Story About Medical Device Security
Ben Rothke relates a story about me working with a medical device firm back when I was with BT. I don’t remember the story at all, or who the company was. But it sounds about right.
Comments
Ben Rothke • February 18, 2025 10:52 AM
Bruce – thanks for sharing. The link in the article may limit people from seeing it if they don’t have a Medium subscription. The following link allows full access to the article for everyone:
wiredog • February 18, 2025 1:11 PM
“Underpaying for the role” Especially in hourly, 1099, positions.
Since I started responding to recruiters with what I’m making now, adjusted for a 1099 (at the very least triple what your hourly take home is), the number of recruiters spamming me has declined quite a bit.
“Not understanding the needs for the role”
“And just where on my resume did you see any indication I have X years of experience in areas related to role Y?” is often followed by “Ummm. Well…”
Clive Robinson • February 18, 2025 2:04 PM
@ Bruce, Ben,
The problem with finding “specialized recruiters” is that a lot of roles are way more specialised than they appear capable of comprehending…
I’m an “odd duck” when it comes to skills as they are many and varied. Back last century I found that mostly recruiters were fairly pointless when dealing with non senior management highly skilled roles.
The result I started “talking to others” that worked in areas I have skills in.
The result I’ve not been close to a recruiter and I get a larger slice of pie from the start. And more importantly the roles suit me as the glove that fits the required hand.
Also for most of my long career all the “best jobs” came not through recruiters but through friends and contacts I trusted asking if
“I knew someone who might be interested?”
I’m not saying recruiters are universally bad they are not (even I did it for a while). But the big issue is “non aligned incentives” and the higher you are up a technology or other very specialised occupation the less understanding thus alignment that exists.
Frank • February 21, 2025 1:43 PM
This is another example of the “crisis of competence” that is affecting the entire culture.
Everything is being done with an eye toward certain ideological values — “equality,” for instance, or “diversity,” and simultaneously with an eye toward profit.
The phenomenon reflects a deep shift in cultural values, so there’s no easy fix — and perhaps no fix at all.
Get ready for bigger, more frequent failures as things continue to deteriorate. Meanwhile, if there’s a 24-year old female pilot in the cockpit, take another flight.
ResearcherZero • February 25, 2025 6:05 AM
They have been using [NAME REDACTED] as the information security guy in a plenty a small town and so far everything is mostly fine. They did disable the free WIFI access after the last blackmail attempt (jailed), but since then all systems seem to be back up and running.
ResearcherZero • February 25, 2025 6:30 AM
@Bruce
The good news is that with the increased wages that such roles provide the local pub is raking it in, slightly offset by lost productivity due to more hospital visits.
“I got a new job. Drinks are on me!” :p
ResearcherZero • February 26, 2025 3:19 AM
@Frank
There was no else but the same people of privilege who asked to have doors opened for them.
I opened those doors because they were the ones who asked and no one else was asking.
The term ‘Tech Bros’ should be pretty clear in it’s meaning. That meaning is not carefully hidden within the name. This follows the history of Oil Tycoons, Merchant Princes, Captains of Industry, Robber Barrons and other titles. It refers to a tiny group of very few men who have a very extreme amount of economic, social and political power.
‘https://www.damemagazine.com/2025/02/05/were-living-in-a-new-age-of-robber-barons/
Familiar names you may have heard of:
https://historythings.com/20-of-americas-most-notorious-robber-barons/
“The cumulative damage they have inflicted on democracies dates all the way back to John Walter, a London coal merchant who launched the Times in 1788”
https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/book-of-the-day/2024/11/the-making-of-a-media-mogul
ResearcherZero • February 27, 2025 1:53 AM
“Medical insecurity is not just something that causes anxiety—it can result in death.”
‘https://time.com/7210680/insecurity-is-the-new-inequality-essay/
“My fear for the future is that those of us who cannot tolerate the heat will die,” she said. “Another fear I have is that no one will listen.”
https://thesicktimes.org/2024/10/04/tinu-abayomi-paul-writer-disability-advocate-and-person-with-long-covid-dies-at-52/
ResearcherZero • March 1, 2025 11:11 PM
@Bruce
Doctors and researchers can no longer access online resources used to track diseases.
‘https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/unfit-to-hold-the-office-of-federal-judge-lawmaker-moves-to-impeach-judge-who-ordered-trump-admin-to-restore-public-health-websites/
“it could cripple medical research”
https://www.opb.org/article/2025/03/01/dr-francis-collins-legendary-former-nih-director-retires/
PubMed / National Institute of Health (NIH)’s websites are reportedly down for hundreds of users on March 1, 2025.
https://community.designtaxi.com/topic/9163-is-pubmed-nih-down/
An alternative might be to be to check Health Canada.
https://gijn.org/stories/preserving-data-purges-us-government-data-alternative-sources-archives/
Finding Government Information during the 2025 Administration Transition
steve • March 17, 2025 10:37 AM
I get all kinds of these offers. Usually I get 2-3 emails from different recruiters for the same position. The position never aligns with my skill set.
My last resumes stipulate that if the job site isn’t within walking distance of my present home, the employer will have to provide the expense and logistics for the daily commute, both directions, as I no longer am capable of driving. I also put a reminder of this in cover letters.
The last job I ACTUALLY had, before I had the problem, was from a very stale resume I had on monster, and the HR man from the company didn’t use much automation to screen me out. Not that I made much money: I didn’t. But it was fun.
ResearcherZero • March 30, 2025 3:01 AM
Final Scientific Integrity Policy of the National Institutes of Health has been rescinded.
‘https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-25-080.html
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Sidebar photo of Bruce Schneier by Joe MacInnis.
Brent Hagerty • February 18, 2025 9:49 AM
So very very true.
As it is said: the more things change, the more they stay the same.