#and knowledge is only appreciated when its seen as 'useful' and exploitable like stem studies

[fertbutt]

playing fallout new vegas and having to listen to caesar complaining about travelling and getting to study the languages of various communities living in the wasteland and calling it a waste of time while irl the humanities are constantly disregarded and getting a higher education and opportunities to study anthropology hands-on costs tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars and requires so many connections and he was just getting that FOR FREE from the followers but that wasnt cool enough for him so he decided to use the education he was given to start his little fascist larper group and enslave people

[spadesverse-official]

In the Spadesverse universe, there are four kingdoms. Every kingdom represents an aspect of what keeps the world going and humanity’s connection to it. They all have their individual roles to fulfil- Protectors for every one of this world's fundamental mechanisms, thus each nation is known to oversee a certain aspect of this world’s magic. The ability to control these ‘types’ of magic depends on how dangerous the magic is, some can be used by everyone, whilst others are trusted to the Monarchs alone. It is the duty of each monarchy to work together to bring balance, peace, and prosperity.

The four kingdoms are Diamonds, Hearts, Clubs, and Spades.

Diamonds

Magic

Diamonds’ connection is with nature. Their magic lies within controlling the elements; Earth, fire, water, and air. These are of course umbrella terms, water can extend to ice and other liquids, earth can also refer to plant life, etc. Elemental magic is the easiest to master as people are surrounded by nature, though it comes most naturally to citizens born in Diamonds or anyone who has ancestry from said nation, but it is not limited to just Diamonds alone. It can be wielded by anyone without connections to Diamonds who has a basic knowledge of magic or anyone in tune with nature. However, there have been cases where people have been able to resort to elemental magic without having studied any sort of magic before, usually under pressure, in distressing situations, situations that have activated one’s natural ‘fight or flight’, or under intense emotional responses stemming anywhere from joy, grief, rage, etc.

It should be noted, however, that the Diamonds Monarchy wields it the strongest. Diamonds Royals can complete elemental feats that even Masters (A title earned through training in the magical arts and mastering advanced types of magic) deem unimaginable, such as bending significantly more difficult elements like magma, or singlehandedly stopping entire natural disasters which would usually take hundreds, if not thousands, of magic users to stop.

General

Diamonds is known for its wealth and luxury, the nation of lavish galas and garden parties. They earn this wealth from their vast collection of natural resources, which they are able to take full advantage of due to their born ability to wield the elements. Before other kingdoms learned this magic, Diamonds was the first to hone this ability, getting a head start.

Their soil is already naturally rich, but it doesn’t hurt that farmers can make crops sing by taking advantage of plant based magic, for example. Most notably, Diamonds has exploited the caves that run deep within their grounds and the mountains to the North East, using earth based magic to create mines and harness resources all the way from coal to rarer finds like diamonds, hence the name of the nation. It’s fair to say Diamonds was quick to make significant profit, at least when other Kingdoms began to thrive, that is. The palace was decorated with the gold they mined to honour this show of wealth and, eventually, it became their national colour.

To put it simply, Diamonds thrives off of its agriculture and trade of luxury. They’ve become the fashion capital of the world, with fine silks, metals, and shimmering jewels for the most breath-taking of jewellery. You’ll find many aspiring designers migrating here, and often people retire to Diamonds after a lifetime of building their wealth. Diamonds has been able to enjoy the easy, expensive life with little financial concerns for the majority of the populace, leading, also, to a significant boom in leisure. Notably, Diamonds is home to some of the most famous theatres and the leading nation when it comes to the theatrical arts.

Hearts

Magic

True to its name, Hearts’ core magic revolves around the heart- More specifically, a heartbeat. The beginning and end of said beat. The Hearts Monarchy oversees life and death, tracking souls, so to speak. They do this through pendants (Can also be referred to as ‘amulets’). There are two types of pendants: Fertility pendants and soul pendants.

