Cybersecurity First Principles: A Reboot of Strategy and Tactics

WHO WE ARE

I didn't want to write a book, even a short one like this, that would leave me feeling like either a literary gasbag or a transcendental asshole. There are enough of those books—and those writers—on the market already, thanks.

—Stephen King, author

Foreword

During my career, I have had the privilege of working as the CEO with some exceptional teams in two great companies, VeriSign and Palo Alto Networks. In some cases, I had the distinct pleasure and good fortune to work with the same people in both companies, Rick Howard being one of them and a standout in both. Back when VeriSign was a significant security player in addition to a leading Internet infrastructure provider, Rick ran a business for me called iDefense. It was in this role that I first got to see Rick at work both as a security practitioner, evangelist, leader, and storyteller, which is a rare combination in any discipline, let alone security. I was very fortunate to benefit from Rick's expertise, advice, and his ability to explain very complicated issues in a down‐to‐earth and understandable way. Rick has a way of seeing the big picture while never losing sight of the tyranny of the urgent that plagues cybersecurity professionals. Turns out that is a very helpful and valuable skill set in an industry that moves at extremely high speed and where the bad actors are on the bleeding edge. So, it may be no surprise that when I joined the Palo Alto Networks team in 2011 that I was soon trying to recruit ...