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The UNSECURITY Podcast – Episode 63 Show Notes – Mission

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I’m grateful to be back home. Two weeks in Cancun, Mexico where the sun was shining and the temperature was in the 80s. Now, I’m back in Minnesota where there’s a foot of snow on the ground and the temperature is in the single digits. I’m grateful to be back home because I’m with my family again. My FRSecure and SecurityStudio family!

THANK YOU to Brad and Ryan for doing holding down the fort!

OK, I was in Cancun to begin writing our next book. It’s “our” next book because Brad’s going to write his part and Ryan’s going to add a little flair too. The book is unofficially titled “Securing America” and will start to come together over the next couple of months. The (rough) outline looks like this so far:

  • Introduction
  • Information Security Operating System (ISOS)
    • Components
    • The Cycle
  • Securing America
    • Small Business
    • Local Government
    • Education
    • Home
  • The People Component
  • The Asset Component
  • The Control Component
  • The Process Component
  • The Measurement Component
  • The Journey – All Working Together
  • Starting NOW

If this book is anything like the first one (UNSECURITY), there’s likely to be some changes to the outline, but this is what we’ve got so far.

Alright. On to the show. This is episode 63 of the UNSECURITY Podcast. I’ll be hosting and these are my notes. Joining me in studio will be my co-host Brad Nigh and SecurityStudio’s very own Ryan Cloutier.

Let’s do this!

-Evan

SHOW NOTES – Episode 63

Date: Monday, January 20th, 2020

Show Topics:

Our topics this week:

  • Opening
    • Back Home
    • Book (Securing America) Status
    • What did I miss?
  • U.S. and Iran
    • Finishing the discussion from last week.
    • We’re not out of the woods.
  •  The “Mission” and CISSP Mentor Program
    • What is it?
    • Why do we care?
    • How can you join us?
  • News
Opening

[Evan] Hey UNSECURITY Podcast listeners! This is episode 62 and the date is January 20th, 2020. I’m Evan Francen, and it’s good to be back! I’m hosting today’s show, and joining me in studio is my friendly co-host Brad Nigh and my left-hand man Ryan Cloutier. Hey guys.

[Brad & Ryan] They’ll say “hi” or something.

[Evan] Did you guys catch that? I called Ryan my “left-hand man”. Of course you did, you guys read the show notes! You know why I called Ryan my “left-hand man”?

[Brad & Ryan] Stumped. Maybe.

[Evan] Well, I’ll tell you…

[Evan] Alright, I’m back home. It feels good to be back, and it couldn’t have been any better to come back to a bunch of smiling faces at our holiday party on Saturday! What did you guys think?

[Brad & Ryan] Sharing thoughts and such.

[Evan] We have a ton to cover today! Let’s catch-up quick. You guys cool with that?

Catching Up Discussion
  • Back home
    • Holiday Party
    • Q1/2020, Expectations
  • Book (Securing America) things
  • Did I miss anything?

[Evan] Like always, many good things to look forward too. Love you guys and love being back. Last week I had to run halfway through the show. We were talking about tensions between the United States and Iran and how it affects us all. There’s this talk of a cyberwar between us, and I just want to close the loop a little on the topic.

U.S. and Iran Discussion

[Evan] OK, the world’s not likely to end today, but we need to stay vigilant. Complacency and ignorance come with consequences. Switching gears now…

We talk about this mission at FRSecure and SecurityStudio. Brad, you have your take. Ryan, you have yours. I’ve certainly got mine too, but what is this “mission” and why is it important for our listeners to know about it?

Discussion about The “Mission” and CISSP Mentor Program

An open and honest discussion about our mission.

  • What is it?
  • Why do we care so much about it?
  • Are there ways for people to join us? If so, how?

The CISSP Mentor Program Registration is Open!

[Evan] Yes, it’s all about the mission! The theory is if you focus on the mission you’ll make money, but if you focus on the money, you’re certain to miss the mission. Love it! Alright, good talk. Let’s cover a few news stories, and wrap this thing up.

News

There’s always plenty of news in the information security industry. Here are a few stories that caught my eye recently:

Closing

[Evan] Wow. Lot’s going on and plenty of news to stay up on. I guess this is why they pay us the big buck, right?

This is the end of our show, and we close these things out pretty much the same way every week. Keep sending us your feedback, tips, of whatever else you’d like us to know at unsecurity@protonmail.com. If you have a suggested guest for us to reach out to, let us know that too.

If you’re the social type, socialize with us on Twitter, I’m Evan and you can find me @evanfrancen. Brad’s a cool cat, and you can find him @BradNigh. Ryan’s not to shabby himself, follow him at @CLOUTIERSEC.

That’s it! Talk to you all again next week!

The UNSECURITY Podcast – Episode 62 Show Notes – Iran and Stuff

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Still in Cancun for another week (Evan). I know, poor me.

One thing is certain. It doesn’t matter what I’m doing or what you’re doing, the world doesn’t pause and wait for you. Attackers still attack and defenders still defend. Some of us are thriving and others of us are just struggling to survive.

