Securosis Blog

There was a lot of big news this week in the security world, most of it bad. Even if you skip the intro, make sure you read the Top News section.

Incite 9/27/2012: They Own the Night

Mike Rothman · September 27, 2012

Our days just keep getting longer and longer. When the kids were younger afternoons and early evenings were a blur of activities, homework, hygiene, meals, reading, and then bed. Most nights the kids were in bed by 8:30 and the Boss and I could eat in peace, watch a little TV, catch up, and basically take a breath. But since XX1 entered middle school, things have changed. The kids have adapted fine. The Boss and me, not so much.

New Research Paper: Pragmatic WAF Management

Adrian Lane · September 26, 2012

We are proud to announce a new research paper on Pragmatic Web Application Firewall Management. This paper has been a long time coming – we have been researching this topic for three years, looking for the right time to discuss WAF’s issues.

I remember sitting at lunch with a friend and well-respected member of our security community as I described the architecture we used to protect our mail server. I’m not saying it’s perfect, but this person responded with, “that’s insane – I know people selling 0-days to governments that don’t go that far”. On another occasion I was talking with someone with vastly more network security knowledge and experience than me; someone who once protected a site attacked daily by very knowledgeable…

Securing Big Data: Architectural Issues

Adrian Lane · September 25, 2012

In the previous post we went to some length to define what big data is – because the architectural model is critical to understanding how it poses different security challenges than traditional databases, data warehouses, and massively parallel processing environments.

Another Inflection Point

David Mortman · September 24, 2012

Rich Mogull recently posted a great stream of consciousness piece about how we are at an inflection point in information security. He covers how cloud and mobility are having, and will continue to have, a huge impact on how we practice security. Rich mentions four main areas of impact:

Friday Summary: September 21, 2012

Adrian Lane · September 21, 2012

Adrian here …

I had a few surgical procedures over the past few weeks. They corrected some vascular defects that were causing several problems, some of which had been coming on for such a long time I was unaware that there was an issue. The whole boiling frog in a beaker concept. And with the slow progression I was ignorant of the extent of the damage it was causing. The good news is that procedures were successful and their positive benefit was far greater than I anticipated.

Incite 9/20/2012: Scabs

Mike Rothman · September 20, 2012

You will probably read this on Thursday or even Friday, and that’s late. This week got all screwed up. It’s a little matter of a bunch of things happening at the same time, mostly personal, all good. So Monday was a holiday for me and starts the fall renewal process where I don’t set goals and don’t worry about what I’m striving for any more. It also turns out Monday night was the Falcons home opener. Many of my ATL buddies consider me a sinner for going to a football game on the High Holy Days.…

Inflection

Rich · September 19, 2012

Hang with me as I channel my inner Kerouac (minus the drugs, plus the page breaks) and go all stream of consciousness. To call this post an “incomplete thought” would be more than a little generous.

How do I secure “big data”? A simple and common question. But one without a direct answer – simple or otherwise.