Hello, 1977 was a great year, for so many reasons. Not least among them was the release of the Ramones’ Rocket to Russia album, on side one (remember when albums had sides?) of which, Joey sang: I don’t care (He don’t care) I don’t care (He don’t care) I don’t care about these words I … Read more
Hello, The modern perspective on cybersecurity has ancient roots. For millennia, humans have built walls, posted sentries, vetted their interlocutors, and established watchmen to ensure that behaviors and interactions meet established standards for propriety and orthodoxy (h/t to Juvenal; quis custodiet ipsos custodes indeed) in an effort to ensure that only those duly authorized have … Read more
Hello, I had an interesting conversation not too long ago with a well-respected Washington, DC think tank’s cybersecurity duumvirate. Apologies ahead of time for my use of asides to you, the audience. But what’s cybersecurity if one can’t get a little Shakespearian from time to time? Hint – my asides are in italics. And, while … Read more
Hello, Tell me the truth. Am I the only one, who, upon learning about the Solar Winds breach, was humming a Whitesnake song from 1982? As the song says: Here I go again on my own Goin’ down the only road I’ve ever known While the jury’s still out on whether I’m a drifter, if … Read more
Hello, This Fall 2020 issue brings us around to another National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM). The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) describes NCSAM’s goal as raising “awareness about the importance of cybersecurity across our Nation, ensuring that all Americans have the resources they need to be safer and more secure online.” That’s a … Read more
Hello, Albert Einstein is widely reputed to have said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. While Einstein never actually uttered these words, they are a useful illustration of much of what happens across the American cybersecurity community. Breached? Conventional wisdom says that the root cause is … Read more
Hello, As Cassius said to Brutus in Act I, Scene 2 of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves.” And so it is with the American cybersecurity community writ large. At the risk of igniting the fires of controversy, it’s time to draw a line in the … Read more
Hello, At the beginning of 2019, the American cybersecurity community finds itself at a crossroads. Perhaps it might be more appropriate to say that cybersecurity policymakers, technologists, and practitioners find themselves fighting a battle on two fronts. On one side, there’s the traditional hostile cyberspace. We expect this. We’ve trained for this. We’ve built for … Read more
Hello, 2018 marks the 15th anniversary of National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM), which is observed every October. NCSAM, a collaborative effort between government and industry, is intended to help ensure that every American has the resources needed to stay safer and more secure online. The 2018 NCSAM will focus on consumer cyber safety, recognizing … Read more
Hello, It is time to take off the polarized cyberglasses, America, because what we choose not to see can kill us. The language of cybersecurity is laced with modal verbs and their auxiliaries such as “should,” “must,” and “ought to.” These words and phrases are used to express ability, possibility, permission, or obligation. They enable … Read more