So, the big worldwide news this past week was the U.S. spat with Iran. It was immediately politicized, as we would expect, but what does it mean to you, me, and the world of information security? Let’s talk about this.

A few of you took me up on my offer last week for a free copy of UNSECURITY. Your books are being sent soon.

If you haven’t read my first book, I invite you to. You can either purchase it, or if you’re with us on our mission to fix the brokenness in our industry, contact me (Twitter, LinkedIn, email, etc.) and tell me so. I’ll send you a free signed copy! P.S. I’m not publicizing this everywhere, so let’s see if your paying attention.

I’m supposed to be leading the show this week, but I’m still out of the office. Brad and Ryan should be in studio for this episode, and I’ll call in again.

These are my notes (Evan).

SHOW NOTES – Episode 62

Date: Monday, January 13th, 2020

Show Topics:

Our topics this week:

  • Opening – Catching up
  • U.S. and Iran
    • What does it mean for information security?
    • What does it mean for you and me?
    • Avoiding collateral damage
  •  News
    • Is Microsoft sharing Skype and Cortana audio with the Chinese?
    • Security tips for college students
    • Amazon Ring employees caught snooping
  • Contact Us – featuring people looking for jobs in information security
Opening

[Brad] Hey UNSECURITY Podcast listeners! This is episode 62 and the date is January 13th, 2020. I’m Brad Nigh, your host for today’s show. Joining me in studio is Ryan Cloutier and by phone is Evan Francen. Hi guys.

[Ryan & Evan] We’re welcoming fellas, so we’ll say “hi” or something here.

[Brad] Let’s catch up quick. How was your week and what’s going?

Catching Up Discussion

Who’s doing what?

  • Ryan’s first week at SecurityStudio.
    • What was it like?
    • Anything newsworthy or exciting?
  • Brad’s crazy week.
    • Most weeks are crazy. What was craziest?
    • What are you excited about?
  • Evan in Cancun.
    • Chillin’ or workin’?
    • How’s the book coming along?

[Brad] Cool. Good things last week and coming up this week.

Switching gears a bit. I want to discuss a topic that’s on many people’s minds; the conflict between the United States and Iran, and what effect it has on our daily information security/cybersecurity lives.

U.S., Iran, and Information Security Discussion

Very significant events have taken place over the past few weeks. Events that impact our world as we know it; politically, economically, and from an information security (or cybersecurity) perspective. Let’s stay out of the politics as much as we can and leave the economic discussion to the economics experts.

What I’d like to discuss is how these current events affect us with respect to information security. We should all be concerned about how these things affect our ability to protect ourselves, our families, our schools, our workplaces, and our local governments.

First a little background on the current events:

  • December 27th, 2019 – The K-1 Air Base in Iraq was attacked killing an American civilian contractor, injuring four U.S. service members and injuring two Iraqi security forces personnel. The U.S. blamed Iranian-backed militia for the attack.
  • December 29th, 2019 – The United States attacked five Hezbollah positions in Iraq and Syria resulting is an at least 25 killed militia members and another 55 wounded.
  • December 31st, 2019 – January 1st, 2020 – Hezbollah militiamen, their supporters and sympathizers attacked the U.S. embassy in the Green Zone of Baghdad. The United States blamed Iran and its non-state allies for orchestrating the attack. No deaths or serious injuries occurred during the attack and protesters never breached the main compound.
  • January 3rd, 2020 – A targeted U.S. drone strike killed the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani. Soleimani was considered to be the second most powerful person in Iran.
  • January 8th, 2020 – The Iranian military launched numerous ballistic missiles at two airbases in Iraq. there were neither American nor Iraqi casualties. Hours after the initial Iranian missile attacks, a Boeing 737-800 (Ukrainian International Airlines Flight 752) crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport, killing all 176 passengers on board. Iran initially claimed the cause of the crash was mechanical failure.
  • January 11th, 2020 – A video showing the moment Flight 752  was hit by an Iranian missile was published by The New York Times. The Iranian government was forced to admit that it “inadvertently” shot the plane out of the sky. A wave of anti-government protests have now emerged across Iran.

Phew! These are only the latest events in decades of conflict between the two nations.

So, back to the point of our discussion. I’d like us to share our opinions, and hear the opinions of our listeners this week. You know what they say about opinions, right?

  • What does it mean for information security?
  • What does it mean for you and me?
  • How can we avoid collateral damage?

Some sources of information to guide our discussion:

[Brad] Great discussion and plenty of healthy opinion. I think the same things hold true for us that have always held true:

  1. Focus on what you can do to protect your area of influence (your habits, at home, at work, etc.)
  2. Master the fundamentals. We can’t control what Iran or the United States does, but we can make it a little less likely that we’ll be a victim in all this.
News

Now for some (other) news. Here are three newsy things that caught our attention last week.

Closing

[Brad] OK, that’ll just about do it. Be careful out there.

One last thing before we close this show out. Are you or someone you know looking for a job in information security? If so, we’d love to hear from you and help out where we can. Email us at unsecurity@protonmail.com and we’ll chat.

If you’re the social type, socialize with us on Twitter, I’m @BradNigh, Ryan can be found at @CLOUTIERSEC, and Evan’s in his usual spot, @evanfrancen.

