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22 Mar 2022Security assessment interviews/questionnaires versus reality
Not long ago, I performed what I call a security operations review where I asked various questions about how IT and security are managed within an organization I was working with. One of the topics was on patching and vulnerability management. I got a lot of good information, including specific details on how Windows, macOS, and even third-party patches are taken care of. Everything sounded great and I expected to ...
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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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30 Apr 2021
Networked IP cameras as vulnerable as ever…no excuses these days.
You've likely heard the news about security cameras being vulnerable to exploits like what was covered in this piece: https://threatpost.com/breach-verkada-security-camera-tesla-cloudflare/164635/ I feel like I'm always talking in circles when it comes to security...stop repeating history, focus on the basics, do what you know needs to be done...It's especially true for vulnerabilities in network security cameras. A little over nine years ago I wrote about this problem with cameras that I ...
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24 Mar 2021If you mastered nothing else but this one thing, you’d be ahead of the security curve
In my virtual CISO consulting engagements and vulnerability and penetration testing, the process of patch management ALWAYS comes up for discussion. Given the threats, the vulnerabilities, and the risks – everything that's at stake – I cannot think of any single aspect of a well-functioning information security program that's more important than patch management. It's one of a few things in security that you CAN control! The absolute last thing you ...
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03 Jul 2020The miracle of COVID-19 testing: more tests= more cases. (It works for security too!)
I'm no jet fuel genius. Nor am I a statistician. I'm certainly no epidemiologist. I don't even consider myself to be one of the smartest people in my own field. But I do know enough to realize that when a problem exists (even if it's yet to be acknowledged), once it's sought after, it will be uncovered. And once it uncovered, does this newfound knowledge actually change anything? Not necessarily. ...
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18 Mar 2020Look for the lessons and be a leader among the COVID-19 panic
“The hardest thing to explain is the glaringly evident which everybody had decided not to see.” – Ayn Rand Interesting how the world has changed in the past couple of weeks, huh? Here in the U.S., we went from a thriving economy and living in what might be described as the best time to be alive to what seems like an abrupt halt - doom and gloom - all within a couple of ...
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30 Apr 2019Healthcare’s latest (ridiculous) proposal to improve security in that industry
For years, I've ranted about the rebranding of information security to "cybersecurity". This strategy is nothing more than a means to redirect attention - even create confusion - over what we do so that something shiny, new, and sexy can be sold to those who are buying. It's bad for what we're trying to accomplish in this field. We need less confusion rather than more. Well, here's a new set ...
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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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21 Nov 2011
Don’t turn a blind eye on the basics
I'm all about shoring up the basics of Web security before throwing money at the situation. If you're interested in saving not only money but also time and effort, here are some new pieces I've written on Web security that you may be interested in: Explaining the why of Web application security Improving Web security by working with what you’ve got Not all Web vulnerability scans are created equal Why ...
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17 Feb 2011
Are you focusing on the infosec basics where it counts?
Here's a good read from @arstechnica on the HBGary story. It's a fascinating story in and of itself. But the oversights related to information security "best practices" is amazing. What is it going to take to get people to focus on the basics? Seriously, folks...Forget about all the fancy hack attacks and complex exploits for now and fix the low-hanging fruit. It's basic triage - stop the bleeding first. Focus ...
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“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)
I’ve written/co-written 12 books on information security including:
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