Shirts for Skittles!

It's Destination Imagination time again. My daughter's team has once again qualified for Globals, which means fundraising for them and the other teams from our town. We've got a great selection of t-shirts on sale to help raise funds: 

Those are two I think would be of more general interest. We also have four shirts with more of a town-centric or in-joke feel:

Please take a look at the shirts and buy some for yourself, your friends, and your families! If you can't buy shirts, share them on social media platforms! Links for sharing are available on the site: https://www.bonfire.com/store/bedford-ma-destination-imagination/

You can read more about the Bedford MADI program and our successful run at states this month on the Bedford Citizen!

Dr. Strange and the movie leaving madness

My daughter summed up my feelings about Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness when the credits rolled and she proclaimed "that was dumb." I felt let down and betrayed. For the past month we had overloaded on Marvel movies getting my younger two kids caught up so this could be their first MCU movie to watch in a theater. The trailers looked good, Spider Man No Way Home exceeded expectations, and I walked into the theater expecting to share something special with my children. I got this instead:

The @DrStrange movie is what you get when you mix half an Evil Dead homage, half a cameo clip show, and half a marvel movie together in a blender, take out the best parts, and hit puree!

— Nathan Cooprider (@ncooprider) May 13, 2022

I have learned a bit of context in the week and a half since watching the film. My position has softened a bit. Elizabeth Olsen felt like the MCU had cost her too many opportunities and wanted out. The Scarlet Witch from the comics actually goes full crazy. The Darkhold has a rich history of corrupting users. Fans eager to see a "Marvel horror movie" looked to see Sam Raimi unleashed on the screen. If I had thought through it a bit more maybe I could have seen this coming, but I did not. 

My biggest complaint came from the treatment of Wanda. Instead of building off what she "learned" in WandaVision, this movie picks up like that series did not even happen (other than her two kids being the impetus for the entire plot). With little or no transition, she goes from triumphant and repentant hero to villain worse than Thanos. It felt a little tone deaf to take one of the few female Avengers still alive and make her the antagonist. Not just tone deaf: it sounded like a dog whistle to incels. 

I had other qualms besides Wanda's arc. The Illuminati seemed superfluously stupid. This group supposedly defeated Thanos, but then couldn't even go a few rounds with the Scarlet Witch? Reed Richards is the smartest man alive, but he doesn't realize he's hopelessly outgunned? Wanda goes insane using the Darkhold and becomes the bad guy, but Dr. Strange suffers only a weird growth in his forehead and no other consequences? The Wanda variant is not able to fight back and just lets her body get used? For that matter, Wanda and Xavier can't overcome the Darkhold together? 

I think a better exposition and maybe a clearer redemption may have helped with Wanda's story, but the movie would still be a mess. This is easily my least favorite Marvel show or movie so far. I'm saying this is even worse that Fantastic 4. I left wishing I had saved my "first Marvel movie with all my kids" token for Thor. 

Fundraising ideas for Destination Imagination Global Finals

My daughters got lucky and fell into a great Destination Imagination program at our town. Not everything has run perfectly, but we have been extremely blessed and are now preparing to head to globals for the second time. A large part of that preparation right now is fundraising. The move to Kansas City seems to have made it especially more expensive this year. My daughter's team seems to have had a lot of success with fundraising this year so I wanted to share some tips from what I've seen (mostly from the outside):

