- [Announcer] Tonight on "WPBS Weekly: Inside the Stories", hackers continue to access our private information online.

We'll share tips from experts on how to keep them at bay and meet a group of St. Lawrence University students learning and living life off-grid.

Also, this Canadian woman began her running journey at age 70.

This year she's 82.

We'll share her story of "Imagine Determination" that just might inspire you.

Your stories, your region, coming up right now on "WPBS Weekly: Inside the Story."

(inspirational music) "WPBS Weekly: Inside the Stories" is brought to you by the Daisy Marquis Jones Foundation, (inspirational music) the Watertown Oswego Small Business Development Center, (inspirational music) Carthage Savings, (inspirational music) CSX, (inspirational music) the Oswego County Community Foundation at the Central New York Community Foundation, (inspirational music) the Richard S. Shineman Foundation, (inspirational music) and the Badenhausen Legacy Fund at the Northern New York Community Foundation.

- Good Tuesday evening, everyone, and welcome to this edition of "WPBS Weekly: Inside the Stories."

I'm Stephfond Brunson.

Computer hackers are becoming more and more sophisticated.

Just when one issue is seemingly resolved, another one is born.

So what can you do to protect your personal information and will it make a difference?

WPBS Producer Ryan Proven goes inside the story to give us answers.

(whooshing sound) (computer blip noise) (whooshing sound) - What would you do if you lost all your data?

(intense, energetic music) - [Narrator] Cyber attacks on U.S. networks have increased 400% since March of 2020, (intense, energetic music) making cybersecurity more important than ever to individuals and businesses.

- Still, we lose data, $16 billion a day, to cyber crime.

- [Narrator] We spoke with local cyber-security experts to hear what they had to say about the current cyber landscape and what you can do to minimize your risk online.

- People should be concerned about online privacy because your information is being presented in front of many people and many places on the internet and you would not share that information with a stranger on the street, so you shouldn't share your information with strangers on the internet.

Everybody's data is important to somebody.

- A lot of information, once the bad guys or hackers know about you, there's no way around it.

For instance, if they know your date of birth, that's not something you can change.

So, the more data we leave everywhere, the easier it gets for the hackers to basically try to recreate our identity.

Throughout your life, you might have several different phone numbers, several different addresses.

Some of them might be obsolete.

That's why the hackers really like to directly get that information from you.

- They fake a website that looks just like your normal login to, we'll say, QVC.

So, I make a new QVC website, username, and password.

You log in.

So now, they've captured username and password and they now can get into your account there.

Amazon has this issue.

Several other, the larger manufacturers and suppliers of household goods and stuff all have problems of people trying to capture people's information from that.

- Bad guys basically look for the weakest link in this ecosystem, which is the human subject, right?

They try to intimidate the human subject or threaten this human subject to leak the information.

- [Narrator] In the age of COVID, many more people have the option to work from home using their personal devices on their private network, accessing corporate servers remotely.

Securing these devices and the network that the devices use for malware and other harmful viruses can be a challenge for businesses.

What should organizations do to make sure they're prepared for an attack on their network?

- Cyber-security needs to be taken seriously now.

We see, in some of our customers, up to 3,500 attacks a day on their firewalls.

- Companies should have a cyber-security policy in place that's understood and implemented by the entire staff.

Companies should also have their sensitive information backed up in case they are hit by a cyber attack or ransomware attack and they would be able to recover from those attacks, and this is obviously extremely important for financial institutions, medical institutions, and even small business.

- [Narrator] Protecting your computer with anti-spammers, firewalls, and anti-virus software gives you extra protection from cyber attacks, but experts say it's not a one-and-done solution.

- So, this whole cyber-security battle today is really just that cat-and-mouse game.

I would like to emphasize that technology itself is not the solution.

We have to raise awareness.

We have to educate our public and that's actually the vision of "Cyber Spar" and the company that I founded.

I'm the CEO.

- So what would you say are the top five tips for people to take away to protect their online privacy?

- That's an excellent question.

So for me, number one is use a strong password and update it every six months to a year.

The reason is, the more complex the password is, the harder it is for the adversary to guess it.

Number two, use a two-factor authentication method on your account.

Try to sign in with your, you know, email address or phone and then it sends you a code or text message to your phone to make sure it's really you, not someone who has acquired your username, password.