Fertility pendants are used to track pregnancy and the health of an unborn child. They are usually worn when trying to check if someone is pregnant, or if a couple is trying to conceive. A colourful ‘mist’ will appear in the pendant if the wearer is with child. The mist represents the soul of the child. If there is more than one child present, there will be more than one colour depending on how many embryos there are. There will be two colours in the case of twins, three for triplets, etc. The colours of these mists vary, the reason as to why is unknown. Some say certain colours depict what personality type your child will have, similar to Zodiac signs. There is no evidence to support this theory, however, and so the colour of the mist seems to be just up to chance. One colour is known, however, and only happens in a particular scenario. The mist inside a fertility pendant will turn black in the case of a miscarriage, which only happens if there is infidelity between a couple. Some say this is a punishment given by a higher power, but it is one that seems greatly unjust, especially if the wearer was not the party at fault.

Soul pendants are used to ‘store’ souls. Empty soul pendants will be worn by those who are aware they do not have long left, such as the elderly and/or the severely ill. When they pass, part of their soul/‘life force’ will then be ‘captured’ in the pendant, rather than moving on. Storing a soul using this type of connection to Earth allows the deceased to watch over the living realm as a part of them is still being kept on the physical plain. They can watch over their loved ones from a place most call ‘The Inbetween’. Not much is known of The Inbetween or the afterlife other than this, at least not to anyone still alive.

Soul pendants that are filled with a soul will be given to a loved one of the deceased to wear. The chosen wearer can be named in one’s will if, leading up to their death, the original wearer knows who they want to watch over the most.

A fertility pendant will act as a temporary soul pendant in the case of a miscarriage so that, if the parents wish, their child’s soul can be transferred into an actual soul pendant so that the child, in a way, will still be with them.

Finally, soul pendants (That have a soul inside) can enhance the magic of a wearer by using the life force of the captured soul, but this will weaken the soul overtime until it fades and the connection the deceased once had to the living realm will then be lost, forcing them to fully move on into the afterlife.

Only the Hearts Monarchy and their Makers (Term given to people that manufacture the pendants) can create these pendants. The Monarchy will bestow some of their magic onto Makers, so that they will also have the ability to transfer souls/make pendants that have the ability to capture souls as well. Makers are chosen by the Monarchy and there are very few of them, but they exist to to lessen the workload for the Monarchs themselves so they can still see to their Kingdom’s needs whilst not neglecting the demand for pendants.

It is rumoured that the King and Queen of Hearts share a power that no one else does, however. A final power that links to the human heart. This is the ability to see soulmates. But, again, this is merely a rumour and has not been proven nor disproven.

General

Hearts, well, has a lot of heart. As cheesy as it sounds. But it’s true. This Kingdom is known for its national pride, but also for its sense of community. Citizens will admit that it’s difficult to walk through most villages without at least one grandmother trying to feed them. Children are usually raised by whole towns, not just their own family.

Festivals are not rare in this Kingdom, and they usually surround its citizens’ love of food and alcohol. It’s a wonderful place to go when needing to feel loved and appreciated. It also doesn’t hurt that it’s one of the hotter nations, with a beautifully warm climate.

Moreover, its citizens seem to naturally value life more, and not just their own life for that matter. Many of the world’s best medical schools reside in Hearts, and many of its citizens become doctors, nurses, etc.

Hearts is also known for its art. Diamonds may thrive when it comes to theatre, but Hearts soars when it comes to painting, sculpting, pottery, etc. Both are currently racing to prove who produces the better bards and singers, though.

Clubs

Magic

Clubs' magic revolves around the sun and moon, light and dark, good vs evil, etc. The Clubs Monarchy oversees the balance between light, dark, and neutral magic within the atmosphere, constantly making sure the scales never tip into darkness too much. Dark magic warps people’s minds, makes them give into their darkest desires and selves, having too much of it in the atmosphere can lead to drastic consequences. It will lead people to insanity, create chaos and discord. Thus, it is the Monarchy’s duty to balance out the scales. Say if someone was dabbling in dark magic and they released too much of it into the universe, the Monarchy would balance it out via releasing light magic into the atmosphere, usually by giving out blessings, such as ‘luck’. This is also seen as distributing ‘karma’.