• Year-round fundraising. Ideally, fundraising occurs all year round and not just during the month or so between states and globals. The problem with this is what to do with the funds if you don't actually make it to globals? Our town has a non-profit that supports the DI program. Money accumulates with that organization so that it's there when a team does make it to globals. That's the theory, although I realize there's a lot of details in the implementation which I do not know.
• GoFundMe. We got tipped off to this during our first trip to globals and we're using it again. The site does take a fee off the top, but it's worth the cost in the ease of use. A lot of successful fundraising has to do with reducing friction for those who want to donate, and GoFundMe does a great job of that.
• Business sponsorships. Our town has a culture of working with local businesses to provide support for various things. It really does take a village. I realize that demographics and culture might make this a less viable option. Remember that it's a culture that has to start sometime and somewhere, so why not with supporting DI? You can even sweeten the deal by mentioning how you will display your gratitude for the fundraising. 
• Business fundraisers. This is another side of the previous item, but maybe more palatable for businesses. We have a number of restaurants in the area that will do proceed sharing nights. For example, 20% of the proceeds from orders at Ginger during April 23rd were donated to our town teams heading to Global Finals. I admit that the owners of the restaurant have a daughter on one of the teams, but I've seen other organizations do similar things with a local pizza place. It makes sense: you drive traffic to their restaurant and so everybody wins.
  
  
• Bonfire. We did a t-shirt fundraiser for the first time this year and it took off like gangbusters. Part of that came from a particularly popular design by the older sister of one of the team members, but even our less popular shirts did well. Obviously you want some kind of original design that will sell well, but that's a little like saying "buy low, sell high" on the stock market. 
• Cookies. A different organization we participate in uses selling cookie mixes and doughs to fundraise. We are dipping our toes into that a little right now, although I cannot report on the results for us yet. We have noticed success elsewhere with selling cookie doughs or mixes. It takes some time to create and deliver the goods, but the supplies are actually pretty cheap and yield a good return for what you sell. I've seen a similar approach done with pizzas. 
• Share. Share on every social media platform you have, and then do it again. Specifically, I am thinking of Facebook and Instagram. If you use Twitter, tweet early and often. Same with Pinterest. Even go for Reddit, if it fits. I am not sure about LinkedIn as a platform for this, but I tried it. I am not a Snapchat user so I did not use that myself, and the same goes for Whatsapp. I probably should have. Once you have the GoFundMe or Bonfire or whatever set up, market it on social media over and over and over again. 
• Individual emails. Email your family. Email your friends. Email everybody you know. Probably don't email your coworkers, but if they have an off-topic channel or list or forum, put it there. Don't spam people (email them repeatedly), but a single reach out shouldn't bother anybody. Ask for donations, but also ask for them to share with THEIR networks.

While it's great to score a big raise through these efforts, it's really more about eating the elephant: one bite at a time. Good luck and have fun!

Goodbye, TWiT!

Last weekend I unsubscribed from all my TWiT podcasts. The hypocrisy and lack of professionalism finally became too much. I post this on a blog because I have recommended the podcasts to others. While I cannot find every person and rescind my endorsement, I can post my decision here. I will also note that I do not judge anybody who does not make the same decision I made. I may be misinformed or ignorant of key pieces of information, but I do not trust Leo Laporte or his TWiT network anymore

I finally had to confront the duplicity of TWiT when, at the end of Security Now from May 26th, Leo announced that they would not be airing the taping of that show live anymore. Steve Gibson got confused, but Leo explained they would still tape it at the same time, but that they would only air the produced copy later and not the live show. I knew that Leo has often expressed the immense value he gets from the chatroom and doing live shows, so I knew something must have happened. I also knew that since this wasn't the first time, it must have been something bad. It was.

Even so, I might have overlooked it in isolation. I might have at least waited for the dust to settle. My problem is that the list of offenses has grown too long and too pervasive:

• Leo's affair with his CEO
• Erik Lanigan's dismissal and eventual death
• Petty banning of Jason Calacanis
• Leo accidentally showing sexts on shows
• Departure of many hosts
• General misogyny during shows
• Recent emphasis on virtualized porn
• Most recent issue

I did not know how much to go into the list. If you want or need to know more, I'm sure Google will help you. It's with a heavy heart that I leave the TWiT army. The shows were well-produced, quirky, funny, and informative. Integrity is one thing TWiT no longer has (if it ever had it), and that's the value that matters most to me. That network. . . is in the can.