So that's another good way to protect your account.

Number three is keep your hardware software up-to-date.

So it's good that you have a good, secure operating system or a good even, you know, anti-virus, but if you installed it 10 years ago and you haven't updated that, it means that it's not really able to do that cat-and-mice thing that we talked about it.

So basically, it always needs to be up-to-date.

Number four, avoid opening suspicious emails.

Some of them, they look really realistic, you know?

It might look that it sent from your bank.

Sometimes, these are emails that try to frighten a person and sometimes, it's just they try to give you incentives.

Congratulations.

You just bought and you just won a laptop, you know?

And so these two ways are the hackers basically try to use to change your rational thinking and convince you to click on that link that perhaps has a malware on it or take some information from you.

Last on the list, delete your personal data before you, you know, give away your device or you try and wanna sell it.

So, simply just don't delete your files and say, "Okay.

This is done."

If you can, there is always an option that you can set it back to a, to its factory setting, which means it actually completely erases everything.

So, here at SUNY Canton, we have a four year cyber-security program that it's, can be fully online, in-person, or a hybrid version of both.

Our program has been verified by National Security Agency.

We would like to extend invitation to everyone.

If they have questions about cyber-security, they are more than welcome to contact us and we'll be happy to help them.

- [Narrator] For "WPBS Weekly," I'm Ryan Proven.

- What's it like living off-grid with no phones, no electricity, and no plumbing?

WPBS producer, Jolene DesRosiers, takes us to such a place, where St. Lawrence University students recreate off-grid living for one full semester.

(quiet whooshing sound) (computer blip noise) (whooshing sound) - [Jolene] A short pulley barge ride to a small, secluded piece of land on Massawepie Lake in St. Lawrence County yields a beautiful piece of paradise known as Arcadia.

For over two decades, a select group of St. Lawrence University students have been educated here.

It's called the "Adirondack Semester" and it's unlike any other program in the county.

- The "Adirondack Semester" focuses on place-based education.

They're very much emerged in nature and they're learning about the area that they're in.

- [Jolene] There's no electricity, no plumbing.

Dorm rooms become outdoor yurts and there's not a single cellphone in sight.

- And so, when they come into this space, we take their phone away for the entire semester which is, I think, increasingly more and more really difficult for folks.

I mean, we all are attached to our phones and our devices and so, I think, when they get out here, they're like, "Wait a minute!

What's going on?"

And then they get out here and, like, "Wait.

I'm not tied to this thing.

I'm not tied to the connection with the outside world.

I can really just be here and exist."

- [Jolene] Which is the entire point.

This kind of community-based, intentional living isn't about removing digital devices or leaving 12 college students in the wilderness to fend for themselves.

It's about building a community where communication and one's true self can emerge.

- But, you know, we're up with the stars, kind of, like, sharing our lives with each other and going through challenges, becoming closer, like, really building that in-person community that is going to be, I think, a lot stronger than, you know, most online connections can be.

- It was a huge shock having to, like, adapt to everything, but it was also something that I knew I would be able to adapt to very quickly, and it was very fun having to, like, adjust to everything because it wasn't just me.

It was, we were doing it as a community.

- [Jolene] With this small, wooded paradise comes big responsibility.

Dirty work, if you will.

This is where Clive comes in.

Clive is, yes, the outhouse on the property, and everyone goes in elbow-deep to keep him tidy.

- I'm interested in getting to know Clive a little more, which is our outhouse, and having to really stir in everything we have been putting in there for the past week.

- We have a a composting toilet and I think that's a pretty high-tech thing even though it's very simple, right?

So no plumbing.

We carry all our water in from the lake to do dishes and to cook with, but we also have a small solar panel and some batteries and so we do have some lights in the yurt, but all our heating is all wood that comes from this land here.

- [Jolene] Classes still continue in a yurt, with professors coming in each week from campus to teach, so when students aren't splitting wood, (people cheering) carrying water, chasing trails, or canoeing, they're learning modern outdoor recreation ethics, the ecology of the Adirondacks, creative expressions of nature, land use management, conflict resolution, and communication.

- Humans aren't great at communicating and it's a process and it takes time and there's not many avenues within your regular education where you're learning those things intentionally and that's really exciting to me that, out here, that is a part of our focus.

