Episodes
Saturday Aug 26, 2017
My Tense Trip To The Dark Web - Risks & Rewards of TOR
Saturday Aug 26, 2017
Saturday Aug 26, 2017
“The dark web—which utilizes a technology created by military researchers in the 1990s to allow intelligence operatives to exchange information completely anonymously—is unknown to many. It's been said to be a breeding ground for organized crime, sex traffickers, and hackers. But it's also used by good actors, including whistle-blowers and activists.” https://phys.org/news/2017-03-dangers-dark-web.html THE ONION ROUTER (TOR). Dr. Perrodin shares that the Tor Browser, which is the door to the dark web, is astoundingly easy to access. In fact, the Tor Browser is a version of Mozilla Firefox that has been modified by the Tor Project for enhanced security and privacy. When you open the browser, it automatically connects to the Tor network, which encrypts and bounces your connection to the Internet around in a way that's supposed to make it difficult to spy on you. The TOR Browser is rated 3.5 / 5 stars from 26 votes on CNET with most low ratings due to TOR’s slow speed. Learn more about the Tor Project at www.torproject.org IS IT LEGAL TO SURF THE DARK WEB? It is legal to use Tor, but it does host illegal content. An illegal act conducted via Google Chrome or Internet Explorer would also be illegal if conducted via TOR. The dark web is a network of websites that only run on anonymous browsers, which will hide the identity of the user and the people who run the sites – so detection of nefarious acts is more difficult when a person uses a TOR browser. WHAT IS VPN? A VPN or Virtual Private Network is a method used to add security and privacy to private and public networks, like WiFi Hotspots and the Internet. VPNs are most often used by corporations to protect sensitive data as it hides your IP address - or the address of your computer. TOR is almost always paired with a VPN such as CyberGhost, NordVPN, or Trust.Zone. While TOR is free, VPN’s cost about $10 a month. FIVE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TOR. (1) It Protects the Identity of the User Through ‘Hopping’ Across Devices Worldwide; (2) To Find a Site on Tor You Need to Know the Address of the Onion Service. This means the “dark web” websites have .onion in their address; (3) Less Than Half of the Activity on the Dark Web is Illegal; (4) The Dark Web Was Originally Meant to Safeguard Government Communications. “Onion Routing” was originally developed in order to protect intelligence communications online. The United States Naval Research Laboratory created Tor in the mid-1990s. The project was transferred to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in 1997 and underwent its first round of software testing on 20 September 2002. Tor was publicly launched a year later. (5) Anyone Can Volunteer to Be Part of Network Running Tor. TOR AND SAFETY. The presence of the TOR icon, which is an onion, on a computer or other device might imply that the user is accessing websites that broker drugs, sex trafficking or other dangerous activities. Remember, TOR doesn’t create a historical log. Those that support TOR argue that the service is necessary to protect against increasing government surveillance and corporate tracking. FOLLOW. DR. PERRODIN: On Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to “The Safety Doc” YouTube channel & SoundCloud RSS feed. DR. PERRODIN'S SAFETY BLOG: crisisprepconsulting.wordpress.com SAFETY DOC WEBSITE: www.safetyphd.com David will respond to discussion thread comments & emails. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests and do not reflect positions of The 405 Media or supporters of “The Safety Doc Podcast”. The show is curse free & adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. Email David: thesafetydoc@gmail.com
Thursday Aug 17, 2017
PART 2: Drones Will Revolutionize Crisis Response! Preston Rice Interview
Thursday Aug 17, 2017
Thursday Aug 17, 2017
Drones can fly at speeds of 70 MPH and electronic fences can’t prevent them from entering prison yards, hospital property or school zones. Wow, seems like drones pose risks to society – regulate them! Wait! Did I mention that drones efficiently operate within radioactive areas or locations that would present hazards to humans, such as scouting the “hot” regions of a forest fire? Drone expert Preston Rice explains and demonstrates the potential ways in which drones benefit humans – especially in the area of crisis prevention and response. DRONE DELIVERY BY AMAZON or PIZZA HUT. Preston notes that it is more efficient to use a drone for the delivery of smaller items as it doesn’t require sending out an individual or pollute. A barrier against such delivery is the requirement that the drone be in the line of sight of the operator. Amazon is confident that the technology will be integral to its business model and that regulations will evolve to permit vehicles to be operated beyond line of sight. DRONE SWARMS. In January, 2017, the US Military announced a successful launch of a 100-drone swarm from jets. Once launched the swarm, as a collective entity, can decide for itself how best to execute a mission. In the trials, three F/A-18 Super Hornets released 103 Perdix drones, which then communicated with each other and went about performing a series of formation flying exercises that mimic a surveillance mission. DRONE LANDS (UNNOTICED) ON A MILITARY SHIP. Popular Mechanics author Kyle Mizokami wrote that on August 14, 2017, a “civilian photographer landed his $350 drone on the flight deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth, the United Kingdom's brand-new aircraft carrier, without anyone noticing. Even more alarming, when the incident was reported, the government authorities didn't seem particularly concerned by the breach of security. The incident comes after drones have been used to monitor military bases, conduct acts of sabotage, and even kill.” Preston added, “The ship