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Field notes from 20+ years in security. Plus the occasional detour into life, work, and whatever else is on my mind.

Featured image for Your Vendors Are Your Biggest Security Risk. Here's What to Do About It.

Your Vendors Are Your Biggest Security Risk. Here's What to Do About It.

Most community banks can answer every question about their own security posture. But ask about their vendors, and you get silence. Here's how to fix that.

community-bankingvendor-riskthird-party-riskinsights
Featured image for The Real AI Threat Isn't Job Loss. It's Irrelevance.

The Real AI Threat Isn't Job Loss. It's Irrelevance.

Everyone's worried AI will take their job. The bigger risk is becoming the person who can't keep up because you refused to learn how to use it.

ai-for-businessai-toolscareer
Featured image for It's 2026. You Can Use the Guest WiFi.

It's 2026. You Can Use the Guest WiFi.

A security professional scolded me for connecting to guest WiFi. Meanwhile, 100+ CISOs signed a letter asking people to stop giving exactly that advice.

security-culturehacklorepractical-securityinsights
Featured image for You Want to Try OpenClaw. Here's How to Not Wreck Yourself.

You Want to Try OpenClaw. Here's How to Not Wreck Yourself.

OpenClaw is genuinely cool technology—and a real security risk. Instead of telling you to run away, here's how to experiment with it safely.

ai-securityagentic-aiopenclawsecurity-controls
Featured image for Why Your Incident Response Plan Will Fail (And What to Build Instead)

Why Your Incident Response Plan Will Fail (And What to Build Instead)

Most IR plans fail not because they're poorly written, but because plans don't survive contact with reality. Here's how to build response capability instead of just documentation.

incident-responsesecurity-operationscrisis-managementtabletop-exercisessecurity-leadershipcisobusiness-continuitysecurity-planninginsights
Featured image for The Drinking Bird at the Nuclear Plant

The Drinking Bird at the Nuclear Plant

Sam Altman wants to give AI full access to everything. Your users will too. Your AI security strategy isn't competing against attackers; it's competing against tedium. Tedium wins.

ai-securityagentic-aisecurity-controlsuser-behaviorrisk-managementsecurity-leadershipopenaiautomationinsights
Featured image for SIEM vs. MDR for Community Banks: What Actually Works (And What's a Waste of Money)

SIEM vs. MDR for Community Banks: What Actually Works (And What's a Waste of Money)

A practical guide for community banks choosing between SIEM and MDR solutions. Real costs, what examiners actually want, and a decision framework for banks under $2B in assets.

community-bankssiemmdrffieccompliancesecurity-operationsbankingvirtual-cisothreat-detectionsecurity-budgetinsights
Featured image for The Security Program You Actually Need (Not the One Vendors Are Selling You)

The Security Program You Actually Need (Not the One Vendors Are Selling You)

Most security advice assumes you're a Fortune 500. You're not. Here's what you actually need at your size, what you can skip, and how to know when to level up.

community-banksfintechstartupssecurity-programsright-sizing-securityinsights
Featured image for I Built a Live Deepfake in 30 Minutes. Here's the Part That Actually Scares Me.

I Built a Live Deepfake in 30 Minutes. Here's the Part That Actually Scares Me.

Using AI coding tools, I built a convincing live deepfake demo in 30 minutes with zero machine learning knowledge. The barrier to creating sophisticated attacks isn't technical skill anymore, it's just intent.

aideepfakesfraud-preventionsocial-engineering
Featured image for Intentions, Not Resolutions: On Choosing Presence Over Urgency

Intentions, Not Resolutions: On Choosing Presence Over Urgency

On knowing the always-on CISO life isn't sustainable, doing it anyway, and what fractional work is teaching me about presence.

careercisoleadershipwork-life-balancefractional-cisonew-yearsintentionsinsights