- I felt very disconnected from myself before coming here, especially after the pandemic, being forced to stay inside, kind of becoming a lot more reliant on technology because, you know, I'm stuck in just one isolated cubicle it felt like, for, you know, such a long time.

I feel like, coming back here, I'm really starting to come back into who I am and, like, rediscover what makes me happy.

- We kind of break down those initial, like, surface-level barriers that you would otherwise have and you're really just here and we recognize that we only have three months, which is so limited time to really make a genuine impact on one another, and then we're off back again on campus the next year.

- I think the biggest change is just the transformation that comes with, like, space for reflection and being out in the natural world, which, again, I don't like to make the duality of natural and unnatural, right?

The campus experience is also valuable and different.

- [Jolene] 12 Students, 11 weeks of classes, two and a half weeks of an internship offsite somewhere in the Adirondacks, and then the students head back to Arcadia to present their total experience to their peers as the semester comes to an end and it all happens on the edge of civilization.

- Arcadia is the embodiment of that edge zone.

It's the embodiment of this paradise that's between wilderness and civilization and we're really trying to embody and epitomize that feeling and that value in what we do here.

- [Jolene] In St. Lawrence County for "WPBS Weekly", I'm Jolene DesRosiers.

(quiet whooshing sound) - Imagine starting your running experience at the age of 70 and then imagine you're still doing it at 82.

Tonight, we share a segment from a documentary produced in Canada called "Imagine This: Canada Two".

The full hour is slated to air right here on WPBS in November.

This featured segment is called "Determination" and it just might inspire you to get up on your feet.

(quiet whooshing sound) (computer blip noise) (whooshing noise) (calming music) - My first running experience was in Hawaii.

Kelly had signed up there when we were on a holiday to do a 5K, and she's my inspiration by the way, so I started running with her and after we had done the first loop I thought, "Well, you know, that's, I'll stop now."

And I wish I had kept on.

That would've been my first K, but it wast my first 2.5K and after that, I started running in Ottawa in the 5K and then the 10K, then the half marathon and that's it, you know?

I've been doing that since the age of 70.

I'm 82 now.

Yup.

(Helen laughing) (calming music) I have a friend, I call him my coach actually, who said, "Well, Helen, if you can do 5K, you can do 10, you know?"

And then the next time it was, "Well, you can do a half marathon."

And then, "Well, then you can do a marathon."

So I've done four of those, but I think my marathon days are very, very much over, but half, I'm still game to try.

(calming music) Yeah, I think I've done about 70 races in all.

Might be a little bit more because, for about 10 years, we were doing at least two, if not three, half-marathons.

The Army Run, the Florida Run, we, because we go to Florida for American Thanksgiving and, coincidentally, the Space Coast Marathon and Half-Marathon is on the Sunday after American Thanksgiving, so we were there and we took advantage of the opportunity.

Plus, they give super medals all, but yeah, and then you meet an astronaut!

(Helen laughing) But the one that stands out the most really is that the Paris Marathon because, if you're going to visit a city and you don't wanna be in the traffic or behind buses or anything, run a marathon.

You've got the place all to yourself and you're going by the Eiffel Tower and you're going (indistinct).

You're seeing Paris like you're on your own.

It's really beautiful.

(calming music) Then, I have heard that I'm an inspiration to others.

When we were running Paris, it was so funny 'cause they're all lookin' at me and they're saying, "Oh, Madame!"

You know?

And I got, should have done a facelift, but anyway, and we had this big prince.

We were running in Paris and this African prince all in his beautiful, beautiful colored garbs, and doesn't he put his hand out and start running, like, about, you know, 20 steps with me sort of thing.

So, you know, there were so many wonderful things and I did get the best compliment ever from Kathrine Switzer.

You know, she was the first woman to run the Boston Marathon and she signed in as Kay Switzer, and my friend Louis bought, saw her give a talk at one of the races he was doing.

This was before I even started running.

Well, I guess I had just started, and he had her sign, "Helen, you are an inspiration to me.

Starting to run at 70."

And she signed it and then years later, that's why I'm wearing this one because she started a charity, and this is, the Niagara Run was one that was sponsored by her, and the money that she, that is, goes to training, like, poor countries, girls in poor countries, to run, you know, as a sense of freedom, sort of.

