike B: the way that
Abel R: she was fighting with all her will and strength. I mean, that’s the mentality you get half. You only lose if you stop trying the moment you throw the towel, that’s it.
So that’s, that’s been my mindset. Um, always going, always going in real estate. I learned that you can buy a business. You don’t have to start from scratch. You don’t have to be Einstein and create this new unicorn business that, you know, it’s going to revolutionize the world. You can build up upon something that somebody else started.
So the company that I have now was founded by a Brazilian immigrant in the 1980s, early 1980s. And then she retired, she sold it to an Italian, and then I bought it off the Italian when [00:15:00] he was retiring. So now I’m a third generation owner of a successful business that’s been in the community for almost 50 years.
How cool is that?
Mike B: That’s awesome.
Abel R: The story that an immigrant came here with nothing, had to learn the language, had to learn the culture and start from scratch. And be able to call myself a business owner today. If that doesn’t inspire you, I don’t know what, what will honestly is if I can’t actually, my name, Abel, I changed the meaning.
I hate it. My name is Abel Abel. You know, I’m the guy that his brother killed Abel. Where’s Cain? You know, I got all that Abel label, Abel table, you know, all those names. But Abel, if you switch. The L and the E, you know, it’s now it’s able, you can do something. So I changed it to able man, because if I can do it, anybody can.
Mike B: Dude, you, you are, he’s the, he’s the story. He’s the, this is the, you hear about these stories about immigrants coming to America and the land of opportunity. I mean, you are the poster child for that. And that is, you know, uh, with everything going on, [00:16:00] it’s that this, this is so important to, to showcase this, that this is why immigration is so fantastic.
And, um, it’s what this country was founded on and, um, I, I, I just met you recently and I’m proud of you, man. It’s incredible.
Abel R: Thanks, I, I think that this is the land of opportunities. I couldn’t be proud. Nowhere on earth is there a place that allows you to flourish the way that America does. And I hope that we can, as Americans, We can keep that.
I agree.
Matt M: So buddy, we’ve joked a little bit, but let’s tell folks in reality. How old are you for real?
Abel R: I am 29 years old and I’ll be 29 forever. I refuse to turn 30. Yeah. I shouldn’t be allowed to be a business owner or dad. You know, my, my, my daughter tells me all the time. Now you shouldn’t be allowed to be a dad.
I have three children. God bless you. That’s
Matt M: awesome. Uh, Abel’s business, uh, is Bayberry Uniform and Shoe, and uh, to bring it back locally a little bit, right here in Liverpool, his store When you walk [00:17:00] into it reminds you of a traditional clothing store, like the amount of inventory he has and the variety of things.
Um, and obviously it’s not necessarily a fashion store. It’s all, it’s uniform. It’s professional work where things like that. Right. Um, you want to talk a little bit about, um, you know, in addition to what you have, the different things you do there at the business.
Abel R: Yeah, for sure. So we, we cater to. The medical community, for the most part, they are our main customer, but we also serve restaurants.
We sell, uh, we serve schools, we serve, uh, corporate offices, and the main thing that we sell is scrubs, uniforms, lab coats, so when you go to the airport and you see the, the doctors with their arms crossed, wearing the white coats, those are our white coats, um, And I mean, I couldn’t be more proud of the work that we, that we do to keeping those workers, you know, dressed and looking professional.
And I mean, I, one of the things that I’m the most proud of is we have weekly deliveries to upstate. So I get orders in [00:18:00] on Wednesday, Thursdays, and by Friday, they’re getting their uniform. So every, any new hires, you know, I have their uniforms ready for Monday when they start. And those, when I see those things and the way that we work with hospitals and local offices and keeping them.
Dress professionally and keeping them going. I’m like, wow, that’s amazing. You know, it feels good because it brings a purpose to what you do. I don’t say, oh, I sell uniforms. No, I dress my customers. So, you know, it’s, it’s, it’s important.
Mike B: That’s amazing. If I may, uh, what, I mean, it seems. It’s a very niche, um, I don’t know, category.
How did you come up with the idea of, I’m gonna open a clothing store and it’s gonna be for, you know, You bought it. Just bought it as is, turnkey. Yeah, yeah,
Abel R: turnkey. It’s amazing. Everything, like I said, it all worked out. Um, working as a real estate agent that I learned that you can buy businesses too, and you can go on best buy, sell or loop net.
com and you can see what’s for sale currently in Syracuse. And I was shopping for anything, mind you out. I did not care of what business I [00:19:00] was going to get into landscape painting. You had to figure it out. I had to, I would figure it out. And, and that one seemed like it makes sense because it was after COVID it was essential right now you’re dressing the nurses.
So that’s always going to be a need for that. So, yeah, I mean, my wife and I, we both decided to go all in. I sold a rental property that I had an empty or 401ks. And we said, you know, this is it. This is our chance to make the American dream happen, bringing it back to a small family owned business.
Mike B: What a, what a cool, um, perspective.
Cause you know, you, you hear about like, I specialize in this. I’m going to open a business about this. I love the perspective of, Hey, I just want to own a business and have an opportunity. And, and, and finding your way based on what’s available. That’s kind of a cool,
Matt M: that’s the difference between, uh, what they call an entrepreneur.
A lot of people use that word, but it’s a, it’s a thing that is really different. And what I can tell you is I guarantee without a shadow of a doubt, this man will have four or five other businesses, if not [00:20:00] more than that, by time he reaches our age. Yeah. And that’s just because no matter what, no matter how successful this is.
Um, he’s going to continue to have that bug and have more ideas. And I know this, cause this is where I’m at, right? That’s why I’m an it guy. And we now have a content company, right? You’re a great example of entrepreneurs. That’s when people talk about that entrepreneur mindset. It’s not just, I want to own a business and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Right. Keep in mind. Um, and there’s lots of folks that do that. They have a dream. I have a skill. I’m a, I’m a phenomenal woodworker. I’m going to open a woodworking business and do that for the rest of my life. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. That person is not necessarily an entrepreneur, you know what I mean?
