Our picksDeepfakes are coming: Is Big Tech ready?; school-security companies thriving; California’s “new normal”; and more

Hacker honeypot shows even amateurs are going after ICS systems (Sean Lyngaas, Cyberscoop)
While stories of nation-state backed hackers threatening the U.S. power sector garner regular headlines, a new experiment highlights the risk of unintended consequences when less-skilled adversaries target the sector. Researchers from Cybereason, a Boston-based company, set up a honeypot in mid-July that mimicked a utility substation’s network environment, drawing the attention of a determined attacker that repeatedly disabled the honeypot’s security system. The hackers’ attempts to be conspicuous, coupled with some sloppy work, told researchers that they were not part of any advanced persistent threat (APT) group that is linked with a nation-state.

California’s “new normal” for wildfires is unacceptable (George Skelton, Los Angeles Times)
If it means thousands of homes constantly being incinerated and people dying in flames, California is headed into ruins.

From 64 to 1,400: Puerto Rico concedes Hurricane Maria death toll (Kate Feldman, Tribune News Service)
Almost 11 months after Hurricane Maria decimated Puerto Rico, officials have conceded that more than 1,400 people were likely killed by the storm, a dramatic rise from the official death toll of 64.

School-security companies are thriving in the era of mass shootings (Mark Keirleber, Defense One)
A multibillion-dollar industry is pushing an array of expensive technologies with the message that any campus could be next.