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UNSECURITY Episode 126 Show Notes

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Here we are, time for another episode of the UNSECURITY Podcast.

I came across another interesting article this week, “15 Cybersecurity Pitfalls and Fixes for SMBs“. I have a heart for underserved markets, and small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) are certainly an underserved (or poorly served) market.

NOTE: The other underserved markets I’m especially interested in are state/local government, education (higher education & K12), and individual consumers.

This is a perfect time to talk about SMB information security. As we come out of COVID (Lord, I hope we are!), more and more SMBs are getting back on their feet. As they start on this next (or first) chapter of their SMB journey, it’s imperative they take information security seriously and do things right. The last thing anyone (except for attackers) wants is to start building/rebuilding a business with limited resources only to lose everything from an attack.

Looking forward to dissecting this with Brad on this episode!

Let’s get right to it, show notes for episode 126 of the UNSECURITY Podcast…

SHOW NOTES – Episode 126 – Wednesday April 7th, 2021

Opening

[Evan] Welcome listeners! Thanks for tuning into this episode of the UNSECURITY Podcast. This is episode 126, and the date is April 7th, 2021. Joining me is my good friend, great guy, and infosec expert Brad Nigh. Welcome Brad!

Another good show today. We’re gonna talk about this article I came across the other day. The title of the article is “15 Cybersecurity Pitfalls and Fixes for SMBs”.

15 Cybersecurity Pitfalls and Fixes for SMBs

This article features a roundtable discussion between Timur Kovalev, CTO of Untangle, Erich Kron from KnowBe4 and Greg Murphy, CEO of Order. They give their take on what SMBs think about information security, the common mistakes they make, and how to do thinks better.

As you know, we have no shortage of information security “experts” in our industry. Let’s see if we agree, disagree, and/or have something to add to this discussion.

  1. Think they’re too small to be a target.
  2. Haven’t made a thorough asset inventory assessment.
  3. No network segmentation.
  4. Ignore fundamentals.
  5. Haven’t done a business risk evaluation.
  6. Insecure digital assets.
  7. Don’t know what “normal” activity looks like.
  8. No 2FA.
  9. Misconfigured cloud servers/confusion about move to the cloud.
  10. User security training.
  11. Haven’t evaluated their threat to the supply chain.
  12. Lack of business continuity plan.
  13. Aren’t thinking strategically about asset allocation and budgeting.
  14. Failing to backup.
  15. Lax patching.

NOTE: This is not our list, this is the list from the article.

If you had to pick your 15 most common information security mistakes made by SMBs, what would you pick? This will be a good discussion!

News

As of 9:15AM on 4/5/2021, the number of registered students in the FRSecure CISSP Mentor Program is 5,618!

Three interesting news articles this week:

Wrapping Up – Shout Outs

Good talk. Thank you Brad, and thank you listeners!

Who’s getting shout outs this week?

Closing – Thank you to all our listeners! Send things to us by email at unsecurity@protonmail.com. If you’re the social type, socialize with us on Twitter, I’m @evanfrancen, and Brad’s @BradNigh. Other Twitter handles where you can find some of the stuff we do, UNSECURITY is @unsecurityP, SecurityStudio is @studiosecurity, and FRSecure is @FRSecure. That’s it. Talk to you all again next week!

…and we’re done.

UNSECURITY Episode 125 Show Notes

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A news article caught my eye this morning while getting ready for this episode of the UNSECURITY Podcast.

US Strategic Command Twitter account accessed by child: report

Link: https://www.foxnews.com/us/us-strategic-command-twitter-account-accessed-by-small-child-report

My first thought was “oh, that’s funny and sorta cute.” Then I thought some more. It seems innocent(ish) to walk away from your computer while you’re at home. What could happen? Well, this could happen, but it could have been much worse!

This is the Twitter account of the U.S. Strategic Command (“USSTRATCOM”). For those of you who don’t know what USSTRATCOM is, or what they do, here’s information from their “About” page:

“USSTRATCOM integrates and coordinates the necessary command and control capability to provide support with the most accurate and timely information for the President, the Secretary of Defense, other national leadership and combatant commanders.

The mission of USSTRATCOM is to deter strategic attack and employ forces, as directed, to guarantee the security of our Nation and our Allies. The command’s assigned responsibilities include strategic deterrence; nuclear operations; space operations; joint electronic spectrum operations; global strike; missile defense; and analysis and targeting. USSTRATCOM’s forces and capabilities underpin and enable all other Joint Force operations.

