SANS Technology Institute: Security Musings
Welcome to the Security Musings on sans.edu. I'm Stephen Northcutt and like many of you I am a manager and leader with an information technology job. At the SANS Technology Institute, we are always striving to become more skilled and knowledgeable in computer security as well as the people side of the job. These security musings are an informal set of articles, book reviews and whitepapers, almost a blog, about security, information technology, and the computer security industry. As we learn more, ponder issues and research content for SANS Management 512, Security Leadership Essentials and the GIAC Security Certification, we will continue to add to this site. Our hope is for this to be a resource for the community and we would love to hear from you. Feel free to drop us a note at stephen@sans.edu.
Click here to subscribe to the Musings Article Feed
- Information Security Travel Guide
Stephen Northcutt, an Information Security Researcher, United Airlines 1k, Writer and Instructor, documents the struggles of the travel and hospitality industries as we all face rapidly increasing energy costs. He and his peers share their travel experiences and give you quick tips and short reviews of the companies they do business with as they travel. If you came across this article because of a Google search, what you want is probably here, just use find with your browswer (CTRL - F), it is easier than reading from top to bottom; however, you may get some useful tips if you stick around and read. Each major cluster of trips is documented in a separate file.
United Airlines News - Updated March 14th, 2010
By Stephen Northcutt
Stephen Northcutt, a United 1k traveler collects pertinent news and blog items about airlines, especially United Airlines. We will keep you up to date on news, problems and other stories related to airline travel. Might even toss in a personal experience of two.
Information Security Tour Guide Edition 16 - Updated March 15th, 2010
By Stephen Northcutt
Thank you for joining us; this edition will cover Kauai, Richmond Virginia, Germany, Orlando Florida, Jamaica and the airports and airlines required to get from one point to the other.
Insider's Guide to SANS Boston 2010 - Updated March 5th, 2010
By Stephen Northcutt
Version 1.5This is an invitation to attend SANS Boston 2010, describes the conference "behind-the-scenes" and also has some fun facts about Boston including the inside scoop on the history of Boston, including the Boston Tea Party, fun facts about Boston. It is a fact filled introduction of one of the greatest cities in the U.S. By the way, some of it is pure fiction such as references to base 16, hope you do not mind.
Information Security Travel Guide Edition 15 - Stephen Northcutt - Updated February 23rd, 2010
By Stephen Northcutt
In edition 15 of the information security tour guide we begin in Poipu Kauai, we will be attending the HICSS conference, then off island to New Orleans for SANS Security East 2010, and then on to Curacao and back to Richmond VA, and finally back to Kauai. We will document the hotels and restaurants we visit. We will also detail the struggles of travel after the Nigerian Islamic terrorist, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, tried to blow up a plane headed for Detroit on Christmas day. We will talk about information security, food, and similar things as well.
Information Security Travel Guide Edition 14 - Stephen Northcutt - Updated December 10th, 2009
By Stephen Northcutt
Stephen and Kathy Northcutt, your faithful infosec tour guides will be headed for a college business meeting in Bethesda Maryland. down to Richmond VA, off to London for SANS London 09, back to Richmond, then up to Washington DC for our Cyber Defense Initiative conference. Along the way we will talk about the joys and difficulties of travel since the Great Recession has caused so many amenities to be removed; we will also mention the restaurants and hotels we visit, maybe throw in a recipe or two; and, of course, a security tip here and there. At least, that is the plan for Edition 14 of the Information Security Tour Guide.
Information Security Travel Guide Edition 13 - Stephen Northcutt - Updated November 21st, 2009
By Stephen Northcutt
Stephen and Kathy Northcutt, your faithful security travel guides, will leave Kauai for New York City and a tour of Israel. We will talk about prepping to go, flying ultralights on Kauai with Big Sky Kauai, getting our new HP Minis set up; we will cover the places we go, what we learn, and any food we get to eat, and, of course, find a way to mention security along the way!
Information Security Travel Guide Edition 12 - Stephen Northcutt - Updated October 5th, 2009
By Stephen Northcutt
We will talk about security, safety, travel experience, and of course, restaurants. In this edition, Stephen documents his travels, beginning home on Kauai in preparation for a trip to Boston, Greece, VA Beach and SANS Network Security 2009 in San Diego.We end with a trip to the Navy lab where it all started, NSWC Dahlgren.
Information Security Travel Guide Edition 11 - Updated July 25th, 2009
By Stephen Northcutt
Stephen Northcutt, your infosec travel guide, begins edition 11 on Kauai. His next travels are Richmond VA/San Antonio TX for an onsite, then a couple weeks on Kauai and off to Baltimore MD for #sansfire09. And then down to Southern Florida for the sfissa.org conference. Finally after a week on Kauai, he is off to Denver, Tokyo, and back to San Antonio. Along the way, he will try to share about information security, a bit about the potential pandemic and any travel news that comes his way.
