During a short business trip to New York City this week, it dawned on me that I’ve often gotten practical security lessons in New York taxicabs.

In the late 1990s, I frequently went to New York for consulting engagements. I generally took one of the air shuttle services that operated hourly flights between Washington and New York, like winged buses. Upon arrival, almost without fail, I’d find that I had received dozens of texts, emails, voicemails, etc. In the taxi to Manhattan, I’d call back the customer or my office as quickly as I could.

Back in those days, cellphones weren’t really anyone’s main communication device, so when I used mine, I tended to be on the road, or more precisely, on a New York street in the back of a taxicab. Of course, I was using an analog cellphone. Remember those? They were a security nightmare. Many times my monthly statement would include charges for thousands of dollars’ worth of calls to people all over the world that I never made.

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