NYU Tandon Associate Professor Dr. Justin Cappos has been called on a number of times in the past few weeks to comment on cybersecurity issues, from the impact of children returning to remote learning to ongoing concerns about potential attacks on automotive control units. While the news hook for each of these media appearances varied, the common thread in all three was the importance of keeping software updated.

On September 3, Cappos was one of three cybersecurity experts called on by WPIX-TV Ch.11, a local station in New York City, to present ideas to protect both children attending online classes and adult workers who may still be telecommuting. On the same date, Yahoo Finance asked Cappos to comment about a series of attacks that crippled the Miami-Dade County Public Schools’ virtual learning platform. He pointed out that, whenever the attacks came from, the system would not be so vulnerable it the district was practicing “basic cybersecurity hygiene.” He cautioned that other school districts around the U.S. could be just as vulnerable if “they’re not applying patches.”

The last of Cappos’ media appearance was not a comment, but a guest appearance on AAA’s Car Conversations podcast. In an interview with Robert Sinclair, manager of media relations for AAA Northeast, Cappos outlined some very real risks to the computing units on automobiles originating from malicious software. He also described his work on Uptane, a secure framework for updating software over the air, and its parent framework TUF. You can find the full 40 minute podcast here.