One year later: Snowden & the NSA leaks

News broke a year ago about Edward Snowden's leaks of NSA documents to Glenn Greenwald. At this one year anniversary I feel it necessary to write down and share some of my thoughts about the ongoing repercussions from that event. Although I have followed the story with interest, I would not consider myself obsessive about it. If I come across stories about the latest leak in my normal perusal of news then I get the update, but I do not seek out additional information. The first few weeks of June last year being the possible exception to that.

Working for a company that produces an information security product, I always assumed the United States conducted some level of surveillance and spying going on the internet. Nevertheless, PRISM still felt like a slap in the face. Assuming the government has betrayed you is one thing, seeing documents showing how they're doing it is something else. My previous office worked on information fusion, and the state-of-the-art there pretty much stunk. I naively hoped that applied universally, but that appears incorrect. I understand why the NSA wants to collect all this information, but I also understand the Fourth Amendment.

Writing this post has been on my todo list for a few months now, the anniversary of the leaks being a convenient forcing function. In another month comes another significant anniversary: the 4th of July. Have you considered what sort of effect NSA-like surveillance would have had on the American Revolution? We now put the Founding Fathers on pedestals and consider them inspired men, but at the time they were traitors to England. Although we may romanticize the origins of our nation to some extent, I feel it reasonable to assume that a surveillance state would have squashed it. Look at how China has handled Tiananmen Square, and that was 25 years ago.

These leaks will forever be associated with Edward Snowden, so a discussion of one must involve the other. He accurately predicted the government's attempt at character assassination in his initial interview. At least one of my coworkers instantly condemned Snowden's leak and called him "a tool." I regularly listen to TWiT, and Leo Laporte almost as quickly labeled Snowden as a hero. At his talk at RSA earlier this year, Richard Clarke labeled Snowden as a traitor and said the United States should prosecute him as such. My opinion of Snowden trended toward positive, although it swayed significantly depending on with whom I had most recently spoke.

Our environments have an effect on us. I know that my environment has an effect on me. The longer I work in information security, the more paranoid I get. That paranoia doesn't get mitigated any by my favorite TV show: Person of Interest. One of my favorite authors, Daniel Suarez, consistently discusses government misuse of technology and abusing civil liberties in his novels. He writes science fiction, but in many ways the ideas hit too close to home. Some of my thoughts on Snowden and his leaks may come from my overfed imagination, but I do not think I arrive too far from the truth.

What would you do in Snowden's shoes? In his recent NBC interview he claims to have raised the issues internally, although the NSA denies this. Have you ever worked anywhere that your ideas would get patiently listened to and then the only response would be a nice pat on the head? Can you see that being the case at the NSA, a government organization? If he tried to raise the issue internally (like I suspect many have), he obviously did not get enough response. If he did not raise the issue internally, perhaps he though he might get "disappeared" to Gitmo. Maybe he thought he might get droned. The post-9/11 rules for how the government treats those it does not like seem very undefined. The Patriot Act, Obama's inaction, and his own experience as a government contractor had cost him his faith in the system.

Snowden still saw a problem that needed resolving. He could not resolve it through traditional channels out of bureaucracy or fear, so it needed to come as a leak. Here's the problem: the American public has a very short attention span. Six months before the Snowden leaks started, the nation cried out for more gun control after the Sandy Hook shooting. Sadly, two months later and nobody said anything more about it. A single release of information or short event have a similar affect. "We the people" would rattle our sabers for a couple months but then the government could go back to business as usual. Snowden needed a sustained campaign that would last through one or more election cycles.

However brilliant of a programmer or high-minded of a citizen, Snowden didn't have the pulpit from which to preach his gospel. He needed a bulldog in his corner that felt as strongly about the issue as he did and would doggedly pursue the story. It had to stay in the limelight. It had to keep making headlines. It had to hurt politicians, so they would vote for change. It had to hurt NSA recruiting, so they would need to clean up their act. It had to cut across party lines, so nobody could just point fingers. I do not follow journalists, except for maybe a few tech ones, but apparently Glenn Greenwald fit the description. Snowden had to pursue him for months and educate him on secure communication.