And that’s the, um, the thing that I think is unique and, and something that people should wrap their mind around. Um,
Abel R: And, you know, definitely I learned a lot with you, Matt, and with profound, because I’ll be honest with you when I, the first thing I did when I. When I closed on the business, I order a business card and I put myself president, [00:21:00] CEO.
Yeah, there you go. There you go. And there was a little bit of ego there. Yeah. Because coming from the corporate world, world, it’s all about, what do you call it, going up in the ladder. Sure, sure. You know, climbing the ladder. Yeah. And your title, and you have all this. Long is a sentence long of your title and it’s all about, Oh, I’m this and this and that, you know, and I’ll be honest.
I had a little bit of that coming from the, from the corporate world and I had to change that mindset and profound was a big, uh, realization for me because. Yeah, you’re the CEO, but you have to mop the floor if you, if it’s your business now, you’re CEO, but you’re going to have to, you know, organize or take in merchandise.
Now you’re doing it all. It’s your business. So it definitely brought me down to a level where like, yeah, yeah, buddy, you’re, you’re going too fast. Let’s bring it down a notch. You know, you’re not actually I changed the business cards after that. I don’t call myself a president or CEO anymore because it’s what’s a title mean?
Right? You know, it’s a feeding something inside of you or what’s the reality? You know, who are you? Who are [00:22:00] you Mike? Who are you Matt? What do you call yourself? So that was a big realization like hey now that I’m a business owner That means that I’m responsible for this place, I’m responsible for the payroll, for keeping the lights on.
It’s a whole different ballgame. That’s great self awareness when you’re working from, from a different for, for a company as an employee.
Matt M: Yeah, that’s true. Great self awareness. Employees get to go home at the end of the day.
Abel R: You clock out and you forget about it. You own the place, there is no end to the death.
That’s what I do it, Matt, because everything that you have going on, and you’re probably, your head’s spinning at a thousand revolutions per minute. Do you even sleep?
Mike B: No. No, he’s like a bat. He just hangs upside down. You sleep when
Matt M: you’re
Abel R: dead, right? Yeah, sure. That’s the thing that people don’t understand out there.
They see, oh, you know, president, CEO, business owner. They don’t see all the behind the scenes. Right. They can’t appreciate something they haven’t experienced. Just like I couldn’t appreciate the hot shower because I never had it. It’s amazing.
Mike B: This guy’s great. This is incredible. Dude, I’m ready [00:23:00] to just get up and start my own business after this.
We,
Matt M: uh, uh, our time with Abel is running short. Why? You’re going to be, because we have another guest. Oh yeah,
Mike B: that’s right.
Matt M: Um, but this is the deep tease. Uh, this gentleman will obviously be a regular, uh, fixture here on Good News York. We’re going to have him in quite often because he’s got a never ending list of stories and wisdom.
And one of the things that I want to get into next time you visit with us is I want to get some of your social media advice.
Abel R: Okay.
Matt M: So here at Growth Mode Content, obviously, this is our whole purpose. We’re helping businesses create content. And you are a gentleman who has a quarter million followers on Instagram alone.
He’s got an incredible community and and next time like I said when you come back I want to learn a little bit more about how you grow and nurture that community. I’ll give you a quick
Abel R: tease Please it’s all about positivity and comedy. Hey, that’s it. I’m all news George. We’re doing it We’re doing it Harry the news and the [00:24:00] people are so tired of hearing the negative stories You know, when you told me about this idea, I’m like, it’s going to blow up.
It’s going to go crazy because people want to hear something that inspires them, something different about all the negativity that’s happening out there. And there really is a need for track
Mike B: there. Thank you. And there, there is a need for it. I mean, it’s not, it’s not cliche. I mean, if you just open your phone for 30 seconds, you’re like, Oh my gosh.
The
Matt M: other thing is, is. What we’ve discovered more and more and we sort of knew this but as we’re digging deep and what a challenge this is Yeah to do nothing but positivity, right so back in the day I used to do a regular show and we did you know, it was comedy and it was current events news and we would have five pages of prep of news stories of things we could pull up and talk about that were Controversial and we could shit on them and and you know, have a good time and joke around endless supply of that sort of stuff We’re doing this sort of thing, we’re going, hey, what are these positives, these uplifting stories?
Mike B: It’s like, I’ll think of bits. Good luck. All day, every day, [00:25:00] my head’s going, and I’ll, and I’ll throw a, you know, I’ll write down some of these bit ideas I have. And 90 percent of them, I’m like, oh, that’s kind of negative. You know, it’s, it really is a you know what I mean? What, what can we tell the viewers if there are any, what can we tell the viewers, uh, website, uh, what give us the business name?
Let’s plug it. Let’s plug it.
Abel R: So bayberryuniforms. com, syracusegrubs. shop. So as you can see here, this is the main website. I use it mainly for customer portals. Not for the average consumer. If you’re an average consumer looking for scrubs, I would go to Syracuse scrubs that shop that is another website that we’re implementing.
I want to do almost like an Uber eats where you order it and we deliver it to your home. This is just for Syracuse. I’m very community center, and I’m focusing in our community, which is why that idea came, um. Came about and we’re located at 7608 Oswego Road, right next to Kenny’s in the Bayberry Plaza.
We have another location near Krause, 742 South Krause, [00:26:00] Syracuse, New York. And my goal here is to, you know, move towards e commerce more because it’s convenience and do in person events. Reach out to us. If you’re thinking about hosting a sales event, we’ll go to you. We’ve been to San Jose. We’ve been to Kraus.
We’ve been to as far as Utica at nursing homes. We’re going to be at Loretto next month. So in this busy world where you just want to go home after a long shift. Hey, we’ll come to you. We’ll set up a mini store for you and you can shop right there. And that is so smart. I know type of
Matt M: innovative
Abel R: stuff.