That’s it! Talk to you all again next week!

The UNSECURITY Podcast – Episode 61 Show Notes – 2020 Look Ahead

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Hello 2020! What do you have in store for us?

In last week’s episode, Brad and I discussed some of the crappy things from 2019. It’s no doubt, we’ve got a lot of work to do in this industry. Now, in this episode, we’re going to discuss some of the great things we did this year as an industry, and we’re going to look at what 2020 should have in store for us!

Exciting Announcements

We’re starting 2020 off right, and we have some cool announcements:

  1. Our good friend Ryan Cloutier has joined SecurityStudio!
  2. We’re writing a new book!
  3. I’m in Cancun (I guess this is sorta cool for me)!
Ryan Cloutier

If you’ve been listening to our podcast for a while, you might remember Ryan. He joined us on the show in episode 27, and again in episode 44. Ryan brings a wealth of knowledge, a refreshing perspective, and an unbridled passion for information security , and we’re jacked he’s on board! Ryan will be helping me and the rest of the SecurityStudio team reach K-12, local governments, and whoever else wants to get on board with establishing rock solid information security fundamentals.

New Book

I took off for my annual trip to Cancun yesterday (1/4) to begin writing our next book. This one will be co-written with Brad and probably Ryan too. The book is unofficially titled “Securing America” and it will provide an easy-to-use manual for building fundamental information security programs and habits in the most under-served areas; SMBs, local governments, education (K-12 and post-secondary), and home.

If you haven’t read my first book, I invite you to! You can either purchase it, or if you’re with us on our mission to fix the brokenness in our industry, contact me and tell me so. I’ll send you a free signed copy! P.S. I’m not publicizing this everywhere, so let’s see if your paying attention.

Cancun

Yeah, this is year three for this trip. Year one was spent writing UNSECURITY. Year two was spent starting a book that I shelved (for now) about information security for normal people. This year, I’m starting this book (referenced above) and we’ll publish it sometime in Q3/Q4 of 2020.

We’ll cover these things (above) and some of the good things from 2019 in this episode of the UNSECURITY Podcast.

Brad’s leading the show this week, joined in studio by Ryan Cloutier. I’m calling in from Mexico, and these are my notes.

SHOW NOTES – Episode 61

Date: Monday, January 6th, 2020

Show Topics:

Our topics this week:

  • Opening
    • Exciting News.
    • 2019 in review, some of the good things.
    • What we expect 2020 to bring us.
  • Closing
Opening

[Brad] Welcome to the first UNSECURITY Podcast episode of 2020! We’ve got a jam-packed show for you today. It’s Monday, January 6th, 2020, and I’m Brad Nigh. Joining me in studio is the newest member of our team, Ryan Cloutier. Welcome Ryan!

[Ryan] Ryan does Ryan. Would you expect anything different?

[Brad] Joining us by phone from Cancun, Mexico is my usual co-host, Evan Francen. Hi Evan.

[Evan] I do me.

[Brad] Probably says something about Cancun and how he should be here too, or instead or me. Maybe he’ll ask about the weather, maybe not.

[Brad] Well, let’s get started. We have a ton of stuff to talk about today. Let’s start off by talking about you Ryan. Today is day #1 at SecurityStudio, right?

[Ryan] Says stuff.

Exciting News – Welcoming Ryan

Quick discussion and welcome.

  • Questions that may come up:
    • What will you be doing at SecurityStudio?
    • What made you want to come to SecurityStudio?
    • What are some of the challenges that lie ahead?
  • We’re pumped that Ryan’s onboard, and we’re looking forward to great things!

[Brad] Alright, Evan’s down in Cancun starting another book. He’s getting it started, and rumor has it that I and you (Ryan) will be co-writing this sucker!

Exciting News – Another Book

Quick discussion about this upcoming book.

  • Questions that may come up:
    • What’s the point for this book?
    • Who’s the audience?
    • What’s it like to write a book?
    • When can I get a copy?
  • We’re jazzed about this book because it’s a way to get the word out and make an impact on people’s lives. The fact that it’s going to be a collaboration between the three of us makes it extra exciting!

[Brad] Alright, some cool things to look forward to in 2020 and beyond! Let’s take a quick look back at 2019 and find some positive news. As infosec people, we sometimes get caught up in the bad news, but there are many good things happening.

2019 in Review – Good Things

[Brad] I think I speak for both Ryan and Evan when I say that we love this industry. There’s plenty of brokenness, but the people in this industry are amazing! Evan has a say that he uses a lot; “information security isn’t about information or security as much as it’s about people.” Using this as a segue, what good things happened in 2019 that we can be proud of?

Some things to discuss (in a positive light):

  • Is the information security industry more diverse now than it was at the beginning of 2019?
  • How are the job prospects for information security practitioners?
  • Are people more aware of information security?
  • Are CISOs emerging as real business leaders in greater numbers?
  • Is there improved collaboration among information security professionals?
  • More people are beginning to focus on fundamentals.

