Here’s how to beat the dirty pirate hackers

[Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a pirate ship of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - Beat [cyber-pirates like we beat pirate-pirates](. - Stop worrying about [borrowing to pay for infrastructure](. - Biden needs to [step up in the Gaza situation](. - We could be [overlooking housing inflation](. Blackbeard when you try to explain computers to him. Photographer: Hulton Archive/Hulton Archive/Getty Images How to Beat the Cyber-Pirates Lord knows Hollywood has [tried](, but it’s hard to make hackers as cinematic as pirates, with the exception of maybe [Lisbeth Salander](. Still, the two professions have a lot in common. Blackbeard would probably nod admiringly if a time traveler told him about DarkSide [milking]( $5 million from Colonial Pipeline in a ransomware attack, assuming he was not too confused and enraged by such concepts as “ransomware” and “computer.” Blackbeard-style piracy was defeated not by victims meekly paying ransom but by [powerful governments crushing the pirates and their sanctuaries](, writes Noah Feldman. It still flourishes only where governments are weak. DarkSide-style piracy will have to be beaten in the same way. That could include governments making companies protect themselves better. Colonial’s [pipeline industry, incredibly, has no national cybersecurity standards](, notes Liam Denning. As the Americans recently filling every available receptacle with gasoline can tell you, pipelines are kind of important. The government will force standards on them if they can’t come up with their own ASAP. Companies in every industry can [protect themselves by spending just a bit more money]( and time than the pittance they currently spend on it, writes Tara Lachapelle. Fortunately, they don’t have to involve the kind of stuff you see in movies. Though those do look a lot cooler than “don’t open that sus email.” Don’t make your employees do this. Paid Post The power of PayPal online, now in person. Give your small business an easy way to accept touch-free, in-person payments. Create a unique QR code with the PayPal app and display it on your device or as a printout in store. [Download the app.]( Customer must have PayPal account and app to pay. PayPal Borrow Today for Infrastructure Tomorrow Just yesterday this newsletter was topped with [warnings]( the bond bull market is dead, meaning interest rates will rise, meaning the U.S. government will have a harder time borrowing money, meaning no infrastructure for you. But a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little newsletters, and anyway interest rates are still [really, really]( low and look to stay that way for a while. Companies are borrowing money just because they can, and investors are thrilled to lend it to them. Why shouldn’t the U.S. government, which gets better rates than just about anybody, not get some of that action? President Joe Biden has basically rejected borrowing much to pay for his next big spending plans. But Nir Kaissar and Tim O’Brien write he’s [blowing an opportunity to use cheap leverage to boost the economy](’s future earning potential. Unlike [tax cuts](, infrastructure spending done right can pay for itself in the long run. Raising taxes, meanwhile, is politically dicey and, done wrong, can hurt the economy. There are also plenty of examples around the world, starting with Japan, of countries that have spent and borrowed wildly only to see interest rates fall. And with the Covid-19 pandemic still very much not under control, [fiscal abandon is the hot new thing globally](, writes Dan Moss. Just look at Australia, a country long even more budget-obsessed than America, which now sees unbalanced books for years to come. India, today’s epicenter of Covid misery, [needs to start priming the money pump for its own economy](, writes Aashish Chandorkar. As with Covid vaccines, economic relief often requires more than one shot, with occasional boosters. And it’s self-defeating to worry about the cost. Further Government Spending Reading: [Not all U.S. Covid relief has gotten to people]( who need it, including the unemployed and landlords unable to collect rent. — Noah Smith The Gaza Disaster Isn’t Going to Fix Itself The situation in Israel and Gaza just keeps getting [worse](, with mob violence raising fears of a civil war. Biden, who has mostly ignored the Middle East, is finally waking up to the situation, but he [has offered only a wet noodle of a response so far](, writes Bobby Ghosh. There’s still time, and the dire necessity, for him to push more aggressively for peace in the short and long run. It's possible the violence will inure to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s benefit somehow. Eli Lake suggests [Hamas probably realizes it’s losing this battle](; one hint is that it’s starting to declare victory. But the [false sense of security into which Netanyahu had lulled Israelis]( has been shattered, writes Zev Chafets. He needs to do better or step aside. Telltale Charts The [CPI measure of housing costs could be wildly off](, writes Brian Chappatta, because it asks owners to estimate the rental value of their property. It could be skewing inflation data to the downside. If we want to encourage more babies, we should [make life easier for women by sharing their workload](, writes Clara Ferreira Marques. Americans are [eating more dark chicken meat](, which tastes better and costs less, writes Justin Fox. Further Reading Letting the [postal service offer banking services](, as it once did in this country and still does in many others, could help the unbanked. — Bloomberg’s editorial board The effort to start a [third party of anti-Trump Republicans looks unlikely]( to hurt the Trump Republican Party without higher-profile support. — Jonathan Bernstein Vaccination reluctance will drag out the [pandemic trend of people delaying screening]( for cancer. — Sam Fazeli Elon Musk has a point; [Bitcoin adds demand to the energy grid](, which helps keep coal plants in business. — David Fickling Central banks [don’t have to issue digital coins]( to take advantage of new payment trends. — Huw van Steenis Here’s [who should fear a beefed-up IRS](, including crypto investors and the dead. — Alexis Leondis It’s Debate Night in New York City Who should be New York’s next mayor? Who knows how much [Brooklyn apartments]( cost? These and many other questions may or may not be answered in tonight’s mayoral [debate](. To pre-game, you can read Howard Wolfson’s [interviews with every one of the Democratic candidates](. ICYMI Crypto exchange Binance is [under federal scrutiny](. Don’t worry: The [SPAC king is doing fine](. Janus's global bond chief [is retiring at 44](. Kickers The [Wi-Fi vulnerabilities]( have always been there. We [are all aliens](. Lessons “[Battlestar Galactica” taught us](. [Movies for physics lovers](. Notes: Please send ransom and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Twitter]( and [Facebook](.  Like Bloomberg Opinion Today? [Subscribe to Bloomberg All Access and get much, much more](. You’ll receive our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. 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