Episode 36 (with Jeremy Zerechak & Karen Morris)

As you read this on your computer or a mobile device today, here’s some food for thought: How safe and secure IS your “digital” life?
It’s not as easy a question as you may think. Sure, you may be armed to the teeth with passwords, passcodes, PIN Numbers, and up-to-the-minute anti-virus software in hopes of staying one step ahead of whatever threats that have emerged onto the digital marketplace, problems that can lead to massive headaches….or worse….for your digital existence.
But what about the data that lies beyond that cyber-surface? Did you know that the most personal of information about you, your family, and your daily life is out there for the taking 24/7, with people lurking all over the globe who have made it their full time mission to access, use and abuse that data for their own personal gain. Who are these people? What is their end-game? How can they be stopped?
Pittsburgh-based filmmaker Jeremy Zerechak had those same questions, and he went looking for answers. The result? Code 2600, a brand new, critically-acclaimed documentary that takes an in-depth look at the rise of the Information Technology (IT) Age, and the perpetual attempt by cyberhackers to bring the digital world to its knees.
Forbes.com notes that it is “both accurate and entertaining while at the same time scaring the pants off anyone who doesn’t yet know that computer data is eternal and can be stolen by the wrong people if we’re not careful.” The film also won the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary at the Atlanta Film Festival.
Jeremy Zerechak joins Raja in studio to discuss the making of Code 2600, what he learned along the way, and the lessons he hopes that viewers will take away when it comes to protecting their own digital existence.
-Regular listeners to Your American Story know about the common bond and backgrounds shared by Raja and “The American Entrepreneur,” the late Ron Morris. Beyond their longtime professional ties as colleagues in the computer and tech industries, both men share a thirst for knowledge about people and what drives them to succeed, and a passion to help people better themselves in order to someday enjoy the same successes that Ron and Raja have attained. That passion is what drove Ron to start “The American Entrepreneur” radio show, as well as the Entrepreneurial Studies Program at Duquesne University, and it’s what drove Raja into the political arena in recent years, as well as launching “Your American Story” earlier this year, in hopes of carrying on the legacy of business talk on the radio that Ron started with TAE.
We’re proud to welcome Ron’s wife, Karen Morris, onto the show every few months to discuss Ron’s legacy, and what he meant to the region, both personally to those of us that knew him, and professionally to the business community which looked to him for inspiration and guidance. Karen joins Raja to discuss the things she’s doing to keep Ron’s legacy alive, as well as his ties to our other guest this week, Jeremy Zerechak, via the role that Ron played in the production ofCode 2600 (Code2600.com).