For my 10th post I thought I would chronicle the amazing experience I have had launching this blog and becoming a more active member of the information security community.
Alan Shimel coined the term 'Social Security' and despite its unfortunate overlap with benefits for the retired and disabled, it really fits. To me 'Social Security' is the act of sharing information security knowledge for the common good. The 200+ bloggers of the Security Bloggers Network give freely of their time and knowledge and many of them have to do so outside of normal work hours in order to keep their posts free of sales pitches ;) Many of the same bloggers are highly accessible on another great tool of the Social Security space, Twitter. Specifically the ever growing list of Security Twits carefully maintained by @quine who's members are a fountain of information.
One month ago today I launched my blog, Developing Security. I'm a Software Architect and I wanted to share my experiences developing (secure) security software. Alan Shimel was gracious enough to add me to SBN providing for an instant readership (and of course, pressure!). I also joined Twitter at the same time and followed many of the members of the Security Twits list. One of the people who noticed that I followed him was Rafal Los. He was setting up an OWASP tour and noticed that my location was on the stop. He asked me if I was aware of the event and going to attend. Long story short, I ended up being involved hosting the meeting and got a great opportunity to meet Raf. Had it not be for Twitter and 'Social Security' that's likely the first of many opportunities that would have passed me by.
Every day, the power of Twitter really continues to surprise me. Once I asked about Javascript exploits (one of my favorite topics) and within a minute I was pointed down another direction that aided my research. Another time I complained about the excessive sound effects on the OWASP podcast and Jim Manicode, who produces the podcast, saw this. After an email exchange Jim agreed with my opinion, and now the latest podcasts aren't loaded with effects. Would I have complained before Twitter? Likely not. By following the Security Twits I have discovered so many more podcasts, webcasts, groups and articles. Often this information appears on Twitter before you can find it on other sources. I've also been pleasantly surprised by the people who choose to tweet about blog posts I have written. The positive comments are really appreciated.
One month and 10 posts in, I'm really enjoying this new world. For anyone remotely thinking about starting an information security blog or joining the Security Twits, I would highly recommend it. Its definitely been a highly valuable excursion for me.
For the next couple of weeks I'll be on the road demonstrating Third Brigade's VMsafe-based Virtual Appliance. If you happen to be at the VMware Partner Exchange in Orlando (April 14 - 16), please drop by the vCloud pavilion. I've been working with a great team on our Virtual Appliance and it's exciting to get a chance to show it off. I'll be writing more about VMsafe and other efforts to apply security at the virtualization layer in the future. It's a project that I have been deeply involved with and it's very interesting subject matter.
The following week I'll be at RSA either at the sessions or at booth 538. I'm also really exited to be attending the Security Bloggers Meetup. These people are celebrities to me and I look forward to meeting them! If you would like to find me at RSA just message me on Twitter @justin_foster.
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