Rational Survivability

Travel: Off to Munich for Troopers08

I'm off to Munich for the rest of this week to keynote day two of Troopers08, hosted by my friend Enno Rey and the team at ERNW.

My talk is titled "Virtualization: Floor Wax, Dessert Topping and the End of Information Security As We Know It."

I'm sure I'm going to get hassled because I didn't finish my VRRP fuzzing parameters for SPIKE before the weenies @ ERNW did (OK, I have an excuse -- I didn't even start) but it's bound to be a great conference and a good time.

I got this email from Enno yesterday.  He's German and thus obviously quite serious about this:

For those interested:

a) there will be a 10K (kilometers) run in the morning of 04/23 and 04/24, at 7 AM each. no competing here, just get some fresh air (planned time: 60 minutes). We've not yet figured out the exact route, given it's airport area there shouldn't be too many hills or stuff.
If you want to run on 04/25 or have a "double round" one of the days, pls drop me personal note.

b) the hotel seems to have a decent gym. We asked them to have it open 24h during the con and they confirmed this.

The friggin' beer capital of the Universe and he wants us to run 10Km in the morning.

Yeah, right.

I'm looking for a local Brazilian Jiu Jitsu acacdemy, however...

Catch you all on the flipside...so long as the German customs officers don't realize that MacOS X comes with NMAP which we all *know* is a hacking tool...<gulp!>

/Hoff

Off the Grid For Almost a Week...

After Mogull and my presentation tomorrow @ SOURCEBoston, I'm bolting to Logan to catch the first leg of travel that amounts to 27 hours in transit to my sister's wedding in New Zealand. 

I'm making sacrifices to the travel gods this evening that I catch my connector in L.A., else I'm noodles.

I haven't seen my sister and her brood in quite some time, so I reckoned why not punctuate a lengthy period of absence by walking her down the "aisle" a continent or so away?

I use the term "aisle" loosely as it's really likely something akin to an oceanic garden path.  You see, she's getting hitched on one of New Zealand's beautiful north island iron-based black sand beaches.  You may have seen the cheap imitations in Hawaii (they're ground fresh for the tourists daily, )but It's been far too long since I've curled my toes in the onyx bits of old earth.

I grew up in New Zealand and I haven't been back for any reasonable visit in more than 10 years except for the occasional stop-over on the way to the Rock (Australia.)

So, I'll likely be off the air until next Tuesday because I'll be reconnecting with my family, my adopted Maori roots, and my favorite Kiwi beer.  When I come back, I'll likely be speaking funny.  I'm sure you'll understand.

For some reason, I'm guessing the world will go on without me.

I just hope Mogull doesn't try an subvert my sprinkler system.  That probably came out wrong on SO many fronts...but I don't have time to explain...

/Hoff

Travel: UK (London) From 2/25-2/27

Right, so I'm in the UK from the 25th to the 27th. I'll be tagging my usual suspects, but if you're up for something in the evening, send me an email [choff @ packetfilter.com] or call my call router and it will find me:
+1.978.631.0302

/Hoff

Travel: Off to Northern California (SF, San Jose, Sunnvale) for the Week...

I'll be in San Francisco starting Sunday (2/3/08) around midday.  I'll be in the bar @ the Hotel Nikko watching the Pats annihilate the Giants...

I'll be presenting at the InfoWorld Executive Virtualization Forum on Monday and then be
visiting various folks throughout the Sunnyvale, San Jose and Los Altos area.  I'm leaving on Thursday (2/7/08.)

Most of my appointments are during the day, so if you're around and want to grab a drink/dinner,
send me an email (choff [@] packetfilter.com) or call my call router (it will find me) @ 978.631.0302

/Hoff

Travel: Off to Scotland, UK and France Until 11/21

I'll be off today to Scotland, the UK and ultimately France for almost a week. 

There's a really interesting conference taking place at our center in St. Paul de Vence (France) regarding the Consumerization of IT. 

You'll recall that this is one of the topics covered in my "Embracing Disruptive Innovation" deck.

In fact, that's what I'm going to be speaking about; the ramifications and implications that the consumerization of IT is having on enterprise security.

Back the night before Turkey Day so that missus isn't too wound up! ;)

Have a great Thanksgiving, everyone.

/Hoff

Travel: Off to Chicago for the Information Security Decisions Conference

Let's hope the Windy City isn't as windy as Beantown is thanks to that hurricane from the Carribean.  I'm digging the car out from under what leaves haven't already fallen.  The forecast for Chicago showed <gasp!> snow on Tuesday.

I'll be in Chicago Sunday-Monday, speaking at the TechTarget Information Security Decisions conference.

Ping  me: hoff [at] packetfilter.com or +1.978.631.0302

/Hoff

Off to VMWorld 2007 Next Week...

Hey gang.

I'm off to VMWorld 2007 this coming week. 

I'll unfortunately miss the first day on the 11th, but will be there the 12th and 13th. 

I'm really surprised and saddened by the apparent lack of security practitioner participation (by informal poll) -- there are reportedly 10,000 attendees at this show, and given then impact virtualization is already having and will continue to have on our industry, I am surprised we won't see more of you there.

When Cisco's Chambers is keynoting, it's likely somewhere you ought attend because it means something big is occurring, just in case you haven't read those smoke signals before.

Ah well, guess it's all up to me ;)

Any of you who may be attending, give me a ping via eMail; comes to my phone.

See you there!

/Hoff

Off to BlackHat and DEFCON...Sunday through Saturday

Off to Vegas for BlackHat and DEFCON for all of next week.