[Brad] Let’s focus on progress in 2020 and we should each be asking ourselves:

  1. Am I making a positive difference?
  2. Are my motives focused on greater good or selfish greed?
Closing

[Brad] OK, no news for today’s show. We’ve discussed plenty and we’re looking forward to another great year! We’re also wishing the best for all our listeners. Let’s kick some ass together in 2020!

That’s a wrap for today’s show. Thank you and welcome to the family Ryan. Evan, stay out of trouble.

Next week, we’ll start to devote 10 minutes out of every show to help someone who’s looking for a job or career change. If you’re one of these people, get in touch with us and we’ll feature you as a guest on future episode.

Get in contact with us through email at unsecurity@protonmail.com. If you’re the social type, socialize with us on Twitter, I’m @BradNigh, Ryan can be found at @CLOUTIERSEC, and Evan’s in his usual spot, @evanfrancen.

That’s it! Talk to you all again next week!

Writing UNSECURITY Journey – Back Home/Kidney Stones

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A series of posts dedicated to the journey of writing my first book, Unsecurity: Information security is failing. Breaches are epidemic. How can we fix this broken industry?

This is the seventh article in the series. The others:

See here for the full list of articles, including those that are yet to be written for this series.

Introduction

You already know what’s coming in this article. My titles in this series aren’t very creative, are they?

It was good to be back home. The only thing that sucked was the weather. In Cancun it was sunny most days and the temperature was in the mid-to-upper 70s. At home, it was below zero and snowing. The good news was I wouldn’t be tempted to go outside much. Good writing weather!

Cancun was mostly a success, minus the first week drama. The score at the beginning of the Cancun trip was; 76 days to go before my self-imposed deadline and zero words written (sort of). I came back with a score of 62 days to go and 21,672 words written. Seemed good to me at the time. Remember though, I was a naive newbie writer, and I had no clue how long these books are supposed to be or what they’re supposed to look like.

The Routine

While I was away, I had few interruptions. At the office, I was interrupted constantly. I love being an accessible leader who’s genuinely interested in every employee who works at FRSecure and SecurityStudio. Between my need to be with our employees, the phone calls, meetings, and emails, there was no time to write anything between the hours of 8:00am and 5:00pm.

I wanted to avoid writing at home because knew it would dominate family time. Something had to give. I needed to find writing time somewhere.

The solution… I’ll get up every morning at 3:00am, get to the office by 4:00am, and write from 4:00am to 8:00am. Brilliant. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to do this every morning, but I would try anyway. If I couldn’t find the energy some mornings to get out of bed, I would just reset the alarm and find an hour or two somewhere else in the day.

Week one was essentially shot because I hadn’t figured out what I was going to do yet. It was a struggle to catch up with emails, let alone write anything. Score: 54 days to go and maybe 22,000 words done. I felt like I was starting to fall behind, but I was sure I had a solution.

Week two, Monday morning, I’m up and raring to go! Good writing session. Tuesday, same thing. Wednesday, starting to drag a little. Thursday, nope. Friday, somehow managed to get in early, but could not write anything. My brain was not having it. The 3:00am thing is going to be a real turd. Maybe I’ll try 4:00am instead.

Turns out the 4:00am each morning did the trick. Some days were better writing days than others. I tracked my progress each day by how many words I wrote. Some days I wrote 1,200(ish) words and some days I struggled to write 250 words. Here’s what I learned…

How many words you write each day doesn’t matter as much as writing each day.

Kidney Stone

Life was good, and I was trucking along, until one morning I didn’t feel right. I wasn’t sure why, but I felt like I needed to use the restroom really bad. No problem, to the restroom I would go. At this time it’s probably 5:30am, and there’s nobody else in the office yet. I didn’t feel right, but there was no reason to panic.

I tried writing, but it was a struggle because I couldn’t concentrate. I constantly felt like I needed to go to the bathroom, yet every time I went to the bathroom, nothing happened. There was no urine or bowel movement, just an unusually pronounced feeling that I needed to excrete something. As time went on, the feeling got worse, bit by bit. The time was now 9:30, and I’m getting a little more concerned.

Things progressed much faster, and by 11:00am, I’m laying on the bathroom floor. Wasn’t panicking before, that’s changed. Something is seriously wrong. Thankfully my wife was in the office at the time, so I told her about my problem. I told her that I need to go to the doctor right away. I don’t know what’s wrong, but I know that it hurts like a sumbich. She knows I have a high pain tolerance, so this is very unusual. She immediately gets the car while I get my jacket.

We’re in the car on the way to the nearest clinic, 15 minutes away. She keeps asking me if I’m OK, and I don’t want to talk. I want the pain to go away, and I’m in full on “GIVE ME ANYTHING TO TAKE THIS PAIN AWAY RIGHT NOW” mode. After an eternity, we arrive at the clinic. We get in to see a doctor quickly and the doctor starts asking me a bunch of questions. I don’t want to answer any questions! The pain is unbearable, and I want her to 1) give me something to make me feel better or 2) shoot me. She tells us she thinks I have a kidney stone, and that I have to go to a hospital.

