Brian Greenberg / is on Nostr

CIO/CTO, Forbes contributor, CyberSecurity Professor @ DePaul University, systems thinker, hiker, entrepreneur, philosopher, actor, improviser, storyteller, & coffeehouse addict.  📍Chicago, IL  🦋🥾☕️🎭🤖🪴✍️

Last Notes

2025-04-07 16:58:00

🚀 Cursor: The AI Coding Assistant With 1M Users & $200M ARR — No Marketing Required
Anysphere’s AI coding tool Cursor is redefining how software developers work — and how fast startups can scale.
🧠 Why Cursor is gaining traction:
🔹 Built on VS Code and supports OpenAI, Anthropic, and its own models
🔹 Offers context-aware suggestions, bug fixing, and chat-driven coding support
🔹 Used at OpenAI, Uber, Instacart, and even Major League Baseball
🔹 Grew to 1M+ daily users and $200M ARR with zero marketing spend
🔹 Introduced the term “vibe coding” — embracing AI suggestions to speed up the creative process
With backing from Andreessen Horowitz, OpenAI, and others, Anysphere is now turning toward enterprise, onboarding thousands of companies monthly and hiring rapidly.
💬 As founder Michael Truell puts it: "We’re not trying to automate away coders — we’re giving them control."
#AI #Cursor #DevTools #SoftwareDevelopment #Coding #StartupGrowth #GenerativeAI #Productivity
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-04-07/cursor-an-ai-coding-assistant-draws-a-million-users-without-even-trying

2025-04-07 14:20:24

🧱 Scattered Compliance, Siloed Thinking — A GRC Wakeup Call
According to Corporate Compliance Insights, the greatest challenge to effective governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) isn’t complexity — it’s fragmentation.
💡 Key takeaways:
🔹 Organizational silos block visibility and coordination across departments.
🔹 Leadership must model accountability and integrate compliance into strategy.
🔹 Communication—not just policy—is the bridge that makes GRC actionable.
🔹 As AI becomes more embedded in operations, AI governance must be clearly explained to avoid ethical and regulatory missteps.
The most resilient organizations treat communication and collaboration as core to compliance — not afterthoughts.
#Compliance #GRC #Leadership #RiskManagement #AIethics #OrganizationalHealth #leadership
https://www.corporatecomplianceinsights.com/siloed-thinking-scattered-compliance-leadership-challenge-grc/

2025-04-04 19:13:12

🔒 Verizon call log exposure was more than a bug—it was a real-time surveillance risk.
A serious flaw in Verizon’s pre-installed Call Filter iOS app allowed unauthorized access to detailed incoming call logs of any Verizon user.
Discovered by ethical hacker Evan Connelly in February and patched in March, the issue:
・📱Affected millions using the app to block spam and ID unknown numbers
・📂 Could have exposed call histories of journalists, law enforcement, and public officials
・🚨 Raised massive concerns around privacy and real-time surveillance
Verizon confirmed the fix, but experts stress this as a wake-up call for rigorous mobile app security—especially those preloaded at scale.
👉 https://www.newsweek.com/verizon-expose-customer-call-history-hack-2055247
#CyberSecurity #Verizon #PrivacyBreach #AppSecurity #Surveillance #DataProtection #EthicalHacking #MobileSecurity

2025-04-04 04:40:16

🔓 200M X (Twitter) user records leaked in a 34GB free-for-all—again.
Data enthusiast “ThinkingOne” released the files after allegedly failing to get a response from X. The breach combines:
・Data from a 2022 vulnerability X previously downplayed
・January 2025 breach data
・A total of 2.8 billion records spanning X user IDs, emails, bios, locations & more
X continues to deny its systems were the direct source of the leak. But researchers confirm much of the data is real—and the scale is unmatched.
💡 The kicker? ThinkingOne believes this might’ve required internal access, or an attack of unprecedented sophistication.
Even without passwords, this treasure trove fuels phishing, impersonation, and targeted disinformation.
👉 https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2025/04/01/hacker-claims-to-have-leaked-200-million-x-user-data-records-for-free/
#CyberSecurity #DataBreach #Privacy #XPlatform #InfoSec #Twitter #SecurityAwareness #DigitalRisk #UserData

2025-04-02 00:17:12

🚨 OPSEC Disaster at the Top: How Michael Waltz Just Compromised U.S. National Security—AGAIN! 🤦🏻‍♂️ 🤬
While the Trump administration lectures about digital security, National Security Adviser Michael Waltz has been using Gmail to coordinate military operations and sharing after-action strike reports in Signal group chats that accidentally included a journalist.
Let’s be clear:
・Personal Gmail was used to discuss weapons systems & troop movements
・Israeli surveillance was exposed—jeopardizing a key intelligence partnership
・Sensitive coordination went through Signal, not JWICS
・Waltz, who attacked Hillary Clinton for email practices, is now guilty of worse
This is not a technical mistake. It’s a policy failure, a hypocritical breach, and a serious threat to U.S. operational integrity.
If you lead in national security, you do not get to bypass your own secure systems. And you certainly don’t blame “legacy contacts” when you get caught.
Accountability isn’t partisan. It’s essential.
👉 https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/04/01/waltz-national-security-council-signal-gmail/
#NationalSecurity #OPSEC #CyberSecurity #DigitalHypocrisy #InfoSec #ITPolicy #LeadershipFailure #MichaelWaltz

2025-03-30 20:24:34

🌐 Beyond Bluesky: The Rise of Decentralized Social Apps
The AT Protocol (ATProto), the open foundation behind Bluesky, is becoming a launchpad for next-gen social apps.
Some standout innovations:
・Flashes: A photo/video-sharing platform reminiscent of classic Instagram
・Spark: A video-first app with livestreaming on the way
・Streamplace: Livestreaming built with cryptographic creator protections
・Graze: Build, customize, and monetize your own social feeds
This signals a shift toward user-owned, open social ecosystems—a strong contrast to walled-garden platforms. Developers, creators, and users alike are embracing interoperability, privacy, and creative freedom.
👉 https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/30/beyond-bluesky-these-are-the-apps-building-social-experiences-on-the-at-protocol/
#DecentralizedWeb #ATProtocol #Bluesky #Web3 #SocialMediaInnovation #OpenSource

2025-03-28 01:47:58

📡 EFF launches Rayhunter — a $20 open-source tool that helps detect cell-site simulators (aka Stingrays) used for surveillance. Big win for privacy! 🔍 #Privacy #Surveillance #OpenSource #security #cloud #infosec #cybersecurity
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/03/meet-rayhunter-new-open-source-tool-eff-detect-cellular-spying