One objection to Snowden's behavior during the first couple of weeks consisted of his somewhat strange escape route. To complain about NSA surveillance and then go to a country that obviously had it significantly worse seemed hypocritical. To go from there to KGB-led Russia made little sense as well. His interview throwing softball questions to Putin did not help. I do not have all the answers here, but I know that if I really wanted and expected change, I needed to stay in a place where I could act. That meant Snowden had to stay out of range of United States authorities. A safe bet that our two biggest frenemies could keep him out of jail, provided he applied a little leverage. Maybe that leverage consisted of not airing their dirty laundry, or sharing one or two country-specific NSA secrets. I admit the evasion route still has questionable parts, but it at least seems feasible.

Then comes the discussion of why he did not just surrender himself to the justice system, or why he does not do so now. The justice system, like every other branch of our government, is warped to the point of serious breakage. Consider the Patriot Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Not the actual laws, but how cases have gone in the courts regarding those. For the Patriot Act, see our friends in Gitmo. Also consider Ladar Levison, the owner and operator of Lavabit. His farce of a what one might call a court case has cost him his company. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act yielded a vicious attack on Aaron Swartz. Aaron's feeling of helplessness in his situation eventual drove him to end his life, five months before the Snowden leaks. The point being that our judicial system does not have a track record of doing things fairly or coming to logical conclusions.

Thank you for reading through my thoughts on Snowden & the NSA leaks. I still do not obsess about it, but felt the anniversary deserved more than a passing note. I think Snowden did something incredibly brave and that history books will describe him as a hero. In our fear after 9/11, the pendulum of freedom vs. security swung dramatically toward security. It's time it swung back to freedom.

DISCLAIMER: This post reflects my views and opinions only.  Any comments made on this website, by myself or by third parties, do not necessarily reflect views or opinions of my employer, religion, family, or any other organization to which I belong.

Widening the bell curve

My wife calls me a hero worshipper. My hero worshipping manifested itself at an early age by my love of He-Man and Superman. Thank goodness we did not have YouTube during my childhood and therefore will never again see 5-year-old-me running around in Superman underwear with a cape and boots. I grew out of that, but did not grow out of wanting to be a hero. In the years since my youthful admiration of fictional heroes I have learned that real heroes exist, but they often start out as normal people. Men such as Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and Roger Bushell rose to the occasions into which they were placed. The key to becoming a hero is recognizing a need and then filling it.

Famous heroes manifest themselves in difficult situations when the need is great and filling it seems impossible.The horrors of war provide those circumstances in abundance. I like learning about wars for that reason. Heroes can appear anywhere and everywhere during a war. That includes anything from the battlefield heroics on Omaha beach to the decryption of Enigma at Bletchley Park. Considering those two scenarios as a computer geek, I can more easily picture myself assisting in the war effort alongside Turing and his bombes. Maybe that would not make a great Spielberg movie, but it could definitely fill a lengthy novel.

I recently finished Cryptonomicon, a historical/science fiction novel by Neal Stephenson that reviews the Enigma decryption effort in significant detail. A large portion of that story deals with a real practice that one character calls “widening the bell curve.” With regards to cracking Enigma, having it cracked only remained valuable so long as the Nazis did not know the Allies had broken it. Unbridled use of cracked information would yield short-term victories, but then Allies would tip their hand and reveal the weaknesses of Enigma. The Axis could then address those weaknesses and upgrade their encryption. On the other hand, not using the information rendered it equally useless. The trick became figuring out how use it without revealing knowledge of it. 