USSTRATCOM combines the synergy of the U.S. legacy nuclear command and control mission with responsibility for space operations, global strike, and global missile defense. This dynamic command gives national leadership a unified resource for greater understanding of specific threats around the world and the means to respond to those threats rapidly.”

Sounds pretty damn important! Social media is used by organizations (public and private) to disseminate information to the public and their customers. What if the information disseminated is harmful to others? In this particular case, a child typed “;l;gmlxzssaw”. The message was broadcast all over the world and caused a stir. Caused a stir, but not panic.

What if this wasn’t a child and/or the message was more nefarious. What is someone typed:

“The United States of America is under current attack. The President has raised our alert condition to DEFCON 1. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. DO NOT panic, but please be aware. Additional details forthcoming, including further instruction for protection of U.S. citizens and our assets.”

Now, you may know that USSTRATCOM would never issue such a warning on Twitter, but do others? Even if others do know this, you’ve seen how some people throw logic and reason out the window when something panicky happens, right? What if the alert was more thought out with direct instructions to do certain things that could be destructive. Would this cause a panic? On the surface, this particular instance may seem funny. In reality, it’s sad. It’s sad that people often use computers without thinking of consequences and that we are STILL trying to get people to lock their computers when they step away.

Anyway, we’ve got a show to do. Let’s get right to it, show notes for episode 125 of the UNSECURITY Podcast…

SHOW NOTES – Episode 125 – Tuesday March 30th, 2021

Opening

[Evan] Welcome listeners! Thanks for tuning into this episode of the UNSECURITY Podcast. This is episode 125, and the date is March 30th, 2021. Back again is my good friend and security ninja Brad Nigh. Welcome Brad!

Another good show today. We’re gonna talk about this FRSecure CISSP Mentor Program think you might have heard about.

FRSecure CISSP Mentor Program

  • What is it?
  • Who’s it for?
  • The history of the FRSecure CISSP Mentor Program
    • 1st class in 2010 – six students
    • 11th class in 2020 – ~2,400 students
    • 12th class this year (2021) – 5,300+ students
  • Why did we start this thing?
  • Why do we keep doing this thing?
  • Next class starts on April 12th (2021)
    • What are we expecting?
    • Who’s teaching?
    • Is there time to sign up still?
  • Is it really FREE?!
    • What strings are attached?
    • Will I be marketed to?
    • Will I be sold something?
    • Will you sell my information?
  • What’s the future of the FRSecure CISSP Mentor Program?
  • Where can I sign up?
  • Can I refer others?
  • What if I’m not planning to take the test?

And whatever other question we can think of. We’ll be transparent as we talk about the program and our experiences with it.

Want to know more? GO HERE: https://frsecure.com/cissp-mentor-program/

News

Three interesting news articles this week:

Wrapping Up – Shout Outs

Good talk. Thank you Brad, and thank you listeners!

  • Who’s getting shout outs this week?
  • Closing – Thank you to all our listeners! Send things to us by email at unsecurity@protonmail.com. If you’re the social type, socialize with us on Twitter, I’m @evanfrancen, and Brad’s @BradNigh. Other Twitter handles where you can find some of the stuff we do, UNSECURITY is @unsecurityP, SecurityStudio is @studiosecurity, and FRSecure is @FRSecure. That’s it. Talk to you all again next week!

…and we’re done.

UNSECURITY Episode 124 Show Notes

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Spring has sprung!

The first day of Spring was Saturday, March 20th. If you’re from Minnesota like Brad and I are, you’re happy about this. Speaking of Brad, he’s back this week!

Let’s get right to it, show notes for episode 124 of the UNSECURITY Podcast…

SHOW NOTES – Episode 124 – Tuesday March 23rd, 2021

Opening

[Evan] Welcome listeners! Thanks for tuning into this episode of the UNSECURITY Podcast. This is episode 124, and the date is March 23rd, 2021. Back from taking a couple weeks off from the show is my good friend and co-host Brad Nigh. Welcome back Brad!

We’ve got a good show planned for you today. Let’s talk passwords! Yay, right?!

Let’s try to tackle as many common questions about passwords as we can in one show!

