SwiftOnSecurityThis is a story about CISA.
About what it meant and means to someone in the trenches. Years ago, and now.
About what it meant and means to someone in the trenches. Years ago, and now.
You can't imagine how lonely computer security was for me in 2009. Do you know what my job was. It was Helpdesk. Do you know what my job actually was? Removing viruses and adware under fire as our protections did nothing. I was just. Alone. As everything fell.
Catastrophe. Every god damn day. The United States was being murdered. And it felt like nobody saw this. Nobody cared. I just did this for years. Alone.
I don't remember the date in my career. But CISA was thrust into prominence.
I don't remember the date in my career. But CISA was thrust into prominence.
Holy crap. The US, the United States government with a headline agency, saw this. What I saw. And it mattered. It was happening. They started releasing guidance and alerts. And I saw how they validated this as a national defense priority.
From then on, every time I saw CISA in the news, I was reminded. As I rose into a role with security in the title, I saw even more. Many years later, I see CISA guidance on patching treated as dictums because the friggen US government said so. Forcing hand. Making our national defense.
The thing about CISA is I actually can't tell you what it means to us internally, one of the largest US manufacturers. But when they say something, things get _pressed_. Which are very hard. They contribute to US national defense in ways that quite literally cannot be measured.
Beyond tech, I know we deal with CISA extensively on infrastructure, but frankly I couldn't tell you more even if I knew. That's kind of the curse of secretive public service.
That's my story about CISA and I want them to know I care about their work.
Lesley Carhart 
@SwiftOnSecurity we appreciate everyone who works or has worked for CISA, and we are so sorry for what’s happened to your hard work.
nicole schwartz amazonv@SwiftOnSecurity thank you for sharing
And their work has helped so many companies, so many people
VessOnSecurity@SwiftOnSecurity You felt lonely because you were the only one in the company doing infosec? LOL, when I started working with computer viruses, I was the only one in the whole goddamn country. No e-mail. No Internet. Means of communication (FidoNet) didn't appear until about a year later. Nobody to talk to. *That* was lonely...
Stefan Baur 8 * 💉@bontchev @SwiftOnSecurity And you had to carry your bits uphill both ways!
@farbenstau @SwiftOnSecurity Totally. Once I and 5 other students had to carry a 5-megabyte mini-harddisk to the 3rd floor. We barely managed.
@bontchev @SwiftOnSecurity I hope you avoided the mistake of placing one of these near a door that opens inwards …
@farbenstau @SwiftOnSecurity They were normally kept in the basement, on concrete fundaments, because when they spin, they can start vibrating like a washing machine. I don't know why they needed one on the 3rd floor - probably to show it to some students during some lecture or exercise.
@bontchev @SwiftOnSecurity Yes, they vibrate, and when they're not properly leveled, they will "walk". Following Murphy's Law, their walk will end right in front of the only door to the room, which only opens inwards …
Brandon@SwiftOnSecurity I was literally looking at trying to join CISA pre-Jan. Their mission is fighting the good fight and their leadership has been fantastic.
Officiallygeorgestrait@SwiftOnSecurity greetings from here dear friend how is your day going so far today?