Security conferences versus practical knowledge

Security conferences versus practical knowledge
Don Parker, 2007-07-18

Since computers became mainstream in the early to mid-nineties a whole ecosystem has developed around them, in order to maintain that humble computer. The various parts of that ecosystem range from the companies who make computers to the software companies who program for them.

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Security conferences versus practical knowledge 2007-07-18
HAL

Don,

Life is short. Most folks in the biz are corporate wage slaves who work like dogs all year long, and this constitutes a vacation as well as an educational experience. Let them live a little. Cuts down on insider threat.

Hal
CISSP/ISSEP
"A little tao goes along way - especially in you ...

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Security conferences versus practical knowledge 2007-07-18
Anonymous

I agree 100%
In my organization, conferences like that are viewed mostly as entertainment. Some sessions will provide insight but without a focus on practical application and skill development there is no sense in attending a conference formatted session. I would be very surprised if one of my staf...

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Security conferences versus practical knowledge 2007-07-18
Darren Mar-Elia

Don-
Great article and very true. Thanks for making that point. To pick up on your finer point, I can't tell you how many times I've seen customer environments where their GP implementation, and thus often their security position, was a mess. The complexity of this stuff really kills unless there i...

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Security conferences versus practical knowledge 2007-07-19
Anonymous

It's a good thing the world ain't so black&/white as some writes like to make it - to get some not-real-world statement out on the front page of a website.

First of all, respect to all my fellow colleagues out there who work with IT Security on a daily basis.

And we know what the real deal is...

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Security conferences versus practical knowledge 2007-07-19
Neolon

An extremely biased article. There are umpteen sources to get practical knowledge. In a conference I would like to learn and share something new, something that is not commonplace.

The views mentioned in this article are suitable for mediocres, not for the elite security guys....

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Security conferences versus practical knowledge 2007-07-19
Anonymous

I think you have missed the point of a security conference. There are tons of ways that a Windows admin can attain knowledge on how to maintain there network. Many training company's focus on just this type of training and many Universities now offer this type of education.

A security conference ...

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Security conferences versus practical knowledge 2007-07-19
Anonymous

In respect to your article, I disagree with your assessment that security conferences now days are irrelevant. A security professional will only get useful information from a conference if he or she attends a track that is relevant to their area of security.

In my opinion, the reason why securi...

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Security conferences versus practical knowledge 2007-07-19
Anonymous

If you're looking for advice that you can implement immediately, you must be one of those always-complaining drones and miss out the other 99,9% f security work that *needs* to be done....

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Security conferences versus practical knowledge 2007-07-19
Anonymous (1 replies)

This is ridiculous. I guess its your opinion on this, but security conferences can be extremely valuable. Just because YOU are not doing malware analysis, packet decodes, IDS signature design, etc. doesn't mean that the rest of the community isn't.

I think for many people these conferences are ...

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Re: Security conferences versus practical knowledge 2007-08-03
Don Parker

Actually I do all three things mentioned in your first paragragph. You may want to read some of my other articles, based on just that :-) Secondly, I wouldn't demean (sp?)any sys admin who is administering a Windows environment or AD forest. Neither of which is an easy task, assuming you want to do ...

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Why I go to security conferences 2007-07-20
Anonymous

If someone goes to a conference hoping to be a better firewall administrator, they'll be disappointed. That seems to be the author's expectation. Personally, I go to hear the results of new research, which is what the better presentations focus on....

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Security conferences versus practical knowledge 2007-07-21
Anonymous

Partially yes, partially no ...

Just because you have practical knowledge, certainly doesn't demean security conferences which offer cutting-edge stuff...

The truth is , a mix of this - and - that is necessary with regular updates, and in-house training/mentoring from people who've done it in ...

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Security conferences versus practical knowledge 2007-07-23
CG

"Today's computer security conferences no longer offer relevant or practical knowledge to the attendee. Be honest now, when was the last computer security conference that you went to where you came away from with several ideas to implement immediately onto your networks? I would wager none. "
...
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Security conferences versus medical conferences 2007-07-24
Rob Shein

I'll draw a parallel here that I think is important, and which goes a long way toward explaining a lot of things.