I'll be there from Sunday (7/29) to Saturday (8/4)

What happens in Vegas will unfortunately, undoubtedly and unnecessarily NOT stay in Vegas because the FOIA and celebrity mugshots always undermines by best intentions.  A blog plea for bail money doesn't help, either.

If you're going to be there (and if you're not, why not?) then hook up with The Hoff and his merry band of "InfoSec Professionals."  Give me a ping via email ( choff [@] packetfilter [dot] com ) or SMS/Call +1.978.349.8882

If you can't find us, look for the smoke, sirens and g00n squad.

/Hoff

Off to NorCal & Utah this Week /UK & Milan, Italy next week.

I'm traveling to NorCal and Utah this week for customer visits and then off to the UK and then speak at the I4 forum in Milan, Italy.

I'll be thinking of you all over a bowl of penne and lovely Barolo.  Ciao!

If you're in the area, ping me.

/Hoff

Off to Gartner IT Security Summit in D.C. next week.

Off to DC for this coming week's Gartner IT Security Summit at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in D.C.

I will be there from Sunday - Wednesday. 

Speaking on Tuesday from 4:00-4:30 regarding the Generation Crossbeam Security Ecosystem.

You know the drill...ping me if you're going to be there.  Evil shall ensue.  Please bring bail money.

/Hoff

Off to Orlando for Check Point Experience 2007 This Week...

Off to sunny (?) Orlando this week for Check Point Experience 2007.  I'll be there from Tuesday through Friday.  We'll be playing party favorites like "Taunt the Nokia Rep." and seeing who dies first in Fear Factor Live.

You know the drill.  If you're going to be there, ping me.  I'm delivering one of the keynotes (can you call it that?) on Wednesday afternoon.  I'm Staying at the Ritz, so you can send the assassination squads there, please.

For those of you who aren't aware, the venue for Check Point Experience in Paris was surrendered, so if we were going to connect there, it will probably have to wait until Bangkok in August or Munich in September, assuming all goes well with the planning for those venues.

/Hoff

Off to Interop Las Vegas and Palo Alto Next Week...

Off to Interop next week.  I'll be there from Sunday (Data Center Summit) through Wednesday mid-morning.  If you're going to be there, let's grab a beer and chat.

I'll be in Palo Alto on the 23rd, flying back to Boston on the 24th.

/Hoff

(...and in an advanced planning compendium, during May-June, I'll be in Orlando, D.C., Dallas, New York, Atlanta, and some chunk of Europe for Crossbeam's Next Generation Product  Launch activities)

Off to the UK Next Week @ InfoSec UK Show

I'll be in the UK all of next week (April 23rd-April 27th) for the InfoSec UK show.  I suppose this means that we've run out of anyone interesting, good looking or knowledgeable to send?

Crossbeam will be at Stand # G153

If anyone wants to get together for a chat, a pint or a good old-fashioned dust-up, let me know.  My mobile works in the UK, so ring me if you have the number...if not, find someone who does ;)

Ping me via email (hoff [@] crossbeamsys.com) and we'll get together for any of the above.  I'm dying for some good Curry.

/Hoff

Off Topic: My Mt. Kilimanjaro Climb and Global Warming?

Off-topic, non-security post.

My recent adventure involved climbing Mt. Meru and Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.  It was awesome.  I'm long overdue in blogging the event.

The reason that I and my 4 compadres decided to climb Kili was because of the "fact" that ultimately the glacial packs atop Kilimanjaro would shortly disappear.  Recent forecasts suggested that within 10 years they would be completely gone.

So, imagine my surprise when we summited in -25 degrees (F) to come face to face with this 100 foot tall monster @ nearly 20,000 feet.  It was truly an awesome  spectacle.

I was expecting a small bit of snow and some compacted ice forms.  I didn't expect 80-100 foot glacial ice fields! 

Pair that with a current BBC article that suggests that ultimately the glaciers will be around for at least 30-40 years and while I'm not discounting the global warming effect, I am happy to note that these magnificent walls of ice will be here for at least a while longer.

This is great news.  I'm glad that it's not as bad as was originally forecasted because it's an awesome sight after 8 hours of the summit deathmarch slog; hopefully my kids will be able to join me if I do it again and we can see it together.

/Hoff

Off to Northern California this Week...

I'm traveling to Northern California on Sunday for a week of customer visits and speaking engagements in Walnut Creek, San Jose and San Francisco.  If anyone wants to get together for a bite or some brew, let me know!  Ping me at choff [at] crossbeamsys.com or leave a comment here and we'll connect.

Many of the people I'd expect to meet up with are actually attending a supah-sekreet security get-together with me, so it would be a great time to coordinate a mash-up because there's a fantastic group of people just waiting to exercise their expense accounts and bail money stash.

It worked out in reverse well enough for Mogull, so I figured I'd give it a shot. ;)

Thursday and Friday are better days.

/Hoff

In the UK this Week...

Forgot to mention that I'm in the UK this week.  I'm sure you're all relieved to know that.  Not to worry, I shall continue to execute on my Blogsolidation strategy and bring you the best in Web2.5.

Just so as nobody feels sorry for me, we have a two day event at Turnberry in Scotland. Amazing place for golf, this.  I shoot in the 70's...any colder than that I won't play ;)

If you're in London, Edinburgh or Glasgow, ping me and I'll buy you a beverage of your choice.  If you happen to be going to the 6 Nations Ireland vs. Scotland match on Saturday, I'll be there!  Because our VP of Customer Support is Scottish, I am obligated to cheer for them.  I will be drinking Guiness, however.  Just to be fair, you see.

/Hoff