That’s it?! No drugs? No gun?! Just go to a damn hospital?! Useless. I’m pissed. I’m angry. I feel like an alien is going to come popping out of my stomach or my ass or my back at anytime (I can’t tell which). I’m obviously dying, and now I’m told to get back into a car and endure another 20 minutes of hell before I eventually get to the emergency room. Fine. Whatever. I’ll do anything right now.

Another eternity passes. Two eternities in one day if your keeping score. We arrive at the emergency room, and more questions! The nurses want to ask me questions, and I don’t want to talk to anyone. I want drugs or a bullet. That’s it. My wife intervenes (she’s an angel) and eventually I end up in a bed. Still dying, but dying harder now. How can I possibly be dying harder? This is crazy! Why God?! What did I do to deserve a living death like this?

We’re in this room with a curtain thing that separates my bare bottom in a scratchy gown from the rest of the world. A nurse or doctor (I can’t tell because I’m having trouble seeing now, I think) comes in and she wants to ask me questions too! Seriously, stop with the flipping questions already, and get down to business! I look at my wife in desperation. She tells the doctor I don’t want to talk and she answers for me. Out of all the questions that were asked, I heard one that I actually wanted to answer. The doctor asked what my pain level was on a scale of 1 – 10, 10 being the worst. I blurt out, “it’s a 20!”. Even that answer was hard to muster between my panting and dry heaving. Oh yeah, the pain is making me dry heave now.

Seriously, I’m dyyyyyyyiiiiiiiinnnnnnnggggggggg. The doctor leaves for some reason or another, an now I can’t lay down. I’m pacing the room, stopping to lean head first against a wall every now and then. While I’m pacing and trying to find some way to move in a manner that will give me some relief, I can overhear the nurses outside my shower curtain door talking about recipes for some whatever thing. I’m like, why?! Why do you let a good man die while you talk about tater tot hot dish recipes?! Life sucks. Seriously, is this the end?! Is this how I’m going out?

Finally, a nurse comes in to see me again. She wants me to pee in a cup. I want to shove the cup up her… No! I stop myself. It’s the pain talking. I did shout, “when can I get some drugs”? She stopped what she was doing and gives me a puzzled look. “Wait. Nobody has given you anything yet?”. I can’t say anything because I want to cry. My wife answers for me, and before long I get some morphine. Thank you Jesus!

The pain slowly eases, and I can talk better. Why do things like this always happen to me? For one, this mother of all pains, and then forgetting to give me some drugs? Double whammy of suck.

The morphine didn’t take the pain away entirely and it didn’t last very long either. My pain probably dropped to an 8 (which is a helluva lot better than 20). Seemed like thirty minutes later, and my pain started to inch up again. Next up, the doctor wants a CT scan. OK fine, just don’t forget the drugs. The whole CT scan thing was quick, and before I know it, I’m back in my room. The pain is getting really strong again, but the nurse gives me something in my IV right away. Within five minutes I’m feeling good. Like, what the hell just happened?! I asked the nurse what she just gave me, because I want that stuff on stand-by.

I was expecting the nurse to tell me the name of some super-narcotic, but no. She gave me ibuprofen in my IV. Ibu fricken profen?! Really?! Yep. I was too amazed and exhausted to ask them why we didn’t start with this an hour or two ago. The results from the CT scan were ready, and it turned out that I had a 7mm kidney stone. The doctor suggested that we let the stone pass. Skeptically, I agreed. She thought it would pass on its own and told me if the pain comes back, take more ibuprofen. Easy enough. I LOVE Ibuprofen (now).

Before the doctor left, she mentions one more thing on the way out. She requested that I come see her at the nurse’s station after I get dressed. I asked he why. She wanted to show me something on my CT scan. My wife and I looked at each other, and we could read what the other was thinking. Why? What do you want to show us? I quickly got dressed and scurried out to the nurse’s station where the doctor was waiting for me.

She showed us a grainy looking image. In the middle of the image was my kidney. The doctor pointed at the kidney, and focused out attention on a darker part of the image. She explained that she’s concerned about a “mass” on my kidney. Apparently the mass had a diameter of 55mm. She advised that I get a CT scan with contrast soon, and that was that. She wouldn’t answer any additional questions and just referred us to our family doctor for next steps.

That’s it… Writing wasn’t really on my mind anymore, at least not on this day.

Writing UNSECURITY Journey – Cancun(2)

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A series of posts dedicated to the journey of writing my first book, Unsecurity: Information security is failing. Breaches are epidemic. How can we fix this broken industry?

This is the sixth article in the series. The others:

See here for the full list of articles, including those that are yet to be written for this series.

Introduction

The second week in Cancun was infinitely better than the first. The second week officially started with the arrival of my wife and daughter. They were coming to spend time with me and enjoy some of the Cancun sun. My wife had a spare laptop power cord in hand, so I was finally back in full service! After writing the first 25 pages of the book on an iPhone, it was such a relief.

The Restart

It’s Saturday, and the alarm was set for 5:00am. The plan was to write all day at corner table in the resort lobby. I chose this table because it was off in a quiet corner, it was just the right height, and the chairs were comfortable. I was pumped! Last week it felt like this day was never going to come.

