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Incite 1/20/2016 — Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Mike Rothman January 20, 2016 No Comments

I have always gotten great meaning from music. I can point back to times in my life when certain songs totally resonate. Like when I was a geeky teen and Rush’s Signals spoke to me. I saw myself as the awkward kid in Subdivisions who had a hard time fitting in. Then I went through my Pink Floyd stage in college, where “The Wall” dredged up many emotions from a challenging childhood and the resulting distance I kept from people. Then Guns ‘n Roses spoke to me when I was partying and raging, and to this day I remain shocked I escaped largely unscathed (though my liver may not agree). But I never really understood David Bowie. I certainly appreciated his music. And his theatrical nature was entertaining, but his music never spoke to me. In fact I’m listening to his final album (Blackstar) right now and I don’t get it. When Bowie passed away last week, I did what most people my age did. I busted out the Ziggy Stardust album (OK, I searched for it on Apple Music and played it) and once again gained a great appreciation for Bowie the musician. Bowie Changes Then I queued up one of the dozens of Bowie Greatest Hits albums. I really enjoyed reconnecting with Space Oddity, Rebel Rebel, and even some of the songs from “Let’s Dance”, if only for nostalgia’s sake. Then Changes came on. I started paying attention to the lyrics. Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (Turn and face the strange) Ch-ch-changes Don’t want to be a richer man Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (Turn and face the strange) Ch-ch-changes Just gonna have to be a different man Time may change me But I can’t trace time – David Bowie, “Changes” I felt the wave of meaning wash over me. Changes resonates for me at this moment in time. I mean really resonates. I’ve alluded that I have been going through many changes in my life the past few years. A few years ago I reached a crossroads. I remembered there are people who stay on shore, and others who set sail without any idea what lies ahead. Being an explorer, I jumped aboard the SS Uncertain, and embarked upon the next phase of my life. Yet I leave shore today a different man than 20 years ago. As the song says, time has changed me. I have more experience, but I’m less jaded. I’m far more aware of my emotions, and much less judgmental about the choices others make. I have things I want to achieve, but no attachment to achieving them. I choose to see the beauty in the world, and search for opportunities to connect with people of varied backgrounds and interests, rather than hiding behind self-imposed walls. I am happy, but not satisfied, because there is always another place to explore, more experiences to have, and additional opportunities for growth and connection. Bowie is right. I can’t trace time and I can’t change what has already happened. I’ve made mistakes, but I have few regrets. I have learned from it all, and I take those lessons with me as I move forward. I do find it interesting that as I complete my personal transformation, it’s time to evolve Securosis. You’ll learn more about that next week, but it underscores the same concept. Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes. Nothing stays the same. Not me. Not you. Nothing. You can turn and face the strange, or you can rue for days gone by from your chair on the shore. You know how I choose. –Mike Photo credit: “Chchchange” from Cole Henley The fine folks at the RSA Conference posted the talk Jennifer Minella and I did on mindfulness at the 2014 conference. You can check it out on YouTube. Take an hour. Your emails, alerts, and Twitter timeline will be there when you get back. Securosis Firestarter Have you checked out our video podcast? Rich, Adrian, and Mike get into a Google Hangout and… hang out. We talk a bit about security as well. We try to keep these to 15 minutes or less, and usually fail. Dec 8 – 2015 Wrap Up and 2016 Non-Predictions Nov 16 – The Blame Game Nov 3 – Get Your Marshmallows Oct 19 – re:Invent Yourself (or else) Aug 12 – Karma July 13 – Living with the OPM Hack May 26 – We Don’t Know Sh–. You Don’t Know Sh– May 4 – RSAC wrap-up. Same as it ever was. March 31 – Using RSA March 16 – Cyber Cash Cow March 2 – Cyber vs. Terror (yeah, we went there) February 16 – Cyber!!! February 9 – It’s Not My Fault! January 26 – 2015 Trends January 15 – Toddler Heavy Research We are 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, with our content in all its unabridged glory. And you can get all our research papers too. SIEM Kung Fu Fundamentals Building a Threat Intelligence Program Success and Sharing Using TI Gathering TI Introduction Network Security Gateway Evolution Introduction Recently Published Papers Threat Detection Evolution Building Security into DevOps Pragmatic Security for Cloud and Hybrid Networks EMV Migration and the Changing Payments Landscape Applied Threat Intelligence Endpoint Defense: Essential Practices Cracking the Confusion: Encryption & Tokenization for Data Centers, Servers & Applications Security and Privacy on the Encrypted Network Monitoring the Hybrid Cloud Best Practices for AWS Security The Future of Security Incite 4 U Everyone is an insider: Since advanced threat detection is still very shiny, it’s not a surprise that attention has swung back to the insider threat. It seems that every 4-5 years people remember that insiders have privileged access and can steal things if they so desire. About the same time, some new technology appears that promises to identify those malicious employees and save your bacon. Then it turns out finding the insiders is hard and everyone focuses on the latest shiny attack

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