Mike B: No, but that goes right back to what you said about entrepreneur, because, you know, I was thinking, uh, not long ago, you know, I’m like, if I was opening a business, you know, I wouldn’t be thinking about, I want to, I want to open something where everyone’s going to go to, because it seems like since COVID everyone’s kind of.
Retreating back, and I don’t want to exacerbate that trend. I want people to go out more, but I think bringing things to people at their home is key, man. Make things more convenient. Yeah, Mike,
Abel R: I think it’s going to go [00:27:00] back because life is about cycles. I think right now we’re in probably halfway that cycle where people are isolated and convenience and shopping groceries delivered to your home, all that.
Eventually, you’re going to want to have a real interaction with a person. We just got to make sure we’re still there when that happens. I’m never
Matt M: going to stop getting grocery delivery, I’m not going to lie. Well, I just
Mike B: don’t want the barbed wire tattoo to come back.
Matt M: Going back? Let’s not go that far back.
Let’s
Mike B: not go
Matt M: that
Mike B: cycle.
Matt M: But yeah, no, I, I, and you see that some of that, you know, we’ve been talking with a lot of folks recently and about hotels and things and a lot of these hotels kind of tried to sell out because, um, nobody was going to hotels, right? And, and now they’re sort of putting the brakes on that and like, wait a minute, we need these actual hotel rooms again in town, not just, uh, you know, retirement homes.
So, um, it’s good to see. And, uh, like you said, things are cyclical and that’s the one thing everybody has to
Mike B: keep in mind. I feel like at some point we’re going to look back on this decade or this time period and we’re going to go, man, we lived in such a pivotal time where exciting and things are changing.
I mean, right now it’s very scary, right? With [00:28:00] AI and, and, you know, COVID just happened. But I guess the positive in this is if you zoom out, like this is an exciting time. This is an exciting time to grow. I’ll
Abel R: leave you Uh, I wish the me from the future will come and tell me when I’m living the good old days.
Because right now you might be living the best time of your life and you’re not even realizing like you said, we’re living in a historical pivot, pivotal moment of our lifetime. Yeah. And we don’t, sometimes you take it for granted. It’s like, ah, it’s just another day.
Mike B: I always, I always say, you know, imagine you’re on your deathbed.
I know that’s not, it’s very morbid. You know, let’s say you’re in your eighties and nineties, you’re on your deathbed and someone says, You know, if you had one wish, what would it be? And you’re like, I wish I could go back to the good old days. That’s now for most of us. That’s
Abel R: now for that’s now
Mike B: for most of us.
So just keep that in mind. We need more set trombone.
Abel R: Oh man. Our buddy
Matt M: Abel from Bayberry uniform. He will be back on a regular basis. We are [00:29:00] so happy to see you and, uh, and happy to have you here on good. Much needed in the
Abel R: community. Keep up. Keep, we appreciate it. We really do,
Matt M: buddy. Uh, so, in a minute, uh, we’re gonna have our buddy Mike Leacy from MailTek, he’s gonna talk to us about keeping things safe, and uh, all kinds of fun nerdy things, so, uh, we’ll be back with
Mike B: him in just a minute.
And we’re back! Oh,
Matt M: comin at ya! Adam, I love that. SNL bit. Which one is this? The only Jimmy Fallon bit that I actually like when he does the radio and we’re back. And
Mike B: we’re back. It goes crazy. This reminds me, this setup reminds me of the sweaty balls. Oh
Matt M: yeah. Sweaty ball. We should do that. Uh, I saw a Baldwin the other day.
Is it, hold on.
Mike B: Sorry. I know we have a guest I to ask this. Is it true that the Baldwins live in Baldwinsville? No. Okay. I knew that was a, they live in Camilla. That would be cool though. Anyway.
Hi, Mike. Good morning.
Matt M: What’s going on, [00:30:00] buddy? Mike Leacy, everybody. We got a new guest.
Yeah.
Matt M: Joining the, joining the good news, York.
What’s the good news, Mike? Yeah.
Oh, man. Lots of good news. Uh, we just started our 2025 season for the NCA cyber game, which is, uh, an initiative that I’m part of where we give cybersecurity students across the country. Uh, an opportunity to get into their first, like, hands on competition against other students.
So we, we, we support schools nationwide. Uh, last year we did, it was over a thousand students across the season, uh, from a hundred teams, and it was about seventy to seventy five universities. That’s
Mike B: so great. Mike Leacy from Maltech Solutions, he’s hacking your brain right now.
Matt M: It’s incredible, man. Uh, so let’s give a little background again, Mike from Maltech solutions.
Mike is a cyber security expert, and this is something that that we’re very excited to talk about. And Mike’s also going to be making a bunch of [00:31:00] content with growth mode content. So you’re going to be able to learn a ton. Um, But just to jump in and to hear some of the basics, I think it’s very interesting.
Because I’m a guy in IT, right? I’ve been in IT for 30 years. And most people assume that I do what Mike does. Right. And the reality is, we don’t do almost anything, uh, that really overlaps. I’m most people With some, with some very basic Uh, things, right? And I think the best way to think of it is, is IT guys like myself or, or anybody really in this industry are kind of like your family doctor, the general practitioner, the ones you see most often, they know the guidelines, they know how to, how to check for the different things.
But when it comes time for something serious, you need that brain surgeon. Mm. That’s where Mike comes in. And that’s where specialists You’re a urologist,
Mike B: let’s be honest.
Matt M: Shhh.
Mike B: Am
Matt M: I supposed to know that? Uh, Ha ha! He like penises. Fucking guy. What do you like? Uh, so Mike is uh, [00:32:00] the guy who really is able to dig in deep and do a bunch of things.
And he’s on, I guess you would say, the front lines of Uh, the, the cyber world. Yeah, we, we spoke And he also shares his skills with young people, which is something he’s talking about, right? Yeah,
Mike B: we spoke with you at the Winter Fair, and you blew my mind open. I’ll try not to ask those same questions, but I mean, uh, this guy is the guy.
