3 takeaways and a ramble

It’s been another weird year for many. Most of the world had vaccines, came out of lockdown, only to be hit by another variant, and ending up in a weird limbo lockdown all over again. As someone who has predominantly worked from home for the last 8 years, I have welcomed the last couple of … Continue reading 3 takeaways and a ramble →

The Value of Certifications

“How does your degree compare to my 10 years practical work experience?” This was something my very first manager used to say often to me and other fresh-faced graduates. He had a point – we knew nothing about the business, any of the tools, or the job compared to him, or indeed anyone else who … Continue reading The Value of Certifications →

November Blog a Day Reflections

I'm no writer of novels, but I allowed myself to be influenced by national November novel writing month and thought it would be a good idea to attempt a blog a day through the month. In the end, I wrote 17 blogs during November, the most I've written in a long time, perhaps ever. There … Continue reading November Blog a Day Reflections →

This isn’t the place to make a name for yourself

It was T's first week in a new organisation and they went into a project meeting for a new product that was about to be released. T: Has this product been pen tested? Project manager (PM): We don't usually do pen tests on most systems, unless they're really high risk, and even then we wait … Continue reading This isn’t the place to make a name for yourself →

The Ying Yang of Your Engine

I recently argued that I don’t really care about an aeroplane’s engine and that I only cared about the experience I have travelling on it. Some people argued with me that the engine is very important and without an engine the aeroplane won’t fly. Allow me to elaborate my thinking with the example of a … Continue reading The Ying Yang of Your Engine →

The Familiar Stranger

Along my journey, I cross paths with a stranger. We have never met before, and will probably never meet again. We are aware of each others presence and acknowledge each other without acknowledgement. To each other, we are familiar strangers. There are many familiar strangers, all on their own journeys. Each with their own precious … Continue reading The Familiar Stranger →

Your engine doesn’t matter

I have flown many times in my life, but I’ve never really known the difference between a Boeing 747, 787, or whatever the numbers are. It’s not that I’m not interested in planes. I still look up in the sky when I see one flying overhead and ask myself where it’s coming from and going … Continue reading Your engine doesn’t matter →

Cybersec’s Messy Messaging

I saw an article on The Register today entitled, Crypto for cryptographers! Infosec types revolt against use of ancient abbreviation by Bitcoin and NFT devotees. TL;DR the argument is whether or not crypto should mean cryptography or cryptocurrency. Now, I get it, it can be an emotional topic for some - but really? The majority … Continue reading Cybersec’s Messy Messaging →

5 Tips to be an awesome CISO

I’m not a CISO, I never have been and hope I never will be. It seems like a lot of hard work and stress, and if you’re the CISO at a company when you suffer a breach it’s difficult to blame the intern without a mob of security professionals criticising you. But I do observe … Continue reading 5 Tips to be an awesome CISO →

My Retirement Plan

Buy 10,000 trophies from China (max $1 each including shipping)Buy an engraverRegister a fancy domain, like, "WorldsBestSecurity.com"Send emails to companies saying they've "won" an award in some <random category>. For a mere $1000 they can get featured in the WorldsBestSecurity.com listing and receive an engraved trophy. 10,000 * 1000 = 10,000,000 Even with a 50% … Continue reading My Retirement Plan →