Since balancing the scales is their duty, it is also the role of this Monarchy to decide what types of dark magic are too dangerous and will decide the legislature regarding these types, such as what is illegal and what isn’t, or what needs to be licensed to use, etc. They will consult the other Monarchies before making a final decision, however. Typically, it is also the Clubs Monarchy who will then choose the punishment given to those who are practicing illegal types of magic, such as curses or necromancy.

It is said that the King and Queen can take away one’s ability to do certain types of magic if they begin to abuse their power, and can give this power to remove magic to others they trust, too. It is also said that the King and Queen can harness the energy of the sun and moon to enhance their own magic or the magical abilities of those around them. Neither of these theories have been confirmed.

General

Clubs is...Barren. It’s mountainous terrain, freezing temperatures, and overall snow covered lands makes it difficult to grow almost anything. It’s citizens get by on luck alone, quite literally. The King and Queen throughout history, apparently, have had to bless their citizens with luck just to get by. It’s actually because of this that their national symbol, which had once been a sun, a moon, and an eclipse to represent the balance between light and dark magic, became misinterpreted as a clover through the generations.

It’s main trade is ice and vodka. It doesn’t produce a lot of profit, but it gets them by. Clubs is not a very lively place. Whether this could change or not is up to the New Monarchs.

Spades

Magic

Nothing is known about Spades’ abilities at this point in time. It will remain that way until its Monarchy is found. There are rumours that float around still, from the days of the Old Monarchs, that the Spades Monarchy had the ability to change time. One can dream.

General

Spades is not known for anything yet, other than being the last Kingdom to fall, but also the last to rise again. All they have to show for themselves is a hundred years worth of ruin, like every other Kingdom did before Diamonds rose. They have some farmlands to the West, forests everywhere else, the ruins of old docks. Who knows what the new Monarchy will bring, and who knows what legacy they will create for the Kingdom.

[terabitweb]

Original Post from SC Magazine Author: victorthomas

The ubiquitous application is the attackers’ universal vulnerability

Over the past two decades, email has rapidly and firmly edged its way into becoming the most popular, most accepted and most basic means for business communication. That is both good news and bad.

Sure, social media has had a growing impact over the years. Marketing managers increasingly tweet about corporate successes, an executive might crow about their company on Facebook or post Instagram pictures of happy customers enjoying their products or services. But when it comes to one-on-one or group internal communication, employees from the frontline to the C-suite and the boardroom still favor a tried and true email.

Despite on-going communication advances, email is not likely to leave its vaunted perch any time soon. The number of emails sent worldwide each day is expected to jump from 269 billion at the end of 2017 to nearly 320 billion each day by 2021, according to Statista. As of this year, approximately 124.5 billion business emails alone are sent and received every day, according to technology market researcher Radicati Group, Inc. By the end of 2019, every business user is expected to send and receive on average 126 emails per day. But it is email’s popularity, its constancy, its ubiquity and its simplicity that also makes it the prime target for cyber ne’er-do-wells that recognize email as the easiest and most effective route for them to plant malware, worm their way into a corporate network or trick unsuspecting employees to misdirect funds into their coffers.

In 2016, Symantec reported that one in every 131 emails contained malware. And the success and proliferation of massive malware campaigns, including ransomware hijacks, in the intervening months likely means that these threats have only shot upward — especially in regard to the enterprise email user. While enterprise IT security groups, and even mainstream users, have been made increasingly aware of the threat of phishing or more targeted spear-phishing emails, enterprises big and small still find that there is often some employee willing to open an attachment or click a link, even if the request or the source seems questionable.