And, um, you know, I think cyber security nowadays is just as important as the police that you see out on the streets. I mean, we’re in that world.
Matt M: Yeah. Yeah. And you know, we used to talk about that the same reasons you need physical security. And by that you mean like, uh, cameras in your building and access control.
You know, a lot of these days we’re, we’re way beyond the key typically, um, for a modern business. The same is true for the same reasons in the cyber world, right? You need more than just that padlock or that, uh, 1985 subscription to McAfee that you haven’t renewed. Oh, [00:33:00] wait, I think there’s, there’s more to cybersecurity than that.
But, uh, uh, we’re doing a lot of talking for you, Mike, tell us a little bit more about your business and where you come in for folks.
Yeah, no, I think you’re, I think you’re definitely right in, in a lot of that. And, and you know, the, the cybersecurity world is definitely an area that’s constantly evolving and there’s just, uh, just an incredible need for.
Testing of those solutions that you have in place, not only on the cyber side, the digital side, but on the physical side as well. You know, you can have all of these solutions and things that are meant to protect you and defend against, you know, attackers. But are they actually working? So, you get somebody like me or somebody else in the industry that’s doing these things, um, to, to test those out and actually show you like, hey, is this stuff working right?
Uh, if I were targeted, what could actually happen? What are the impacts to the business have? And, uh, that’s where we try and come in and, and help, you know, there’s really [00:34:00] no difference from what I’m doing to what an actual criminal is doing, uh, except that I have permission to do so. So if I were to do it, you know, to anybody else and they didn’t give me that, that paperwork, uh, I could definitely go to jail.
So it’s, it’s, you know, the, the The term hacking is, is one of those things that really has a negative connotation, but it really shouldn’t because, you know, it, it just goes through people trying to, you know, understand things and, and dive into things and, and just like present that information in a way to, you know, help everybody else understand it better.
And when these flaws and things are, are exposed and, and, you know, they’re, they’re brought to light, then we can actually take the right steps to start fixing those things, making sure that everybody’s a little bit more effective.
Matt M: I mean, you have to engage in that to find the holes, to find the vulnerabilities, right?
I mean, how else could you?
Right. No, for sure. It’s the same with like a, uh, you know, your physical alarm and everything. Like, is it working? The only way to know is like when you’re actually attacked, like, and if it doesn’t work right, then you’re going to be really [00:35:00] upset that you invested all this time and effort and money, uh, to find out that it wasn’t doing what you thought it was.
Yeah. So, you know, going that extra step and having somebody come in and perform that assessment and really tailor it to your particular concerns and needs. Helps to ensure like gives you that bet that feeling that you know when The time comes you know that you’re going to be in as best a spot as you possibly can be in order to you know prevent or at least minimize that attack because yeah, totally preventing everything is is Pretty much impossible.
There’s always going to be something Some extent that somebody’s willing to go to in order to do that But you know to do as much as possible is as best possible a scenario to
Matt M: And, and that’s how you’re best protected if you are, uh, attacked or breached, right? Uh, in terms of when it comes to insurance and getting your insurance, very expensive insurance policy to actually pay when you need it.
Um, demonstrating that you’ve done everything you possibly could is critical. [00:36:00] Uh, cause you can, like I said, like anything, you know, even like a car insurance thing. Like, oh, you lied to us or you didn’t do what you were supposed to do and we don’t have to pay this claim. You know, something like that could be massive, but doing the right things, even if it doesn’t stop everything, is so critical.
Mike, do they still use the, is, is white hat, black hat? Is that a dated term? Are we still use those?
No, those, those terms are still in use. Uh, we still, uh, also use those for, uh, the types of testing that we do. Uh, I try to go, so, so there’s things like a, a, a white box test, a gray box test, a black box test, and that really, uh, defines how much information you’re given ahead of time.
Uh, so in, in the case of like a black box test, you’re essentially giving nothing. You’re starting from scratch, you’re, you’re gonna have to dig in and find everything. I don’t particularly like that approach, uh, for my customers mainly because it requires the most amount of time on our end to dig up information that [00:37:00] we could just be provided from the customer and to fast forward that, right?
So I really try and focus on that white box, uh, that more collaborative component where we share a lot of information and then we can just focus on, okay, let’s, let’s put my skills to use, you know, and. Find the things that are going to be important to you versus just like things that I can go and eventually, uh, uh, gather information about your business, about your assets, about those types of things.
Like, let’s find out where the, where the attacks might
Matt M: go. Yeah.
You know, you, you figure like a skilled trade or something like a, a woodworker, it’s like, well, we don’t need you to like go and find the lumber. Like, well, we have the lumber, right? So just go ahead and build it for me. Right. Like going to the store and doing all that, just a waste of extra time.
There are some benefits there if you’re really curious about that and you really have the time but for most companies, for most organizations, taking a more collaborative approach yields much better results for them and it really ties in those results that are a lot more focused to that company’s particular needs.
Matt M: Gotcha. [00:38:00] Wow. That’s incredible, man. There’s so many different, uh, aspects to these different things. And, and that’s, again, that’s why you need specialists. And this is the message that I really try so hard. get across is, um, you know, it’s funny back in the day when I started 30 some years ago, I was the computer guy.
And that means I was the person that they called for anything that had electricity running to it.
Yeah.
Matt M: It was your VCR. It was a light fixture or whatever called the computer guy. And honestly, that’s sort of the way the business started, right? Professionals like me, they were. We did everything, right?
Anything that was to do with computing, the local computer person could do for you. Um, and I think a lot like medicine, it’s evolved to so many different specialties. And of course, we’re talking about cyber security, but there’s people that specialize in network administration and system administration and so many different niches that Uh, you may not [00:39:00] know exist, but, um, are critical because of how critical and how complicated everything that we’ve talked about, uh, are getting.
So, um, it’s cool to, uh, I think anyway, just expose the rest of the world to the fact that these specialties exist and these people are folks that you should be thinking about beyond just the, uh, Joe computer guy who works out of his house, you know, absolutely, um, uh, not to knock Joe computer guy. Let’s, uh, let’s talk a little bit more about some, some different things, uh, about your team.