That brings us back to “widening the bell curve.” A normal distribution follows a bell curve: extremes happen much less often than the average. Something not following that probability, such as “magically” finding every Nazi transport, would appear as an extraneous bump on the bell curve. The information theory solution of widening the bell curve ahead of time tries to avoid exposing that bump. Widening occurs by adding additional data points to smooth out the distribution, and must be added in many places to ensure a smooth and symmetrical bell shape. Figuring out just what to do to maintain the normal bell curve became the job of one protagonist in Cryptonomicon.

The Allies, both in the book and in the real war, introduced additional data points through various means. Instead of magically showing up with a fleet to attack a transport, they sent out “spotter” submarines and aircraft to “find” the transport. Even better, they sent out additional spotters to other locations, providing false negatives. The Allies had to occasionally ignore information from the Enigma because acting on it would reveal the cypher’s weakness.. At one point the Allies transmitted a congratulation to a non-existent spy in Italy for the excellent information provided, which covered up an out-of-the-blue convoy attack. These and similar techniques resulting in the Enigma cracking remaining secret until publicly disclosed nearly three decades later. The most accurate word to describe the effort involved to maintain that secrecy is heroic.

This all has direct applications to today’s security landscape. We can look for irregularities in computer usage, or bumps on the bell curve, to indicate a threat. However, in order to find the bumps we must already know the shape of the curve. Bad actors will try to widen the bell curve in order to avoid detection. Organizations something to fill the role of identifying washed-out bumps. Bit9 can map the curve and identify the bumps so you can become a security hero!

Person of Interest: Now a documentary!

I love this show. It seems like sci-fi nuts seem to criticize it for not having enough fi. It's not their fault it lines up with the news so perfectly! They showed this at SDCC last week:



I wrote a blog posts at the ends of season one and two talking about how the show's world melded with our current reality and what we could learn from that.

Managing Security Tradeoffs between Private and Public Information

New Bit9 blog post: Managing Security Tradeoffs between Private and Public Information.

It talks about this graph I've been thinking about:

You can read all my Bit9 blog posts here.

Thinking About Security Daemons

Posted on the Bit9 blog: Thinking About Security Daemons

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CS Reading List

I am not a bookworm and books do not represent my media format of choice. Nevertheless, I still have lists of books I feel everybody should read. That includes a list of books I feel every software engineer (or manager of software engineers) should read. That doesn’t mean people who aren’t software engineers won’t enjoy these books or benefit from them. It just means that if you write code for a living then you should at least be familiar with these:

Non-fiction

	Computer Systems: A Programmer's Perspective This textbook changed my life, or at least the course associated with it did. I thought I wanted to do computer graphics up until taking CS 324 at BYU. The labs which come with this book introduced me to an abstraction level of computing that I loved: looking at the hardware side while staying barely on the software side. I still regularly use this book for a reference.
	Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software Anyone serious about software development will at least have some familiarity with design patterns. Of course, knowing design patterns no more makes you a software designer than knowing the contents of a Lego store makes you a Lego sculptor. Still, the Gang of Four’s canonical introduction to this topic helps us all have a foundational vocabulary upon which to build.
	The Cathedral & The Bazaar A paradigm shift in the construction and motivation of complex systems. The open source software movement continues forward. Whether or not you subscribe to the philosophy to any degree, you will interact with people who do. This book can help Cathedral types understand, appreciate, and maybe become more like Bazaar types. It does not include free beer.
	The Dream Machine: J.C.R. Licklider and the Revolution That Made Computing Personal My graduate school advisor recommended that all incoming computer science students read this book. Although it centers on Licklider, it provides an amazing background on the advent of modern computing up to the start of the century. It blew my mind to realize how early the visionaries imagined the world at which we eventually arrived.
	The Mythical Man Month: Essays on Software Engineering I admit that this one is old. Fred Brooks experience managing the development of IBM’s System/360 took place in the mid-60s, and the essays center on that experience. Later editions have added chapters looking back on the earlier suppositions, and they appear to hold up well. Wading into software engineering management really does mean walking through tar pits.
	The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World Technology in the information age has rapidly outpaced legislation and societal norms. This creates significant problems as old laws and ways of thinking about things can artificially cripple and hamper technology enabled progress. Typically, those that understand the societal norms and legislation are not the ones who understand the technology, and vice versa. Lessig grasps both sides and, more importantly, proffers solutions.
	Public Parts: How Sharing in the Digital Age Improves the Way We Work and Live I admit this may be more of a fanboy addition and that a similar list to this one in 20 years probably will not include this book. However, I like the perspective Jeff Jarvis brings to the discussion about privacy. I’m not saying he’s 100% correct, just that we need to see things from this point of view as well. We are social beings ready to reap the benefits to be gained through sharing.

