Risk & Cybersecurity

Jan 28, 20232 min read

The 6 Fundamental Forces of Information Security Risk

I first posted this as a Twitter thread in 2019. These forces still seem very much current - perhaps even more so. It is interesting to...

Jan 14, 202312 min read

Ceremonial Security and Cargo Cults

There is a lot of conventional security that is based on established ceremonies and an unquestioning faith that if we keep doing these...

Dec 31, 20227 min read

Simple Ways to Communicate Successes

It’s that time of year when you’ve inevitably written notes to your organization and leadership about all your team’s achievements over...

Dec 17, 20223 min read

Dangerous Embedded Assumptions

There is a notion I keep coming back to thanks to this article from a few years ago. The essence is that there are things that have...

Dec 3, 20228 min read

The Uncanny Valley of Security - Updated

Since I first wrote this post 2 years ago I keep seeing it reinforced. The basic premise is that, sometimes, advanced levels of security...

Nov 19, 202213 min read

A New Way to Think : Review

I typically don’t do book reviews, but this book was impressive and it resonated with many information security and risk management...

Nov 5, 20224 min read

How to Tell if You Really are an InfoSec Professional

Some of you in the US, and maybe others, might be familiar with the ongoing, somewhat self-deprecating, Jeff Foxworthy skit of “You might...

Oct 22, 202210 min read

Grand Challenges or Grind Challenges

How much of your work that you would like to describe as a “grand” challenge is really more of a “grind”? As an industry we like to talk...

Oct 8, 20227 min read

Field Guide to the Various Communities of Security

Which part of the security community are you in? Often, when one part of the security community talks about the overall community they...

Sep 24, 20226 min read

Essential Attributes of Security Leadership

Since I first wrote this back in 2021 (titled "CISO: Archeologist, Historian or Explorer?") it seems ever more true that complex and...

Sep 10, 202213 min read

Crucial Questions from Governments and Regulators

In this, fourth and final post in the series of Crucial Questions I’m going to focus on those from governments and regulators. This...

Aug 27, 202223 min read

Crucial Questions from CISOs and Security Teams

In this, third in a series of Crucial Questions posts I’m going to focus on the questions from CISOs and security teams. This builds on...