The medical world does a lot of research; everyone knows this. But what isn't so widely known is that for every body of research that does something useful, there are hundreds of ave...

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Security conferences versus practical knowledge 2007-07-24
pbuddha

I think you're a bit off point here Don. I'm not sure conferences were ever a venue intended for boning up on sysadmin skills or skills of any nature for that matter. I always thought conferences were generally academic/industry meetings where researchers show and demonstrate exactly what they're up...

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Security conferences versus practical knowledge 2007-07-25
Alexey Vesnin

Strongly agreed! Remember, that a single theoretical statement is nothing more than a enanalyzed sequence of two or more practical cases, and not vice versa!...

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Security conferences versus practical knowledge 2007-07-25
Anonymous

How can you say security conferences do not provide practical knowledge when the dangling pointer attack is being discussed at black hat this year?...

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Security conferences versus practical knowledge 2007-07-26
Anonymous

I continue to attend the cheaper conferences and pay out of my own pocket. Part of it is meeting up with friends that live far away, part of it is learning a few things, part of it is meeting or talking to some very smart people. The whole thing itself can be very inspiring to excel in your field. J...

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Security conferences versus practical knowledge 2007-07-26
HAL (1 replies)

Is anyone allowed to post comments, or is this just a shill site for the owner? I'm very sure there must have been a few comments on Mr. Parker's prudish viewpoints to date.

HAL ...

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Re: Security conferences versus practical knowledge 2007-08-13
HAL

Sorry for the rant, Don, we squared it away on your weblog. Just for anyone reading this, Don has a great site full of informative references and articles that are well worth the time.

I would add this thought. You have to do it all. It's necessary to get out and see people, places and new thin...

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Security conferences versus practical knowledge 2007-07-27
Anonymous

Good content but perhaps an editor should at least casually read through some of these. Style and grammatical issues abound....

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Security conferences versus practical knowledge 2007-07-27
Anonymous (1 replies)

Don,

I like your blatant commercial for the training company mentioned in the article. They are a training company; they just sell the concept as a security conference.

Moving on: The reason your idea of a conference will never materialize is two fold: 1. No one wants to admit they need help w...

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Re: Security conferences versus practical knowledge 2007-08-03
Don Parker

Hi,

I am in no way hyping or trying to recommend SANS. If you would read some of my other columns here you would note that I have taken SANS/GIAC to task more often then recommended them. Thanks for your comment....

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Security conferences versus practical knowledge 2007-07-30
Elc0chin0

Very good article. I've been to a number of different InfoSec type conferences over the years. Some better than others. There are a number of sysadmin types and security professionals in attendance. There are seldom if any end users or managers.

These conferences are good to show new trends in va...

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Security conferences versus practical knowledge 2007-08-01
Ray Kaplan

As a long-time attendee, spearker, and volunteer are a large number of conferences, I say that you get what you go after out of most conferences.

While there are a lot of content-free events out there, a little bit of research will show you which ones have content and which ones don't.

I'm out...

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Security conferences versus practical knowledge 2007-08-03
Anonymous

One of the key benefits of Security conferences is the networking with your peers and the presenters. Also, conferences like black hat (and Defcon) are at the cutting edge. SANS on the other hand is not a security conference, it has become a certification mill to add letters to your resume....

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Security conferences versus practical knowledge 2007-08-08
Anonymous

Good article. A conference gives you a platform to build comptency to start hands on experience. Some part you can learn by talking to the world then doing it by yourself....

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Security conferences versus practical knowledge 2007-08-15
Anonymous

The past three conferences I've attended have provided me with a great deal of practical knowledge.
In my experience I?ve found that people want information presented to them, on a silver platter, packaged, and ready to call their own ? ?Please Mr. Presenter tell me how to secure my network.? Fr...

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RE:Security conferences versus practical knowledge 2007-08-16
mhbengal

Attendees at the Sec conference are of two types and hence with two possible wants from a conference. A newbie is sent to the conference to kick start his learning process and get some needed security arena exposure. An experienced pro (IMHO) attends a Sec conference for its rich networking opportu...

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SF is owned by a -Let us Not Disclose- proponent... 2007-08-16
Anonymous

.....of course they'll discourage cutting edge technology. They can't keep up with it!...

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