INSIGHTS FROM ENGINEERS
Secure Networkers
Are you ready?
The thought brings me back to my time in the Marine Corps. Specifically, I gather images of being on a C-141 and getting the commands from the Jumpmaster. Multiple commands are given, “Ten Minutes!”, “Outboard personnel standup!”, “Hookup!”,” Check static line!”, “Check equipment!”, and then “Sound off for equipment check!”. Everyone would then say, “Okay!” if everything was good with the equipment check. The first guy at the door would then shout “All okay jumpmaster!” When we were almost over the drop zone the jumpmaster would tell the first person “Stand in the door!”. The light on the door would go green and then the jumpmaster would yell “GO!” Within a few seconds we would all exit the aircraft right behind each other on our way to the ground. Depending on the altitude we jumped from, wind speed, and who packed our parachutes determined how quickly we made it to the ground.
The experience is highly exhilarating, but preparing for it took time. We did not show up one morning and take a one-hour class on how to leave a moving aircraft and land on the ground without perishing. We spent weeks preparing, 8 to 10 hours a day, sometimes practicing very basic and simple things over and over again. But one of the first things they did to us to prepare for leaving an aircraft was a simple test. We strapped into a similar harness that we would use when we don a parachute. But instead of a parachute they connected us to a sideways zipline of sorts. The catch? You are five stories from the ground in a “simulated aircraft” that is actually just a box with a hole cut out of a five-story stairwell. The mindset is that if you can step out of that box at five stories, you will step out at 1800 feet or higher. Guess what? It works. You quickly find out those that allow their fear to not allow their bodies to leave that box. I tell you all of that to paint a picture for you. Are you ready?
Cyber Attack Preparation
Are you, right now, training and preparing for a security breach or attack?
Do you have basic computer knowledge, but are new to cybersecurity and in need of an introduction to the fundamentals?
For instance,
- Are you bombarded with complex technical security terms that you don’t understand?
- Are you a non-IT security manager who is awake at night worrying that your company will be the next mega-breach headline story on the 6 o’clock news?
- Do you need to be conversant in basic security concepts, principles, and terms, even if you don’t need “deep in the weeds” detail?
- Do you fully understand why some organizations get compromised and others do not?
- If there were compromised systems on your network, are you confident that you would be able to find it?
- Do you know the effectiveness of each security device and are you certain that they are all configured correctly?
- Are proper security metrics set up and communicated to your executives to drive security decisions?
You need to prepare and train because the time is coming. The light will turn green and you will have to leave the aircraft. Whether you are prepared or not, you are going to exit that door. When you exit that door, are you mentally prepared? Do you have the skillset to navigate and counter the issues that you will experience? Can you safely land on the ground and walk away off the drop zone?
Today you need to begin planning and training. If you would like to have a discussion or have questions, we have resources to help guide you. Despite our fears the green light will come on and we need to be prepared and ready when it does.
“You need to prepare and train because the time is coming. Do you have the skillset to navigate and counter the issues that you will experience?“
– Todd Ellis, CTO, Secure Networkers