The End

A conclusion to this blog

Introduction

This is more for me than anyone else . . . I guess I end where I started in that sense.

I’ve been thinking for a while about wrapping up this blog. Probably for longer than I would care to admit. I started it for my own benefit, it gave me an outlet and some kind of reason to improve my understanding of the industry I work in, Information Security, Cyber Security, or whatever you want to call it.

Aside from making me consider aspects of the industry from different vantage points it allowed me to hugely increase my knowledge and become a more effective practitioner. It has also given me some catharsis, a way to vent my frustrations about the state of affairs about security.

So why give up the blog now?

Realisation

With exploring the industry comes some damning realisations. The discourse in security remains broadly unchanged and has done since I entered it five years ago. The industry still holds onto arcane concepts, nothing new is happening. Where new ideas are being generated they are met with indifference.

Even with new technology the industry jumps into gear butchering old frameworks. Maybe they find comfort in the familiar. Undoubtedly there will be check lists, playbooks and some kind of mapping exercise. An endless riffing on the same old song you’ve heard a thousand times before.

It’s all just a bit tedious out there and opportunities to have real conversations are limited.

Diminishing returns

As liberating as exploring security has been it has become an albatross around my neck. By relating everything back to security I have precluded myself from exploration of other interesting areas. I am not getting as much out of this as I used to and I want to go off in new directions and find different areas of intrigue.

This year has been one of diminishing returns when writing these pieces. Writing long form essays about complex subjects is gratifying but it is time intensive. It’s started becoming a chore rather than an activity to service a genuine interest. Over the course of the last 2 years I’ve published nearly 30 articles at 2000 to 2500 words a go. That’s about 50k to 60k words, the length of a book.

Too much cynicism?

This blog took a deliberately cynical tone. I am a generally cynical person but spending too much time in those kinds of spaces does shift how you see the world. In some sense I started to become constrained by a style. I’ve started to think that it might be time to escape the self imposed boundaries. Again, this is part of the catharsis and I enjoy being a cyberjerk, but, maybe this isn’t a complete reflection of me.

That being said, I love a good moan up . . . the cynicism has been helpful as it has helped me question a lot of things. It has been a useful club to knock ideas about.

What next?

I don’t intend to publish anything further here. I wouldn’t want to rule out bringing this back in the future but for now, it is done. For now, I’ve gotten what I needed out of this.

I’m doing the whole ‘book thing’ so it feels like the right time to re-evaluate where I’m spending my time. This isn’t a priority for me right now with other things going on and other projects I want to pursue.

Perhaps this is the self sacrifice I need to make for self creation, a relinquishment of old identity to form a new one. After all “the magnitude of a progress is gauged by the greatness of the sacrifice that it requires.” I’ve leant heavily into Dionysian forces but perhaps some time with the Apollonian forces might serve me well.

It’s been an interesting journey but like all good journeys it must come to an end. And let’s end it with this. If security is freedom from care then a feeling of security can be described as comfort. It may well be the pursuit of security means we become too comfortable to be able to make the sacrifices needed to be more.

“May I never be complete. May I never be content. May I never be perfect."