And Kathrine Switzer, I brought that book to her when I ran Niagara and I said, "Look.

You know?

You signed this."

And she added another thing and said, "You are my inspiration."

I decided to run a marathon 50 years after I ran my first Boston Marathon and she did it when she was 70, so that was kind of a compliment, you know?

(calming music) I always try and get, you know, people to donate to a specific charity like the support for military families for, in the Canadian Army Run is one and I have done a lot of runs, like, for Care For, which is, you know, a home care service and I've done, well, this one is for the Pearly Reader where I volunteer and, yeah.

I've done, most of the races I have, you know, have had a recommendation, like, if you're gonna make a donation, do it to this charity and people get a tax receipt so, you know, we've all benefit, you know?

(Helen giggling) So it is very important to be active, especially as a senior, and I've kind of worked as a volunteer with seniors for on and off and in many positions and I find that, even doing chair exercises for them, and especially to music, and it, you know, they feel better and they look forward to it and it's, you know, you gotta stay mobile.

You have to stay mobile and, even if you have to use a cane or walking sticks, do it.

You know?

It's worth it and it gives you a sense of independence.

You know?

If you can do things for yourself for as long as you can, that's a blessing.

Yeah.

(calming music) (whooshing sound) - The North Country is dotted with historic places and stories.

Many we're familiar with, but some we're not.

Our next segment is taken directly from our four-part docu-series called "Discovering Jefferson County" and shares the history of the growth of agriculture in Jefferson County.

Take a look.

(whooshing sound) (computer blip noise) (whooshing sound) - [Narrator] Dairy farming is the county's biggest form of agriculture and the region's 275,800 cows produce close to 6,000,000,000 pounds of milk annually in Jefferson County alone.

Local processors create foods from specialty cheeses to honey and sauces.

(upbeat folk music) Held every July, the annual Jefferson County Fair celebrates the county's long-standing commitment to agriculture.

The Fair is the longest, continuously operating county fair in the United States.

The first cattle show and fair held in 1818.

The society's president, James Le Ray de Chaumont, opened the fair with a speech that emphasized the objective of the society was to encourage every branch of agriculture.

Although devoted primarily to showcasing farmers and farm organizations in the county, today's Fair includes rides, games, and commercial enterprises.

(upbeat folk music) Because the climate of the Thousand Islands has proven ideal for the growing of grapes, lots of wineries along the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario have come to life, as well as distilleries and micro-breweries, and they make their appearance at the Fair as well.

(whimsical music) The county's second biggest industry is tourism thanks to the various waterways, including Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.

The county has hundreds of hotels, motels, and campgrounds that overflow with tourists every summer, but it's not just the water that attracts visitors.

(whimsical music) Jefferson County is home to over 15 state parks where folks can camp, hike, picnic, and swim.

Wellesley Island State Park features an 18-hole golf course and the Minna Anthony Common Nature Center.

The center provides educational and recreational programs for all ages.

It includes educational displays, varied habitats such as wooded wetlands, three miles of shoreline, and miles of trails for hiking, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing.

Along the trail are picnic tables and the seasonal Butterfly House.

(whimsical music) At Rock Island Lighthouse State Park, where our friend "The Pirate" was once keeper, visitors can climb to the top and enjoy the scenic view of the St. Lawrence River.

Robert Whaley State Park's Cliffside location boasts over 17,000 feet of spectacular Lake Ontario shoreline and over 10 miles of hiking and mountain biking trails.

Other parks like Canoe Point, Waterson, and Mary Island State Park are accessible by boat only.

The popularity of winter activities like ice fishing has turned the Thousand Islands into a year-round resort area.

Ice shanties dot waterways and fishing derbies give determined anglers a chance to compete for their favorite species.

Wellesley Island State Park has over nine miles of cross-country ski trails.

Other popular winter activities include snowmobiling and, every February, the "Polar Bear Dip" attracts hundreds of brave souls willing to jump into the frigid St. Lawrence River to raise funds for the local hospital.

(whimsical music) - [Narrator] The historic piece you just watched comes from an original four-part documentary series called "Discovering Jefferson County."

The series was produced right here at WPBS.