Passwords

  • Why do we need passwords?
    • The basics of identity and authentication.
    • A password is proof.
  • What happens when a password is compromised?
  • How are passwords compromised?
    • Caused by you.
      • Disclosed.
      • Weak.
    • Caused by them (someone you shared it with).
  • What’s the risk is a password is compromised?
    • How do we protect against password disclosure?
    • How do we protect against weak passwords?
    • How do we protect against someone else disclosing a password?
  • @SecurityStudio, we just finished a new password strength/score algorithm.
    • Eighteen rules with weights applied according to risk.
    • Length, numbers(only), lowercase(only), uppercase(only), letters(only), letters & numbers(only), known compromise(s), dictionary, dictionary w/simple obfuscation, 80%+ dictionary, 80%+ dictionary w/simple obfuscation, 60%+ dictionary, 60%+ dictionary w/simple obfuscation, doubleword, common numeric sequences, words & numbers appended, and personally common/known things.
  • The average person has how many passwords?
    • How many passwords do you have?
    • How many passwords to Brad and I have?
  • Are passwords secure?
  • Are we stuck with passwords forever?
  • What do we do to protect our passwords?
  • Does anyone like passwords?

Other Things

  • The latest registration count for the FRSecure CISSP Mentor Program was 4,701 as of yesterday (3/22) morning!
    • The 2021 program kicks off in 20 days.
    • Will we top 5,000 registrations?!
    • What do we like best about the program?
  • New features for S2
    • Nested entities within S2Org.
    • S2Me Instant Score (coming soon).
    • S2PCI (coming next month).
  • What else?

News

Three interesting news articles this week:

(PSST… Want a good list of APT groups and their operations?! – https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/1H9_xaxQHpWaa4O_Son4Gx0YOIzlcBWMsdvePFX68EKU/pubhtml#)

Wrapping Up – Shout Outs

Good talk. Thank you Brad, and thank you listeners!

  • Who’s getting shout outs this week?
  • Closing – Thank you to all our listeners! Send things to us by email at unsecurity@protonmail.com. If you’re the social type, socialize with us on Twitter, I’m @evanfrancen, and Brad’s @BradNigh. Other Twitter handles where you can find some of the stuff we do, UNSECURITY is @unsecurityP, SecurityStudio is @studiosecurity, and FRSecure is @FRSecure. That’s it. Talk to you all again next week!

…and we’re done.

UNSECURITY Episode 123 Show Notes

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day! For those of you who aren’t into this holiday (for whatever reason), Happy (everyday) Day!

This has been a week full of great experiences and awesome conversations with wonderful people. It’s the people we serve who inspire us to work as hard as we do. Here’s a small sampling:

  • Daytona Bike Week (last week) – if you’ve never been to a bike rally before, I recommend you try it out someday (even if you don’t ride). There are interesting people from all walks of life and the diversity (backgrounds, race, preferences, thought, etc.) would probably surprise you.
  • Co-workers – discussions about everything from mental health (many of us did the Mental Health First Aid certification course together last week), to life challenges (relationships, family, health, etc.), to work challenges, and everything in between. It’s a blessing (to them and to me) when I stop, listen, and invest in others.
  • Customers/peers – had some check-ins this week with a few enterprise CISOs I call friends. Life as a CISO can be extremely DIFFICULT. It’s encouraging to know people care about me, and I them. CISOs are human beings who need love just like all of us do!
  • Everyday people – we’re all beautifully unique. We are similar in some respects, but there are wonderful things that make me me and you you. We’re a hodge podge of emotions, biases, beliefs, perspectives, and experiences. Rather than fight because you think differently than I do, why don’t I embrace the uniqueness and differences? Why not try to understand them and you better?

We’re not doing this enough in society and we’re not doing this enough in our industry either.

    • Why?
    • Have we lost our respect for other human beings?
    • Have we lost our ability to reason?
    • Are we afraid to share who we really are out of fear? Fear of being marginalized, silenced, and attacked (physically and online)?

I believe people are AMAZING! I believe people are worthy of respect (even if it’s only a little). I believe people should be heard and understood. I believe information security isn’t about information or security as much as it is about people. I believe people are who we serve. I believe we must invest in people more. I believe in understanding people (better). I believe loving people gives us our best chance at doing our (information security) jobs effectively, and I believe loving people gives us our only chance of saving society.

Now on to show notes for episode 123…

SHOW NOTES – Episode 123 – Wednesday March 17th, 2021

Opening

[Evan] Welcome listeners! Thanks for tuning into this episode of the UNSECURITY Podcast. This is episode 123, and the date is March 17th, 2021. Filling in for Brad again this week if my good friend and co-worker Ryan Cloutier. Welcome Ryan, glad to have you back!

