Some days I wish I was a screenwriter. There, nothing is out of bounds. Physics? Bah. Logic? Who needs that? How cool was it that the writers of Dallas (the show, not the city) decided to take a mulligan… on an entire season? Pretty cool, I’d say.
Quick note: Don’t forget toRSVP to the RSA Disaster Recovery Breakfast, and sign up for the Inagural Cloud Security Alliance training class we are building & running.
Today, within a few minutes of each other, I read the latest 2010 security reports from Cisco and Intego. The Cisco report is very broad, while the Intego report is Mac specific. They really highlight the reality vs. hyperbole problem we often see in threat reports.
You can always tell whether you are at a hacker con or a corporate-oriented conference in our business. The hacker cons have plenty of tattoos, piercings, fringe hairstyles, and the like. In fact, I’m usually more concerned that folks will think I’m a narc because I have none of the above. But this brings me around to the idea of appearance and its impact on your career.
Washington, D.C.
Officials today revealed that the “Advanced Persistent Threat” (APT) has been completely defeated by vendor marketure, analyst/pundit tweets, and PowerPoint presentations.
One of the terms you’ll likely hear at RSA this year is security posture. Along with “situational awareness” and other terms which refer to your ability to understand if you are under attack and how your defenses are positioned to protect your assets. But I’m fascinated by the psychology of posturing, because we see that kind of behavior every single day.
You all know how much I like surveys. But I tend to think surveys targeted at SMB tend to be a little closer to reality, especially ones with 1,000+ responses. Our Big Yellow pals recently did a Disaster Preparedness Survey of 1,800+ small businesses, and the news isn’t very good, but not unexpected either. Here are a few soundbites:
Here in the US, today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. For many this means a day off. For others it’s a continued call to arms to right the injustice we see. For me, it’s a reminder. A reminder of how one person’s efforts can make a difference against unsurmountable odds. How passion, focus, and a refusal to fail can change the world. Not overnight and not without setbacks, personal sacrifices, and a lot of angst. But it can be done.
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.