“Phishing remains the number one [security] threat to most companies,” says Quinn Shamblin, the chief information security officer for Eden Prairie, Minn.-based Optum Technology. “At most companies, the easiest way around the security is to send someone an email.” Shamblin, who previously worked in IT security leadership at Procter & Gamble, Boston University, and UnitedHealthcare, says that while a wide range of technology products are emerging to help enterprises like his suss out the bad actors, technology alone is not enough to beat back the constant assaults.

“Email security capabilities at the gateway do a good job of holding back the ‘commodity-style’ attacks,” he says of more simplistic and broadly aimed phishing emails. “But [these tools] are not as good when emails target specific groups.”

Michael Osterman, president of Seattle-based Osterman Research Inc., agrees, “The situation is bad and getting worse. Phishing has become common. And business email compromise is very serious.” He agrees that technology offerings are improving — evolving to even review the writing style within the email itself to see if it matches up with the executive who purportedly wrote it — but they will not block all the threats.

“The bad guys are always studying and reverse-engineering,” Osterman says. “This is always a game of cat and mouse. On balance, the bad guys are gaining an edge because there’s so much money behind them.”

And of course, there is at the core of these email-aimed attacks, the most basic and exploitable vulnerability — the sometimes naïve, eager-to-please and often overwhelmed human employee. As Microsoft’s president and chief legal officer Brad Smith reportedly summed it up while speaking in 2017 at a corporate conference, “Every company has at least one employee who will click on anything. Part of what the security challenge involves is protecting people from themselves.”

Michael Osterman, president, Osterman Research

The upshot of all this, says Nick Hayes, senior analyst at Forrester Inc. of Cambridge, Mass., “It’s still a world of hurt for security pros today. Despite the huge investments into a variety of email security tools from email security gateways to phishing simulation testing, email threats remain a top area of exposure for companies.”

Sophisticated and targeted phishing attacks have in turn given rise to more pervasive and damaging malware attacks and cases of business email compromise, where the fraudsters pose as a corporate executive or business partner in order to coax unsuspecting employees to send them funds or information that they can resell for a profit. And no organization is immune, no matter how secure they believe their systems and policies to be. Case in point: Austrian aerospace and defense giant FACC AG, which sells equipment to Airbus and Boeing, lost $54 million two years ago to a business email compromise scam. The CEO and the CFO were fired as a result.

And, perhaps even more surprisingly, it is not always the big institutions, large banks or defense contractors or hospitals that are under threat any more. Bad actors are diversifying. Real estate-related businesses — from real estate brokerage sales staffs to buyers and sellers and from title companies to law firms — are increasingly becoming targets aimed at getting them to share account information or other personal data that could be monetized. Real estate scams increased 1,100 percent from 2015 to 2017, with losses increasing 2,200 percent during that time.

Perhaps even more damaging, phishing can lead to ransomware attacks, when an enterprise user opens an email-based attachment that unleashes malware in the corporate network that locks up essential files, systems or even access to vital equipment. The healthcare industry has been particularly ravaged by ransomware, going back nearly three years to the highly publicized “Locky” attack on Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center. After the Los Angeles hospital was forced offline for more than a week, the hospital management gave in and paid its attackers $17,000. Not long after, Methodist Hospital in Henderson, Ky., came under attack from “Locky” hackers, which prevented doctors from accessing patients’ medical records.

Chris Greany, managing director and group head of corporate security investigations and insider threat at Barclays in London, says that he is not sure that “the landscape of threats has changed that much in the past year. What I have seen change is how people respond [to try to] understand more quickly what’s going through the network.

Dan Lohrmann, former CISO, State of Michigan

“There’s a greater appreciation of security awareness,” Greany adds, “and making sure their employees understand what not to press or click.”

Changing the culture, one email at a time

Perhaps the greatest challenge for organizations, in trying to stem the rising tide of email incursions, is “just keeping ahead of it, every day,” says Greany.

