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Episode 108 Show Notes – Information Security @ Home

NOTE: We’ll be a day late this week, recording on Wednesday. Work stuff and personal stuff, you probably know what it’s like.

It’s time for episode 108 of the UNSECURITY Podcast!

Brad and I (Evan) hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving (assuming you’re in the U.S.). 2020 is a funky year to say the least. So many things that were “normal” before, aren’t so normal anymore. Despite the craziness of this year, we still found MANY things to be thankful for:

  • Our faith, and knowing that everything is going to be OK (eventually).
  • Our family.
  • Our friends.
  • Our co-workers.
  • Our community (the infosec community and our home community).
  • The people we serve.

While acknowledging that some of us have suffered significant losses this year, there’s always something to be thankful for. If you ever need support in dealing with loss or you’re just struggling, reach out to people around you. Here are some resources you might find helpful:

Love truly heals.

Some of us had a couple days off work last week. Monday we jumped right back in. The emails were still there (and maybe more of them), the projects are still in full swing, reports are still due, etc., etc. Assuming you recovered from the Monday onslaught, here we are! It’s Wednesday, and it’s time for episode 108!

Brad’s back, he’s leading the discussion today, and these are his notes. Welcome back Brad!


SHOW NOTES – Episode 108

Date: Wednesday December 2nd, 2020

Episode 108 Topics

  • Opening
  • Catching Up
    • What’s new?
    • Thanksgiving hangover?
  • Information Security @ Home
    • Picking up where we left off in episode 106
    • Why is this a big deal (personally and for employers)
    • What can we do about it?
    • Intro to what Brad and Evan do.
  • News
  • Wrapping Up – Shout outs
Opening

[Brad] Hey there! Thank you for tuning in to this episode the UNSECURITY Podcast. This is episode 108, the date is December 2nd, 2020, and I’m your host, Brad Nigh. Joining me as usual is my good friend and co-worker, Evan Francen. Good morning Evan.

[Evan] Cue Evan.

[Brad] This will be first time I actually get to talk to you about why yesterday was my first day back since 11/17.  I have no idea what you’ve been up to because I was basically totally offline.

Quick Catchup

It’s 4th quarter, I’m now a week and a half behind and it’s only getting busier. Hopefully Evan is in a better mood than episode 106.

We’ll discuss a thing or two…

Topics:

  • 4th quarter is notoriously busy, like VERY busy, for us. Everyone is running at 100% capacity right now, which is good, but also stressful.
  • What’s going on at work? Any cool developments or announcements? Heck yeah there are!
  • Security Sh*t Show – no show last week. It was Thanksgiving!
  • Back to book writing…

Transition

Information Security @ Home

[Brad] Well, we had planned to do this last week, but 2020 won’t stop 2020’ing.

[Brad] We are going to go into more details about some of the things we do, hopefully without giving away too much, to try and help others. I feel like this could end up just about anywhere, so it should be fun!

Begin discussion

Topic Ideas:

  • Picking up where we left off in episode 106
  • Why is this a big deal (personally and for employers)
  • What can we do about it?
  • Intro to what Brad and Evan do.
  • Maybe we’ll show some examples and stuff while we’re here.

Transition

[Brad] Alright. That’s that. On to some news…

News

[Brad] Always plenty of interesting things going on in our industry. Here’s a few stories that caught my attention recently:

Wrapping Up – Shout outs

[Brad] That’s it for episode 108. Thank you Evan! Who you got a shoutout for today?

[Evan] We’ll see.

[Brad] 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 @BradNigh and Evan can be found at @evanfrancen. Lastly, be sure to follow SecurityStudio (@studiosecurity) and FRSecure (@FRSecure) for more things we do when we do what we do.

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

Episode 107 Show Notes – Happy Thanksgiving

Hey there, it’s time for episode 107 of the UNSECURITY Podcast!

Just when you think you can’t get any busier…

You get busier.

Maybe if I learned to say “no” a little more often. My dilemma is 1) mostly brought on by myself and 2) is a blessing. It’s better to be busy than to have nothing to do, especially when you’re helping people. I’m grateful.