So you’re not just a, a one man operation. You’ve got a whole group of folks and what does some of your different people do? And what are the, what are the positions in a cybersecurity company like this?
Oh, they can, they can vary quite a bit. So like I said before, there, there is that. Electronic aspect, right?
The, the testing of the computers, the networks applications. There’s the physical side of things. We do get asked at times [00:40:00] to break into a building or test the security of the alarms. Uh, I have, you know, card cloners and card readers and those types of things to show the impact of, you know, somebody walking around with their lanyard just exposed and you bump into them and you can.
Own that card and get access to the building. So there’s things like that that we do. Um, so I have somebody on my team that’s really interested and focused on that side of it, but we all kind of. Cross, uh, like cross train on some of the other components as well. One of the people on my team is really into like hacking video games and doing those types of things.
So, you know, he brings that expertise to the table.
Matt M: So, I, I, hold on, I gotta, you gotta, I gotta dig into this a little bit more. Beat me in Call of Duty. When you talk about hack video games, what are we talking, are we talking about like finding easter eggs, or are we talking about like, Mods. Shooting through walls and stuff.
Yeah, it’s more like finding, uh, the, the, the, the holes in the video game that you could take advantage of in order to maybe beat them faster, right? Uh, you can do those things where you like [00:41:00] glitch through the walls and do those types of, uh, Like little, little speed tricks and things like that to beat the game much faster, so.
There’s people that are really focused on, you know, finding any of those little exploits. Uh, one of the guys on my team, though, uh, has taken that even a step further with the whole community that he built. Uh, this is Alan on my team. Uh, and he’s, uh, even gone so far as to reprogram a game while it’s running using Uh, a, a tool that’s connected to the controller inputs and it can just send the button inputs and manipulate all the memory of the system and just like, have it do whatever he wants to.
So, he just completely created new content in a game that was running live. And in some cases, like, he would pull in, uh, like, Twitch chat and display it, like, on a Nintendo 64, which makes no sense, but it’s just, like, kind of mind blowing. That there are, you know, skills like that.
Matt M: That guy is, is a nerd’s nerd.
Yeah. And, uh, we will definitely have him on, Mike definitely will have him on his own, uh, podcast, I’m [00:42:00] sure. Um, but so many interesting things, uh, that, that you can do and you can dig into. And, and it’s kind of neat because your job, everything you’re describing. Uh, sounds like so much fun to so many people, you know, if you’re into that, obviously, if you’re, you know, uh, you’d like building houses and don’t like computers, maybe you don’t like this at all, but, um, it’s also a very popular career, right?
And all these schools are, are popping up cybersecurity programs and all these kids are signing up and they’re like, I want to be a, I want to be a hacker for a living. Um, what advice can you give folks? And what can you tell us a little bit about? Not only the job market, but how someone would legitimately get into this industry.
Yeah. Uh, getting into the industry right now is extremely difficult. It’s, it’s super competitive, especially for the remote work, things like that. Uh, so, uh, there’s a couple of things that, that definitely help. Number one is networking. Getting involved in conferences, volunteering for conferences. You meet so many people just being part [00:43:00] of that community.
It’s not a huge community, but there are, you know, a lot of very well connected people. So, you know, you make those connections. It seems to
Matt M: me that says it might be a little easier to navigate. It’s not a huge community
for sure. Um, yeah, I can, you know, uh, reach out to people, you know, at some of the largest organizations that are just like now really close friends of mine because we were both at the same conference and we just helped them out.
That that’s one of the huge things the other thing is honestly to get involved in IT in any capacity, right? That’s how I started. I started as a network administrator. I got into some System programming and some research and development and all of those really gave me these foundational skills Yeah to go back and say like okay now if I remember how I screwed that up So let me see if they screwed this up the same way and help them fix that.
So, you know, as somebody that’s gone through and did all this troubleshooting and it helped when, when things have, you know, hit the fan, um, you can take that knowledge and it really prepares you much better than just trying to [00:44:00] understand the concepts themselves without any of that initial knowledge. So going through, you know, and getting some exposure into any it related fields, it’s huge.
Matt M: I, I, I promise I didn’t pay him to say that, but I really am excited to hear you say that because one of the things that I’ve found is, um, a lot of folks that want to get into, or even young folks that are taking these cybersecurity programs. And they’re coming out with some kind of certificate or even a degree in cyber security, and it’s very much talking about code and finding things on the web and things of this nature.
And when you talk about the basics of IT, which I believe should be foundational, you know, how could you secure a network if you don’t know how a network works? Um, so I’m, I’m glad to hear that professionals sort of agree with that assessment because I think that’s one area that’s been lacking in a lot of these programs and and hopefully maybe they’re figuring it out.
Um, and on a positive side, uh, I know that from my [00:45:00] hiring experiences, I’ve gotten a considerable number of folks, um, probably because with cyber security degrees, um, who are applying for positions, which is great. I will say that it’s probably not their first choice, you know, they went into school with that idea that they were going to come out and immediately, um, go work for you for a huge salary on, on day one.
And, um, that’s unfortunately not the reality, but so the fact that they are at least getting these skills, whether it not be, uh, their intended first choice, I think is going to be huge for them. And I’m glad to see that happen.
Mike B: Yeah, Mike. So cybersecurity wasn’t always a major, right? I mean, it was kind of something fairly recent.
Where did you, uh, did you go to school? How did you train? And the second part of this question is how do you stay, I mean, things are changing every day in, in that world. How do you stay up to date in keeping with what’s going on and keeping yourself informed?
Yeah. The, the answer to the first question, I went to school for [00:46:00] computer science.
There was no computer security kind of majors. They’re prevalent. Now, there’s lots of them out there. Some are very good. Some are just okay. Uh, 1 of the big challenges in the educational space is the lack of, uh, practitioners that are willing to go back to education and bring those skills back. Right?
