Random thought for today:

I have a very common name.  It’s mostly accidental (not my name at birth, I’ll let you extrapolate from there) but it has some interesting side effects when it comes to anonymity.

For instance, I know 2 Michael Smiths inside DC who are Information Security practitioners.  That means that I can’t find myself on Google even if I know what I’m looking for.  For all practical purposes, I’m about as anonymous as you can get in today’s world.

• Hello World
• Alternative Uses for System Security Plans
• Communicating the Value of Security Seminar Preview
• MREs and Bad News
• Subversive Music

Sounds like a neat idea.

DC Demo Camp 2

• Et Tu, TIC?
• Privacy Camp DC–April 17th
• My System Environment
• Volunteer to be Tracked
• Hack Disaster Relief

I’m just speechless.  I think this has to be the InfoSec news scoop of the year!!

Sex Lube Maker’s 250K Customer List Slides Onto Net

And honestly, it was some other Michael Smith.  Really it was!!

• Self-Quote Time #2
• Barcode Hacking
• Self-Quote Time
• Communicating the Value of Security Seminar Preview
• Evolving the Physical Hacking at Security Conferences

There comes a time when you start managing your time in 5-minute increments. That has been the past 2 weeks for me.

I’ve been teaching the past several Fridays, and that takes up the evenings the week prior. It takes a significant level of effort to just update the agenda and the slides for the upcoming day of training.
Monday and Tuesday I was in for more leadership training. It’s people-centric so it wipes me out.

While I was doing all this, FISMA report card came out and I didn’t get a chance to comment on it. Well, there isn’t much that is all that surprising. Smaller agencies do better at meeting the standard because small means more flexible. I’m surprised DHS is anything but an F because they are huge and new and I figure it will be 5-10 years before they get their feet underneath them.

• Business Leadership Training
• Targeted Spam
• Standard Maturity
• Got Training?
• Back in Leadership Training

Nice.  I don’t think they really have a rating for the VA.

http://www.matasano.com/log/798/fisma-using-homeland-security-advisory-system/

• Looking for the Charbo Testimony
• An Informal Study on the Literacy Level of Security Blogs–We All Get Pwned by Amrit
• Upgrading
• Splunk Goes After the FISMA Lucre, They’re not Alone
• My Analysis of the DHS Congressional Testimony

Computer crime novel in graphic novel style.

It’s eerily good and for some reason it’s hard to put down.

Planet Heidi

• Idaho and Technology
• Pictures: Desert Computer Lab
• Declan McCullagh and Anne Broache on “Will security firms detect police spyware?”
• The Honor System
• Hack Disaster Relief