Blake Dowling, Author at Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Blake DowlingOctober 31, 2016

Technology can be scary. That said, my Halloween column focuses on some frightening examples of tech gone awry; some you might find scarier (dumb scary) than an Ernest movie. Who remembers those? AWFUL. Others are disturbing in a more realistic way. I recently noticed an email alert about a fake “blue screen of death.” An […]

Blake DowlingOctober 12, 2016

I made a strategic decision Sunday — to sit out the second round of presidential debates. Instead, I enjoyed a fascinating expose on artificial intelligence (AI) on “60 Minutes.” We all have pre-conceived notions about AI. Stephen Hawking has said when machines are smarter than us, it will bring about the end of the world. […]

Blake DowlingOctober 3, 2016

Who remembers the short-lived site, Friendster? Six years ago I was asked to sit on a panel at a conference to give “expert advice” on social media use at work. I wish someone had shot some video footage; in the lifetime of social media, six years is an eternity. Just think … in 2008, Myspace […]

Blake DowlingSeptember 13, 2016

Over the years, I have composed dozens of columns on cyberthreats, skimming credit cards at the pump, boss-phishing, crypto locker, and identity theft. In a lot of those stories, you don’t hear about the bad guys getting the hammer. The Department of Homeland Security has an enormous task of defending government agencies from nation-state cyberattacks, […]

Blake DowlingSeptember 6, 2016

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Hermine rocked Tallahassee in a big way. Florida’s capital city is still reeling with thousands of businesses and homes without power. I awoke Friday morning at 6 a.m. to a scene from the set of “The Walking Dead.” My home had no power. As I attempted to leave, several downed trees were blocking the driveway. […]

Blake DowlingSeptember 1, 2016

The annual Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce Conference was held at the Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island this August; if you have never attended, it is a solid get-together of North Florida’s business, political, educational and health care leaders. Master of ceremonies for the weekend, as in the 10 years that I been in attendance, was […]

Blake DowlingAugust 11, 2016

Social engineering refers to manipulating individuals into divulging confidential information as part of an elaborate con. In some cases, it can be the first step in digital fraud. Last week, I received a call from “Verizon,” asking me for the password of our account. I asked the chap what his name was; he said “John.” I informed […]

Blake DowlingAugust 2, 2016

On a Wednesday evening in 1988, I joined my friend Quinn Borland for an epic concert in Albany, Georgia. Opening for rock legends Motley Crüe was a little-known band called Guns N’ Roses. I was in middle school, so it was an incredibly big deal to be out on the town on a school night. […]

Blake DowlingJuly 27, 2016

Debbie Wasserman Schultz got to “Feel the Bern” from a hostile crowd of Florida delegates at the Democratic National Committee. Why were these Bern Victims so fired up? The email scandal, of course, which led to Schultz’s resignation. The pro-Clinton digital documentation revealed in this breach and scandal is a mess. There are several old school […]

Blake DowlingJuly 15, 2016

Fads are a regular occurrence in our fast-paced, ADD-ridden culture. We run from shiny thing to shiny thing, instantly fascinated and quickly bored. Swatch Watches in the ’80s and (of course) parachute pants, those awful rubber band bracelets my daughter wore by the truckload a couple of years ago. The yahoos from Duck Dynasty are […]

Blake Dowling
Gabrielle Russon

Blake Dowling: This Halloween, tech can be really scary

Blake Dowling: Artificial intelligence — curing cancer, or world domination?

Blake Dowling: Expert advice on navigating the social media universe

Blake Dowling: With rising cybercrime, it’s good hearing bad guys get caught

Blake Dowling: Hermine rocks Tallahassee; scenes from the hurricane

Blake Dowling: Are your customer service skills ‘noble’?

Blake Dowling: The latest in social engineering and digital fraud — hacking a person

Blake Dowling: Not in this lifetime — tech and the Guns N’ Roses reunion tour

Blake Dowling: Consumers can avoid feeling the ‘email Bern’ by hackers

Blake Dowling: What is Pokémon Go and why is it news?