It’s like computer science and stuff that has. Decades of knowledge and you have people in academia that can really teach that. But as you said, the cyber security stuff evolves so quickly and you need people that are able to go back and teach with that actual hands on knowledge to give that practical skills because you can do a lot of theoretical stuff.
But what students still lack is that hands on knowledge, which is why, you know, the cyber game stuff that I do is so important to give them hands on, like, okay, we’re putting you in a position where you’re tasked with defending the system. And we have people like myself trying to take it offline. So we’re going to do some things and we’re just going to keep ramping up.
Those types of attacks and bringing your stuff [00:47:00] offline and having you recover from that. So you’re learning these new things, right? So now when they’re going out, they’re like, Oh yeah, I understand how a hack works, whatever. Okay. But when it’s happening, can you actually like deal with that? Um, so that’s one of the big things that, that is still lacking, but it’s, it’s constantly improving, you know, I’m not they’re doing a lot.
Matt M: I mean, that’s gotta be one of those things. It’s just a natural issue of it being such a young industry. Right. Excuse me, uh, you know, all those, uh, computer science professionals that you mentioned are typically folks that Went through a career in the corporate world and did that and sort of retired and and are teaching now to sort of give back at that point, but the The cyber security practitioners at your age.
Yeah, uh, and you’re in the thick of it not ready to You know kind of teach your skills. So I think that’s really difficult a huge challenge.
You have to have like A lot of time and passion to go back and, and, you know, take extra time outta your day and doing that. Yeah. Um, so, uh, staying on top of that, like, I, uh, you asked about that side [00:48:00] of it.
It was, uh, it’s, it’s mostly like doing conference things, uh, being involved in the community, just, you know, staying, uh, uh, in touch with people, being on top of the research and stuff that’s coming out. Uh, that’s the only way to really stay practical with it. Um. And just like doing those trainings, you know, so many people are willing to just provide that information I’m President of an organization called red team village.
I’m presenting them today and what we do for that is we provide education and Content and workshops and things like that to help spread that knowledge to people that are looking to stand out
Mike B: It’s awesome. It’s like a SWAT team training in a way.
In a way, yeah. That’s so cool. It’s all offensive security focused, and we go to these conferences and support, uh, not only the conferences, but we bring on, uh, you know, Folks that are really well, uh, versed and super knowledgeable about different topics to just talk about things like that.
Mike B: You have to tell the, the bank story again. I’m sorry. This is way, it’s way too [00:49:00] cool.
That, that is a story, uh, one of my favorite stories. So, uh, to, to, uh, wrap another podcast here, Darknet Diaries. Uh, my favorite story is, is, uh, from a, a gentleman, uh, known as a Freaky Clown, uh, FC. Uh, he’s just an awesome dude.
Uh, and he is focused on that physical penetration testing. So he’ll have companies hire them to basically say like, Hey, we want you to, you know, break into our, uh, into our building, into our office and maybe get into the server room or do whatever. And
Matt M: see if you can do it, right. See if you can do it. And if our
security controls are fun with that, right.
Yeah. And that episode, which is my favorite episode, uh, is, is where he’s tasked with going into a bank vault and. Stealing a legitimate gold bar and leaving with that. So, um, yeah, so it’s just a super cool episode. Uh, and like I said, I got to meet him last year at Def Con, super cool guy. And, and he’s got, you know, stories for days on.
You
Mike B: know, that might be a way to [00:50:00] combat, you know, crime is if you create a scenario where you let everyday people get that thrill of breaking into a bank. And stealing a gold bar, but they won’t get arrested. It’s just for testing. And that way it takes the thrill out of it. So people stop doing it. And the gold bar is actually chocolate.
Yeah. And then you eat it. Yeah.
Well, it’s funny you say that though, Mike, because there are, uh, programs out there for anybody that wants to get involved to do, like, hacking against actual organizations without repercussions as long as you follow the rules, right? It’s so good. Uh, either security programs or bug bounties.
So, most org not most, but lots of organizations have them now. Uh, and if you’re looking to get involved, uh, say, like, Netflix, right, they’ll have, they have a bug bounty. And they basically say, like, hey, here are the things you’re able to target. Yep. Yep. Um, here are the things that we’re looking for, and if you find a vulnerability, you disclose it to us, we will pay you for that information.
Mike B: That’s amazing. If you don’t
disclose it, and you don’t do that, then [00:51:00] we’re gonna go after you. Then you’re a criminal. Then you’re a criminal, right.
Mike B: That is, I can’t even slide this graphic from that computer up to here, so I’m not gonna do it. It’s really funny
Matt M: watching him try. Yeah.
Mike B: But, that is wild. So, in other words, it’s like an open thing, where you can say, We need to make sure we’re good to go, and anyone can do it.
If you complete it, you get paid. If not, then
I mean, wow. What a time to be alive. If you’re gonna find some of these things, you can either go the route of selling those findings or exploits to criminals. Potentially making lots more money, but with the caveat that, uh, at any point, you can go to jail.
Mike B: Sure.
Um, or, you know, they’re incentivizing you to let them know so they can make their platform more secure and they’re willing to pay for it in order to better protect them.
Mike B: So, when you see a breach member that what you were talking about that. There was some sort of hack that affected all the airlines recently.
Uh, shut everything down. That wasn’t a hack. That
Matt M: was a cyber security tool.
Mike B: Well, either way. Took [00:52:00] down the entire world. The Ashley Madison hack. The one we’re talking about. When you see or hear about things like that, Sony, do you go, Oh man, I feel bad because I know what that’s like. Or are you like, Oh those morons, I could have How did they let this happen?
It’s it’s,
I, I always have empathy for the situation for the companies because they’re, it’s not like they’re generally, they’re not trying to be negligent, be negligent. Some of these organizations are just so massive, so huge, and it literally sometimes just takes 1 thing to topple the whole thing, you know, to get in there and 1 person doing the wrong thing.