  • We’ve got a great show planned today. We’ll start with the importance of reason and logic in information security, our jobs, and in life. There are many parallels between information security (or “cybersecurity” as some people call it) and life.
  • Then, if we have time, we’ll talk about passwords. Everybody hates passwords.
  • We’ll close the show with a few mentions; about the FRSecure CISSP Mentor Program and SecurityStudio’s free S2Me (very quickly growing in popularity).
  • Oh yeah, we’ve got a couple news stories too, but whatever.

Reason

  • Have we lost our ability to reason?
  • What is reason anyway?
  • Why is reason (and logic) critical to information security?
  • Why is reason (and logic) critical to risk (all risk)?
  • Why is reason (and logic) critical to life?
  • There are parallels here, like:
    • Information security is risk management.
    • There’s no such thing as risk elimination or infinite risk; they are two different ends of the spectrum.
    • There’s no such think as 100% reason/logic without emotion or vice versa; two different ends of the spectrum.
    • The goal is management.
  • If we’ve lost our ability to reason, how can we get it back? Or, if we never had the ability to reason, how do we learn it?
    • Ask “Why?” often, almost incessantly, like a three year-old.
    • Ask yourself “Why”.
      • Not in a way that beats yourself up, but in a way that you understand why you’re doing what you’re doing and/or why you believe what you believe.
      • Notice the difference between emotional response and logical response.
      • Learn to use logic and emotion where they are and how they are appropriate. Seems mechanical and awkward at first, but it should become natural/habitual over time.
    • Ask others “Why”.
      • Respectfully out of a desire to understand, and not in a confrontational manner.
      • Learn how to ask without offense. If the person your asking takes offense despite your best efforts, that’s on them.
      • Maybe they need help understanding logic versus emotion? Interesting tells about people who are unable or unwilling to use reason or logic to defend a position (or make a point):
        • They change the subject. You asked a question about one thing, and quickly find yourself in a discussion about something different.
        • They attack your character. This is a classic emotional response where the person you’re questioning probably isn’t sure why he/she believes what they do. Don’t take offense, but recognize this tactic for what it is.
    • Encourage others (especially people you trust) to question you.
      • Be prepared to defend why you believe what you believe. If you can’t (with reason), then maybe you should question what you believe.
      • When other people ask you “why”, view it as an opportunity to state your case.
      • When other people ask you “why”, it’s a great opportunity for you to learn (about perspective and reason).

NOTE: We could talk for a long time about Reason, so we might not get to the topic of “Passwords”. If we don’t get to Passwords in this episode, we’ll get to it in episode 124.

Passwords

  • Why do we need them?
  • What makes a password good versus bad?
  • What do we (Ryan and I) do to practice good password behavior? BTW, neither of us is perfect!

NOTE: Regardless of timing, we will discuss “Mentions” in this episode.

Mentions

  • FRSecure CISSP Mentor Program – We’re less than one month away from the start! I think there are more than 4,000 students signed up, so this is going to be AWESOME!
  • S2Me – the FREE SecurityStudio personal risk management tool has been growing very fast (in terms of popularity). Big news happening here, and we’re making a difference!

News

Wrapping Up – Shout Outs

Good talk. Thank you Ryan, and thank you listeners!

…and we’re done.

FRSecure CISSP Mentor Program Welcome Message

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Only 46 more days. It’s almost time to start the FRSecure CISSP Mentor Program!

As of yesterday (2/23/21), we have more than 3,500 registered students for the 2021 class. That’s awesome! (and a little nuts) For context, we started the program in 2010 with six students. At the time, FRSecure was a teeny startup (3 employees), but our size didn’t matter. We started with a simple goal:

Provide quality information security training for free.

No strings. No ulterior motive. No marketing gimmicks. Nothing but helping people on their journey.

Why this goal?

We love people. By proxy, we love people in our industry, and by (another) proxy, we love the people served by our industry. Our mission (“to fix the broken industry”) is born from and rooted in love, and we will always do right by our mission. Makes sense, yeah? We’re all #MissionBeforeMoney around here!

Fast forward, this will be our 12th consecutive year. We’ve been a positive influence (to one degree or another) in the lives of more than 6,000 people through the CISSP Mentor Program in the past two years alone (3,500+ students this year so far, 2,400+ students last year). Everyone is welcome here, regardless of background, experience or education. If you don’t want to take the CISSP exam, or don’t feel ready, join us anyway. You’ll learn more about information security, and maybe you’ll pick up some life skills along the way!

Welcome Message

Posted in the 2021 CISSP Mentor Program Study Group on 2/19/21:

Hello 2021 FRSecure CISSP Mentor Program Class,

I’m Evan Francen, the founder and CEO of FRSecure (and SecurityStudio) and one of the instructors here. We’ll get to know each other once class gets going, but I wanted to introduce myself now and welcome you.

