Securosis

Menu

Research

Incite 12/5/2012: Travel Tribulations

Mike Rothman December 5, 2012 1 Comment

Travel is an occupational hazard for industry analysts. There are benefits to meeting face to face with clients, and part of the gig is speaking at events and attending conferences. That means planes, trains, and automobiles. I know there are plenty of folks who fly more than I do, but that was never a contest I wanted to win. As long as I make Platinum on Delta, I’m good. I get my upgrades and priority boarding, and it works. With the advent of TSA Pre-check, I’m also exposed to a lot less security theater. Sure there are airports and terminals where I still need to suffer the indignity of a Freedom Fondle, but they are few and far between now. More often I’m through security and on my way to the gate within 5 minutes. So the travel is tolerable for me. Last weekend, I took The Boy on a trip to visit a family member celebrating a milestone birthday. It was a surprise and our efforts were appreciated. To save a little coin, we opted for the ultra low-cost Spirit Airlines. So we had to pack everything into a pair of backpacks, as I’ll be damned if I’ll pay $35 (each way) to bring a roller bag. But we’re men, so we can make due with two outfits per day and only one pair of shoes. Let’s just acknowledge that if the girls were on the trip I would have paid out the wazoo for carry-on bags. The Boy doesn’t like to fly, so I spent most of the trip trying to explain how the plane flies and what turbulence is. He’s 9 so safety statistics didn’t get me anywhere either. So I resorted to modern day parenting, pleading with him to play a game on his iPod touch. We made it to our destination in one piece and had a great time over the weekend. Though he didn’t sleep nearly enough, so by Sunday morning he was cranky and had a headache. Things went downhill from there. By the time we got to the airport for our flight home he was complaining about a headache and tummy ache. Not what you want to hear when you’re about to get on a plane. Especially not after he tossed his cookies in the terminal. Clean up on Aisle 4. He said he felt better, so I was optimistic he’d be OK. My optimism was misplaced. About 15 minutes after takeoff he got sick again. On me. The good news (if there is good news in that situation) is that he only had Baked Lays and Sprite in his stomach. Thankfully not the hot dog I had gotten him earlier. The only thing worse than being covered in partially digested Lays is wearing hot dog chunks as a hat. Not sure what about a hot dog would have settled his stomach, and evidently I wasn’t thinking clearly either. I even had the airsick bag ready at hand. My mistake? I didn’t check whether I could actually open the bag, as it was sealed shut with 3-4 pieces of gum. Awesome. The flight attendants didn’t charge me for the extra bags we needed when he continued tossing his cookies or the napkins I needed to clean up. It was good that plastic garbage bags were included in my ultra-low-cost fare. And it was a short flight, so the discomfort was limited to 90 minutes. The Boy was a trooper and about midway through the flight started to feel better. We made it home, showered up, and got a good story out of the experience. But it reminded me how much easier some things are now the kids are getting older. Sure we have to deal with pre-teen angst and other such drama, but we only get covered in their bodily fluids once or twice a year nowadays. So that is progress, I guess. –Mike Photo credits: Puking Pumpkin originally uploaded by Nick DeNardis Heavy Research We’re back at work on a variety of blog series, so here is a list of the research currently underway. Remember you can get our Heavy Feed via RSS, where you can get all our content in its unabridged glory. And you can get all our research papers too. Building an Early Warning System External Threat Feeds Internal Data Collection and Baselining Understanding and Selecting an Enterprise Key Manager Management Features Technical Features, Part 2 Technical Features, Part 1 Newly Published Papers Implementing and Managing Patch and Configuration Management Defending Against Denial of Service Attacks Securing Big Data: Security Recommendations for Hadoop and NoSQL Environments Pragmatic WAF Management: Giving Web Apps a Fighting Chance Incite 4 U Privacy is still dead. Next. It’s amazing to me there is still pushback about decrypting SSL on outbound traffic in a corporate environment. It’s like the inmates are running the asylum. Folks complain about privacy issues because you can look at what pr0n sites they are perusing during work. Even when you tell them you are monitoring their stuff, ostensibly to look for proof of exfiltration. Don’t these folks realize that iPads on LTE are for pr0n anyway? Not that I’d know anything about that. Maybe set up an auto-responder on email and point folks directly to your Internet usage policy when they bitch about web monitoring. Unless you are in a country that doesn’t allow you to monitor. Then just reimage the machine and move on. – MR Out with a whisper: In the past many database exploits required active usage of credentials to exploit a vulnerability. And there were almost guaranteed to be available as most databases came pre-configured with test and ‘public’ accounts, which could be leveraged into administrative access with the right credentials. For the most part these easy to access credentials have been removed from out-of-the-box configurations and are much less likely to be accessible by default. Any DBA who runs configuration assessments will immediately see this type of access flagged in their reports, and

Share:
Read Post
dinosaur-sidebar

Research

view all

Sign Up for Our Newsletter

Totally Transparent Research is the embodiment of how we work at Securosis. It’s our core operating philosophy, our research policy, and a specific process. We initially developed it to help maintain objectivity while producing licensed research, but its benefits extend to all aspects of our business.