Short introduction today. Too much going on to elaborate much (for now).

On to the show notes…

This is Evan, I’ll lead the discussion today, and these are my notes…


SHOW NOTES – Episode 107

Date: Tuesday November 24th, 2020

Episode 107 Topics

  • Opening
  • Catching Up
    • What’s new?
    • “Information Security @ Home”
  • Happy Thanksgiving
    • What are your grateful for?
    • What’s different this year?
    • What’s the same?
    • Holiday shopping tips for EVERYONE
  • News
  • Wrapping Up – Shout outs
Opening

[Evan] Hey there! Thank you for tuning in to this episode the UNSECURITY Podcast. This is episode 107, the date is November 24th 2020, and I’m your host, Evan Francen. Sadly, Brad won’t be joining me today. He’s out of commission fighting a bout of labyrinthitis. The prognosis is good, so we expect him to be back soon!

So, this means you’re all stuck with me. I’ll do my best to provide some value for your ears and brain.

Quick Catchup

[Evan] The catchup time is a little different without Brad, so I’ll just give you a quick recap of what I’ve been up to.

Topics:

  • 4th quarter is notoriously busy, like VERY busy, for us. Everyone is running at 100% capacity right now, which is good, but also stressful.
  • Security Sh*t Show – this is live on YouTube every week; Thursday nights at 10pm CST.
    • Last week Chris Roberts and I did the Paqui One Chip Challenge online with a couple fans.
    • We also unveiled a new sticker (see below). If you’d like one, just subscribe to the Sh*t Show YouTube channel and let us know.

  • Information security hobbies – I’ve been working on a Raspberry Pi home network security device, including Kismet, pfsense, and Pi-hole. More to come on this next week.
  • Maybe another thing or two.

Transition

Happy Thanksgiving!

[Evan] Originally, Brad and I were going to continue our discussion about information security at home, then I realized that this is Thanksgiving week! Instead of talking about our original topic, I’m going to talk about protecting yourself (and your family) from holiday shopping scams. For many Americans, Friday marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season, and it’s important for all of us to be careful! Lots of things have changed this year, it is 2020, but some things haven’t. The scammers are still scamming, and a most of the scams are the same this year as they’ve been in years past.

Some interesting stats/information:

  • 61% of Americans have already started holiday shopping (before Thanksgiving)
  • 22% of Americans start their holiday shopping on (or after) Thanksgiving
  • 15% of Americans start their holiday shopping in December
  • 2% of Americans start their holiday shopping in January (hopefully for next year)
  • Last year:
    • $730 billion was spent on holiday shopping
    • $135.5 billion was spent holiday shopping online
    • $71.3 billion was spent holiday shopping using a mobile device
  • Online holiday shopping (in terms of dollars spent) is expected to increase by 35.8%

More online shopping coupled with the fact that most of us are more distracted (than ever), means attackers could have a heyday.

Opportunity + Distraction = Success (for scammers)

Tips to protect yourself and your loved ones (we will make this into a checklist soon):

Most important – situational awareness. It’s the umbrella for all other protection activities/behaviors.

  1. Ship to a secure location – avoid shipping to places where merchandise could sit unattended and insecure for long periods.
  2. If you decide to use a mobile app for shopping, use official retailer apps only.
  3. Don’t save payment card (debit or credit) information in any shopping accounts
  4. Using Apple Pay or Google Pay for payments wherever it’s available.
  5. If you’re unfamiliar with a retailer, do your research before buying. Make sure the site and retailer are legitimate.
  6. Don’t rush to purchase at the lowest price. Slow down and think about security risks first.
  7. Never make purchases on public Wi-Fi – Never.
  8. Use a VPN when shopping (or doing anything sensitive) online.
  9. Always use strong passwords and a password manager.
  10. Check security and/or privacy policies, especially for retailers you’re unfamiliar with.
  11. A legitimate retailers will NEVER ask for your Social Security number, so don’t give it out.
  12. Make purchases with credit cards over debit cards.
  13. Make purchases with prepaid debit cards over credit cards or regular debit cards.
  14. Review all your accounts and bank statements regularly. You should be doing this all year.

