Security 101

Today I attended a one-hour training course on software security (just one of many you can do at Microsoft). This wasn't the first such security-oriented training I'd been to, but the reason I wanted to attend this one, themed around the "7 habits of secure coding", was because it was being given by Michael Howard, a guru who wrote one of the bibles on the topic (strangely enough published my Microsoft Press), Writing Secure Code.

To my surprise, he's a Brit! I was kind of expecting a guy with a pony tail, or a beard, or both. Instead, he was this rather 'normal-looking' bloke who was everything I kind of expect most Brits to be: well-spoken, frank, and with a humble sense of humour. Part of the frankness was his ability to say how and where Microsoft had got it wrong in the past, and how easy it was to get it wrong. Never let your guard down, never believe that vulnerabilities are non-exploitable... "They" always find a way...

Oh and another pimp for OneNote, I was using it to take notes throughout on my Tosh. In my opinion laptops should simply be standard issue for any information worker in the 21st century -- can't imagine living without one now!