One thing I did a few days ago, maybe Thursday, was set goals. I also wanted to set some writing time structure that I could follow. My goal was to write 3,000 words/day and adjust as I went. This would equate to about 12 pages/day, and this seemed like a reasonable goal starting out. The structure I would follow would be 50 minutes on, followed by 10 minutes off, and I would not stop any earlier than 3pm. I had already done a lot of research for the book, so my day would be all a go for writing!

My first ever full writing day ended at 3:45pm. I hadn’t eaten anything, but I didn’t even notice my hunger until I stopped for the day. Final results; 2,732 words, or about one and a half chapters. It felt like a productive day, and it felt an incredible sense of accomplishment. Finally, something got done!

I spent the rest of day with family. Great day.

The Coffee Club

Sunday started with the same goal and the same approach as the day before. Writing started at 5am sharp. Each writing session would be 50 minutes, just as it was the day before. As I was starting the third writing session of the day, two old guys came and sat at my table, one on my left and the other on my right. Awkward. I struggled a little to maintain focus, and did my best to ignore them. These guys obviously knew each other and they began a (loud) conversation like I wasn’t there, even though I was in between them. Ten minutes later, another old guy shows up and takes his seat at the table. The conversation amongst the old men continues.

I’m doing my best to stay in the zone, but my bladder starts screaming for some relief, so I had to stop for a quick bathroom break. After relieving myself, I walk back to my writing spot when I notice that there’s a problem. This isn’t my spot anymore. There are now eight or nine old men sitting all around the table! I sit down, but I’m cramped. I struggled through the rest of the writing session, and took a break outside. I’m flustered and irritated by these rude old men. I’ll just need to fight on and keep writing. It’s the only comfortable spot around here.

Three quarters of the way through the next writing session, the old men begin to disperse. Before long, I’m alone at my table again. Awesome! During the next break, I reflect on the awkward experience, and convince myself that it must have been some kind of Sunday morning gathering. I’m hoping that tomorrow will be different, back to normal. The second day was a little better than the first in terms of the number of words  written, 3,012. I was determined to hit my goal, and I was getting better at writing too.

Monday comes, and the same old man experience. The first five minutes with these guys were frustrating. I was actually angry. Today was different though. Before long, I started listening to their conversations, and they even addressed me a couple of times. Before they left, I had introduced myself to them all, and I was actually starting to warm up to these guys. Monday was a good writing day, but I have to admit I was looking forward to seeing the guys tomorrow.

Tuesday came, and so did the old men. These guys meet each morning for their coffee club and I was in their territory. I was happy to see them, and I think they were happy to see me too. Rather than trying to write anything, I closed my laptop and fully engaged in conversations. I’m not good with names, but there were two guys that I immediately hit it off with, Bob and Lynn. Bob was a dentist for 36 years in a small Missouri town. Lynn owns a farm that is the largest producer of gladiolas in the United States. All these guys were retired and spend some number of winter weeks in Cancun each year.

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My Cancun Coffee Club

Bob asked me what I was doing with my laptop, working. When I told him that I was working on a book, he seemed genuinely interested. He asked me what I was writing about, and I told him that I was writing about information security. The look on his face was priceless, partially because it’s Bob and partially because he had no idea what I was talking about. I did my best to explain, but I could tell it was going to take a while. He wanted to know more, but we didn’t have the time.

This is when I realized what the second book would be. You know, the one I’m writing right now. This thought at the time was crazy because I hadn’t even written half my first book before I’m thinking about the second one. The second book would be titled “Information Security for Normal People”, or something similar. Normal people are people like Bob. The more I thought about it, the more convinced I became. How sad would it be for a wonderful, salt of the earth, all-around good guy to lose everything to some jackass attacker? Yes, I have to write this second book. Shelve it for now.

As the week progressed, my relationship with the coffee club deepened. We got to know each other pretty well. It didn’t let it take away from writing progress because I planned it each day now. When it came time for me to leave for home, we said our good-byes, and  I promised them I would be back again next year.

Heading Home

The second week went fast, much faster than the first. I spent at least 60 hours at the keyboard, and still found time to become part of a coffee club and make great memories with my wife and daughter. The week produced a total of 21,672 words. If I would have avoided the week one drama, I think I could have had 45,000 words. Oh well, at this point I still have a month and a half to finish up the draft. I’ll just need to do it at home.

Lessons from Cancun:

  1. Prepare much better. There was no excuse for leaving my laptop cord behind. If you’re going somewhere to write, pack well and prepare for contingencies.
  2. Goal setting is important. There were days where I wanted to quit for the day, but I was short of my goal. I would not allow myself to quit on a couple of days, because of my goal.
  3. Segmented writing works well for me. The 50 minutes of focused writing followed by a 10 minute break was a good approach. It forced some discipline into my writing and inserted healthy breaks.
  4. Don’t try to force through distractions. If I don’t want distractions, go somewhere quiet. If I’m distracted, and I don’t want to go somewhere else, stop writing. It saves me frustration and I made some great new friends.

That’s it for the two-week Cancun writing trip. I’m actually starting to feel like a writer at this point in the process, and I’m excited to write at home or in my office.