Fiction

	Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance I almost put this book in the non-fiction section as it’s semi-autobiographical, but in the end it’s a novel. The protagonist of the story investigates the meaning of quality, conveying his thoughts through conversations with others and flashbacks. The thought required to read this book may exercise mental muscles not normally used, but we can all benefit from understanding quality and how to pursue it.
	Zero Day: A Novel Author Mark Russinovich draws from years of experience architecting software for the Windows operating system to write a compelling, modern-day, thriller. The two biggest weaknesses of the book include a zealous following of stereotypes and more adult content than seems necessary for the story. One thing the book does exceptionally well is get into the nitty-gritty of exploits in an engaging way.
	Daemon & FreedomTM This story moved me to tears, which says something (either about me or about the story). A lot of bad things happen to innocent people in this technological thriller, but in the end the author paints a world-wide networked society in which I want to participate.
	Ender's Game The upcoming movie has increased interest in this work, but I first read it as a kid. Probably my favorite book of all time, it presents a number of philosophical and technological issues that still face us today. The movie cannot possibly do this book justice, so I suggest you read it and the other seven books in the series (I know there’s more but I can only vouch for the original eight).
	Foundation Some may argue that Asimov’s I, Robot should take this spot, but I enjoy the scope and vision of the Foundation series. A political treatise wrapped in science fiction, it provides many nuggets of insight for those wishing to live in a modern and civilized society. “Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.”
	The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Where Foundation provides nuggets of insight, The Hitchhiker’s Guide extrapolates technology-enabled life to the absurd. A hilarious romp through the genre, it illustrates the importance of not taking ourselves too seriously since we are always finding out new ways in which the universe is weird. Plus, there’s Marvin.
	Ready Player One I almost got turned off on this book by the atheist diatribe near the beginning of the book. Luckily I stuck with it and ended up thoroughly enjoying this story. A fun look at MMORPGs and a retrospective of the 80s, the book can introduce that culture for those who missed it. You’ll find it permeates the tech community.

I’ll end there for now. Offended I left something off? Feel like something else deserves a place? Leave suggestions in the comments.

Threat Intelligence: Using The Machine for Cybersecurity or Cyberattacks

New post on Bit9 blog: Threat Intelligence: Using The Machine for Cybersecurity or Cyberattacks

Release the Kraken

Posted on the Bit9 blog: 4 Realities of Cybersecurity

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Preaching to the Choir: The Problem with Cybersecurity Education

Posted on the Bit9 blog: Preaching to the Choir: The Problem with Cybersecurity Education

See all my Bit9 blog posts here.

Do you accept the Daemon?

I recently finished listening to Daemon, a techno-thriller by Daniel Suarez. As a regular listener of several TWiT network shows, I have heard about the book regularly through Audible.com commercials. My catalyst for finally getting Daemon came this summer when Suarez released his latest book, Kill Decision. It seemed more than serendipitous coincidence that his newest book used my last job (signal processing on UAVs) for a topic, while his first book used my current job (blocking malware) for a topic. Thus I had to pick Daemon up, and once I picked it up I could not put it down.

