Ransomware attacks continue!

August 10, 2019 / 43:49/E102

A dentist (and former Survivor contestant) made the evening news in Orlando after his QuickBooks file was targeted by hackers. Plus: Blake and David get political, updates on TurboTax and QuickBooks Live, LinkedIn's new features that should help accountants get more clients, a new instant payments platform planned by the Federal Reserve, why accounting firms just aren't that into instant messaging, how AI and automation will affect jobs, and much more.

Show Notes

00:08 – Blake and David talk politics for a brief moment in time ...
00:47 – While Andrew Yang has a touch of bot-phobia, he's the only 2020 presidential candidate talking AI in any meaningful way.
01:24 – Yang's take on "reality TV" style elections |The Hill
02:04 – What it takes to hit the debate stage | NYTimes
04:34 – The ransomware wars go mainstream, when the latest attack on QuickBooks hits "action" news channels, like News 6 in Orlando | ClickOrlando.com
06:49 – Hackers are buying kits designed to specifically target QuickBooks Desktop data files | Healthcare Info Security
07:30 – Ransomware rebuilds - new business opportunity for accountants?
09:10 – How many accounting firms suffer ransomware attacks and stay silent about it to save face?
11:37 – Backing up the backups of your backups, and then backing those up on a regular basis is one way to mitigate ransomware damage
12:47 – LinkedIn adds some new marketing tools to help small accounting businesses boost their visibility on the platform business | Accounting Today
14:47 – Ain't nobody got time for updating multiple social sites when you're trying to run and grow your accounting business. David challenges app developers to create an app that's up to the social-media management task
16:49 – Intuit has added a new role in the TurboTax Live arena - tax associate - to assist credentialed agents with a variety of tax-related tasks |Intuit ProConnect
18:18 – QuickBooks Live finally has a landing page all its own, and they're celebrating by offering a free 30-minute consultation! | Intuit QuickBooks
19:13 – What exactly is QuickBooks Live? Short answer: Uber for bookkeeping
20:48 – Intuit provides an actual demo of the QuickBooks Live service in their new add, narrated by Danny DeVito
22:30 – Blake Oliver - Voiceover talent for hire!
23:56 – Does your firm utilize collab tools that include instant messaging? | CPA Trendlines
26:15 – Google Sheets ups its game with some new tools - Slicers, Scorecard Charts, and themes - to create more effective data visualization | Android Police
28:10 – The Federal Reserve wants to create its own instant-payments system, much to the chagrin of the Big Banks | Politico
29:31 – Open call to Elizabeth Warren - Make an appearance on The Cloud Accounting Podcast!
30:38 – Square doubles down on its ecosystem plays | Bank Innovation
32:30 – More talk on Andrew Yang’s automation/disruption platform and why the concept of universal basic income could be beneficial
33:40 – You say you want a revolution? In June 2019, thousands of LA dockworkers marched against the rise of the robots | CNN Business
34:58 – According to a Pew Research Survey, 85 percent of Americans support policies for robot restriction
35:38 – It’s gonna get far worse, before it gets better. Blake talks about history repeating itself, and how the future may not be so bright for millions of workers in industries embracing automation
37:59 – With a reported 40 to 50 percent of accounting work that can be automated, accountants and bookkeepers sit at the top of the list of those who could be replaced by machine counterparts
41:11 – As automation and constant change becomes the norm, how do we tell our kids what to be when they grow up, when the jobs of today may not even exist by the time they enter the workforce? Perhaps investing in education and lifelong learning is the key
43:05 – What do you really think? Give us your issues, your ideas, your suggestions, and even your complaints!

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