When I started my information security consulting business 10 years ago I believed the words "principle" and "logic" would be a good fit for the way I think and work. The concept and mode of operation has worked out great. I was just reading a quote by Stephen Covey that reminded me of this - and information security leadership in general...he said:"Principles are not values. A gang of thieves can ...
Continue Reading...Cavett Robert once said something about character that resonates within information security - especially regarding ongoing management and leadership. He said:"Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passed." When I saw this I was reminded of how pumped you can get when attending a show like RSA or CSI or how neat certain vendor marketing spiels sound. Another is ...
Continue Reading...Ralph Waldo Emerson once made this statement which completely and totally applies to what you do in your job and how you develop your career over the long haul:"Skill to do comes of doing."As with surgeons, home builders, mechanics, race car drivers and so on...we learn most by doing.I know a lot of people are going back to school and focusing on getting their degrees and certifications right now. There's ...
Continue Reading...Orison Swett Marden once said:"What keeps so many employees back is simply unwillingness to pay the price, to make the exertion, the effort to sacrifice their ease and comfort." So true...as the saying goes good enough hardly ever is....
Continue Reading...Here's a great quote by Fred Smith that says it like it is:"You are the way you are because that's the way you want to be. If you really wanted to be any different, you would be in the process of changing right now."Obviously this also applies to our careers and personal lives...Like calories we ingest, our choices add up dramatically over time....
Continue Reading...Regarding yesterday's post about the word supererogation and how it can help you in your infosec career, here's a great quote by the poet Ovid that supports such an approach:"Make the workmanship surpass the materials." Spot on...otherwise you just fall in line with the majority. Not good for your career, not good for business....
Continue Reading...It's been an interesting and truly scary news week in the "good old" U.S. of A. Think about this stuff folks:A Democrat congressman in charge of the House Ways and Means Committee with jurisdiction over taxes gets reprimanded for not paying taxesA judge is busted for buying drugs to use with a stripperSan Francisco banning circumcision and toys in Happy Meals And, of course, TSA minions doing things like giving ...
Continue Reading...Finally, some hope and change we can believe in!But not so fast...a quick note to all the Republicans out there: you didn't get voted in because people are embracing you...people are just tired of seeing the Democrats' lack of principles and leadership- not to mention their taking money (by force) from the people who earn it and giving it to those who don't deserve it - undermining and effectively destroying ...
Continue Reading...Today is the day we get a chance to vote for more government or less government.Today is the day those of us in America can begin to stop the bleeding we've been experiencing since January 20, 2009. Technically, for decades.Today is the day we're empowered to remind the career politicians around our country that we the people are in charge. Not them.Today is the day we stop giving up little ...
Continue Reading...Novelist Robert Heinlein once said "In the absence of clearly-defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it."I suspect this is a large contributing factor to the lack of information security - and subsequent data breaches - in business today.Feel like you need a jump start on goal setting? Check out this piece I wrote on the subject:Eight steps to accomplishing your ...
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