Just like any good spook it’s time to come in out of the cold and back into the warmth of HQ. It’s been quite a while since my last post and I need to just make the time to do it. I will get better…. As many of you can recite from memory, “Do or Do not, there is no try!” – Yoda
So begins the summer of the Cons!! There are many good one coming up and I was going to try to get to Security B-sides Detroit. The Rust Belt, the Midwest, West Virginia, and Northern Kentucy and the robustness of security cons is not to be trifled with. Here’s a list (I’ve probably missed a few so I apologize in advance!):
– Notacon up in Cleveland just happened
– Thotcon in Chi-town back in April
– 2 Security B-Sides in June/July (Detroit/Cleveland)
– Not in the region but DefCon and BlackHat is the summer biggie
– DerbyCon in Louisville, KY in September
– GrrCON in Grand Rapids, MI in September
– Hack3rcon in Charleston, WV in October
So there is virtually no shortage of quality conferences to go to and pick up a bit of knowledge. In fact, for someone living in the Midwest they can get to quite a few conferences, not boondoggles (well okay a little bit because Hackers love Hooch!), for the same cost of hitting the major July out west event. This may be the right amount of cost savings for any company wanting to keep their security pogues happy and brains filled with teh knowledge.
Why conferences? It is truly amazing how much you actually can learn, if you can break thru the booze haze and hangover! It’s also a great opportunity to see old friends and make new ones. For us poor saps cloistered in the buildings we call offices or home offices it’s a welcome reprieve to let our hair down, or in my case last year cut off for Mowhawks-for-Charity. The look on the CISO’s face was awesome when he saw me walking into the office. It sparked a great conversation of what is a hacker and what the security rank-and-file will look like in 5-10 years. It is always great to have those “educational” conversations with senior management!
The networking portion is also a good time and it’s great to meet others in the same profession but in different industries to hear about this issues. The conversations may be different but the content is common… “OWASP Top 10 is what we’re focusing on”, “Access is a huge security headache”, and my favorite “the users in our company have no regard for security”. The nice thing is that even with that commonality there is a lot of ways to address the problem.
If we should ever have a chance to meet, please don’t take it wrong if I don’t say much at first. I’m the type of guy that will listen a lot, digest the information, and begin to ask you a ton of questions. I’m not asking so many questions to be a jerk, I just have a genuine interest in learning. I like adventuring into rabbit holes and going deep until my brain hurts.
For those reading; yes I’m back, yes will be more diligent in posting, and yes I may rant a time or two!
0ddj0b
Bond Must Die!! 