The end of the road
It has been a long fun road working as a contributor to CSO Online. Unfortunately tomorrow will be my last official day with this publication. I have had a great time writing here over the last 4 years. I count myself lucky to...
WannaCry...ransomware cyberattack as far as the eye can see
WannaCry ransomware is yet another wake up call and not a sales opportunity. Let’s dispel with the hyperbole and bull. Let’s stop pointing fingers. Let’s get down to the meat of the matter and have a good long look at what we have...
HITB Amsterdam: hackers, waffles and coffee oh my
As I dragged myself out of bed the first morning it was hard to wrap my head around the fact that I was in another city for another conference. I’m not complaining, more so I wasn’t sure where I was for the first few minutes.
Soon...
Fail to patch and wait for the pain
Let’s be honest with ourselves. Who amongst us actually, no really, actually enjoys patching systems? There are outliers to be certain but, by and large there are not many among us who enjoy it. That in and of itself is a problem...
Wikileaks, CIA documents and some sober thoughts
So, my less than favorite topic found itself at the top of my reading list today. Wikileaks released a treasure trove of documents today that purport to outline all manner of CIA related operations.
After I got passed the “what...
Privacy issues in 2017
Decades ago privacy really wasn’t that much of an ongoing issue. In the days of agrarian society everyone seemed to know about everyone else’s business and personal lives. As we moved forward into an era of denser population...
RSA 2017: what are you trying to solve?
This year at the RSA Security Conference some 40,000 people packed the halls of the Moscone center in search of solutions (and light up swords) to solve their problems. Whatever the issue, they were looking for a salve to sooth...
RSA 2017 notes: privileged accounts and blunders
Privileged accounts are a necessary evil for a lot of organizations. These accounts allow for users to be able to do work that, in some cases, lead to unfortunate results if misused. But, how many organizations do a good job at...
Notes from RSA 2017
Every year San Francisco plays host to a massive show in the guise of the RSA Security Conference. The city becomes awash in a sea of interlopers wandering about the streets adjacent to the Moscone Center with their name badges...
Wordpress 0-day content injection vulnerability
Today news broke of a particularly nasty zero day vulnerability in the Wordpress REST API. The vulnerability in this case would allow for content injection as well as privilege escalation. This vulnerability would an...
System agent bloat: too many slices
Many years ago, in simpler times, I was responsible for the security program that included the controls which protected (in theory) against malicious files and programs that were hell bent on causing mischief. We had agents on our...
5 Canadian security conferences in 2017
As every year I find myself working through the list of upcoming conferences around the world. One thing that I’ve always been pleased about is the rich variety that is available right across Canada throughout the year.
I’m going...
All through the house, not a hacker was stirring...
The holiday season is a time to spin down and relax for many people. Where we hang up our spurs, or rather, we tuck the carry-on suitcase into a corner at least five feet away from the door. But, as with every holiday season we...
War stories: escalation attack loopback
Last month I shared some stories about events that I’ve had to contend with over the last 20 years. One incident that I recall was a particular individual who thought that only scanning up to port 1023 was the only proper way to...
War stories: diary of a box hugger
After years in the information security space there are few things that get me misty eyed like a massive data center. In part because it gives me a chance to reminisce about the good old days. Hundreds of hours sitting cross...
War stories: for your eyes only
There are few things that make for as amusing reading as an acceptable use policy. In some organizations that I’ve been through, it was clear that no one had ever read their unicorn-esque like policy document. Some of the...
War stories: just shut off telnet
Years ago I was working on a project that had a rather interesting premise. It was a way to send a file between two parties that was stamped as verified by a third party intermediary. Pretty basic stuff but, in the 90s it was...
War stories: Logs are where the dead things dwell
Over the years there has been one love hate relationship that I could never truly get away from entirely. That was logging on systems and anything else that had something to say. I got so silly that at one point when I was doing...
War stories: the water shut off valve
Years ago I worked for a company that had some manner of connection to the goings on for the power grid. *cough*
It was a job that afforded me all sorts of different projects as security had previously been more of an afterthought...
War stories: the vulnerability scanning argument
Over the last couple of decades I have had all sort of different jobs. I have to count myself as rather fortunate for the experiences I have had along the way. They really went a long way to teach me some valuable lessons. Also,...