Writing UNSECURITY Journey – Cancun(1)

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A series of posts dedicated to the journey of writing my first book, Unsecurity: Information security is failing. Breaches are epidemic. How can we fix this broken industry?

This is the fifth article in the series. The others:

See here for the full list of articles in this series, including those that are planned in the future.

Introduction

This article is longer than the others. There’s some drama in this one.

If you don’t recall, or if you’re just joining the conversation now, my plan called for a two-week writing trip to Cancun in January 2018. Life sucks, right?! The challenge was convincing my co-workers that I was going to Cancun to write a book, not to go on vacation. They said they believed me, but you could see the skepticism on their faces. I had to come back with a finished book, or at least solid progress on one if I was going to convince them. This was added pressure that I didn’t need, but I was up for proving them wrong.

The plan was for me to be in Cancun for one week by myself, doing nothing but writing. I would be joined by my wife and my 13 year-old daughter for the second week. On the second week, I would write all day and spend the evenings with my family. A good plan, I thought.

The Outline

I didn’t want to wait for the trip before I started doing something with the book. So, months before leaving, I started the outline. At the time, there was no title and all I had was the idea. The book was supposed to be about what’s broken in the information security industry. If you know this industry, you know that there’s no shortage of topics that I could have chosen to write about. The fact is, there are many things that are broken, depending upon your perspective and experience. I needed to figure out how to take all the things that I think are broken and organize them logically into chunks, which would later become chapters.

I open Microsoft Word and stare at the screen. Ten minutes pass. What’s wrong with me?! OK, break time.

While on my well-deserved break, I convinced myself that I needed to write something. Write anything! This is where it all started. I just wrote anything and everything that came to mind about the frustrations I have with the information security industry and what seems broken to me.

I think the experts call this brainstorming.

I drew upon the experiences of my past, and kept typing words, with no attention given to context or structure. The document started to fill with topics. Slowly, out of the topics emerged themes. Once thoughts started to flow, I was surprised by how easy the thoughts went from brain to document. After an hour, I even added some pictures that I downloaded from the Internet. The pictures with the smattering of unorganized words in a Word document started to become my outline. I did something. Yay me!

Here’s the first brainstorming document. Impressed?

Over the course of the next few months, and before leaving for Cancun, I made numerous changes to the outline. I didn’t do any heavy writing, just revisiting the outline once a week and tweaking it here and there.

Before I knew it, it was time to leave, and it was time to get serious about writing this book!

Can’t Believe I Forgot

This was a week that I won’t forget. Read on, and you’ll know why.

I arrived in Cancun on Saturday, January 6th. We rented someone’s condo lockoff at the Royal Sands. I’m a regular guy, so a four-star resort is not an everyday experience for me. The Royal Sands is an impressive place, and I had to check it all out. I already knew that I wasn’t going to get much writing done on this first day in Mexican paradise, and I needed to get comfortable with my new surroundings first. I spent the day getting oriented. The weather was perfect, the resort was very comfortable, and I didn’t know anybody. This was going to be the perfect place to get comfortable and write. I was feeling good!

Just one thing to do before I turned in for the day. I needed to complete some tasks for a large bank client of ours. Once I completed these simple tasks, I planned to get some rest. I would get up early the next morning and get busy. No problem. I break out my laptop and get to work. Thirty minutes in, I notice that my laptop could use a charge. Easy enough. I grab my computer bag and stick my hand in the pocket where I always keep my power cord, and…

I FORGOT MY POWER CORD!!!

Who does this? Turns out I do. I’m notorious for leaving power cords behind, and my wife even reminded me before I left. Ugh. At first, a little panic. The panic didn’t last long though. Cancun is a big town, and I’m sure I can find a power cord somewhere. In the morning, I’ll just check with the front desk.

Finished up my bank work, then sat outside in the warm ocean air before I turned in for the night. It was a good day.

The Hunt

It’s Sunday. I’m settled, and I’m excited to get focused on what I came here for, writing! Quick shower, short walk on the beach, and a visit with the kind people at the front desk was in order. I asked the concierge if he knew where I could find a laptop charging cable. He had no idea. OK, not a good start. I asked if the resort had any laptop power cables that were left behind by other guests. Nope. I try my first inquiry again. After some back and forth, he tells me that there’s an Office Depot in town. Cool, they’re sure to have a cord! I whipped out my iPhone and found it. It’s only 10 miles away.

Take the R2 bus for 12 pesos, 30 minute ride, and I’m there.

I’m starting to feel a sense of relief and excitement as I walk in the store confident that they’ll have what I’m looking for. I had trouble communicating with the store employees because I don’t speak Spanish and they didn’t speak English. This just meant that I roamed around the store for awhile. Then voila! I’m in luck, a universal laptop charger with an assortment of attachments! I grab the goods for a closer inspection. The closer look revealed that this universal charger wasn’t all that “universal”. It didn’t contain my attachment, so it wouldn’t work. At the time I was using a Lenovo laptop with a rectangular male end. No dice.

