Good afternoon everybody! I hope your day is going well.
Here are today's Interesting Information Security Bits from around the web.
- Symantec launches online PC tech support services | News - Security - CNET News
Give remote access to your system to Symantec and for $39.99 or $69.99 and they will solve your PC problems. I'll leave you to come to your own conclusions here.
- Security policy being bypassed by employees, survey finds
This article just reinforces that you have to make the security controls you put in place manageable and easy to use. You also need to make sure you are enabling your users to act securely. You, as a security professional, are doing your business a disservice if you force the users to make choices that place the business at risk because they can't get their jobs done efficiently due to onerous or poorly designed security controls.
- Bush signs PRO-IP antipiracy law
The PRO-IP Act has been signed into law. There is a bit of a difference of opinion as to if this is a good thing or not.
That's it for today. Have fun!
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Kevin
by kriggins on October 13, 2008
in General
Hello everyone. RSA Europe 2008 is just around the corner! Some of us have been talking about setting up a Security Blogger/Security Catalyst/SecurityTwits meetup and have settled on a date, time and location. We will be getting together on Tuesday the 28th at 8:00 PM. The Novotel London Excel bar is the location. The hotel is part of the Excel conference center, so should be easy to track down, but just in case, here's a map:
If you would like to join us or have a suggestion for a better location, please let me or Security4All know. I can be contacted either by comments to this post or kriggins _at_ infosecramblings.com and Security4All can be contacted here.
Hope to see you there.
Update: I realized this morning that I was remiss in specifying who was paying for any food or drink you might have during this get together. Everybody will be responsible for their own tab for this event.
Update #2: Today's the day! As indicated above, we will be in the Upper Deck Bar in the Novotel hotel. We are going to do our best to carve out a corner to the right of the bar near the river. Please see the About page to see a picture of me which may help you in picking out our group 
Kevin
by kriggins on October 7, 2008
in Books
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more,
Or close the wall up with our English dead!
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility;
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger:
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood.
"Henry V" (5.3.44-51)
Michael J. Santarcangelo, II has written a little book titled Into the Breach. The preview copy I have has 91 pages of content, but I want to make something very clear, the ideas in this little book are big, very big.
The subtitle of the book is "Protect Your Business by Managing People, Information, and Risk." Seems pretty straight forward, doesn't it? However, those of us in the information security profession are painfully aware that actually doing what that simple statement says is often far from straight forward.
Michael wants to help us with the issue and puts forth a process that can greatly increase our ability to satisfy that statement in a manner that brings engagement from all parts of the organization. At its root, Micahel's strategy makes protecting the data of our organizations everybody's job, not just information technologies job, but it does so in a way that re-energized everybody by giving them a voice in what is important and what is not.
He starts out the book by introducing and addressing three common myths that crop up when we start talking about protecting our organization's data from unauthorized access or "breach":
- "Outsiders pose the biggest threat to information."
- "Information protection needs a technology solution."
- "Protecting information costs too much."
Throughout the rest of the book, he walks us through a process that is simple in its execution, but profound in what it provides to those who participate in it. I'm not going to steal Michael's thunder. I am going to suggest that you pick up a copy of his book and read it...twice...at least. If you do and implement the strategies contained in it, you will be much better equipped to "Protect Your Business by Managing People, Information, and Risk" and reducing the chances that your data will go "Into the Breach."
Kevin