landing does raise questions regarding the evolution of the technology moving faster than we can react to it.” While this drone was illegally operating in protected airspace, the issue of regulation enforcement was centered as a murky region, something Preston pointed out during part 1 of this interview when he highlighted the oft-conflicting laws and enforcement of laws between federal (FAA) and local government agencies. DRONE ANXIETY. Preston admitted that although he flies all the time, he questions the intent of a drone flying proximal to him, “What is he looking at?” Human curiosity makes us seek information about why drones are flying. If we see a drone flying near a bridge, we want to know that it is operated by a structural engineer. DEMONSTRATION. Preston and David visit the field at a local park as Preston demonstrates the steps of deploying a drone – from set-up to calibrating the drone to overhead satellites. The video is available in the YouTube version of this interview. The narrated demonstration swings open the door to the possible safety applications of a drone – especially as it was flown over swampy terrain and obtained crisp, real-time video of the terrain hundreds of feet below. FOLLOW. DR. PERRODIN: On Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to “The Safety Doc” YouTube channel & SoundCloud RSS feed. DR. PERRODIN'S SAFETY BLOG: crisisprepconsulting.wordpress.com SAFETY DOC WEBSITE: www.safetyphd.com David will respond to discussion thread comments & emails. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests and do not reflect positions of The 405 Media or supporters of “The Safety Doc Podcast”. The show is curse free & adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. Email David: thesafetydoc@gmail.com Learn more about Preston Rice and his drone services at www.widroneservice.com
Saturday Aug 12, 2017
PART 1: Little Known Facts About Drones - Preston Rice Expert Interview
Saturday Aug 12, 2017
Saturday Aug 12, 2017
The FAA controls the airspace above your lawn! However, the question of who owns the skies remains murky at local government levels. Rules & regulations for operating a drone differ greatly between a hobbyist and commercial operator. Drones, some smaller than a human hand, are used in many industries and show great promise for positive contributions to search & rescue and crisis response. WHAT IS A DRONE? Per the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a drone is an unmanned aircraft or ship guided by remote control or onboard computers. While most of have seen large military drones, modern hobbyist and commercial drones can be as small as the human hand. RULES & REGULATIONS. The FAA ultimately controls airspace and delegates some degree of monitoring and enforcement of airspace to local governments. Per Preston, local governments might pass “over-reaching” laws to limit where drones can fly. These laws could by superseded by FAA regulations which allow a drone operator to fly over his property or neighborhood. Preston notes that common sense is key to limiting nuisances or compromising safety. WHERE CAN’T I FLY? Preston noted that Federal parks are off limits. Prisons, nuclear power plants and hospitals often are “no fly zones” and additionally protected by a geo-fence barrier. However, electronic barriers are not yet robust enough to impede penetration by all drones. A commercial drone pilot can fly in most “restricted” areas if he obtains permission from the FAA or other site authority to fly in that vicinity. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HOBBY OR COMMERCIAL DRONE OPERATION. A commercial drone pilot has obtained extensive training and understanding restricted airspaces and flight traffic near airports. In addition, a commercial pilot can charge for drone services, such as aerial photography. WHAT IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG? Drones identify their position in space from 17-18 satellite signals. This information can be combined with GPS and various sensors, such as frontal collision. When a drone loses guidance signals or has depleted power, it will aim to return to a point of origin or else land. The drone is often in the sight of the operator. AMAZING USE OF DRONES! A decade ago, drones were associated with military use. Today, drones survey agriculture crops, inspect wind turbine towers, infrared scan fire scenes, examine bridges, obtain aerial photography for special events, participate in search and rescue and even deploy a flotation device to someone struggling to swim! Drones are immune to radiation or chemical pollutants that limit human rescues. A drone does not have emotion, bias or fatigue. It can operate at full efficiency until it requires a fresh set of batteries and then can be back flying in mere minutes. HOW ABOUT THE MILITARY & DRONES? Drones are an increasing component of the military’s surveillance and weaponry units. In recent tests, several small drones were released from a military aircraft and then the drones identified their locations in space and relative to each other and began to fly as one large network – something we sometimes see in the behavior of birds. By the way, eagles have been trained to pluck nefarious drones from the skies! FOLLOW. DR. PERRODIN: On Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to “The Safety Doc” YouTube channel & SoundCloud RSS feed. DR. PERRODIN'S SAFETY BLOG: crisisprepconsulting.wordpress.com SAFETY DOC WEBSITE: www.safetyphd.com David will respond to discussion thread comments & emails. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests and do not reflect positions of The 405 Media or supporters of “The Safety Doc Podcast”. The show is curse free & adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. Email David: thesafetydoc@gmail.com Learn more about Preston Rice and his drone services at www.widroneservice.com
Thursday Aug 03, 2017
Back To School Safety Special - Time To Be Terrified!!