If you'd like the entire series at your fingertips, you can order your own copy and enjoy all four parts in the comfort of your own home.

(whooshing sound) - WPBS is proud to showcase various musicians and poets on our show.

Tonight, we share the witty and powerful work of Sackets Harbor poet, Christine Grimes.

(quiet whooshing sound) (energetic drum beats) (whooshing sound) - I'm Christie Grimes.

I'm a poet in the North Country and I teach creative writing at Jefferson Community College.

I write poems about family and fun and travel and food.

This one is called "Staying in the Game."

People always joke that "Monopoly" breaks up families.

The board will go flying and the fight will start.

I grew up hearing that one couple had almost gotten a divorce while sitting at the kitchen table and playing with my family.

But the competition in my family felt like it was bred into us.

My mother would fight like hell for the railroads.

My dad would hoard Boardwalk and still to this day, I'm finding out the rules we played by weren't the same for everyone else.

I learned by watching them, watching my brothers too.

I was born 15 years after those three boys, so by the time I was pushing 10 and had moved on from Candyland, I had to beg them to play games when they came around.

But we played "Monopoly" since I was old enough to count, maybe before.

My brothers would carefully set up the board and we'd all sit, a cold glass of milk and a small plate of cookies or slice of pie nearby.

They didn't believe in mercy.

They didn't believe in giving the kid a chance.

I had to hold my own, scramble for the green or yellow on the board, but more often, I was left with pale blue trying to barter Ontario Place or Baltic Ave for something better, like a desperate auctioneer hoping I could hang on and not be the first one out.

Poker and cribbage were the same.

My dad always commanded the table then, his cold beer nearby and cigarette in hand as he shuffled the cards and formed bridges so smooth and fast, it looked like magic.

I watched my dad call out like he was at a casino.

"Two ladies over there!

Three jacks with the man in the corner!"

And I wanted so badly to win.

I wanted to stay a part of it all.

And now my dad and brother are gone.

My family is scattered across states and I'm begging my friends to play, but they don't like my rules.

Don't want to have a jackpot at free parking.

Don't want to stay until the end of the day when the light has fallen to see who the real winner is.

(quiet whooshing sound) (lively music) - That does it for us this Tuesday evening!

Join us next week for a fresh look "Inside the Stories."

(quiet whooshing sound) Spooky season is here and with it comes spooky tales.

Learn more about Brookside Cemetery in Watertown and some of the prominent people residing there.

And what's Johnny Pisano cooking up in the kitchen?

Join us next week as he makes apple dumplings and shares a spooky story from Cindy Steiner of the Burrville Cider Mill.

(quiet whooshing sound) Also, Murney is back on the streets of the Limestone City.

Meet this beloved horse and his new rider, Constable Amy Carter.

(lively music) (quiet whooshing sound) Meantime, we wanna tell your story!

If you or someone in your community has something meaningful, historic, inspirational, or educational to share, please email us at wpbsweekly@wpbstv.org and let's share it with the region.

That's it for now, everyone.

We'll see you again next week.

Good night.

(lively music) - [Announcer] "WPBS Weekly: Inside the Stories" is brought to you by the Daisy Marquis Jones Foundation, dedicated to improving the well-being of communities by helping disadvantaged children and families.

Online at dmjf.org.

(lively music) The Watertown Oswego Small Business Development Center, a free resource offering confidential business advice for those interested in starting or expanding their small business.

Serving Jefferson Lewis and Oswego counties since 1986.

Online at watertown.nysbdc.org.

(lively music) Carthage Savings has been here for generations, donating time and resources to this community.

They're proud to support WPBS TV.

Online at carthagesavings.com.

Carthage Savings.

Mortgage solutions since 1888.

(lively music) Additional funding provided by CSX, (lively music) the Oswego County Community Foundation at the Central New York Community Foundation, (lively music) the Richard S. Shineman Foundation, (lively music) and the Badenhausen Legacy Fund at the Northern New York Community Foundation.

- But we played "Monopoly" since I was old enough to count, maybe before.

My brothers would carefully set up the board and we'd all sit, a cold glass of milk and a small plate of cookies or slice of pie nearby.

They didn't believe in mercy.

They didn't believe in giving the kid a chance.

I had to hold my own.

(bright music)