Happy Sunday Friends!

Here is 1 quote I’m musing, 2 Ideas, 3 of my favorite things from the week, and 1 question. If you find it useful or interesting, please feel free to forward this along to some friends or others!

One Quote I’m Musing

“To fulfill my social duty—to do my duty to my kind—I must feel a concern for all mankind. I must remember that we humans were created for one another, that we were born, says Marcus, to work together the way our hands or eyelids do. Therefore, in all I do, I must have as my goal ‘the service and harmony of all.’ More precisely, ‘I am bound to do good to my fellow-creatures and bear with them’”

-William B. Irvine

I was at Billington’s Cybersecurity Summit this week. It was quite the event, and I am surprised I’d never attended before. It was great to experience thoughts of leaders and thinkers from across the gamut of cyber and technology coming together with the unifying construct of security by design.

From Firesides with white house leaders to panels combining industry leaders in AI and securities with Federal leaders and academics, there was something from everyone and for anyone here.

It was also an eye-opening opportunity to see what each player was employing to solve problems and situations.

One common element I found was a myriad of like-capabilities. Many organizations (Academic, Corporate/Industry, and government) are doing nigh on the same work. Not simply similar, but the same results just with different languages.

It was amazing, everyone agreed on the need, all agreed on the requirement, all came at them from different angles within their own ecosystems.

From my perspective, we see multiple elements of an organization contracting separate providers for overlapping capabilities.

This wasn’t simply people only vying to make a buck, I experienced similar conversations on requirements and needs in different conversations, with different people from different organizations.

I wonder if the “interest graph” that platforms use to tag people and organizations as being of a particular ideology and online culture has shifted the game away from specifically a capitalist pursuit to a game of influence and relevancy. Meaning that if entities are competing for attention, they’re sort of doubling down on the niches and much smaller, but largely more accessible, markets.

In either scenario, the common denominator is that WE weren’t ensuring that we communicated across the myriad microcosms inside the tech sector to ensure everyone could benefit. Which brings me to my point.

Communication and collaboration are key in the fifth domain. In any domain. Whether it be AI, Threat Intelligence, Vulnerability Scanning, SOC Operations, or any other endeavor. Someone knows how to solve the problem, someone has already experienced it and documented it.

In ancient times, philosophers (which is really what a lot of this is until put into practice) like Zeno would hold these sessions at the Stoa (“porch”). The Stoa became a place for people to gather, exchange and challenge ideas, and work collectively to the betterment of the whole.

The chain of results speaks for itself. The works of Zeno, and Cato produced inspirations and works that bring Epictetus, Rusticus, Seneca, and eventually Marcus Aurelius to add to the body of work, producing (arguably) the most timelessly relevant materials to date.

Then, the question for us is

Where do we go to learn, teach, and share essential knowledge and information and also hold each other accountable?

A brick-and-mortar building is subject to physical limitations and, in the case of the great library of Alexandria, susceptibility to catastrophic events. And there are so many of us across the globe, it wouldn’t be feasible to have a single Stoa to fit us all.

We have to create a digital Stoa for knowledge cross leveling. A Cybersecurity Consortium if you will. One where we come together collaboratively for the good of the entire domain to share tradecraft and information on emergent threats, vulnerabilities, and disruptive technology. I imagine it must be headed by a group who will never stand to gain (at least monetarily) from the outcomes but has a vested interest in curating the solutions.

I’m increasingly convinced this is a thing we would all need and something I’m going to put resources to. If you want to be a part of it, I’d love to have you and hear from you.

-e

Two Ideas From Me

Helping others pursue their dreams is a great endeavor. But we should be careful not to try to do it all for them; lest they resent our living their life for them.
Many times, in a conversation or argument, perspective is the best tool to find a solution. Think about how it would feel if you were the person hosting the meeting, hosting the party, using the product, or on the other end of the conversation. An educated mind, as Aristotle tells us, must be able to entertain a thought without necessarily accepting it.

Three Favorite Things From Others

“If I am worth anything later, I am worth something now. For wheat is wheat, even if people think it is a grass in the beginning.” | Vincent Van Gough
“In every challenge or even tragedy, there is an opportunity. And if you train yourself to look for the opportunity, you will be able to take control of the situation and even turn it into a positive or if it can’t be turned into something good, at least something good could come out of it.” | Rabbi Manachem Schneerson
“You are going to spend 1000x more time in your surrounding 5 blocks than you will in any other neighborhood in your city. Thinking about all the things that New York City has—or the next city has—is a lot less important than thinking about the things within the five blocks where you live.
Most neighborhoods in your city you might never step foot in. They might as well be in the other side of the country. But the things in your immediate vicinity are the things that are going to dominate your life. So picking and influencing your neighborhood is really important… the neighborhood determines quite a bit about our life and our happiness.” | Phil Levin

One Question

Who are the experts in your profession, in your organization, and how are you collaborating to share knowledge to lower the collective ignorance cost.

Have a wonderful week,

I’ll see you Sunday.
-e