Welcome to the 2021 FRSecure CISSP Mentor Program!

I’m excited that you’re here and honored to be part of your journey.

A little history…

In 2008, we started FRSecure with this mission:

To fix the broken information security industry.

Our mission came from a deep passion to do things right and serve others. You see, information security isn’t about information or security as much as it is about people. People cause the havoc (intentionally or accidentally) and people suffer the consequences. If nobody suffered, nobody would care.

The information security industry is still young. There’s no shortage of work to do, and the sooner we get to work on the right things, the better off everyone will be. Two things are at (or near) the core of our information security industry problems:

  • People take advantage of other people. If there was a single motivator for me, this would be it.Attackers – people who don’t hide their intent to do others harm. Most people think we’re only concerned about the attackers, but there’s much more.Frenemies – people in our industry who sell products and services that are not in the best interests of the buyer and/or do not do what they claim.
    • “Experts” – yes, in quotes. There are people in our industry who are in it for the wrong reasons. They are motivated by selfishness and not to serve others. This wouldn’t seem so bad, but most of these people are charged with securing information that does not belong to them. Inflated egos intimidate and discourage others, ignorance leads to poor decisions, comfort leads to inactivity, etc., etc.
  • Information security fundamentals are not universally understood or applied. This is true in the public sector and private industry. It’s also true at home. If we (as an industry) mastered the application of fundamental information security concepts, we’d reduce the number of breaches by as much as ~80-90% (my conservative estimate) and significantly reduce the impact to society.

Fixing these problems is certainly easier said than done, but the pursuit continues…

So, where does the FRSecure CISSP Mentor Program fit in this equation, and what does it mean for you?

Simple. Our industry needs more good information security people. We need you!

The FRSecure CISSP Mentor Program was born out of our mission. In our first year (2010), there were six students. All six students went on to pass their exams and became CISSPs. Today, they are all working in our industry and making a positive difference in the lives of others. Last year was the 11th consecutive year for the program, and we had more than 2,400 registrations. It’s been an incredible experience for us, and for me personally. We do this because we love people, and we do it for no other reason. No strings, just #MissionBeforeMoney!

The 2021 CISSP Mentor Program

We’re sticking with the formula that works. Due to COVID still being COVID, we will once again teach all classes remotely. We’ve already surpassed last year’s record number of student registrations, and we’re on track for more than 5,000! This will be the best class yet, and I’m VERY excited to get to know some of you along the way! You’ll see me and some of the other FRSecure folks drop in here (the study group) from time to time. We’re here to help you as much as we are able (given day job and family stuff).

Once again, welcome! Thank you for letting us be part of your success. In know I speak for the other instructors (Brad Nigh and Ryan Cloutier) and the entire FRSecure team when I say that.

Let’s do this!

If you’ve thought about signing up, but haven’t yet, go do it. If you know somebody who could use some of this, tell them about it. See, more simple!

The UNSECURITY Podcast – Episode 84 Show Notes – Women in Security Pt1

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Happy Monday!

Last week was another blur. The world hasn’t quite ended yet, but it seems to be getting closer.

Women in Security Series

Brad and I are starting a Women in Security Series this week. This will be (at least) a four-part series where we’ll talk about the topic of women in the information security industry. We’ll have a special female guest each week to give us their experiences, advice, opinions, etc. At FRSecure, we work with some amazing women, and we’ll start the series talking with them. After talking with some of our own, and if things seem to be going well, we’ll reach out to other women outside of FRSecure for an even broader perspective.

Our first guest in the series is Renay Rutter, FRSecure’s Chief Operations Officer. She’s pretty much all around awesome, and it will be great talking with her this week!

Let’s get on with the show!

SHOW NOTES – Episode 84

Date: Monday, June 15th, 2020

Episode 84 Topics

  • Opening
  • Introducing Our Special Guest: Renay Rutter
  • Catching Up (as per usual)
  • Recap of the 2020 FRSecure CISSP Mentor Program
  • Women in Security
  • News
  • Wrapping Up – Shout outs
Opening

[Evan] Hi everyone. Episode 84 of the UNSECURITY Podcast is upon us. Wow, it’s already mid-June! June 15th, 2020 to be exact. I’m your host, Evan Francen and joining me as usual is Mr. Brad Nigh. Good morning Brad!

[Brad] Brad does Brad.