Information Security Travel Guide Edition 10 - Stephen Northcutt - Updated April 28th, 2009
By Stephen Northcutt
Stephen Northcutt, your Security Tour Guide, is preparing for his next trip, it will include a log management conference in Washington DC, some family time in Richmond VA, teaching at Tysons Corner conference, and then off to San Francisco for RSA 2009, before returning to Kauai.
Version 1.12Information Security Travel Guide Edition 9, Kauai to Frederick MD, Phoenix AZ, and back to Kauai - Updated March 31st, 2009
By Stephen Northcutt
Version 1.4I'm gearing up for travel to Fort Detrick near Frederick Maryland to teach Management 512 SANS Security Leadership Essentials. A big focus of the trip will be to prepare them for their 8570 GIAC GSLC exams. From there I'll head to Phoenix Arizona for a SANS conference. This edition will cover information security topics, travel tips, a word or two about restaurants and musings on life in general. Also, if you have time, please take a look at my United Airlines blog as well.
Information Security Travel Guide: February-March 2009, Kauai to Orlando, FL - Updated March 10th, 2009
By Stephen Northcutt
Version 1.3Stephen is preparing to go to Orlando for SANS2009, but he gets a chance to be home on Kauai for a few days before flying and take a look at what's happening in the world of information security, Facebook Google ad scams, and current affairs.
Information Security Travel Guide: January - February 2009, Kauai to Las Vegas NV, Richmond VA,Toronto ONT, and San Diego CA - Updated February 18th, 2009
By Stephen Northcutt
Version 1.5Stephen spent some time at home on Kauai during the holidays before their current trip to SANS Security West 2009 in Las Vegas. He was able to visit with family as well as catch up on recent information security news blogs and alerts.
Information Security Travel Guide: November - December 2008, Kauai to Italy, Washington DC and Richmond VA - Updated December 27th, 2008
By Stephen Northcutt
Version 1.4Stephen spent some time before their trip to Italy, London and beyond, to get caught up on all the latest information security courses, blogs and alerts, and he shares some recent trends in the airline industry that are important to frequent and casual travelers alike. And then, they are off and running in Italy, discovering historical sites, wonderful food, and breathtaking art; Stephen also has some great travel tips to share about getting around in Italy.
Information Security Travel Guide: October 2008, Kauai to Monterey CA and Richmond VA - Updated November 11th, 2008
By Stephen Northcutt
Version 1.4A two week trip to Monterey, CA and Richmond, VA has commenced for this instructor, and there are a lot of stories to discuss about information security, travel, airlines, and the hospitality industry.
Information Security Travel Guide: October 2008, Kauai to Houston - Updated October 22nd, 2008
By Stephen Northcutt
Stephen spends some time before his trip to Houston to offer some findings from his internet searches on airlines, travel experiences and information security. Then, safely booked at a hotel in the Galleria area, he shares some of the ups and downs of running a small MGT512 class at the Hilton Garden Inn, Galleria area.
Information Security Travel Guide: September 2008, Kauai to Las Vegas - Updated October 8th, 2008
By Stephen Northcutt
We will talk about security, safety, travel experience, and of course, restaurants. In this edition, Stephen documents his travels, beginning home on Kauai in preparation for a trip to Las Vegas and SANS Network Security 2008.
Information Security Travel Guide: August-September 2008, Boston, Richmond, Virginia Beach, Chicago, Branson - Updated September 23rd, 2008
By Stephen Northcutt
Version 1.4In this edition, Stephen documents his travels, including Boston, Fredericksburg Virginia, Virginia Beach, Richmond Virginia, Chicago, Branson MO and Chesterfield Virginia, including restaurants and products encountered. Lots of people say they want to travel; Kathy and Stephen are living the dream, working their way with writing and teaching across this nation and the world.
Information Security Travel Guide: July 2008, Quantico, Atlanta and Washington DC - Updated October 23rd, 2008
By Stephen Northcutt
Version 1.2A three week trip to Quantico, VA, Atlanta, GA, and Washington, D.C. provides this instructor with a wide range of travel and hospitality experiences. Hopefully you can glean some useful tips in this travel diary from a very frequent flier.
Information Security Travel Guide: Tips for Traveling - Updated November 22nd, 2009
By Stephen Northcutt
Version 1.3One of the readers of the SANS Information Security Travel Guide asked me to put all the travel tips in one place, so here is a consolidation of tips from my travel experiences and research.
