Archive for the ‘SANS Phoenix’ Tag

Insider’s Guide to a SANS Conference – Day 4

Posted March 26, 2009
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In today’s MGMT 512 course, we discussed “the value of information”.   My favorite part of the course material was a discussion about intellectual property.  I will have to write a full length blog post on the topic in coming weeks – the topic and discussion were simply fascinating!

We also had a session on IT ethics.  I really like the printed course material for that section because there were a number of different ethical scenarios, along with a conservative opinion and a liberal opinion (not using conservative/liberal in the political sense).  I thought it offered a lot of value to look at both sides of the issue.  

As you may have seen in a previous post, I have been planning a short interview with Stephen Northcutt about the state of wireless networking, social media, etc.  We were able to conduct that interview after class, and I will have it posted to my blog as quickly as I can get it transcribed.  

Tomorrow is the end of the MGMT 512 course.  I believe it ends with a Management Practicum, although I am not sure.  Check back tomorrow to hear all about it!   🙂

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Insider’s Guide to a SANS Conference – Day 1

Posted March 23, 2009
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If you are reading this, it means that we both survived Day 1 of SANS Phoenix.  🙂  

My favorite part of the day was helping everyone at the registration desk.  It was fun meeting so many different people. There seemed to be a good mix of people returning to SANS as well as first time conference attendees.  

Stephen Northcutt gave a short “Welcome to SANS” briefing this morning.  I wasn’t able to attend as I was at the registration desk (see above).  

Classes kicked off at 9AM and most ran until approx. 5:30-6:00PM.  I know that we covered a TON of information in the MGMT 512 (Security Leadership Essentials for Managers) course.  We talked about budgeting, project management, vulnerability management, and vendor selection processes.   

Even though I am in a Management course, there was a great deal of technical information covered in Day 1.  We discussed the TCP/IP header, ports/protocols, and packet analysis.  At one point I felt like Neo in The Matrix – (paraphasing more than an exact quote…) “what do you see in the matrix?  ones and zeros?  I see a blonde.  I see a brunette.” 

Logistically, everything seemed to run smoothly.  As always with big conference rooms and theaters, the temperature runs cold, so don’t forget to bring a sweater or light jacket with you tomorrow.  🙂  

There was a SANS@night talk regarding Honeypots, which I missed.  I am excited to see Rich Mogull’s SANS@night talk tomorrow night as he and I are connected on Twitter (@rmogull) 

Speaking of Twitter, I “tweeted” about the conference at least a half dozen times today.  You can search for the hashtag #SANS_PHX or follow me (@wifijedi) to see the updates.

Insider’s Guide to a SANS Conference – Setup

Posted March 22, 2009
Filed under: blogging, Industry Events, Professional Development | Tags: , , ,
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This is the first blog post in a series, “Insider’s Guide to a SANS Conference”. It corresponds to my attendance at the SANS Phoenix Conference March 23-30, 2009.

As a disclaimer, this “Insider’s Guide” will not provide you confidential information.

Also, you should know that I am “nobody special” within the organization. This is the third conference I have attended, all through their work-study (volunteer) program. I have Mentored the wireless course and taught a wireless Stay Sharp course in Dallas a couple years ago, but that’s it.

The series is meant to be detailed description of my participation and to hopefully encourage others to attend. (I am a big fan!)  I am taking the “Security Leadership Essentials for Managers” course, which is being taught by Stephen Northcutt – the CEO of SANS.  

I am also “micro-blogging” about the conference via Twitter. You can find my updates with the hashtag #SANS_PHX …better yet, you can “follow me” on Twitter @wifijedi to see all the updates in your own time line!

Today the conference organizers & volunteers set up the conference. Since this is a smaller, regional conference, there are only 5 volunteers (one for each course they are running). Setting up consisted of the following activities:

  • Preparing name badges 
  • Preparing registration folders 
  • Recieving and sorting courseware (books)
  • Stuffing totes with courseware and other inserts 
  • Sorting conference shirt by size 
  • Placing signage throughout facility directing attendees to registration, classrooms, internet cafe, etc.  
  • Setting up registration station 
  • Preparing course evaluation forms & folders 
  • A briefing regarding volunteer duties & expectations
  • Etc. 

I am looking forward to seeing all the attendees at the registration booth from 7:00 – 9:00 AM tomorrow morning!  

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SANS Phoenix – Upcoming Interview

Posted March 17, 2009
Filed under: External Training, Industry Events, Interviews | Tags: , , , ,
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As many of you already know, I am taking the SANS Security Leadership Essentials course at the upcoming SANS Conference in Phoenix, Mar 23-30th. It is being taught by none other than Stephen Northcutt, President of the SANS Institute.  

I caught up with Stephen earlier this week on LinkedIn and told him that I will be blogging and Tweeting about the event in near real time.  I also asked if I could interview him for WiFiJedi.com, to which he agreed.   

Please leave me a comment or send me an email, Tweet, etc. if you have something specific that you would like me to address in the interview.   

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Security Leadership Essentials

Posted February 7, 2009
Filed under: External Training, Professional Development | Tags: , , ,
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I am excited to announce that I will be attending the SANS Conference here in Phoenix March 23rd – 30th, 2009.

I have taken several SANS Courses before, including “Wireless Ethical Hacking, Pen Testing, and Defenses” and “Securing Windows”.  This go around I will be taking “SANS Security Leadership Essentials for Managers“.   The course is being taught by the President of the SANS Institute, Stephen Northcutt.

They are actually running 9 different courses in the areas of Management, Audit, Security, and Development.  No promises, but if you are interested in joining me at the Phoenix conference, send me an email at douglas.haider@xirrus.com and I will try to hook you up with a 10% discount!

I am taking part in SANS work-study program.  It is where I am going to help them set up the conference, assist with on-site registration, help monitor the book store, and serve as an in-class volunteer.  In exchange, SANS is offering a steeply discounted tuition rate – a great program, especially in this economy!

I plan on blogging about the course, so definitely check back to hear my thoughts on the good, bad, and the ugly!   Have you taken a SANS course? What did you think?  If you haven’t, which of their courses sounds the most interesting to you?   Sound off by submitting a comment below!