Things I Learned in 2020
Dressed for 2020 success. Outside of the mask, these were items I purchased pre-pandemic in an “avoid facial recognition software” experiment.
This is not one of those “in these trying times” blog posts where I reflect on the hardships we had in 2020. No, this is one of those blog posts where I mention a few things I learned about or had some type of “aha” moment over the past year.
Conferences
Recording a conference talk beforehand and being present for the livestream is fun. I did it twice - one for a conference where the talk was recorded on special SaaS-based conference software, and once where I recorded and produced the talk myself. Now I did do an in-person talk right before the pandemic proper, and I enjoyed it a lot, but truthfully I got much more honest feedback (good and “constructive”) at the virtual conferences than at the in-person event.
Prepping
Before 2020 I was considered a hoarder and one of those penny pinching people who bought in bulk. Now I am considered a seasoned pro as a “prepper”. And it turns out that my grandparents who lived through the Great Depression had a point hoarding toilet paper and paper towels. We actually were doing it before 2020 because it was cheaper to buy in huge quantities. Once there was a run on the grocery stores and online locations near the beginning of 2020, I could hear my grandparents’ voices from beyond the grave saying “See? Told ya.”
Grocery Shopping
Buying groceries online and having the local grocer deliver said groceries is awesome. The trick is to shop from local grocers that have established delivery systems. Shop at one, and if a few items are out of stock, shop at a second. Last resort use Amazon Pantry and Amazon Fresh which cost a lot more. Regardless, this will continue after the pandemic is over. This is the way.
Pandemic Perk
Wearing a mask is awesome. With a hat, sunglasses, mask, and a few “going gray” tactics, I not only blend in and go unnoticed but this pretty much defeats facial recognition going on with surveillance cameras. I’m doing the mask thing as long as possible. Even after I get the vaccine and the whole thing is done, I will continue to wear it and just tell people “I’m one of those rare people allergic to the vaccine.” I seriously love wearing the mask.
Advanced Persistent Threat
Many people in Infosec still didn’t get what APT was all about until SolarWinds. I mean, they kind of did, but this event somehow made it real. I thought everyone knew that places like FireEye were putting out data on just some of the APT groups while holding back some for OPSEC reasons, and that all that shit about “advanced” and “persistent” was actually properly named. I can’t wait for some of them to realize that APT actors will also target key management personnel, admins, security team members - including their personal social media and emails, home networks, and any other way they can to compromise a victim company. At least in this area I am no longer Cassandra of the Internet.
Anyway, that is my list of things for 2020 that made me sit back and say “huh, that’s interesting.”
