Home Podcast This Week in San Diego Tech News – August 19, 2022

This Week in San Diego Tech News – August 19, 2022

by Neal Bloom


Neal: Welcome everyone to the weekly San Diego Tech News by Neal Bloom and Sesha Machiraju from Fresh Brewed Tech. Every Friday at 12:30pm Pacific on Clubhouse and now we record them for you to enjoy as well. Find these episodes on Freshbrewedtech.com and favorite podcast player for Tacos and Tech Podcast.  I’m Neal Bloom, entrepreneur, investor, and community builder.

Sesha: Hey I’m Sesha, former biotech data person, currently working on cyber & cloud evangelism at Microsoft Azure – check us out on Twitter @AzureSupport. SD transplant by way of Seattle, fond of all things tech, startups, and data.

Today’s special guest: Vinny Lingham

 

For August 19, 2022:

  1. FBI Issues warning over cyber threats
    1. New evidence of bad actors/nation state attackers seeking entry into computer systems maintained by SD businesses to exfiltrate military, business secrets
      • Targets include defense contractors, biotechnology, even agriculture!
      • Include actors from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea 
      • Using ransomware to encrypt victims’ data/infra hostage and demanding ransom payment for decryption key (Colonial Pipeline, JBS foods) 
      • Sophistication of these bad actors are growing (ransomware-as-a-service; CryptoLocker)
    2. Not the first warning; 7/6 remarks by FBI director warning against Chinese cyber attacks
    3. Head of CCOE, Linda Easterly, is pushing for greater partnership between SD businesses and the FBI
      • Nonprofit dedicated to supporting SD’s cyber ecosystem 
      • FBI’s Executive Briefing Series to assess threat landscape, mitigation strategies, etc.
    4. FBI has partnered with SD businesses – Scripps Health was subject to a cyber attack in May 2021 and the preexisting relationship between the two helped to further gather recon on cyber criminals
    5. Easiest way to protect yourself against cyberattacks? Update software, enable firewalls, beware of phishing emails, enable MFA, malware scanners, enable backups, vuln scanning)
  2. Veriteque awarded Walmart open call deal
    1. This SD company, which makes narcotics field tests (currently used by police), was awarded a deal to sell its products at Walmart/Sam’s Club 
    2. Veriteque’s line of at-home test kits for cannabis/fentanyl under the brand name “Verifique” will be found on Walmart/Sam’s club shelves as soon as next year
    3. One of 49 companies to be awarded
    4. Company launched in 2019 and initial product was line of color chemistry kits (“SwabTek”), which changes color based on presence of certain substances 
      • Used to test for narcotics, explosives, firearms
    5. Originally designed for law enforcement, airports, schools but during pandemic shifted to PPE for first responders/law enforcement
  3. PSYONIC brings advanced bionics to SD
    1. Bionic limb company moved to San Diego
    2. Moved from Champaign, IL in 2022
    3. Grew from CEO Aadeel’s PhD project
    4. “Aadeel, as an MD you will make a great impact, but that impact will be very local. With PSYONIC, the impact you can make that is global.”
    5. Launched Ability Hand in 2021, now at Facebook/Meta and NASA
    6. 32 grip patterns – thumbs up, surfing finger pattern, water resistant, 
    7. Moved here when partnership inked with Naval Medical Center San Diego
    8. “My ambition is to turn San Diego into the bionics capital of the world. Our new space in San Diego will be burgeoning with new bionic developments–it will be a bionics paradise. We are so excited for you all to see our space and what we will be creating.”

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