Daemon begins with the death of Matthew Sobol, a fictional game designer. Sobol’s massively multiplayer online games brought his company wild success, and apparently left him with too much free time to think about the world order. He decided to change that order post-mortem by leaving behind a powerful internet daemon. The daemon intricates itself with the world’s information technology systems, obtaining immense power. The story follows many characters, some of which fight the daemon and some of which join the daemon. Both approaches provide thought provoking perspectives.

An interesting case study comes from the daemon’s takeover of Leland, a fictional multi-national financial company. Like many large corporations, Leland depends on a complex IT infrastructure. Recent cuts to the IT budget demonstrate the CEO and board view that infrastructure as an unfortunate operating expense rather than a core intellectual property resource. Those cuts produce vulnerable systems and disgruntled employees, which then facilitate the industrial espionage that introduces the daemon to the system. Once inside, the daemon moves laterally and vertically to compromise the entire system. The chiefs and board recognize the stranglehold too late, and the company becomes part of Daemon Inc. Fiction? Yes. Demonstrates real-world issues? Also yes.

Suarez makes several points through the book about technology and our society. Our world consists of largely monolithic monoculture of interconnected systems. We build layer upon layer on top of insecure technologies at the base. As we squeeze out each inefficiency, we make the entire system less flexible and more brittle. A relatively small number of us really know how the digital world works. Powerful people put their power into technology they do not understand or, even worse, misunderstand. Entire fortunes are made virtually and in the blink of an eye, without any produced good or service. All these set up an environment ripe for a cyber-parasite such as Sobol’s daemon.

Unfortunately, no silver bullet exists for dealing with these issues. Carnegie Mellon lead a study on ultra-large-scale (ULS) systems half-a-dozen years ago. Much excitement surrounded the initial release of the study, but it appears that the research area has languished since then. The study identified “security, trust, and resiliency” as a future topic of interest. Indeed. Those three compose a triumvirate for uptime, with each affecting the others. Any solution for one must consider the other two. Does your plan for server resiliency include security and trust? It should.

I really enjoyed Daemon, and highly recommend it. Many others feel the same way. A few complaints come from those who do not realize this first book only contains the the first half of the story. Picture reading Lord of the Rings and stopping midway through The Two Towers. Fortuitously, the rest of the Daemon story already exists in FreedomTM. I suggest getting both and then disappearing for a couple weeks to finish them. You will not regret it.

Need more info about Daniel Suarez and the ideas from his book? Check out these recent interviews for his Kill Decision book tour:

• Sword & Laser
• Triangulation
• Big Book Show
• Authors at Google

Why it's awesome to work at Bit9

I recently had the pleasure of attending some instruction from retired four-star General Bruce Carlson. The material covered a number of things, including some important life lessons. He emphasized the importance of making sure you love what you do, saying something along the lines of: “my wife tells me I had a job, but I don’t remember doing a single day of work. I got to fly planes for a living.” I suspect some degree of hyperbole, but it still made me think about where I currently choose to earn my living. Not only do I enjoy working at Bit9 (CrunchBase Profile), but I feel others should know that so they will join the company if given the opportunity.

Computer Licensing: Should IT Departments Act More Like the RMV?

Posted on the Bit9 blog: Computer Licensing: Should IT Departments Act More Like the RMV?

The Darwin Awards of IT Security: 6 Things to Avoid

I wrote another blog post on my company's blog: The Darwin Awards of IT Security: 6 Things to Avoid

Beyond the Maginot Line: 8 Ways to Improve Your Personal Security Posture

A post to the Bit9 Blog: Beyond the Maginot Line: 8 Ways to Improve Your Personal Security Posture.

See all my Bit9 blog posts here

Malware Fear: Are Security Companies Manipulating or Highlighting the Truth?

Some thoughts I've been thinking lately:
Malware Fear: Are Security Companies Manipulating or Highlighting the Truth?

The Gamble of Failure-Oblivious Computing

New post on the Bit9 blog: The Gamble of Failure-Oblivious Computing