[Evan] Brad, last week I mentioned that I wanted to do a Women in Security series on our show and you seem pretty excited about it. Well, I was talking about this for a couple weeks with a close friend of ours and an awesome business person, Renay Rutter. Renay has more than 30 years of IT and business leadership experience, and we’ve had the pleasure of working with her here at FRSecure for the past 2(ish). She’s currently FRSecure’s Chief Operating Officer, and she’s pretty much kicking butt. Welcome to the show Renay!

[Renay] Renay does Renay.

[Evan] We have a lot to cover today, and before we jump into the meat of the show, let’s check in like we always do. What’s up you two?

Catching Up

Quick discussion about last week, the weekend, family, safety etc.

[Brad] Brad shares his things.

[Renay] Renay shares her things.

[Evan] Alright, that’s that. Was it last week or the week before that we finished up the 2020 FRSecure CISSP Mentor Program? Ugh. I can’t remember.

Recap of the 2020 FRSecure CISSP Mentor Program

This was the BEST year yet, by far. Just some of the highlights:

  • We had 1,444 total registrations at the beginning of class.
  • There were three instructors this year, which made life a lot smoother (me, Brad, and Ryan Cloutier)!
  • There have been 5,398 views of Session One.
  • Already had a dozen or so people inform us they’ve already passed the exam!
  • Renay (our guest) attended too!

[Evan] It was a great season and I’m pumped about what’s to come. The CISSP Mentor Program has been such a blessing for us ever since we started it 11 years ago. Huge thank you to our instructors, Brad and Ryan. Also, a huge shout out to the people behind the scenes who make this thing happen:

  • Brandon Matis, FRSecure Content Marketing Specialist
  • Lori Blair, FRSecure Senior Security Analyst
  • Ryan Abraham, FRSecure Senior Security Analyst
  • Chad Spoden, FRSecure Senior Security Analyst

A great team effort and a great success. Here’s to next year!

Alright, now on to our series topic.

Women in Security, Part One

[Evan] This could be the start of something cool. We’re going to take a big portion of the next four shows (or so) to get real and be honest about the topic of women in the information security industry. Do we have a shortage of women in our industry? If so, what’s the big deal? Why is the topic important for us to talk about? Lot’s of questions and I’m sure just about everyone has an opinion. Instead of people listening to our opinions Brad, we’re going to talk to the people this relates to the most; women! What better way to get a woman’s perspective on things than to talk to a woman?

Who better to start the series off with than Renay. Let’s do this.

Open Discussion

  • How you got into the industry?
  • Your journey in the industry.
  • Advice you have for someone starting out.
  • Do you think we need more women in our industry and why?
  • Opinions about the talent shortage in our industry.
  • What can we do better in recruiting more people, and specifically more women in our industry?
  • Whatever else we’d like to share.

[Evan] Thank you Renay. Good information and things to think about more. Much appreciated! How about some quick news stuff?

News

[Evan] Between COVID-19, the social justice things going on around the world, and everything else. Yes, there is plenty of information security news too! Here’s just a few stories to bring your attention to quick:

Wrapping Up – Shout outs

[Evan] There you go. That’s it for episode 84. Thank you Renay for giving a great start to the Women in Security series. We’re lining up our guest for next week and it’s going to be a great show too! Either of you have any shout outs this week?

[Brad and/or Renay] We’ll see.

[Evan] Thank you to all our listeners! We dig all you folks (mostly). Let us know what you think about this show or share your ideas with us. You can email us at unsecurity@protonmail.com. You social types can follow us on Twitter if you’d like. I’m @evanfrancen, Brad is @BradNigh, and even Renay’s got some Twitter foo; she’s at @RenayRutter. The companies we work for are social too, heck everyone’s social nowadays. SecurityStudio’s Twitter is @studiosecurity and FRSecure’s Twiiter is @FRSecure.

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

The UNSECURITY Podcast – Episode 65 Show Notes – Money Grab

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Another week down. Damn, a whole month is down! January is already in the books.

While I’ve got you here, help us out with our mission. We’re busting our tails off doing our part to fix the broken information security industry. We’re striving and doing these things:

  • Setting a common information security language that can be spoken by everyone; the S2Score.
  • Developing and delivering simple (but effective and credible) information security risk assessments for the under-served (SMBs, state and local government, K-12, etc.):
  • Developing and delivering simple (but effective and credible) tools to help the under-served do information security better.
  • Teaching and mentoring others for free. The FRSecure CISSP Mentor Program is in it’s 11th year! We started with six students in 2010, last year we had 532, and this year we had more than 540 enrollments within the first 24 hours! Check it out and enroll here.

