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20 Jun 2021The 21 Best Ways to Lose Your Information, revisited
With all the crazy incidents and breaches brought about by so many unfortunate "glitches" combined with how I continually harp on the importance of mastering the information security basics, I thought it'd be appropriate to re-post the content of an article I wrote for Computerworld back in 2002... This piece was the second article I ever wrote. Little did I know that, nearly two decades later, every single one of ...
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22 Feb 2016New independent content on information security
Here are some articles and guest blog posts I've written for my friends at TechTarget, Ziff Davis, AlgoSec, and Rapid7: Key Network Security Questions You Need To Ask Your Cloud Vendors - Now! Everything happens for a reason in security How one bad decision brought down an enterprise e-commerce site in minutes With security, periodic and consistent is key How emerging threat intelligence tools affect network security The science behind ...
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20 Jan 2016
Worst passwords (on your network right now)
The fifth-annual Worst Passwords List put out by SplashData is here and the findings aren't terribly surprising. Here are the top five:#1: 123456#2: password#3: 12345#4: 12345678#5: qwerty Good stuff! What's that quote about insanity? One of those security basics that we'll likely continue to ignore until the end of time. That's alright, as some of the best sideline analysts will proclaim: we need not focus on such trivial things. Well, they ...
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11 Jun 2015
Great quote regarding people who are unable/unwilling to change
Here's an excellent quote about business execs I just came across from management expert, Peter Drucker. It could certainly apply to IT and security professionals just the same:"The most common cause of executive failure is inability or unwillingness to change with the demands of a new position. The executive who keeps on doing what he has done successfully before is almost bound to fail."...in other words, if you keep doing ...
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08 Jun 2015
My latest information security content: truly *managing* your security program
Check out the following information security management pieces I've written for Ziff Davis and IBM recently: If there’s a will with information security there will be a way Eight remarkable things you’re doing with security that you can make even betterDivulging sensitive info for a potential acquisition - good idea or bad?Formidable Threats and Minimal Visibility - A Troublesome CombinationWhen vendor security vulnerabilities become your own Additional information security content ...
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29 May 2015
What you (really) need to know about esophageal manometry
Aside from my typical computer security-related blog posts I thought I’d branch out and share something completely unrelated in hopes it can benefit others. Recently, I had the opportunity to endure the most difficult thing I’ve ever experienced as a forty-something male: esophageal manometry. It’s performed on patients suffering from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). In short, the medical professional sticks one of these ~1/2" thick torture tubes up one of ...
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15 Apr 2015
Don’t get blinded by the “small stuff” that’s hard to notice
One of the core challenges you face in information security is getting so caught up in the minutiae of your network environment and day-to-day work that you end up not being able to see the bigger picture: what's really going on, what really needs attention, and what really matters. I've been writing about this for over a decade and I've yet to stop spreading the word...it's just too important a ...
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07 Apr 2015
A core reason why security challenges go unresolved
Constantly dealing with information security issues in your organization? It's really about dealing with management, peers, and subordinates. Here's some motivation:"The ability to deal with people is as purchasable a commodity as sugar of coffee, and I will pay more for that ability than for any other under the sun." -John D. Rockefeller If you're in search of other ideas on how to get (and keep) people on board with ...
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09 Feb 2015Back to basics in information security? Proven year after year but (apparently) unattainable for many.
I'm often wrong about many things in life...just ask my wife. However, I'm feeling a bit vindicated regarding my long-standing approach to information security: address the basics, minimize your risks. You see, more and more research is backing up what I've been saying for over a decade. It what was uncovered in the new Cisco 2015 Annual Security Report. [i.e. "Less than 50 percent of respondents use standard tools such ...
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03 Feb 2015
Great quote about making changes in infosec
Here's something that the founder and CEO of FedEx, Fred Smith, said that ties-in nicely with what we do (and see) in information security:"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."Pause for a moment and ask yourself what you're doing to make some changes in information ...
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Client Testimonials
“A business associate referred our company to Principle Logic when we were seeking a resource to perform vulnerability /penetration testing for our external and internal networks. We found Kevin Beaver to be professional, well informed, and easy to work with. His testing did not disrupt our networks, and his progress updates were timely.
His final report was very thorough and included security recommendations for our network environment. The executive leadership was so impressed with Kevin’s security expertise, they have extended their agreement to continue to perform periodic testing. We highly recommend Kevin Beaver and Principle Logic as a resource for network security testing.”
(IT managed services firm)
Kevin has written/co-written 12 books on information security including one of the best-sellers of all time:
