Expecting the Unexpected, with Rick Corbello

Meet… RICK COBELLO

Teaching Us to Expect the Unexpected

WRITTEN BY MEGIN POTTER | PHOTO PROVIDED

Today’s multigenerational small businesses are hotbeds for cybercrimes. Luckily, there’s a solution. Rick Cobello, a computer whiz and teacher, has teamed up with lawyer Jacqueline Goralczyk, Esq. to form Global

Cybersecurity Solutions.

“People really want to grasp this information, and when they do, information can change their lives,” said Cobello.

UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM

When a huge corporation gets hacked, we all hear about it. We feel vulnerable, but that sickening feeling in the pit of our stomachs is soon eased by news that things are being handled. “When large businesses get hacked, they have the corporate structure and the money behind it to make it good,” said Cobello. The criminally-minded understand this, which is why the largest portion of cybercrimes are directed at attacking small businesses. In addition to priority information, computers run a small business’ web cameras, alarms, HVAC systems, medical devices and more. Small business owners however, often struggle to fix the breach. “If they don’t get this corrected, they don’t buy groceries. The ramifications for them are personal,” he said.

WHEN COMPUTERS WERE STILL CONSIDERED STRANGE

You can’t get to know Rick Cobello without also learning more about the problem of cybersecurity and how he’s been protecting us from it for 50 years. Back in the 1980s, Rick’s goal was to get computers into the Saratoga Springs School District. The biggest cybersecurity threat at the time however, was worrying that your floppy disk might get stolen. The internet was still not being utilized on a large scale. For the next 14 years, Cobello worked with GE Research, safeguarding their scientific and engineering designs in fields as diverse as medicine, power systems and appliances. “If that information got out and into the wrong hands, it could cause havoc,” he said.

RESPONSIBLE FOR MILLIONS

Then, Rick turned his sights to the government sector. As a Chief Information Security Officer for NY State, he was concerned with looking after the identities of millions of people receiving temporary and disability assistance. “Their information was, sometimes, all they had. If someone was able create a new identity by using information on someone who was already having issues supporting themselves, they may not have the funds to fix it,” said Cobello.

TEACHING PRIVACY PROTECTION

His experience in the public, corporate and government sectors primed Cobello for teaching attorneys (and others) the complexities of cybersecurity and supply chain management at Albany Law School for the past five years. “Everything they do at this point is somehow around protecting privacy. For a real estate lawyer, it’s about transactions. When they are contacted with requests to wire money during a closing, it looks like it’s from a legitimate bank, when it’s not,” he said.

STUDENT & TEACHER TEAM UP

Rick’s Global Cybersecurity Solutions business partner, Jacqueline Goralczyk, is a former student of his. Her Clifton Park legal practice, DeAngelus and Goralczyk, PLLC, focuses on business law and real estate, giving her firsthand experience with the cybersecurity issues that can pop up. “We are great partners because our working styles are similar and complement one another. She has a vast knowledge of the requirements for businesses, and I know how to get them there,” he said.

HOW TO RECOGNIZE RISK

Although he is tech-minded, Rick understands that many in a multi-generational business are not, so he has become skilled at explaining the cybersecurity hazards by talking about recognizing risk. “Everyone understands the risk involved in crossing the street. So, I weave that into it. It’s a risk we have in our personal and business life that intersects daily. I teach them how to minimize risk by expecting the unexpected.” Baby Boomers for instance, are more trusting and at high-risk for falling prey to phishing schemes. Every generation is prone to carelessness, and neglecting a multiple-point identification system is an open invitation to malware or ransomware attacks. Millennials who have grown up in a digital environment are less trusting and therefore less-likely to play into the hands of scammers but can still click on a suspicious app, which is why informing your entire workforce is key to staying safe. “It’s like going to the doctor and learning that you have high blood pressure. You say yes, I understand, but don’t do anything about it.” “Never expect history to repeat itself,” Cobello continued. “Always look for the new and different.” This is a lesson that Rick relearns every time he watches the bees in the dozen hobby hives he tends to. Seeing how the swarms communicate with one another reminds him of the daily hum of human interactions in today’s technologydriven world. SF