Indeed, as malware-as-a-service (MaaS) offerings evolve, a less-skilled but large base of wannabe hackers are coming out of the woodwork to “have a go” at email-oriented attacks, says Greany, just as the better funded and more talented organized cybercriminals are becoming more creative, and effective, with their more targeted assaults. “We need to make sure everyone is getting the same learning, the same training,” Greany says.

Dan Lohrmann, the former CISO for the State of Michigan who now heads a security consulting firm, believes that imbuing a culture of security throughout an organization is critical as a foundation to security awareness training, especially around the use of a tool as fundamental as email. “It really starts with the culture of the organization,” says Lohrmann. In his state CISO role, Lohrmann says, he served under Gov. Rick Snyder, the former CEO of Gateway Computers, who was instrumental in helping his organization become more knowledgeable about potential cyberthreats.

The converse, Osterman points out, is when an organization has “a corporate culture where the CEO cannot be questioned at any time in any way,” email scams will flourish because the employees will have no opportunity to consider the validity of communication and their response. “And that’s death to security awareness,” Osterman adds. “Informationsharing is critical, as is a higher frequency of training… Organizations need to keep those new threat vectors front and center.”

Support from the uppermost echelon of the enterprise is crucial, Osterman agrees. “The biggest challenge to security awareness is often just getting attention of the senior management,” he says. While the seemingly daily headlines regarding cybersecurity breaches, especially those that begin with an email, have helped make “board-level discussions about security awareness more common and [put] more CISOs on the board itself,” Osterman says, it is increasingly important that all the employees come to recognize that security precautions “are not just an IT thing.”

Since October kicks off cybersecurity awareness month in many parts of the working world, Greany and his team at Barclays are overseeing a “global cybersecurity road show” — offering a host of inperson and online trainings, webinars, and other events aimed at helping everyone throughout the widespread global banking organization become more aware of better security practices and potential threats.

Nick Hayes, senior analyst, Forrester

“We want them to know this is really everyone’s responsibility, that they’re part of the overall fight,” he adds. “Whether you’re in the boardroom or the branch, there should be an understanding that when something comes into your inbox, you need to know what it is before you respond or act on it.”

In the case of Barclays, Greany says that attendance at many if not most of their security events is “not mandatory, but it is expected. We want people to willingly participate — and that means selling it to them in the right way.”

For the U.K.-based bank, that means emphasizing the overall benefit an employee will derive in not only being “part of the team” that keeps their company secure, but also letting them know that this education will benefit them in their personal life, he notes. Since spam, malware, and phishing are not limited to enterprise users, cybercriminals often target personal emails as well, Greany says that employees are learning that they can take home the awareness and the practices they learn at work.

“People want to come along for that,” he adds. “Safe at work, safe at home.”

As is oft pointed out by IT security experts, few employees will come to a lasting awareness about security if their only training is a once-a-year “death by PowerPoint” lecture. Echoing other security insiders, Hayes agrees that email security awareness is about “ongoing prioritization and maintenance. Email security requires a multi-pronged approach to prevent, detect, and respond to email threats prior to and at the point of execution.”

Since the cybercrime market evolves even more quickly than the products and practices aimed at stopped it, Hayes adds, “It’s difficult for security teams to adapt as quickly as threats shift, especially given the range of devices, applications, and points of ingress at attackers’ disposal.”

“Security awareness reduces your risk exposure,” Hayes continues “It doesn’t mean you’re 100 percent secure, but that your people are less likely to click on a malicious link. Until security teams can guarantee a phishing or otherwise malicious email will never hit users’ inboxes, security awareness will remain critical. I think we have quite some time before that.”

The post Thinking outside the inbox appeared first on SC Media.

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Go to Source Author: victorthomas Thinking outside the inbox Original Post from SC Magazine Author: victorthomas The ubiquitous application is the attackers’ universal vulnerability Over the past two decades, email has rapidly and firmly…