Securosis

Research

Summary Haiku

Hurt back yesterday Too much pain to write much now Haiku easier And don’t forget to sign up for our Black Hat cloud security training in December! On to the Summary: Webcasts, Podcasts, Outside Writing, and Conferences Mike’s Dark Reading article on Shiny and New. Rich’s Touch ID and Secure Enclave article was picked up by Daring Fireball, AllThingsD, and who knows where else. Dave Lewis at CSO: Stuffing The Social Media Genie Back In Favorite Securosis Posts Adrian Lane: Investigating Touch ID and the Secure Enclave. Really good analysis from Rich on the security implementation of Touch ID on the iPhone 5s. But I’m not buying the ‘article’ angle – he just wanted a cool new toy! Mike Rothman: Cybercrime at the Speed of Light. Everything can (and will) be gamed. Everything. Gal Shpantzer: API Gateways. Especially because it made @beaker jealous. Rich: Keep Calm and Bust out the Tinfoil Hat. Mike is supposed to be an engineer, not a history major. But this is exactly what I have been thinking. Plus, every other country is doing the same thing to the best of their ability. Other Securosis Posts Continuous Security Monitoring [New Paper]. Data brokers and background checks are a massive security vulnerability. Walled Garden Fail. Incite 9/25/2013: Road Trip. Firewall Management Essentials: Quick Wins. A Quick Response on the Great Touch ID Spoof. Favorite Outside Posts Adrian Lane: Meet the machines that steal your phone’s data. Interesting to see professional eavesdropping devices for mainstream law enforcement. Nothing state of the art, but it allows Officer Barbrady to jack a cell tower. Still, before Snowden nobody cared about this stuff. Mike Rothman: Apple’s Fingerprint ID May Mean You Can’t “Take the Fifth”. We’re entering (yet) another new age, when the legal system is nowhere near keeping pace with technological innovation. Interesting thoughts from Marcia Hoffman about the legal question of whether you can be compelled to unlock your phone (with presumably damning evidence on there) because biometrics are not protected under the 5th Amendment, while passwords would be. Rich: A TED talk by master pickpocket Apollo Robbins. This is more entertainment than learning (as are most TED talks), but damn. You may think you understand the limits of your perception, but you don’t. The last line is the real kicker. Dave Lewis: London schoolboy secretly arrested over ‘world’s biggest cyber attack’ Gal Shpantzer: Yahoo recycled email accounts may contain emails destined to old account owner. No matter how they try to talk this up, or what they do to recover, this is a mess. Research Reports and Presentations Continuous Security Monitoring. API Gateways: Where Security Enables Innovation. Identity and Access Management for Cloud Services. Dealing with Database Denial of Service. The 2014 Endpoint Security Buyer’s Guide. The CISO’s Guide to Advanced Attackers. Defending Cloud Data with Infrastructure Encryption. Network-based Malware Detection 2.0: Assessing Scale, Accuracy and Deployment. Quick Wins with Website Protection Services. Email-based Threat Intelligence: To Catch a Phish. Top News and Posts Chaos Computer Club breaks Apple Touch ID. A Survey of the State of Secure Application Development Processes. Just downloaded a copy. Review forthcoming. TouchID defeated: what does it mean? New CA law will let minors digitally erase their past. ‘Mr Big’ of UK cyber-crime among gang of eight arrested over £1.3million Barclays computer hijack plot in carbon copy of Santander scam Blog Comment of the Week This week’s best comment goes to Gunnar, in response to Cybercrime at the Speed of Light. HFT is about trading, not investing. Traders buy and sell every second of every day. Investors have multi year time horizons. That’s how ordinary should approach it, long term, buy and hold investment not as traders. These events which continue to happen on a more regular basis and show no signs of stopping, are worrisome, for traders. They can bankrupt themselves with their own algorithms, as one of the biggest Knight Capital did last year http://www.forbes.com/sites/halahtouryalai/2012/08/06/knight-capital-the-ideal-way-to-screw-up-on-wall-street/ Share:

Share:
Read Post
dinosaur-sidebar

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.