Information security professionals tend to be smart, savvy, and quite opinionated. They are the guardians, protecting the network and information. They are warriors, using whatever tools are at hand to fight threats. They have interesting stories, and it is my privilege to tell them.
The experts in the field are many, including researchers, developers, administrators, managers, and executives, just to name a few groups. They all come together each year at RSA Conference to share what works and what doesn't. In this new role as the editor-in-chief of RSA Conference, my goal is to continue these discussions so that we have a year-round conversation on information security. Let's not wait till we are all in San Francisco to talk.
As Alex Bender noted in his introductory post, I've written about IT and information security for a variety of publications and audiences. I am excited to continue what I have been doing all along—sharing stories from the experts in the field—for RSA Conference, but my focus is on extending these narratives to lessons we can learn. RSA Conference is not out to supplant the news organizations, but to work with them. We will point you to articles that discuss the latest research and highlight the issues affecting the information security industry. We will reach out to researchers and ask them to share updates to their research. We will give you the information you need to do your jobs effectively and manage your careers.
"There is power in ongoing diversity, discussion and debate," wrote the new content director for the RSA Conferences, Britta Glade, recently. The conference will be a place to talk security, year-round, and I will be working closely with her to bring you those conversations across a wide range of formats and tools.
As anyone who has followed my writing is well aware, I originally started out as an IT administrator and software developer. I saw firsthand how organizations use technology to solve problems, how decisions are made, and how technology opens up new opportunities. When someone paints a grand vision of how things should be, I ask how, when, and why—lessons learned from my days implementing and maintaining ambitious projects. The focus on finding what works and understanding how it works serve me as well as a journalist, and I look forward to bringing those questions to the forefront of RSA Conference.
Information security is rapidly evolving. What we thought was sufficient to secure our systems ten, even five, years ago, is no longer sufficient. It's not because we were wrong back then, but because our requirements have changed, we use technology differently, and the issues we face are far more diverse. But one thing has stayed constant—the importance of sharing what works and what doesn't. And the only way that can happen is if people are talking to each other, not at each other.
As a journalist, my mantra is simple: Write about the news. Don't be the news. Offer information. Don't lecture. Clarify issues. Don't confuse. My title here at RSA Conference may say "Editor-in-Chief" but I see myself as a facilitator, or a curator, of conversations. Let me know what you want to know, what bothers you, and what you are curious about.
We all want to make our corner of the world a better place. Let's talk.