NIST Cybersecurity Framework Draft - Not Ready For Primetime

When Executive Order 13636, “Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity¹,” was released earlier this year, it called for the development of a cybersecurity framework.  The purpose, as expected given the myriad of news articles covering critical infrastructure cybersecurity, was to improve the cybersecurity posture of these organizations by giving them a voluntary framework that enables them to identify, assess, and manage cyber risk.  Fortunately, the “Preliminary Cybersecurity Framework²” is still in draft form, with the latest round of development workshops just completed in Dallas, TX, because it seems like the lessons that should have been learned by other similar frameworks have not yet made their way into the current discussion.

3 reasons why you need to learn to code

You don't need to have a degree in Computer Science to write a little bit of code.  Sure it may be daunting at first, but spend a weekend doing some research and working through hands-on examples, and you will be hooked!  Now I'm not talking about developing the next Angry Birds or some complex networking application.

Start small, start with "scripting", and after the initial hurdle, your momentum will keep you moving.

Why would you want to do this?  Well here are three reasons you need to learn to code:

History: Computer Bug

Yesterday, an interesting little bit popped up on my "This Day in US Navy History" feed.  Most everyone here has probably heard the name Admiral Grace Hopper.

She was not only the first programmer of the Navy's Mark I computer, not only the first recipient of Data Processing Management Associations "Man of the Year" award, not only the first woman to be awarded a PhD in Mathematics from Yale University...

But did you know that she was the first...

Building Relationships With Language

I was recently given the opportunity to attend and work a planning exercise at a Combatant Command.  This event involved meeting and collaborating closely with more than 15 partner nations, high majority of which spoke Spanish.  Some of which only spoke Spanish.

And yes, I speak and understand (regardless of (and apologies to) my high school Spanish teacher) practically no Spanish.

And honestly ... I was rather embarrassed.