Hartford Courant:  The geeks are showing up in full force to defend Julie Amero

Credit to Vital Security who linked there first. (or rather, where I saw it first)

• Making Press Releases
• New Desktop Background
• No, Really, Mom…
• 8 Bit Peoples
• Blame it all on John Hughes….

In an email from a person who shall remain nameless:

“So, Mike, since you have started your own blog, I was thinking of you when I saw this article…

http://www.applegazette.com/on-the-web/create-your-own-apple-rumor

…just in case you run out of good ideas.”

• Targeted Spam
• Is Myspace Satan?
• Cult Crossovers Into Information Security
• An Informal Study on the Literacy Level of Security Blogs–We All Get Pwned by Amrit
• The “C-Word”

“At some point, all activism devolves into self-loathing.” — Mike Smith

You learn these things when you live in Eugene, Oregon.  I was utterly shocked the first time I saw treesitters driving a brand-new Yukon.

• Clearance Paperwork
• My Favorite Conspiracy Theory
• Simple Thoughts on Simple Rocks
• Self-Quote Time
• Being the Resident Curmudgeon

I spent the first 2 days of last week in business leadership training.  Some of it was how an engagement proceeds from proposal into something that is billable.  Some of it was etiquette.  Some of it was leadership styles.  Some of it was “we love you, don’t go!”  Some of it was basic networking and etiquette skills for professionals.

I love how the majority of the world is extroverted.  It gives them so many more people to meet.  As for myself, I always get the feeling that I’m walking into an ambush when people are too eager to introduce themselves to me.  I guess that’s why I’ve never been in sales–I’m too cynical to the core to absolutely believe in anything.

So I did my own thinking over the past couple of days on business networking.  I did google searches for “business networking introverts” seeing if I could come up with any good advice.  Here’s what I came up with:

• Network with a small amount of people, but get to know them well
• Limit yourself to only a handful of large social events
• There are many extroverts who claim to be introverts

Now, the interesting thing is that I’ve been doing this exact strategy for years now.  I always joke that I operate like the mafia.  When you come to me, I know the people who can fix your problem, but later, I’ll come to you asking you for a return of the favor.  Somedays, I feel like my job involves introducing people to other people.

But only people that I know well–don’t go thinking I’m an extrovert. =)

• Back in Leadership Training
• Is Myspace Satan?
• Life Behind “The Great Big NAT in the Sky”
• Resume Gaps
• Government Information Security Leadership Awards

Maybe it’s just the DC area.  Every good security person I know here is very confrontational.  We just like to argue.  Some days I feel like it’s a slow morning, so I just walk around and stir the pot, knowing that some good conflict will rise to the top.

I think it has to do with the following factoid: security is the conflict between economics, paranoia, and useability.  We have to be able to manage the tradeoffs between these 3 corners of the triangle.  The good people understand the nature of this and realize that sometimes it’s not really a security problem–its a client education problem, it’s an auditor problem, it’s a personality conflict, etc.

So how do we conclude an argument?  Well, I know 2 people right now that when I’m around both of them, we can talk for hours debating the particular merits of one viewpoint or another.  The way we stop the disagreement is to mention risk.  Once we do that, the game is over.  Once I can pin the actual risk (versus the perceived risk, but that’s another story), then there is nothing to talk about anymore–we have rounded the corner on that topic and there isn’t anything else to debate.

• Core Belief #2 — Risk Management Uber Alles
• MREs and Bad News
• You Didn’t Outsource Your Responsibilities
• Another Day, Another Vendor
• Security Assessment Economics

“True confidentiality controls are when you have thermite grenades taped to the top of the servers.” –Michael Smith

• When Google Hacking Gets Way Personal
• DojoCon DDoS Video
• Self-Quote Time #2
• Building A Modern Security Policy For Social Media and Government
• The Accreditation Decision and the Authorizing Official