While watching Holmes on Homes this evening with the wife I was reminded of a comment Rich Mogull made after Steve Jobs passed; that we don’t have a Steve Jobs of security. The intersection of the two things is which does the security industry need? For those that aren’t familiar with the show it is basically about a general contractor, Mike Holmes, and his team who goes into houses and fixes what others have jacked up; either the initial builder or other contractors who have come in after the fact to do remodeling, expansion projects, whatever. This usually involves peeling back successive layers around the problem spots until the issues are found, remediated (in our vernacular), and the area brought back to a pristine state.
Part of the problem in my mind is our networks aren’t very tangible. No doubt we can touch routing gear, systems, etc. However, it is one thing to point out where the flow of water from the roof can pool around your foundation leading to issues and somewhat of another to point at where elements of your defense in depth implementation/points of possible exposure are weaker than others. Especially to non technical folks whose eyes glaze over quickly.
In the end I guess the answer to my original question is it isn’t an either/or. The industry could use folks better at both roles – visionaries and folks that can spot the issues and correct them. The more appropriate question is probably what does your company need and what role are you playing about either end of that need spectrum?
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