What has a bird feeder got to do with cyber security?

[Reading time: 33 seconds]

I have a couple of bird feeders hanging on a tree in my back garden. In my never-ending quest to avoid real gardening, I love to watch the constant flow of birds stopping by to have a snack.

Unfortunately, I would often find one of the feeders on the ground, emptied of its precious contents. Even on days when there wasn’t a gust of wind. I couldn’t understand why.

And then I saw it.

It was those bloody crows. The bad guys of the feeder world.

They had figured out how to lift the loop handle of the feeder with their beak, moving it to the end of the branch, before dropping it to the ground.

It took me about 4 seconds to find a way to defend against the attackers: I moved the feeder to another location on the tree, where I could place the loop of the feeder across two branches.

I need two hands to remove the feeder now. Slightly inconvenient but far more secure.

The crows have tried to figure it out. But they are no match for MBA (Multi-Branch Authentication)!

What has this got to do with cyber security?

Don’t underestimate the significant value of simple defences.