Please be careful this holiday season. DO NOT let scammers steal ANY of your joy or hope!

Transition

[Evan] Alright. That’s that. On to some news…

News

[Evan] Always plenty of interesting things going on in our industry. Here’s a few stories that caught my attention recently:

Wrapping Up – Shout outs

[Evan] That’s it for episode 107. Gonna give my shout outs…

[Evan] 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.

Lastly, be sure to follow SecurityStudio (@studiosecurity) and FRSecure (@FRSecure) for more things we do when we do what we do.

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

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving – #S2Roashow BBQ Top 10

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!

We have many, many things to be thankful for this year! So far, the SecurityStudio Roadshow (#S2Roadshow) has been a great success. The thing we’re most thankful for are the super cool people we’ve met on the road. Cool people with incredible stories and valuable perspectives.

Another thing we’re thankful for is all the great BBQ we’ve eaten. Who doesn’t like BBQ? Well, I suppose the vegans aren’t too much into it. For all the non-vegans, here’s our top 10 BBQ joints that we’ve visited thus far.

We didn’t travel last week, so this is what you get.

Top 10 BBQ Joints

Through week #8 of the SecurityStudio Roadshow (#S2Roadshow)

A man’s got to eat, and this man’s got to eat BBQ! We eat a lot of BBQ. – Evan

#1 – Pecan Lodge – Dallas, Texas – Week #3

Overall Rating: 9

  • Atmosphere: 9
  • Service: 8
  • Portion/Value: 9
  • Taste: 10

We heard from multiple people that we had to go to Pecan Lodge located in Deep Elum, so we did. Are we ever glad we did! This was the best BBQ we’ve had yet on our three week-old #S2Roadshow, and I even made a friend.

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I had the sliced brisket, pulled pork, and sausage. John had sliced brisket, pulled pork, and ribs. You should have seen the look on John’s face when he tasted the brisket for the first time! The atmosphere was awesome, with plenty of indoor and outdoor seating. The service was great. I even got the cook to show me his smokers (see pic). The portions were very generous too, but it was the taste that was amazing! I’ve never had better brisket and I may have never had better pulled pork in my life. I’ve had BBQ at 100+  of the best places all over the country, and I’ve never had brisket with the perfect mix of smoke flavor, fat cap, and rub.

Pecan Lodge is an absolute must visit for any BBQ lover. It’s almost worth a special visit to Dallas just to go to this place. The best I’ve had in a very long time, if ever.

P.S. My new friend’s name is Winston, and he’s from Michigan. He and his son travel the country riding roller coasters and trying new BBQ. BTW, he agreed that Pecan Lodge was awesome.

#2 – Bowlegged BBQ – San Diego, California – Week #4

Overall: 8.75

  • Atmosphere: 9
  • Service: 9
  • Portion/Value: 9
  • Taste: 8

OK, this was some good BBQ! I feel bad for all the people who live here, but never experienced the joy. The place is family-owned and the atmosphere was perfect for a BBQ joint. A little cluttered, a little dirty, a little nostalgic, and a whole bunch of character. Ordered my meat from Jordan behind the counter, and I told him all I wanted was meat, no sides. Ordered rib tips, ribs, and brisket. The price? 20 bucks.

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10 minutes later, I get this Styrofoam container filled with deliciousness. Like really filled and like really delicious! As you can see in the picture, the meat is drowning in sauce, and that’s generally a big no-no for me. For some reason it worked. The sauce was some sort of rural Georgia-tasting stuff with a hint of cinnamon. Weird, but delicious! I texted John and told him it was like a love fest between my mouth, my brain, and my belly. Definitely recommended!

#3 – Divine Swine BBQ – Manheim, Pennsylvania – Week #1

Overall: 8.5

  • Atmosphere: 7
  • Service: 8
  • Portion/Value: 10
  • Taste: 9

After the Shakedown BBQ disappointment, we swung over to Manheim, where we found Divine Swine. This place takes the crown as the #S2Roadshow Week 1 BBQ Champ. The best tasting BBQ we had on the trip and huge portions. If you’re in the area, you have to visit this place!

