The RSA Conference is just around the corner, and you know what that means.
Pain.
Pain in your head, and likely a sick feeling in your stomach. All induced by an inability to restrain your consumption when surrounded by oodles of fellow security geeks and free drinks.
Apparently I got out of New York just in time. The entire eastern seaboard got “Snowmageddon II, the Blanketing” a few hours after I left. Despite a four-legged return flight, I did actually make it back to Phoenix. And Phoenix was just about the only place in the US where it was not snowing, as I heard there was snow in 48 states simultaneously.
I was reading shrdlu’s post on Connecting the risk dots over on the Layer 8 blog. I thought the point of contention was how to measure cost savings. Going back and reading the comments, that’s not it at all.
I enjoy living in the South (of the US). I’m far enough North that we get seasons. But far enough South to not really be subjected to severe winter weather. It’s kind of like porridge in the story of the 3 bears. Living in ATL is just right for me. Usually.
It leaked a bit over Twitter, but we are pretty excited that we hooked up with the Cloud Security Alliance to develop their first training courses. Better yet, we’re allowed to talk about it and solicit your input.
Compliance and security have hit the big time, and I have the proof.
Okay: all of us who live, eat, and breathe security already know that compliance is a big deal and a pain in the ass – but it isn’t as if “normal” people ever pay attention, right? Other than CEOs and folks who have to pay for our audits, right? And according to the meme that’s been circulating since I started in the business, no one actually cares about security until they’ve been hit, right?
At the risk of having Rich yell at me again (like he did early last year) because I’m writing too much high-level stuff, let’s get back to a key soft skill of being a security manager. It’s not like we got a lot better at that in 2010, right? I talked about motivating your team earlier this week, so now let’s turn to marketing and sales. Right – you are a security guy/gal, what do you need to know about sales?
In this series we’ve tackled the threats these new handheld computers mobile devices present, as well as how we need to deal with folks culturally when they demand access to sensitive corporate information on mobile devices. As we wrap up this short series on mobile device security, let’s jump in and talk about a few things we can do to protect these devices.
I always read Gary McGraw’s research on BSIMM. He posts plenty of very interesting data there, and we generally have so little good intelligence on secure code development that these reports are refreshing. His most recent post with Sammy Migues on Driving Efficiency and Effectiveness in Software Security raises some interesting questions, especially around the use of pen testing. The questions of where and how to best deploy resources are questions every development team has, and I enjoyed his…
I’m happy to say the holiday season was pretty eventful for the Boss and her family. Her brother (and his wife) welcomed twin boys into the world right after Xmas. The whole process of creating life still astounds, and the idea of two at a time boggles the mind – even if you’ve been through it. Turns out we were up North when the new guys showed up (a week early), so we got to meet them in person. We live 600 miles apart, so that was an unexpected bonus.