A.M. ATL: Can anyone keep our info safe?
Hey there! Could be some more rain coming this afternoon, with temperatures in the 80s.
In case you missed it, President Joe Biden addressed the nation last night for the first time since dropping his presidential bid. “I revere this office,” he said. “But I love my country more.”
While Biden’s call for “fresh voices, yes, younger voices” centered on his VP Kamala Harris — who’s coming back to ATL next week — it got us thinking about who Georgia insiders think should be the VP’s VP. (I’d propose a dark horse candidate: Olivia Rodrigo.)
But enough about politics. Let’s take a look at something a little less heavy. Like cyber warfare.
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ATTACKS FROM ALL ANGLES
Delta CEO Ed Bastian expects today to be “normal” after its operational meltdown that left hundreds of thousands of travelers stranded around the country. The situation crippled airlines around the world, but its impact on Delta was particularly severe.
Delta’s entire network was hobbled by a faulty security update to Windows’ systems initiated by cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. Yes, all of that from a non-cyber attack.
But as we’ve become well-aware following recent breaches at AT&T and Ticketmaster, we are not safe from hackers. My colleague, Savannah Sicurella, took a look at how vulnerable we are to attacks — and not just through the brands we use but the companies they rely on to make a seamless digital world possible.
- Consider: As the world has become increasingly digitized, the collection of personal data to steal has grown. Each person leaves a digital footprint as they use devices to communicate, shop, track their fitness, listen to music or upload a document to the cloud.
- It’s a cat-and-mouse game, cybersecurity expert and Georgia Tech professor Mustaque Ahamad told us, between the companies storing data and the hackers that want to exploit it.
- Hackers are nimble and constantly adapting, finding software vulnerabilities in existing security systems. Companies build up walls to try to catch them — encrypting data, implementing access controls and requiring multiple forms of verification. But one always outsmarts the other.
- Lesser-known consumer risks: How about the duration of a user’s calls? That info can be useful to an adversary. A hacker can learn about customers who frequently call a company, as an example, and “spoof” the company’s phone number to scam them.
- What needs to happen: Some experts believe data breaches will continue to happen until companies face financial penalties for them. The Securities and Exchange Commission adopted new rules this time last year requiring public companies to disclose cybersecurity incidents within four business days of determining materiality.
Not signed up yet? What’re you waiting for? Get A.M. ATL in your inbox each weekday morning. And keep scrolling for more news.
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SWEET CELEBRATION
Rosalynn Carter is gone but not forgotten.
Plains is preparing to celebrate Carter’s birthday without her, for the first time since the former first lady passed away. Plains is the southwest Georgia hometown of Rosalynn and her husband of 77 years, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who is in hospice and continues to live in the ranch house they shared for most of their lives.
This year’s celebration is slated for Aug. 16-18; the 18th is her actual birthday
- Festivities will include: Music, a film screening, a public conversation with her family members, food distribution in the community and a fundraising auction of historical collectibles. And, perhaps one of the most Rosalynn of activities, the third-annual butterfly release in a local garden.
- Later this year: Additional festivities are planned in Atlanta and Plains in honor of Jimmy Carter’s 100th birthday, which is Oct. 1.
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MORE TOP STORIES
» It appears TNT will end its long relationship with the NBA in 2025
» Quavo wants youth to soar in music business, life with Rocket Camp
» Gov. Kemp, critics seek answers about decision on African American Studies class
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HAND HOLDING
Why did Six Flags institute a chaperone policy? Our Bill Torpy suggests looking at what happened at some local malls — specifically at Lenox Square. Officials there instituted metal detectors and a chaperone program in 2021 after two 15-year-olds held a security guard at gunpoint demanding keys to the mall. One teen, a girl, shot the guard point blank as nearby diners watched — and recorded.
- The good: Ken Allen, a retired Atlanta detective, ran the mall’s off-duty police security program at the time. He says the metal detectors and chaperone program put into place made a “significant change” in curtailing unwanted behavior.
- The not-so-good: Jake Bjorseth, who runs trndsttrs, a Gen Z advertising company, called such a sweeping policy “shortsighted.” He said malls and the like can deal with potential violence with enhanced security, and that blanket policies to exclude a demographic group can backfire. “You’re not actually remedying the problem; you’re eliminating a potential customer base,” he said. “There can be a long-term downstream effect.”
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BREATHING EASIER
About 1 in 2,100 children are born with tracheomalacia, the most common inherited birth defect of the windpipe. TM occurs when cartilage in the trachea, or windpipe, is weak or floppy, causing the windpipe’s walls to collapse and restrict breathing.