Going beyond Open Source Research, and a far cry from the traditional syndicated research model, we think it’s the best way to produce independent, objective, quality research.

Here’s how it works:

  • Content is developed ‘live’ on the blog. Primary research is generally released in pieces, as a series of posts, so we can digest and integrate feedback, making the end results much stronger than traditional “ivory tower” research.
  • Comments are enabled for posts. All comments are kept except for spam, personal insults of a clearly inflammatory nature, and completely off-topic content that distracts from the discussion. We welcome comments critical of the work, even if somewhat insulting to the authors. Really.
  • Anyone can comment, and no registration is required. Vendors or consultants with a relevant product or offering must properly identify themselves. While their comments won’t be deleted, the writer/moderator will “call out”, identify, and possibly ridicule vendors who fail to do so.
  • Vendors considering licensing the content are welcome to provide feedback, but it must be posted in the comments - just like everyone else. There is no back channel influence on the research findings or posts.
    Analysts must reply to comments and defend the research position, or agree to modify the content.
  • At the end of the post series, the analyst compiles the posts into a paper, presentation, or other delivery vehicle. Public comments/input factors into the research, where appropriate.
  • If the research is distributed as a paper, significant commenters/contributors are acknowledged in the opening of the report. If they did not post their real names, handles used for comments are listed. Commenters do not retain any rights to the report, but their contributions will be recognized.
  • All primary research will be released under a Creative Commons license. The current license is Non-Commercial, Attribution. The analyst, at their discretion, may add a Derivative Works or Share Alike condition.
  • Securosis primary research does not discuss specific vendors or specific products/offerings, unless used to provide context, contrast or to make a point (which is very very rare).
    Although quotes from published primary research (and published primary research only) may be used in press releases, said quotes may never mention a specific vendor, even if the vendor is mentioned in the source report. Securosis must approve any quote to appear in any vendor marketing collateral.
  • Final primary research will be posted on the blog with open comments.
  • Research will be updated periodically to reflect market realities, based on the discretion of the primary analyst. Updated research will be dated and given a version number.
    For research that cannot be developed using this model, such as complex principles or models that are unsuited for a series of blog posts, the content will be chunked up and posted at or before release of the paper to solicit public feedback, and provide an open venue for comments and criticisms.
  • In rare cases Securosis may write papers outside of the primary research agenda, but only if the end result can be non-biased and valuable to the user community to supplement industry-wide efforts or advances. A “Radically Transparent Research” process will be followed in developing these papers, where absolutely all materials are public at all stages of development, including communications (email, call notes).
    Only the free primary research released on our site can be licensed. We will not accept licensing fees on research we charge users to access.
  • All licensed research will be clearly labeled with the licensees. No licensed research will be released without indicating the sources of licensing fees. Again, there will be no back channel influence. We’re open and transparent about our revenue sources.

In essence, we develop all of our research out in the open, and not only seek public comments, but keep those comments indefinitely as a record of the research creation process. If you believe we are biased or not doing our homework, you can call us out on it and it will be there in the record. Our philosophy involves cracking open the research process, and using our readers to eliminate bias and enhance the quality of the work.

On the back end, here’s how we handle this approach with licensees:

  • Licensees may propose paper topics. The topic may be accepted if it is consistent with the Securosis research agenda and goals, but only if it can be covered without bias and will be valuable to the end user community.
  • Analysts produce research according to their own research agendas, and may offer licensing under the same objectivity requirements.
  • The potential licensee will be provided an outline of our research positions and the potential research product so they can determine if it is likely to meet their objectives.
  • Once the licensee agrees, development of the primary research content begins, following the Totally Transparent Research process as outlined above. At this point, there is no money exchanged.
  • Upon completion of the paper, the licensee will receive a release candidate to determine whether the final result still meets their needs.
  • If the content does not meet their needs, the licensee is not required to pay, and the research will be released without licensing or with alternate licensees.
  • Licensees may host and reuse the content for the length of the license (typically one year). This includes placing the content behind a registration process, posting on white paper networks, or translation into other languages. The research will always be hosted at Securosis for free without registration.

Here is the language we currently place in our research project agreements:

“Content will be created independently of LICENSEE with no obligations for payment. Once content is complete, LICENSEE will have a 3 day review period to determine if the content meets corporate objectives. If the content is unsuitable, LICENSEE will not be obligated for any payment and Securosis is free to distribute the whitepaper without branding or with alternate licensees, and will not complete any associated webcasts for the declining LICENSEE. Content licensing, webcasts and payment are contingent on the content being acceptable to LICENSEE. This maintains objectivity while limiting the risk to LICENSEE. Securosis maintains all rights to the content and to include Securosis branding in addition to any licensee branding.”

Even this process itself is open to criticism. If you have questions or comments, you can email us or comment on the blog.