Thursday Aug 03, 2017
Thursday Aug 03, 2017
High-drama multi-agency intruder response simulations transpire daily in schools across America. This hyper-realistic approach to school safety has produced a flurry of litigation centering psychological trauma for adults and children. Furthermore, theatrical drills are not supported by empirical research and differ greatly from the ways schools prepare for other disasters, such as fires and tornadoes. For example, when the fire alarm sounds, students don’t enter a smoke-filled hallway. Dr. Perrodin offers key safety suggestions for staff, administrators, and students. FOR STAFF. Exercise situational awareness and trust your gut feeling - quickly report concerns to administration. Go thru the harassment and threat input system step-by-step with all students and give extra training to youth with special needs. ADMINISTRATORS. Assure staff that you will HAVE THEIR BACK if they exercise discretion to act in the best interest of students, others or self. Inform staff that is there is a school intruder event, the entire school property might be considered a crime scene and they might not be able to retrieve personal belongings or vehicles for a day or more. EDUCATE PARENTS. Inform parents that in the event of an intruder or other lockdown situation to NOT drive to the school to pick up their child unless directed to do so by the school. Parents converging on a scene interfere with emergency responders. Also, let them know that you will tell them that staging or pick-up areas as the situation will dictate where emergency officials deem those will be located - which could be several blocks or even a few miles away in the event of a tornado. Too often the evacuation site is a location a block away from the school. STUDENTS. Be explicit in covering the school handbook for areas of safety - including threat to others and threat of harm to self. Students can create PSA videos about the handbook. Have students demonstrate the reporting process. ALARMING FINDINGS ABOUT FIRE DRILL RESEARCH. Many schools throughout the United States are mandated to hold drills, or operational exercises, to prepare for fires, tornadoes, violence, and other emergencies. Despite recommendations by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and USDOE, no local or federal agency routinely monitors the frequency and quality of school drills. Hence, drills are often checklist activities and not exercises to better inform practice. Furthermore, research that has been done to assess the impact of drills suggests that they produce both benefits, such as students learning the evacuation location, and drawbacks, including student apathy and becoming desensitized to drills. BETTER PRACTICES. Host a community assembly a week before school starts - record it, play it on cable access and make available from school website, how about a 30-second advertisement in the local movie theater? Tell people what to expect during and following a school crisis! 4 SIMPLE QUESTIONS WILL IMPROVE SCHOOL SAFETY. Within 30 minutes of a drill, have all staff respond to a four question survey that asks: (1) Your location during the drill, (2) Did you hear the announcement of the drill (3) Any questions / constructive input, (4) What questions did students have? FOLLOW. DR. PERRODIN: On Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to “The Safety Doc” YouTube channel & SoundCloud RSS feed. DR. PERRODIN'S SAFETY BLOG: crisisprepconsulting.wordpress.com SAFETY DOC WEBSITE: www.safetyphd.com David will respond to discussion thread comments & emails. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests and do not reflect positions of The 405 Media or supporters of “The Safety Doc Podcast”. The show is curse free & adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. Email David: thesafetydoc@gmail.com