So, it’s just a, an unfortunate situation when it’s. So it’s never like, oh, you know, those morons, I always feel, feel bad. In the case when it’s like my personal information, it’s just like, yeah, that really sucks. Uh, let’s hope that they, you know, take the right steps to better protect themselves.
Matt M: In the case, I’ll never forget the [00:53:00] MGM hack.
Um, and that happened to it, uh, maybe a year ago or so, maybe long ago, everything runs together for him. So, uh, a couple of years ago, so MGM casinos in Las Vegas. They got in through one small entry point, and that gave them literally the keys to the kingdom. And every system, from the gaming slot machines, to payroll, to websites, to booking, to controls in the modern hotel rooms.
You couldn’t turn on the lights, and they were a little worried that the elevators weren’t gonna work. They put walkie talkies in the elevators in case the elevators, you know, shot you to the ceiling or didn’t open or something. Um, all because of one entry point, and these guys were able to take over every system in the whole MGM casino
Mike B: empire.
It was real life Ocean’s 11.
Matt M: Really, it was. Um, and, and Mike, you can maybe talk to the resolution of that real quick, but, um, the rumor was that, [00:54:00] uh, a neighboring casino, I don’t remember exactly which one, had been threatened with this, such a thing, um, and they paid a big ransom to avoid it. MGM wouldn’t pay in advance and then they went after them.
Now, I don’t know if that’s a fable or not, but if you have any info on that. Yeah, I
don’t remember all the specifics on, on, uh, you know, some of those things start to overlap a little bit. So yeah, I don’t remember all the specifics for it. But in some cases, like not only just with, with the MGM hack, but with others, you know, they’ll hit multiple targets and they’ll basically say like, Hey, you have two options.
We’re going to shut all your stuff down unless you pay us or, you know, or I mean, those are your options. Yeah. Pay us or we’re going to shut you down. Um, and you have to, you know, trust in their process if you’re willing to not pay and that you can recover from that. So that’s where, you know, other things like tabletop or tabletop, uh, exercises come in or, you know, just DR planning those types of, uh, proactive measures, uh, are super helpful or, you know, you, you know, that you have those gaps in place and maybe that’s worth, uh, the [00:55:00] cost of, of the situation to move forward and, and better protect yourself.
Matt M: What typically are the chances of, say, you get hit by one of these ransomware attacks, they call them, right? So they gain control of your stuff, they lock you down, they lock you out of it. Yeah. You can’t do anything, and they go, Pay up, or your data gets it, you know? Maybe it’s destroying it, maybe it’s stuff that’s a lot of public information or people’s private information, and they go, we’ll sell this to everybody, we’ll make it public, we’ll really hurt you, Um, unless you pay.
How many people pay and, and how many people that pay get their stuff back?
Well, um, how many people pay, I don’t know if I have the, uh, accurate statistics for that. A lot of people don’t
Matt M: want to admit they pay, right? Yeah,
some, some maybe just never want to, want to admit that or, or they don’t admit it at all.
Um, but I will say that for, for those ones that do pay, if these are kind of well known, um, Like threat actors, uh, they typically will do [00:56:00] what they say because they want to incentivize people paying. Like if people were paying and then they didn’t do that, then nobody would pay. And they’re building a brand.
They’re essentially, yeah, they have the customer service, uh, in place as silly as that is to basically handle that, uh, because they do want to make the money, uh, for doing so. And if you say like, oh, well, we got hit with X ransomware, uh, and we do the research and we see that, well, nobody’s ever gotten.
Resolve from that. So there’s no incentive for us to pay. Right. So in those cases you have to do some research on whether or not you should. So
Matt M: I wasn’t even thinking about that, but now you can sort of make an educated guess, right? If it’s a group that other people have dealt with. Yeah. Um, yeah. Cause
these have like well known like, um, indicators, you know, they have certain processes and things in place, um, where you can identify like what’s, you know, what’s causing this.
And they typically will identify themselves because they want you to pay and Uh, you know, you can, you can tie all that information together to, to make a determination. Uh, but I will say in some cases they’re very smart [00:57:00] too, um, There, there’s one story that, uh, I, I’m hoping to have somebody come on and tell where, um, Uh, they had an incident where the, the, uh, threat actors got into the network and they, they sat there for a while and they realized that Uh, they had, the company had backups for 90 days, so they got all of their implants in place, they got all their backdoors in place, and they waited 91 days, and then they pushed everything out, because they knew that they had it, no matter when they were going to restore it, it was going to be in there.
So those are the types of things you got to take into account and plan for, because they’re not just coming in and just wiping everything or locking it out immediately. They’re, they’re thinking ahead, you know, they’re, they’re trying to maximize the potential for you to
Matt M: And, and that’s something that, um, from the IT side where we provide backup services, um, a lot of the tools that we use now, um, and nothing’s 100%, right?
But a lot of what these services do for us is they take your backups and continually [00:58:00] scan them for threats, even your old ones. So, uh, you know, maybe today, or, you know, nobody knew about this, but in a month they discover this. This system is going to scan and go, Hey, your backup from a month ago had this signature.
And again, nothing’s foolproof, but those are the types of things that we’re trying to do for that exact reason. A lot of people don’t, a lot of people think it’s, it’s sort of like a bank robbery, right? You break in in one second and you want to grab all the money, run out within 30 seconds. These guys, Uh, you know, it’s like that movie of the guy who breaks into the Macy’s and sleeps until they close the doors and then, you know, makes himself food and things.
Um, that’s literally what they do. They, they, once they get in, they, they sort of lay dormant and also put in all their, their back doors, you know, kind of dig their heels in so that if you cut them off from one way, they might already have.
Mike B: Yeah. And Mike, I mean, we’re talking about ransomware. So, right. Like.
We know in that case, these people are looking to get paid, right? Sometimes you hear about these [00:59:00] hacks that they, it seems like they just do for fun. Can you, is it, what is the, is it like an adrenaline junkie? I mean, we talked about this, but I want, I wanted to bring it up again because it’s cool. You know, is it, is it like they’re an adrenaline junkie and they love the thrill of it?