What can you do to help? Simple. You can help in (at least) three ways:

  • Do your own S2Org and S2Me assessments.
  • Contribute your opinions and feedback (after all, we’re all in this together).
  • Spread the word. Tell others. Tell them about the S2Org and S2Me assessments and tell them about the FREE FRSecure CISSP Mentor Program!

OK, on to the show…

February is already upon us, and RSA is just around the corner. Speaking of RSA, let’s talk about our industry’s money grab in this week’s episode. Let’s also discuss tips for talking to the board of directors about information security stuff .

This will be fun!

Alright, on to the show notes. This is my (Evan) show to lead and these (below) are my notes.

SHOW NOTES – Episode 65

Date: Monday, February 2nd, 2020

Show Topics:

Our topics this week:

  • Opening
    • Normal Stuff
    • Got Mail?
  • The Money Grab
    • It’s alive and well – everybody wants your $$$.
    • The Bad Guys Of Course
    • The “Good Guys” Too?
  • Talking to the Board
    • Tips
    • Recent Experiences
  • News
Opening

[Evan] Alright, welcome! This is Evan Francen, this is episode 65 of the UNSECURITY Podcast, and the date is February 3rd, 2020. In studio with me is none other than Mr. Brad Nigh. Howdy Brad.

[Brad] We’ll see how awake he is on an early Monday morning.

[Evan] I’m curious, are you a morning person or a night person?

[Brad] I don’t know what he’ll say here…

[Evan] We’ve got a great show planned for you today. Lots to talk about, for sure! We’re going to talk about this industry’s money grab and we’ll cover some tips for speaking to the board of directors. Before we dig in, Brad, how you doing?

Quick Catch-up Talk

[Evan] Alright. Well, let’s get to it. Let’s talk about the money grab in this industry. In case you didn’t know, I’m referring to the information security industry. You have the something that everybody wants. The bad guys, the good guys, and everyone in between. They all want your money. Collectively, I call this the “money grab” and we’re going to discuss this. I want to discuss this because I don’t want you losing your hard earned money to some crook and I don’t want you to piss it away on something that doesn’t do what you thought.

Discussion about the Money Grab

The money grab is alive and well. Everybody wants your $$$. Everybody.

  • The Bad Guys Of Course
    • The 2018 cybercrime industry was worth at least $1.5 trillion
    • There is no low that’s too low.

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  • The “Good Guys” Too?
    • Gartner estimated that 2019 industry spending was $124 billion in 2019, and by some estimated it’s expected to grow to more than $170 billion by 2022. NOTE: this is for context only and not to imply that this is wasted spending.
    • FUD (scare the sh*t out of you) and Sex Sell (buzzwords, new blinky lights, etc.)
    • Seems like everybody is fighting for your money.
      • Conferences (RSA, Black Hat, etc.)
      • Companies (borderline extortion, crappy advise, etc.)
    • We’re (FRSecure and SecurityStudio) human too. Mission over money, does it keep us honest?

[Evan] It’s a dangerous world and people (non-information security people are confused). I wonder how much of this is on purpose. The enterprise organizations can afford to make mistakes, but the smaller players are left in the cold and they’re suffering because they often miss the basics, the fundamentals. I feel bad for the under-served markets, especially SMBs. This is our primary focus. OK, on that note…

Discussion about talking boards of directors and executive management

[Evan] Brad, you and I have had the privilege on many occasions to talk to boards and executives. What tips do we have?

Some good back and forth discussion I’m sure…

After a while, let’s do some news.

News

[Evan] I’ve only got two stories to discuss today, but I think they’re interesting ones:

Closing

[Evan] OK, that’s it. Episode 65 is in the bag. Brad, you’ve got any ideas for next week’s show yet?

[Brad] Maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t…

[Evan] Thank you to our listeners, we love hearing from you. If you’ve got something to say, email us at unsecurity@protonmail.com. If you would rather do the whole social thing, we tweet sometimes. I’m @evanfrancen and Brad’s @BradNigh. If you like company stuff, we work for SecurityStudio (@studiosecurity) and FRSecure (@FRSecure). The company people post good things from time to time too!

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

The UNSECURITY Podcast – Episode 64 Show Notes – 3rd Party Risk

/in /by

Here we are, already into the 4th week of January and this is the last show for the month.

Quick recap of last week because it was awesome!

