Hello Everyone,
Up until a few minutes ago I was doubting to write this Security Saturday, but I suppose it cannot hurt. We should talk about the principle of four eyes, and the value of waiting.
A few weeks ago I made three huge mistakes of the same kind at work. In all three instances it boiled down to impatience resulting in me ignoring the four-eyes principle.
The principle is really simple. If you make a decision, make it together with someone else. Just as @adamstaplesdev mentioned before how he pairs up with people, this also applies in security. Never do something without asking someone else exactly how stupid it is and how badly it could go wrong.
Or you might, like me, end up giving the marketing employee without background check access to all customer data at once.
My boss was not happy. And after thinking about it neither was I.
But a twist in the tale is that my boss and I are on friendly foot personally. This of course makes his disappointment sting, but it also allowed us to talk it over. We both ran into the same problem: The lockdowns and corona-stuffs (hello future reader, this was written during the second year of 14 days to flatten the curves) made us very willing to try to be helpful to people, in a speedy way. I was first and made the largest blunder, but then my boss did the same two weeks later and we both agreed.
"We need to wait and pace ourselves"
Always use four eyes to check something, and always second-guess yourself at least once per instance. Back when my dad taught me chess, he told me about one of his chess-friend who was told to play while sitting on his hands. because once you touch a piece you have to play it, and he was too quick, too touchy.
So too with security, you personally in the comfort of your own home, can improve security by always stepping back and asking someone that you trust to also take a look before you press "OK".
and this is not intuitive, you have to train yourself in it. And for those of you who do it naturally, you inversely have to learn to eventually cut to the chase and make a decision. In that case too, you can have a second pair of eyes help you :)
So, that was a little personal reflection, nicely wrapped in a security attitude. I hope it helps you out!
Stay safe out there!
There is so much more to this one chapter, but it is so good already!
I had to cut it short because guests arrived, but this should get you started on your own study :)
@calvinrempel Thank you once again for the Theology Tuesday you did, I refer back to it in this one :)
@JamesDerian Congratulations with your Marriage :)
Next time there might (almost certainly) not be a Theology Tuesday, so the official next one will be February 22nd! I have a marriage to attend. As the groom. Our home is still half a project.
Fun times!
Alc and I talk about my book that is now officially finished. This is part 1 of 2. Parts have not been neatly cut. Part two will air 5 minutes after part 1 for coninuity!
Hope you enjoy :)
This is the third corner to have persistent discussions and talks in. I love tech, but especially once it transcends hardware a little. I have two degrees; a bachelor's in Software Engineering and a master's in Information Security Technology. My graduation thesis focused on assembly-level optimizations (that is, one level above the hardware level) and my free subjects were in formal verification. This is why I love programming in the security corner, or maybe it is the other way around.
I started going down the Security path because I early on saw that the world around us would become a dangerous cesspool of badly-implemented and hostile tech. Now I am one of the people that understands the field around that mess :)
So in here you can discuss secure phones, weird programming languages, sad truths about internet-connected fridges. Also about malware, adblockers, and so on and so fort!
A lot of tech talk I do over at the @Lunduke community, where a lot of nerds hang out and it is ...
Much like the reading corner, let's have a music corner! A few rules for this one, since some music can be provocative. I don't mind much but let's keep youtube links with risque thumbnails out of here.
Other music I might also mind. "Do you find that offensive?" might someone ask. Yes, there is some music I choose not to listen on principle, and I walk a thin line there sometimes. But do not worry, I have a wide taste otherwise so feel free to share almost anything :)
Either way, here is the music corner!
Many times when we talk about security, we mean to say "Digital security". In essence we mean to say that our hardware and software that we use stays safe no matter what we do. And even though the ISO27001 standard (and by extension, for example, the NEN7510 standard) make it abundantly clear that security is a people-domain problem, we usually take that as a process-like truth. Meaning, we think that being secure is a matter of regulating people.
The truth is very different. For example, while writing this I am pretty shot. I slept five hours and I an under influence of a bunch of painkillers and some alcohol. Before you ask what I was thinking, let me mention that I have a genetic defect in my spine that I am dealing with right now by taking measured doses of all three (and yes, to get the Bible into this conversation, there is even a biblical ground for the inebriation with alcohol - see proverbs and the letters to Timothy - , although I did not use red wine. But hey, I am still on top of ...