What now? Well, I’m thinking that this can’t possibly be the only store in Cancun with computer accessories, and I was right. My trusty iPhone revealed that there’s an Office Max, a Walmart, a RadioShack (yes, Radio Shack), an Ofix, and a Sanborns. Plenty of options. I just need to walk. Lord knows, I can use the exercise. First stop Walmart, on the way I pass a scary looking jail or prison, no dice. Next, RadioShack, nope. Ofix wasn’t open. Sanborns had some computers, but no cords. Another RadioShack, and I’ve struck out. In all, I’ve walked 9 – 10 miles and I have nothing to show for it. My mind is racing because I have writing to do dammit!

I decide to do what I always do when I’m at my wit’s end. I called my wife. After discussing the situation, we figured we had two options. I could buy a new laptop or we could (maybe) ship my power cord from Minnesota to Cancun. We decide to check on whether latter. Twenty minutes later, my wife calls to tell me that FedEx can get my cord to me by Tuesday morning for $83. OK, deal. Between this time and Tuesday, I figure I’ll write thoughts on paper and conduct as much research as I can on my iPhone. I needed a haircut, so I’ll knock that out too in my new spare time.

On the walk back to the resort, I called a friend, just to chat. I shared my dilemma with him, and he had a seemingly brilliant idea. Isn’t there a Dragon dictation app for iPhone? My heart jumps, is there?! I open my iPhone’s App Store, do a quick search, and YES, yes there is an app! There’s an app called Dragon Anywhere. Sweet, I’ll just dictate my book while I wait for my new cord to arrive. I install the app, pay the fee to open all the features, and I’m in business.

Or so it seemed.

I don’t know if you’ve tried dictating a book on an iPhone, but it’s painful. I couldn’t get it to work well. I don’t think it’s the app, I think it’s me. Training the app, and my training for using the app, were both pains in the butt. In addition to my troubles using the app, I couldn’t get over the awkward feeling of talking to my phone without a person on the other end. I was not digging this at all, but I’d just have to fight through it. Maybe it would get easier.

I finally got back to the resort late in the afternoon, and I was tired. No writing on Saturday. A great workout on Sunday, but very little writing done. This is not going according to plan.

Painfully Waiting

It’s Monday morning. I have some expectations, and I have some hope. I expect to get my power cord the next day. Today I’ll spend my time muscling through the best I can with paper and an iPhone. I spend the morning writing thoughts in my notebook, doing research on my iPhone, and talking to a stupid blinking cursor that hated me. My frustration was mounting, but I had hope. By noon, I’d already had enough. I needed a break.

I took the bus downtown to get a haircut. I found this place called La Cueva del Lobo (The Cave of the Wolf). It was listed online and it looked like a decent place. The reviews were good, so I went. My barber didn’t speak a lick of English, so I used my phone to translate what I wanted. Oh my…

THE BEST SHAVE AND A HAIRCUT EVER!!!

I’m not a high-end barber or spa guy, I’m a give me a quick haircut and get me out of here guy. All I wanted was a quick trim, and what I got was so much more. The visit to this small barber shop in Cancun was an incredible experience. My barber’s name was Jose Luis, and this guy takes his craft seriously! It’s hard to put this experience into words. I knew that I didn’t want it to end, but it did. Is this weird?

Despite the fact that my haircut was magical, I still wasn’t making much progress on the book. Writing was painfully slow without my laptop. I tracked my FedEx package all day, and my spirits were raised with each new update. The updates showed my cord getting closer and closer. I went to bed this night confident that I’d be running at full speed sometime the next day.

Tuesday arrives. It’s another beautiful day. I continued my slow progress while checking the FedEx tracking for my package every hour. This was an uneventful day. Then 3:30 in the afternoon came. This is when I got the ominous message from FedEx. The status on my package had been updated with a bright red bold “Clearance delay” message. According to the update from FedEx, my power cord is in Cancun, but it’s held up in the “clearance process”. I have no scheduled delivery date anymore, so I’m not sure what to think.

After getting over the disappointment, I convince myself that it can’t take long for a power cord to clear Mexican customs, can it? Hope returns. Tuesday passes, no cord.

Wednesday arrives. Same status. I’m now wishing that I would have bought a new laptop during my forced tour of Cancun on Sunday. I could go get one now, but the cord could clear customs at any moment, plus my wife arrives in two days. This is a pickle. Called FedEx, they’re completely useless in this situation.

Wednesday passes, no cord. I hate writing on an iPhone and a notebook. 4-1/2 days gone, 15 pages written, all on an iPhone, using my teeny keyboard and a dumb dictation app that keeps misspelling every other word.

Thursday arrives. Same status. My power cord is still held up in the clearance process! It’s hard to express my anger. Checked the package status all day, same stupid message. At this point, I hate FedEx, I hate Mexican customs people, I hate writing, I hate my neighbors, I hate the sun, I hate ocean waves, I hate everything. Believe it or not, I’m a positive guy. Eventually I get over it. My wife arrives in less than 24 hours. She’ll rescue me again, this time with a power cord.

Thursday ends. Friday arrives. I’m juiced! My wife will arrive today! She’ll bring her pretty self and she’ll bring me a power cord! She arrived in the afternoon, with a power cord in hand. All seemed right with my world again.

Week one was over. Progress: 25 pages on an iPhone. Package still stuck in customs. On to next week…