Before the world of laptops, tablets and smart phones, some of us had to use paper-based solutions to keep track of our calendars and to-do lists. I used a Franklin Planner, where I kept track of my calendar as well as my never-ending to-do list. The Franklin Planner used the “ABC” system to help you…

In today’s world, security teams are bombarded constantly with security events and threat information from multiple sources, making it impossible to address each threat with the same amount of urgency. Where does one even start? We know every threat should be addressed, but not all threats are created equal. How do we determine which ones…

It has been quoted by Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, and others that insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” I could say that in our world of cyber security, despite all the headlines about data breaches and ransomware, there is no “insanity.” Products we used 25 years ago…

The late 70s/early 80s American television show Three’s Company was one of my favorite shows growing up. The central theme of the show revolved around the lives of three roommates. Each episode usually involved a misunderstanding, then chaos would ensue. In the end, everything would turn out okay. Unfortunately, this week’s episode of “ransomware in…

Yesterday I celebrated my 29th birthday (again) and it was great to celebrate with friends, family, and coworkers. They say age is just a number, and I truly believe that. Unfortunately, we live in a world where laws require us to count numbers so that it can be determined if we can vote, drink, rent…

Within the security researcher community, the Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) program is a well-known entity, representing the world’s largest vendor agnostic bug bounty program. Customers of the TippingPoint Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS) and Threat Protection Systems (TPS) know the ZDI as the group that buys 0-days so they have protections before the affected vendor releases…

“What can you sit on, sleep on, and brush your teeth with?” This was the question posed to Steve Martin’s character C.D. Bales in the 1987 movie Roxanne. In a modern take of Edmond Rostand’s 1897 verse play Cyrano de Bergerac, the movie centers around C.D.’s attempt to win the love of a woman while…

This week marked the first time an airline misplaced my bags for a significant period of time. Inclement weather forced me to not only change my flight, but also change airlines. Unfortunately, my luggage didn’t get the memo. I dealt with two airlines to find my bags, and I eventually received my bags over 60…

“Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” It’s not exactly clear how Murphy’s Law originated, but it seems to always make an appearance at the one time you can’t afford for anything to go wrong. Your laptop starts to malfunction right as you need to finish a project (this happened to yours truly earlier…