On Saturday (1/18), we held our holiday party at Punch Bowl Social. FRSecure and SecurityStudio employees flocked in from all over the country (Nevada, Kentucky, Missouri, Florida, etc.) to celebrate together. We sort of took over the joint with 120+ people eating, drinking, singing karaoke, bowling, playing pool, and hanging out.

One of our core values is “work hard/play hard”, and Lord knows we are experts at both these things! The teams did incredible things in 2019 and every single person played a critical part in our success. It was so awesome to spend time with each other, celebrating (a great 2019) and looking forward to an even better year ahead (2020)! It was a great night!

We gathered everyone together on Monday (1/20) morning for our quarter end/year end meeting. There are no words to describe what these people did in 2019. There isn’t an adequate adjective. By every account, 2019 was a huge success. Not only in terms of dollars and cents, but more importantly in the impact we made on our industry and in people’s lives.

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Just a few highlights:

  • FRSecure has helped more than 1,000 organizations build and maintain better information security programs.
  • The CISSP Mentor Program helped 532 people learn better information security, secure better career options, and/or successfully pass their CISSP exam. UPDATE: We exceeded the entire 2019 enrollment within 24 hours of opening this year’s registration!
  • We gave more than 100 talks at conferences all over the United States.
  • SecurityStudio made great strides in helping organizations and people speak the same (information security language), including the release of the S2Me.
  • The companies grew at more than 40% again (top line), for the 10th consecutive year.

I could write an entire book about what was accomplished in 2019, and I’m speechless when I think about what we’ll do together this year (2020)!

The Minnetonka HQ office was full and buzzing on Monday! The rest of the week was filled with meetings, conversations, and security stuff. All icing on the cake.

Alright, on to the show notes. This is Brad’s show to lead and these (below) are his notes.

SHOW NOTES – Episode 64

Date: Monday, January 27th, 2020

Show Topics:

Our topics this week:

  • Opening
    • Catching Up
    • FRSecure Year End
    • SecurityStudio Year End
  • 3rd-Party/Vendor Risk Management
    • Let’s get literal.
    • A deep dive.
    • Seven “must haves”.
    • A warning (or two)
  • Next Week
    • Tips for talking to boards
    • I’m going to RSA this year and I already regret it
  • News
Opening

[Brad] Welcome back! This is episode 64 of the UNSECURITY Podcast, and I’m your host this week, Brad Nigh. Today is  January 27th, and joining me is my co-host, Evan Francen. Good morning Evan.

[Evan] Something energetic and uplifting I’m sure.

[Brad] We’ve got another great show planned for you this week, and we’ve already got some good topics to talk about next week. This week we’re going to cover a deep dive into 3rd-party (or vendor) risk management. Next week we’re going to cover tips for talking to boards and have a conversation about the RSA money grab. Don’t miss it! I’m guessing it could get controversial.

Before we get started, let’s recap last week quick.

  • Brad’s update(s)
  • Evan’s update(s)

[Brad] I wanted to take some time today talking about Vendor Risk Management and the difference between an audit based certification (SOC2, ISO, HITRUST) vs a risk assessment (S2Org or similar).

[Evan] Yeah man! Let’s do it!

3rd-Party/Vendor Risk Management

[Brad] You added stuff to my show notes! What gives man?

[Evan] Yeah, I couldn’t help myself. Hope you’re OK with it.

[Brad] What’s with “let’s get literal”?

Discussion…

[Brad] Let’s talk about the differences between audit based certification (SOC2, ISO, HITRUST, etc.) versus a risk assessment (S2Org or similar).

  • The fundamental differences
  • The positives and negatives to both approaches
  • At the end of the day, what should an organization be trying to accomplish with their Vendor Risk Management program
  • What should the vendor share/not share, how do they handle requests for more than they are comfortable sharing

Be sure to mention the new article (not yet posted), “Seven must-haves for effective third-party information security risk management”. You can get the free preview download by emailing us.

[Brad] Hopefully that was helpful to people working on both sides of Vendor Risk Management. Let’s do some news.

News

[Brad]

Always plenty of things to talk about in the news, and here’s a few stories that caught my eye this week:

Closing

[Brad] That’s it. Episode 64 is a wrap. Thank you to our listeners! Keep the questions and feedback coming. Send things to us by email at unsecurity@protonmail.com. If you’re the social type, socialize with us on Twitter, I’m @BradNigh and Evan is @evanfrancen. Lastly, be sure to follow SecurityStudio (@studiosecurity) and FRSecure (@FRSecure) for more goodies!

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

The UNSECURITY Podcast – Episode 63 Show Notes – Mission

/in /by

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!