Articles
Insights and perspectives on technology, cybersecurity, leadership, artificial intelligence, and the evolving digital world.
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Own the Outcome, Even When You Don’t Own the Problem
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Leadership is not defined by who can redirect a problem fastest. It is revealed by who helps move it forward At some point in every career, a problem will land in front of you that does not technically belong to you. It may arrive through the wrong ticket queue, appear in an email sent to…
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The Computer Knows What’s Wrong. Why Won’t It Tell Us?
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After decades of technological advancement, troubleshooting still feels remarkably primitive Modern computers can generate realistic images, translate languages instantly, predict equipment failures, recognize faces, and analyze billions of events in seconds. Yet when a Windows server begins exhausting network resources, an application starts dropping packets, or a firewall queue approaches capacity, the person responsible for…
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The Second Set of Eyes… Why Quality Control Still Matters Everywhere
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Earlier in my career, I spent time working in manufacturing and distribution environments, including Sara Lee and Chock full o’Nuts. Technology looked very different then. We were working with platforms such as Sybase and JD Edwards World and OneWorld, and I was involved with organizations working through ISO 9000, ISO 9001, and many other quality…
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We Spent 30 Years Securing Users. Now We Have to Secure AI Agents
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We Spent 30 Years Securing Users. Now We Have to Secure AI Agents. About a year ago, someone asked me to put together a proof of concept demonstrating what an AI agent could actually do. Not another chatbot. Not something that simply answered questions or generated text. They wanted to see an agent perform a…
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What I Brought Home From Vegas
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Reflections After Black Hat USA and DEF CON 2026 A couple of days ago, while still in Las Vegas, I wrote about returning to DEF CON after many years away and what it was like seeing a community I had known in its earlier days become what it is today. That article was largely about…
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I Didn’t Discover the Hacker Community at DEF CON. I Watched It Grow Up.
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I Didn’t Discover the Hacker Community at DEF CON. I Watched It Grow Up. Coming back to DEF CON in 2026 after many years away has been a little surreal. I attended several of the early DEF CON conferences… four or five of the first ten, if my memory serves me correctly. Then life, careers,…
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The Old School IT Series… Yesterday’s Lessons. Tomorrow’s Technology.
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Technology changes every day. Principles don’t. August 2026 Episode… The Locksmith (Why Identity Is the New Front Door) There was a time when securing a business was relatively straightforward. At the end of the day, someone walked through the building. The windows were checked. The lights were turned off. The doors were locked. And somewhere,…
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Risk Acceptance in the Agentic Era
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Why AI Forces Us to Rethink One of Cybersecurity’s Oldest Assumptions For decades, cybersecurity professionals have relied on a familiar framework when making difficult security decisions. Then, if the business determines the remaining exposure is acceptable, we document the decision and move forward. Every organization does it. Whether formally documented in an enterprise risk register…
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Black Hat, Hotel Wi-Fi, and the Death of “Trusted Networks”
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I’m writing this from a hotel room in Las Vegas while attending Black Hat and DEF CON. Thousands of security professionals from around the world are gathered here to discuss the latest vulnerabilities, zero-day exploits, AI security, ransomware, identity protection, and the future of cybersecurity. Ironically, one of the most interesting security stories this week…
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The Old School IT Series… Yesterday’s Lessons. Tomorrow’s Technology.
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Technology changes every day. Principles don’t. July 2026 Episode… Neighborhood Watch (The Original Cybersecurity Team) There was a time, not all that long ago, when security didn’t require artificial intelligence, machine learning, or billion-dollar software platforms. It required Mrs. Henderson. Every neighborhood had one. She wasn’t a police officer. She wasn’t a detective. She certainly…