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Maybe we’re BBQ snobs, maybe not. One thing is certain, we enjoyed all of the BBQ we ate, and we’re pumped for next week’s adventures.

#4T – Dinosaur BBQ – Rochester, New York – Week #7

Overall: 8.25

  • Atmosphere – 8, it’s a cool place with a great vibe. The lighting is perfect for a BBQ joint, there’s a lot of wood, and the view of the river is super cool.
  • Service – 9, great service all-around. These people make you feel at home.
  • Portion/Value – 7, a little pricey for how much food you get, but what place isn’t?
  • Taste – 9, incredible, especially the ribs and wings.

In full transparency, I’ve eaten at Dinosaur BBQ in Rochester many times. It’s a great BBQ joint and I’ve enjoyed every visit I’ve made. This was Ryan Abraham’s first visit to Rochester, so we made sure to stop in. Actually, we ended up eating here twice during this trip. Poor us!

I’ve visited Rochester more than a dozen times and eaten BBQ at just about every place this city offers. Dinosaur is the best BBQ in Rochester. On this trip, I ate their ribs, brisket, wings, and pulled pork. The brisket and pulled pork were good, but the ribs and wings were friggin’ amazing! The ribs were arguably the best I’ve had on the SecurityStudio Roadshow so far. If you’re in Rochester, and you like BBQ (even if you don’t like BBQ), a visit to Dinosaur is a must!

#4T – Big Ed’s BBQ – Waukegan, Illinois – Week #3

Overall: 8.25

  • Atmosphere – 8
  • Service – 9
  • Portion/Value – 8
  • Taste – 9

We made the drive up to Waukegan to give Big Ed’s BBQ a try, and we’re definitely glad we did! This is a BBQ joint that is run by Ed (a few of his business partners) and his lovely family. You can read about the Big Ed story on their website. The atmosphere is great, with Ed’s son preparing the meat while Ed’s wife rings you up at the register. By the time we got there, they had already sold out of the brisket and burnt ends, so we settled for ribs and rib tips. We thought we were settling, but we were wrong! The ribs and tips were awesome!

The service was top notch, the portions were huge, and the meat was great! You have to visit this place. Highly recommended!

#6T – Mission BBQ – Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – Week #1

Overall: 8

  • Atmosphere – 7
  • Service – 10
  • Portion/Value – 7
  • Taste – 8

We ate at Mission BBQ in Harrisburg in the evening of the first day. I wasn’t that excited for it because I knew it was part of a chain, but it was the closest BBQ joint to where we were staying. The staff was AMAZING. I can’t remember ever getting better service that we did at this place.

The cashier asked us if this was our first time at Mission BBQ. We said it was, then she proceeded to tell us all about the menu and how they make their BBQ.

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Once our order was ready, the lady behind the counter asked us if it was our first time at Mission BBQ. We said it was, then she proceeded to tell us all about the sauces and how to help ourselves.

After we sat down to eat, another lady came by our table three or four times to make sure we had everything we needed. She cleared our table for us too (even though this was a self-service joint).

The service was exceptional, so I rate it a 10. The food was good too, the best being the jalapeno cheddar sausage.

#6T – Slaps BBQ – Kansas City, Missouri – Week #8

Overall: 8

  • Atmosphere – 8, this was a pretty cool place, located in an industrial part of town. The all brick building featured an indoor eating area, plus there were two more eating areas outside. The eating area on top of the building featured a great view of the Kansas City skyline.
  • Service – 9, I love when the BBQ is made to order right in front of you. They cut the meat and dish it out as you order it, right in front of you. The staff was very courteous and very helpful.
  • Portion/Value – 8, definitely above average. We got filled up at a very reasonable price.
  • Taste – 7, the brisket was good and the pulled pork was good. The best part was the jalapeno cheddar sausage. All the BBQ was good, but not amazing.

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We went to Slaps on a recommendation from a close friend. She’s a local and told us this was her favorite BBQ in all of Kansas City. It was good, but I’ve had better in this town.

