Unexpected vulnerabilities in the cloud?

When you look past all the ridiculous hype and craze over "cloud computing" the realities set in. Here's a new piece I wrote for SearchCompliance.com that can help set you straight:

Find unexpected vulnerabilities to ensure cloud compliance

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Twitter stole my Twitter idea

I was recently talking to a client about how we need to start up a company with a Twitter acquisition as our exit strategy that scans for malicious URLs in the tinyurl, bit.ly, etc. links that are posted on Twitter. Twitter beat us to the punch. It's actually pretty difficult to comprehend that it's taken them this long to fix such a big problem. Nice to see some innovation where it's really needed.

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Trouble getting policy buy-in? Make 'em self-executing.

If you're having trouble getting security policies on the radar of management and users - much less getting the real buy-in you need, don't fret - there is a possible solution.

It's an idea I got from Louise Slaughter (good name for a politician) and her attempt to force Obamacare on us. Simply make your policies "self-executing". In other words, you write the policies and include verbiage in each one that makes them take effect without any buy-in, votes, or opinions whatsoever.

Imagine if it were this simple for anyone but politicians to manipulate the system in their favor. Now that would be information security change we could believe in!

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Great information security quote

"I am more afraid of an army of 100 sheep led by a lion than an army of 100 lions led by a sheep." -Charles Talleyrand

Applies nicely to the management of information security and amazingly well to our government "leaders" today.

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P2P risks, all over again

It's sad when our government has to warn businesses about their own P2P network security flaws.

I wrote about the security considerations with P2P applications seemingly a lifetime ago (2003) for TechTarget in a piece titled Are P2P applications worth the risk?

Around this same time I served as a P2P expert on a panel discussion at American Intellectual Property Law Association's conference in Atlanta where we discussed these same issues.

Nothing has changed with the threats and the vulnerabilities of P2P applications...nothing. OK, it can be argued that things have gotten worse. Yet we continue to ignore what's going on at the desktop and at the protocol level. Interesting insight into how far we've come with information security since then.

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Failure is always an option

Michael Eisner once said "Succeeding is not really a life experience that does much good. Failing is a much more sobering and enlightening experience."

This is something we often take for granted...and something that's facilitated by our society of not wanting people (especially our kids) to fail.

I wouldn't trade my failures in life for anything...they've gotten me to where I am today. Failure's always an option and not something to be ashamed of as long as you embrace it and learn from it.

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What's your certification worth? Nothing.

According to Global Knowledge (you know, the training/certification folks), IT and security certifications are worth tens of thousands of dollars and, in some cases, over $100,000.

Man oh man if it were only that easy to jump in and make that kind of money - and be able to sustain it. I say that certifications such as CISSP, ITIL, or PMP are worth absolutely nothing unless you make it so. What you earn is up to you - your qualities and the value you bring to the table - not just a simple certification.

Here are some pieces I've written about what it takes to meet and exceed these certification "value" levels. It's easier than you think.
http://securityonwheels.blogspot.com/search/label/certifications
http://www.principlelogic.com/careers.html

If you're just getting started down this path or you want to learn more about getting ahead in IT and information security in 2010, then use the discount code 'CertWorth' for 50 percent off the following Security On Wheels audio programs through the end of February:

• Certifications, Degrees, or Experience - What's Best for Your Security Career? (MP3 format - run time: 24:35)
• Getting Started in Security (MP3 format - run time: 49:57)
  

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