The Biggest Hole of It All

(or) How to win at security and influence people

If you agree with me and see the legendary Gene Spafford as the 2^nd generation of security, and people of my experience as the third, then what if we have today in the marketplace is the fourth generation of security professionals.   People 20 years my junior who never had to grow up without the Internet (or, for that matter, without a remote control or with tethered-only phones, and I could go on…) are now the backbone of information security in the country, nay, in the world.

And yet, the problem that my generation referred to as “the loose nut on the keyboard” and today’s generation calls “layer 8”, is still seen as a problem in security circles.

Well, I got news.   They are not a problem, we, security professionals, are. They are the solution.

Let me ‘xplain. Yes, I have time, don’t have to sum-up

Early on in my career I learned that there are very few technical solutions to human action problems. 

I used to say that “there aren’t any”, but I wised up. We must teach, train, mentor and repeat. 

Allow me to draw a picture of life today – inside the corporate world or with-out.

Part I – Social Media

Quite a large part of our workforce today, and certainly all of tomorrow’s, has been exposed to, used, and even reveled in Social Media. From BBS (I will explain to those who request) through Wikis; from Facebook to Twitter, our workers have not only become accustomed to using these tools, they enjoy them.

You, Ms., Mr. or Mrs. Security Person, have two choices:

    1.   Fight an uphill battle, never to be won even in the US Military (as you can see here)

• U.S. military joins Twitter, Facebook
• U.S. Military In Afghanistan Turns To Twitter, Facebook & YouTube
• Nearly two years to the day that the U.S. Military banned social networking sites like YouTube and MySpace (back when MySpace was relevant), it has not only reversed its decision but each branch of the military now has its own Facebook fan page and Twitter feed.

 Or

     2.   Embrace it.

“How do I embrace it?” you say? Well. Here is a road map to embracement (I made that word up, I think):

  To see and hear more on this subject, visit my website at www.arielsilverstone.com  

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