#8T – Q39 BBQ – Kansas City, Missouri – Week #7

Overall: 7.75

  • Atmosphere – 7, this is a little too upscale feeling for me. A very nice restaurant, but not down-homey enough for my taste.
  • Service – 8, great service. I was in the middle of a conference call at the beginning, so I might have missed something here. Guess, I’ll have to visit again!
  • Portion/Value – 7, a little spendy.
  • Taste – 9, super! The burnt ends and brisket were the bomb!

This was the first stop for me and John after landing in Kansas City. We received a tip to visit this place from our rental car terminal bus driver, and obviously this guy knew what he was talking about! Kansas City is known for their BBQ and we had dozens of places to choose from, but we made a good call here.

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This was a great welcome to Kansas City and we highly recommend visiting Q39!

#8T – Cousin’s BBQ – Dallas, Texas – Week #5

Overall: 7.75

  • Atmosphere – 8
  • Service – 8
  • Portion/Value – 7
  • Taste – 8

I arrived at the DFW airport for the trip home and realized that I’d only done one BBQ joint so far on this trip! I sort of panicked a bit before finding this little gem in the DFW airport. Thank God! A man can’t take a trip with only one portion of BBQ.

My expectations for this place were low to begin with. After all, what kind of BBQ can you expect to get in an airport? Needless to say, I was very pleasantly surprised! I ordered pulled pork and brisket, with broccoli salad and cole slaw on the side. The meat was surprisingly moist a very flavorful. The smoke ring was good too. In a pinch, this place will definitely do!

#10T – Blackwood BBQ – Chicago, Illinois – Week #3

Overall: 7.75

  • Atmosphere – 7
  • Service – 7
  • Portion/Value – 8
  • Taste – 8

There are five locations for Blackwood BBQ, and we visited the Schaumburg location for lunch. John and I both ordered combos. He got sliced brisket, pulled pork, and burnt ends. I got sliced brisket, burnt ends and ribs. It was a really nice BBQ joint with a rustic, busy, but open atmosphere. The BBQ is self-service, meaning you order at the counter and grab your food when it’s ready. The portions were generous and the taste was pretty darn good. I’d say overall, it was definitely above average is all aspects.

If you’re in the Chicago area, it’s definitely worth the trip.

#10T – Broad Street BBQ – Kingsport, Tennessee – Week #4

Overall: 7.75

  • Atmosphere – 7
  • Service – 9
  • Portion/Value – 8
  • Taste – 6

John’s words, “BBQ Review: Broad Street BBQ, Kingsport, TN. Brisket was decent, the rest was just ok. Will do in a pinch, but probably one and done on this one. Super nice people though!

That’s what he said.

Rounding out the rest…

Here are the rest of the BBQ joints that we visited along with their overall scores.

  • Hard Eight – 7.25
  • Spring Creek Barbeque – 7.25
  • Redd’s BBQ – 7.25
  • RIBBRO BBQ – 7.25
  • Iron Horse – 7
  • Lucille’s Smokehouse BBQ – 7
  • Texas Bar-B-Q Joint – 7
  • Fire Breather BBQ – 7
  • Smoque – 6.75
  • Sweet Lucy’s Smokehouse – 6.75
  • Red Coal BBQ – 6.75
  • Bad to the Bone BBQ – 6.75
  • Unkl Moe’s – 6.5
  • Hambone’s Smokehouse – 6.25
  • Shakedown BBQ – N/A (wasn’t open when it was supposed to be, wasted trip)

SecurityStudio Roadshow Summary

If you’re new, or you’re confused about this #S2Roadshow thing, start here (maybe).

Previous Week’s Recaps:

The purpose of the SecurityStudio Roadshow (#S2Roadhow) is to meet people and make partners. We want to meet people, understand their businesses, and help them grow using simple, fundamental, and compliant solutions (S2Score, S2Org, S2Vendor, and S2Team/S2Me).

Our mission is to fix the broken information security industry. Success requires collaboration, partnership, and transparency.

Next Week’s #S2Roadshow

John Harmon and I are off to Scottsdale, Arizona for a great Phoenix ISSA event this week. The weather doesn’t suck in the Phoenix in December!

If you’ve got any BBQ tips for the Phoenix area, let us know.

