On this 9-11 anniversary, I am grateful

Like everyone else, I have vivid, painful memories of Sept. 11, 2001. Being in NYC for the CSO Security Standard drives those feelings home all the more. But alongside my sorrow is a ton of gratitude.

I’m grateful for police, firefighters and other safety personnel who risk their lives to save others.

I’m grateful for people who band together and help one another in times of need, including all the souls who could have survived 9-11 but perished because they insisted on helping others out of the towers instead of saving themselves.

I’m grateful that I get to write about security for a living, because in this arena I feel like I can make a difference.

I’m grateful for people who go about their daily business despite the danger of a terrorist attack, unwilling to let terrorists scare them off the streets.

I’m grateful to be in the city for this anniversary. The Freedom Tower under construction at the World Trade Center site is lit up in red, white and blue and the blue spotlights are beaming brightly into the heavens.

I’m grateful to know all the information security professionals I talk to daily. They may be fighting a different kind of war than those we experienced in Iraq and Afghanistan, but they make the difference for the rest of us every time they stop the dregs of cyberspace from attacking us through our computers.

I’m grateful that many of these information security professionals have become personal friends.

Close your eyes and pray for the victims of 9-11 and their families today. But don’t forget to be grateful for all the things the terrorists failed to take from us.

Below: I’ve been to the World Trade Center site many times since 9-11-01. Here I am during a visit this past June.