November 29, 2006 - #162
Good Morning:
Today let's talk about objectivity and therefore integrity. It seems that the news that Amrit and Stiennon are going back to vendor-land has kicked up a bit of dust about how objective us analystas really are. Yes, I have an opinion (here [0]). No, I have no plans to go back to vendor-land. But read the comments in Thomas' original post that got this whole discussion going (here [1]), it's pretty interesting reading and most of the opinions are consistent. Objectivity is about the PERSON, not the job. Integrity is all about the person.
I'm not sure how long I'm going to be doing this analyst thing (because I don't really have a "plan"), but I know it's for a while. Does that make me more objective than a G-analyst that is talking to a few vendors about leading up their strategy efforts? Maybe yes, maybe no. It depends on the person. Unfortunately for the folks that take their advice, you pretty much can't know. So what do you do? Exercise free will and make up your own mind. An opinion you get from me (or any other analyst) is another data point in your research. Ultimately you need to make the decision and you need to live with it. I don't.
OK, off soapbox. Kind of a slow news day. Looks like the US Feds are once again under the gun (here [1]), this time for not testing their security controls enough. If that's the case, then they should be under the gun. Gartner analyst John Pescatore gives a retrospective interview on his 25 years in the business (here [1]). But it reads more like he's getting ready for a farewell tour, like when Kareem retired and they gave him cars and other lavish gifts in each city. If he comes to Atlanta, maybe they'll give him a Lincoln Town Car, which is the official car of old people. I'm kidding, I doubt Pescatore is going anywhere.
In blog-land, Mitchell Ashley figures that appliances are going the way of the dinosaur (here [1]). Not so much. And Dr. Anton, wonders what security is really about (here [1]). But best of all, George Ou really called a post "Worm spreads through Symantec AV hole" (here [1]). I'm sure he's going to get a lot of page views on that. Doubt the web filter would flag that as porn.
Before I go, let me wish my Mom a Happy Birthday. Within the next month, she is retiring after 41 years as a Pharmacist. That's a long time and most pharmacy customers are pretty much assholes. They are sick and they want their drugs. It's no fun. But this starts a new chapter in her life. Enjoy the ride Ma and have fun every day. And don't deal with assholes anymore. You don't need to.
Have a great day.
Technorati: Information Security [2]
 [3]Coming January 2, 2007 |  [3] |
Top Security News
http://www.esj.com/news/article.aspx?EditorialsID=2303 [4]
Link to this [4]
http://www.scmagazine.com/us/newsletter/dailyupdate/article/20061127/605814/ [5]
Link to this [5]
http://www.clearswift.com/news/item.aspx?ID=1059 [6]
Link to this [6]
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2006/112806-consultants-pescatore.html [7]
Link to this [7]
Top Blog Postings
http://www.theconvergingnetwork.com/2006/11/why_appliances_are_dinosaurs.html [8]
Link to this [8]
here [8]). I'll be doing a much more detailed treatment of the 5 reasons in the Pragmatic CSO [9]. Suffice it to say, protecting information is a lot closer to what security is (to me anyway), but the term "information" is a bit restrictive. Corporate assets? That's probably a bit better. But we also need to limit corporate liability (which is an intangible asset, I guess) and ensure compliance. So I think security is about the 5 reasons to secure. But that's just one man's opinion.
http://chuvakin.blogspot.com/2006/11/so-you-think-that-security-is.html
[10]Link to this [10]
http://ravichar.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2006/11/27/2531513.html
[11]Link to this [11]
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=380
[12]Link to this [12]