Starting a New Chapter

What a long, strange trip it's been. For over 15 years now, I've devoted my career to supporting the Federal government through Information Technology and Cyber Security. That chapter of my life is now quickly coming to a close.

For quite some time now, I've kept my employers confidential due to concern over being targeted by foreign entities in relation to my work I've performed for various Federal agencies. It's been an interesting run, providing my expertise to Defense Information Systems Agency, Department of Veterans Affairs, the Census Bureau, and various private companies over the years. I've worked with state-of-the-art computer systems distributed across the country, as well as worked with computer systems which are actually older than me but still up and running (and I just recently turned 40).

Three books, and thousands of tweets later, and I still feel like I've only scratched the surface of the real depth, and scope, of the cyber security realm.

CISA Launches Catalog of Free Cyber Security Tools

In a big win for cyber security advocates, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has released a catalog of free cyber security tools for private and public sectors.

The list is organized to align with CISA’s recent advisory on:   

• Reducing the likelihood of a damaging cyber incident, including by preventing devices from connecting to malicious sites and scanning for security weaknesses and vulnerabilities, etc.   
• Detecting malicious activity quickly, including by deploying network intrusion detection and prevention, undertaking penetration testing, and improving endpoint detections.  
• Responding effectively to confirmed incidents, including through collection and analysis of malware and other artifacts. 
• Maximizing resilience, including by automating system backups and enhancing threat modeling. 

The catalog contains links to public sector resources, as well as free, commercially developed products from vendors such as Microsoft, Cisco, Google, and Splunk.

The full catalog can be accessed on the CISA.gov website.

Ken is a Cyber Security professional with over 15 years of experience.  All opinions are his own, and do not reflect the opinions of his employer or clients.

Lions, Tigers, Echo Chambers, and Imposters, OH MY!

For those unaware, yesterday Donald Trump's social media network "Truth Social" launched for iOS, with the Android app scheduled to come out, well, someday.  The launch of the social network has been met with expected reactions - conservatives celebrating its launch while liberals condemn it. Meanwhile, moderates like myself sit back and cringe, wondering how we got here in the first place.

Dissent, discourse, disagreements, and compromises are good for all of society. Originally social media was a free flowing, politically neutral environment where political discourse was welcome, and occasionally tempers flared. Unfortunately, in recent years, social media has become fragmented. Social media networks started removing political content, often leaning towards one side of the political spectrum or the other based upon the company's values.