Stay tuned for next week’s #S2Roadshow updates. You can follow us on Twitter (@evanfrancen, @HarmonJohn, @StudioSecurity, and the #S2Roadshow hashtag) and on LinkedIn.

See you next week!

The UNSECURITY Podcast – Episode 56 Show Notes

Brad and I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! We have so many things to be thankful for, including our faith, our families, our work families (FRSecure and SecurityStudio), our friends, our partners, our clients, and last, but not least, our UNSECURITY Podcast listeners!

Our listeners make our podcast worthwhile.

If you missed last week, we introduced you to one of the most amazing 15 year-old kids you’ll ever meet, Zoe Bundy. She’s an all around awesome gal, and the founder of Brainy Ladies. Give it a listen. You won’t be disappointed!

This week we welcome another special guest, Justin Webb. Justin is a “Data Privacy & Cybersecurity Attorney / Chief Information Security Officer at Godfrey & Kahn, S.C.”. We’re going to talk to Justin about all sorts of legal information security and privacy stuff. It’ll be like 30-40 minutes of free legal advice (sort of)!

I’m (Evan) leading the show this week, and here are my notes.


SHOW NOTES – Episode 56

Date: Monday, December 2nd, 2019

Show Topics:

Our topics this week:

  • Introducing Justin Webb
    • Who is Justin Webb?
    • Target vs. Chubb
    • The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)
    • China’s Cryptography Law
  • New Show Format (reminder)
  • News
Opening

[Evan] Welcome back! Unless you’re lost, you know this is the UNSECURITY Podcast. This is episode 56, and I’m Evan Francen, your host. The date is December 2nd, and joining me is my buddy Brad Nigh. Sup Brad?

[BradShares some of the simple things in life.

[Evan] How was your Thanksgiving holiday?

[Brad] Great, duh!

[Evan] We have another awesome show planned today! A couple of weeks ago, I read a news story about Target suing Chubb, their insurance provider, about claims related to the infamous Target breach of 2013. Here we are, six years later, and the fallout continues.

People who know my past, know that I spent twenty-one months consulting the Special Litigation Committee (SLC) of Target Corporation’s Board of Directors who addressed the derivative claims
arising out of the December 2013 data breach. I mention this only because I’m still obligated to maintain confidentiality from this work, and for perspective. I was privileged to see almost everything about this breach, or at least it seemed that way.

So, I read the news about this lawsuit, and I figured I’d reach out to my favorite cyber-insurance guy, David Kruse and get his take. David introduced me to this cool cat, Justin Webb, an information security stud and data privacy attorney with Godfrey & Kahn, a leading law firm out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Welcome Justin!

[Justin] Justin does Justin.

[Evan] I’m sort of looking at this like we get 30 minutes or so of free legal advice. Right?

[Justin] Probably not right, but whatever.

[Evan] We’re very excited to have you join us Justin!

Discussion with Justin

Conversation items:

[Evan] Good stuff! Legalling is exhausting. Thank you Justin for providing your insight and advice!

New Show Format Discussion (reminder)

[Evan] Just a quick reminder about the upcoming new addition to the show, starting after the first of the year. We’re devoting ten minutes of each show to anyone who’s looking for a job in the information security industry. Email us at unsecurity@protonmail.com if you want your slot! We’ll respond to you on a first come, first serve basis.

We’ve already received some emails, which is super cool!

If you’re chosen, and the time works out, we’ll invite you on to our show to learn about you. Think of this as a quick 10 minute interview. We’ll work out the kinks between now and the time we kick this off, but we’ll have a standard format defined by then.

If you’re looking for a job, use us to help you get the word out! Stay tuned, we’ll mention this a few more times before we make this change official.

OK, now some news…

News

[Evan] Alright, what the heck happened this last week? Let’s see…

Closing

[Evan] That’s it. Episode 56 is a wrap. Thank you to Justin Webb for joining us and for sharing your perspective.

Thank you to our listeners! Keep the questions and feedback coming. We’re still a little behind on responding right now, so please be patient with us. We love your feedback. 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. Justin, how do you want people to socialize with you?

Follow SecurityStudio (@studiosecurity) and FRSecure (@FRSecure) for more goodies there too!

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