Is it, is it just to be an asshole? Like, what’s the motivation sometimes?
All, all of the above. Yeah, you’ll have people that want to do it just to show that they can do it. Right? They want to brag to some of the people that they’re connected with, you know, if they want to get involved with maybe some sort of group or whatever, they’re going to go and say like, Hey, I can do this stuff.
Look, I went and did this. Some are doing it for specific, uh, I mean, you have like the hacktivist people, right? So they have a particular gripe or a problem with, uh, an organization or, you know, movement or whatever. And then they’ll deface that or they’ll go after them just for that regard, right? To show that they’re against those types of things.
We have like your anonymous. Some other groups kind of like that, and you’ll have people that maybe just don’t even know. Right? [01:00:00] They’re just not. Knowledgeable enough to understand that what they’re doing is potentially problematic for them. Um, and that results in them getting into the hotline.
Mike B: I got this was.
I got an email that was like, we have a video of you getting jiggy with yourself on your cell phone. And we’re going to send it to all of your family if you don’t pay us. And that’s when I realized, I freaked out and then I was like, wait, I don’t really, you know, that’s not true. And cause I don’t do that.
And uh, and then I realized. What are they talking about? Because if, let’s say that, that was true, this is what they would have saw. You know what
I
mean? Alright. It’s a pretty common scam.
Matt M: So you did pay that, right?
Mike B: And I paid in full. Yeah. Absolutely.
Matt M: Mike Leacy, Maltech Solutions is the name of his business. [01:01:00] If you want to, uh, Danny, if you want to just show folks the website, it is the coolest cyber security website one could imagine. Uh, is this the best place for folks to reach out to you, Mike, if, um, they want to learn more about your services?
Yep, website is, is great. Uh, we have all our contact details on there. Um, so, uh, best place to reach out is through the website there. Uh, we have some email, we have a little contact us form. Uh, happy to, you know, talk and just discuss things, uh, essentially just do a, uh, you know, Fact finding call with anybody that’s interested in finding out like what might be the best solution for them Honestly, there’s there’s not one solution that we offer that it kind of goes for everybody.
It’s just really Unique to an organization. So we like to sit down and let you know what what makes sense and what doesn’t make sense for your specific needs for your specific like Uh, security, uh, maturity, uh, you know, if you’re working with an [01:02:00] internal it department or with external it department, like all those things kind of play into how you can best protect yourself.
So always happy to chat with us. Awesome.
Matt M: Awesome. And, and one last question before you go, what’s the best tip you can give, uh, anybody, Mike, uh, about cybersecurity,
uh, best tip.
Matt M: Or tip of the day, I’ll say. It doesn’t even have to be the best.
Start utilizing your password managers. I’ve said it before, I’ll keep shouting it over and over again.
Uh, password managers, you get them in your phone, you can get them for free, you can pay a few bucks for them. Use those, they’re gonna be your best protection for, uh, selecting secure passwords. And utilizing those and, you know, just kind of Putting yourself in the best possible scenario. Dude, my
Mike B: wife is the worst I’ve talked about.
Hers is like, uh, I’m like, Honey, I need to check this. What’s your, what’s the password? Get into Netflix. Uh, I think it’s password123. You know, it’s like she’s, [01:03:00] you gotta be a little more creative, right? Lots of symbols, lots
Matt M: of numbers. So I’ll throw you a quick side note on that, specifically just cause you mentioned it.
Um, We use here Bitwarden password manager and for our IT clients, we provide that at a business level. So all the business users, including you at our company, have a Bitwarden license. The really cool thing about Bitwarden is for all those corporate users, they give you five, what we used to call take home licenses.
So they call them family licenses. So you can actually take it and you’ve got five licenses you can use at home with your whole family on the personal level. That’s great. And, um, that way everybody can use the same tool and it makes it super easy. I’ll throw
Mike B: them off. I’ll do password
Matt M: 345. It doesn’t cost you anything, but.
Mike B: Um, let’s, uh, your podcast coming up. That’s it. It’s, let’s, let’s talk about your podcast, which we came up with a new name for. It’s, you, you tell me, cause I don’t want to butcher it. We’re going
with Hack Dissection.
Mike B: Hack Dissection right here in our studios. We’re actually shooting the first episode after this.
Yeah. And, uh. Yeah. [01:04:00] Start to see those
Matt M: coming out pretty quick.
Mike B: Yeah, they’re gonna be coming out pretty quick. They’re gonna be awesome. What, uh, what do you see, what’s your vision for, for that podcast? What can we look forward to?
Yeah. What, what we’re hoping to do with, with that is to talk about actual, uh, security assessments that we’ve done.
So a little bit of storytelling about the organization without naming names. Sure. What their concerns were. What, uh, what our testing found, how that impacted them, and then the things that they can do to, uh, fix that or to protect against that, you know, for other organizations that may have, uh, similar concerns or similar, uh, types of things that they’re looking to protect.
So, ideally, you know, you, you learn a little bit about the fun stuff that we get to do and then a, a little bit about, uh, how to, you know, address and, and to protect yourself ahead of time.
Matt M: This is so, so cool. It’s like a, like a digital version of how it works. Yes. Yes. Yes. Absolutely. I love that show. It’s just going to suck you in.
I’m just, I’m very excited about it. Hacking for good. That’s it. Mike [01:05:00] Lisi, Meltech solutions. Um, I think that brings us just about to the end of, of good news. You’re good. Cause I got to pee really bad.
Mike B: I’m not going
Matt M: to
Mike B: lie.
Matt M: We will be back live on Monday morning. Bright and early, shinin sharin some good news to start off your week.
Um, have an awesome weekend, my friends. Have a great weekend, have a good news weekend, and we love you. Mike, thanks for joining us. Danny, thanks for keeping us on the air. My man. Back there, not swearing at us too much. Nope. And, uh, we’ll see you then, guys. Alright.
