Metric for security risk as presented by BitSight’s Transforming IT Risk Management With Security Ratings
Two slides that caught my attention;
The security ratings methodology
Aug 152014
Insight into third party networksJul 112014
I am going through my mindmap maps and came across a ‘Word Checker’ list. I must have extracted the list from somewhere/someone, but the source of reference is missing. Oops!
does it mean what we intend?
does it have any other meaning?
if so, does the context make the intended meaning clear?
does the word have more than one pronunciation that might be confused?
is there any word of similar pronunciation that might be confused?
is simpler word or phrase suggested either in dictionary or in a thesaurus
Jul 062014
Problems are created and maintained through the mishandling of difficulties.
Difficulties mean an undesirable state of affairs which either can be resolved through some common-sense action (usually the first-order change type)for which no special problem solving skills are necessary. More frequently an undesirable but usually quite common life situation for which there exists no known solution and which – at least for the time being – must simply be lived with.
Problems when referring to impasses, deadlocks, knots etc, which are created and maintained through the mishandling of difficulties.
There are basically three ways in which this mishandling can occur;
A) A solution is attempted by denying that a problem is a problem; action is necessary, but is not taken
B) Change is attempted regarding a difficulty which for all practical purposes is either unchangeable or nonexistent; action is taken when it should not be
C) An error in logical typing is committed and a Game Without End established. This may occure either by attempting a first-order change in a situation which can be changed only from the next higher logical level, or conversely, by attempting second-order change when a first-order change would be appropriate (e.g. when people demand changes of ‘attitude’ and are not content with changes of behaviour); action is taken at the wrong level
Taken from the book: Change principles of Problem Formation and Problem Resolution by Paul Watzlawick et al. Chapter 3 “More of the same” or, when the solution becomes the problem.
Which type of mishandling would closely describe the Target breach case?
One account of the Target case is described in this article
Jul 032014
Do I make decision based on well-formed or clearly identified problems and risky choices listed?
No time to reflect on such question!
Being a Buddhist by choice and by birth right, I am always looking for ways to live my life more in tune with my chosen way. So how do I do my PhD following my chosen way?. I prefer the word ‘way’ to ‘law/rules/policies’ or anything that resembles ‘rigidity to the extreme’ or anything that involves little respect for human and our environment. Also, the word ‘way’ brings me closer to the ‘way of the Tao’.
I came across a four-step procedure in a book, CHANGE Principles of Problem Formation and Problem Resolution by Paul Watzlawick, et al. The steps on page 110 are;
1) a clear definition of the problem in concrete terms;
2) an investigation of the solutions attempted so far;
3) a clear definition of the concrete change to be achieved;
4) the formulation and implementation of a plan to produce this change.
In the book, the footnote for this four-step procedure has this;
“Only long after we had systematized our approach in this way did we realize that we had, without blasphemic malice aforethought, plagiarized the four Noble Truths of Buddhism, namely: of suffering, of the origin of suffering, of the cessation of suffering, and of the path leading to the cessation of suffering. On reflection this is not too surprising since the basic teachings of Buddhism are eminently practical and existential.”
Jan 112014
Just before Christmas 2013 I cancelled my TV licence. I had it because I was on Virgin Media ‘bundle services’ for internet broadband, telephone landline and TV. Back in 2011, buying internet broadband was like grocery shopping i.e. buy-two-get-one-free special deals. So I was sold ‘buy broadband and telephone and get TV free’ deal. I took this as a sign of the end of my analogue TV, and the start of digital convergence into my lounge space. The ‘bundles’ deal turned out to be non economical as I had to buy a new TV and the licence and also pay for the landline calls and subscription. Somehow the death of analogue TV has not killed off the TV licence. Also, it turns out that folks just turn to mobile rather than use the landline.
Then in early 2013 mobile companies were offering ‘unlimited or eat as much as you want’ internet. Within less than 3 years, internet broadband shopping turns from grocery shopping to buffet-style eatery i.e. eat however much you want!
Now I only have one device i.e. a smartmobile for mobile and internet, and one bill and one company to deal with. Instead of paying for a TV licence I am paying for a mobile insurance. Heh! I don’t even have a health or life insurance and yet I am paying for a mobile insurance. Just goes to show how dependent I am on my smartphone or more precisely how technology, especially the internet has changed and is changing my life-style whether I like it or not.
The term internet itself is following a new style or trend. It seems that it is ‘stylish’ to use the term ‘cyberspace’ these days. I use the term ‘stylish’ as it’s a matter of taste or preference, depending on who you are or where you are coming from, and also what you are used to. So far I have the ‘internet or www or the net or cyberspace’ for this ‘interconnected technology’.
Perhaps this description, extracted from govinfosecurity.comcovers it all ;
“The Internet is part town square (where people engage in politics and speech), part Main Street (where people shop), part dark alleys (where crime occurs), part secret corridors (where spies engage in economic and military espionage) and part battlefield.”
Dec 212013
It’s a wet and windy day today, a day for staying in.
Will aim to finish reading online the book ‘The craft of research’ as mentioned in Extract 1.
Here’s 2nd extract :-
Regularly test your progress by asking a roommate, relative, or friend to force you to flesh out those three steps. Even if you can’t take them all confidently, you’ll know where you are and where you still have to go.
To summarize: Your aim is to explain
1. what you are writing about— I am working on the topic of . . .
2. what you don’t know about it— because I want to find out . . .
3. why you want your reader to know and care about it— in order to help my reader understand better . . .
Dec 202013
Moving from ‘timelessness’ to getting on with my research activities…
I call this post ‘Extract 1′ as I will post snippet of extracts from books/journals that I want reminding on. Please note that these extracts are for educational research purposes only, and in full compliance with all manner of intellectual property rights. I have no intention to violate any such rules or regulations.
First extract is from ‘The craft of research’ by Booth, Wayne C. (Wayne Clayson); Colomb, Gregory G; Williams, Joseph M, 2008 (online book) :-
Resolve to do lots of writing along the way. Much of it will be
routine note taking, … explain why you disagree with a source; draw diagrams to connect disparate facts; summarize sources, positions,..; record even random thoughts. You might not include much of this writing-to-discover-and-understand in your final draft. But when you write as you go,every day, you encourage your own best critical thinking, understand your sources better, and, when the time comes, draft more productively.
So I resolve to write (whenever!) as ‘writing is thinking’.
Mmm… I tend to doodle more, so will also doodle along the way.