To avoid the need for a breathing tube, biomedical engineers at Georgia Tech used 3D printing technology to custom-design an airway stent. Great story from Roni Robbins about a 4-year-old named Justice who benefited from this custom-designed “splint” that provides airway support.
MORE HEALTH NEWS:
» Grady, Emory hep C breakthrough: ‘This device removes so many barriers’
» Why millions are trying alternatives to big-pharma’s weight-loss drugs
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HUT-HUT
Today is the first day of preseason practice for the Falcons, who are coming off three consecutive 7-10 seasons and have had six losing seasons in a row.
The team has a brighter outlook for 2024 after hiring Raheem Morris as coach and signing free-agent quarterback Kirk Cousins (who showed up Wednesday wearing a Hawks’ Steve Smith jersey). Still, Mark Bradley writes that the team opens camp “as the league’s oddest duck.”
Veteran guard Chris Lindstrom said there is “energy in the building.” D. Orlando Ledbetter looks at how the team is trying to build a championship foundation and is tinkering with its depth after a pair of signings Wednesday.
MORE IN SPORTS
» The Braves lost 9-4 to the Reds in the first game of a scheduled doubleheader Wednesday. The second game was rained out.
» Tennis star Coco Gauff will join LeBron James as a flag bearer for the U.S. Olympic team at Friday’s opening ceremony. And she found out in a very Atlanta way: A surprise announcement from Olympian Christopher Eubanks, a native of ATL and former Georgia Tech player who also is making his Olympic debut.
» ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips forcefully stuck up for his league this week. It was a moment that the conference — which has been cast as a weak, cash-strapped little brother of the powerful and wealthy Big Ten and SEC — needed, writes Ken Sugiura.
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DECISIONS, DECISIONS
The new judge presiding over Young Thug’s sprawling gang and racketeering trial has several important rulings to make if the case is to proceed after a one-month hiatus. Among them:
- Attorneys for four of the six defendants have requested mistrials in recent days, and Fulton County prosecutors are seeking a gag order that would prohibit defense counsel from speaking to the media about the case.
- Why? The state’s request comes more than two years after the rapper was indicted and more than 19 months after jury selection began. Since then, many of the attorneys have weighed in publicly on the pace and substance of the prosecution’s case.
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MORE TO EXPLORE
» In the wake of a big pileup on the Perimeter earlier this month, we asked GDOT for crash data on I-285. The Ga. 400 interchange area topped the list last year with 1,611 crashes – with five deaths.
» A Fulton County judge rejected an effort to pause the work of a new state commission tasked with investigating and disciplining local prosecutors.
» A Senate committee signed off on legislation backed by U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Georgia, that would prohibit members of Congress and their family members from trading stock in individual companies.
» Newly released body camera footage show the moments before and after a Douglas County Sheriff’s Office deputy shot and injured a man who crashed while attempting to pull over during a traffic stop.
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ON THIS DATE
July 25, 1991
City officials cut down a dying old oak tree n West Paces Ferry Road — and a rather dapper-looking man walked away with a piece of history.
As the story goes, the tree stood outside the tavern where owner Henry Irby hung a particularly large deer head way back in 1830s. That bit of handiwork gave the neighborhood its new name: Buckhead.
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PHOTO OF THE DAY
The Associated Press’ Daniel Cole captured a shot of United States’ Nathan Harriel, left, heading the ball during the men’s Group A soccer match yesterday between France and the U.S. at the Velodrome stadium, during the 2024 Summer Olympics. France won 3-0.
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ONE MORE THING
Monday was the hottest day on record ever globally ... beating a record set the day before. Scientists from Copernicus, the European climate change service, say it’s plausible that this is the warmest it has been in 120,000 years because of human-caused climate change. What kicked this week into new territory? A warmer-than-usual Antarctic winter, Copernicus says. Luckily Tuesday was waaaaay more temperate.
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Since you read to the very bottom, you get a confession. I have one thing and one thing only that I can cook. Scrambled eggs. Secret Mandel family recipe: water instead of milk. My 3-year-old daughter also knows how to do this. And only this. But these recipes seem doable. Tonight we are gonna make some Puppy Chow.
Questions, comments, ideas? Drop me a line at eric.mandel@ajc.com.
About the Author
Eric Mandel is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, native and University of Iowa alumnus. The award-winning journalist moved from Seattle in 2017 to Atlanta, working as a writer and editor for American City Business Journals. He joined the AJC in June 2024.
