--- title: "Friday Buzz: An Experiment in Hacking Vulnerability" id: "35002" type: "post" slug: "friday-buzz-an-experiment-in-hacking-vulnerability" published_at: "2016-09-16T20:02:27+00:00" modified_at: "2026-11-09T16:46:52+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2016/09/16/friday-buzz-an-experiment-in-hacking-vulnerability/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2016/09/16/friday-buzz-an-experiment-in-hacking-vulnerability.md" excerpt: "An association-industry tech expert conducts a test to show how dangerous hacking incidents can be. Also: How voices alone can surface unexpected biases." taxonomy_category: - "Marketing / Communications" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AssociationsNow" - "cybersecurity" - "security awareness" - "Technology" - "UBIT" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Association CEO / Executive Director" - "C-Level" - "Executive Team" taxonomy_persona: - "Association Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Friday Buzz: An Experiment in Hacking Vulnerability **How seriously are you taking security?** If your answer is “not very,” you may want to [read Joshua Hiller’s piece at Association Success (opens in a new tab)](http://www.associationsuccess.org/article/how-long-until-were-hacked-an-experiment-in-server-vulnerability) . Hiller, the lead innovation engineer for Aptify, recently conducted an experiment that involved putting a few servers online just to see how long it would take for them to be breached. He noted that some of the servers he put up with the help of Amazon Web services were hit almost immediately, either by an unexpected third-party scan or by an attempt to breach the server. In one case, a third party scanned a server before he had even finished setting it up. Hiller’s point? “Security cannot be an afterthought,” [he stated (opens in a new tab)](http://www.associationsuccess.org/article/how-long-until-were-hacked-an-experiment-in-server-vulnerability) . “If you are not properly patching, hardening, and auditing your servers, you will eventually regret it. Your servers *will* get probed and you *will* get attacked, there is no hiding.” So yes, take security seriously—and update your platforms in a timely fashion. ### A Major Bias Problem > How Unconscious Bias Is Affecting Our Ability To Listen via [@FastCompany (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/FastCompany?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > [https://t.co/F1gyhJc8qs (opens in a new tab)](https://t.co/F1gyhJc8qs) > [#assnchat (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/hashtag/assnchat?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > [#fundchat (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/hashtag/fundchat?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > > — iMIS (@iMISbyASI) [September 16, 2016 (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/iMISbyASI/status/776708532653654016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) **Are we biased** even when we don’t mean to be? [That’s a problem featured in a Fast Company piece (opens in a new tab)](https://www.fastcompany.com/3063218/how-unconscious-bias-is-affecting-our-ability-to-listen) . According to research highlighted by the magazine, people tend to take female voices less seriously than male voices, even if they’re saying the exact same thing. But it’s not the only form of bias—accents also can have a negative effect. If you have a strong New York City accent, you may not be taken as seriously as someone with a British accent. “It’s not always what someone said, it’s also how they said it,” Stanford Linguistics Associate Professor Meghan Sumner [explained to the magazine (opens in a new tab)](https://www.fastcompany.com/3063218/how-unconscious-bias-is-affecting-our-ability-to-listen) . “How we view people socially from their voice, influences how we attend to them, how we listen to them.” ### Other Links of Note **“Associations that offer memberships often have to make adjustments** that can rock the boat, but they are often necessary,” [wrote MemberSuite Junior Content Writer Amanda Simmons (opens in a new tab)](http://www.membersuite.com/blog/dealing-membership-difficulties) . Read her post to understand how to tackle these inevitable membership difficulties. **Boosting your donations near the end of the year** might require a little media notice. At *Kivi’s Nonprofit Communications Blog*, media relations pro Peter Panepento breaks down [how to earn a few end-of-year media shout-outs (opens in a new tab)](http://www.nonprofitmarketingguide.com/blog/2016/09/15/how-to-get-your-nonprofit-into-the-news-during-the-holidays/) . **Interesting idea of the day:** The website Unpatent, cofounded by the founder of the online store NewEgg, [hopes to use crowdsourcing (opens in a new tab)](https://unpatent.co/) to fight what it calls “stupid patents.” (iStock/Thinkstock) [Ernie Smith](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Tags: [#cybersecurity](https://associationsnow.com/tag/cybersecurity/) [#security awareness](https://associationsnow.com/tag/security-awareness/) [#Technology](https://associationsnow.com/tag/technology/) [#UBIT](https://associationsnow.com/tag/ubit/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## You Might Like - [PodcastAssociations Now Presents: Beyond the Tech Stack: How AI Is Changing the Association PlaybookOctober 29, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/10/29/associations-now-presents-beyond-the-tech-stack-how-ai-is-changing-the-association-playbook/) - [PodcastSecuring Identity: What Associations Need to Know About Verifiable CredentialsJune 25, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/06/25/securing-identity-what-associations-need-to-know-about-verifiable-credentials/) - [PodcastAssociations NOW Presents: More Than Marketing: The Power of Strategic CommunicationsJuly 30, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/07/30/associations-now-presents-more-than-marketing-the-power-of-strategic-communications/) - [PodcastAssociations NOW Presents: Why Slower Marketing Can Drive Stronger Member Engagement (Episode 27)June 25, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/06/25/associations-now-presents-why-slower-marketing-can-drive-stronger-member-engagement-episode-27/) ## Comments **Comments are for ASAE members.** [Learn more about comments on this site.](https://associationsnow.com/comments/) [Log in](https://associationsnow.com/login?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fassociationsnow.com%2F2016%2F09%2F16%2Ffriday-buzz-an-experiment-in-hacking-vulnerability%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !