Show Notes: https://justinfimlaid.com/without-wax:-the-quest-for-perfection/Sponsor: https://www.nuharborsecurity.comContact Me: https://justinfimlaid.com/contact-me/Twitter: @justinfimlaidLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jfimlaid/I had an EnglishTeacher in High School that was big onEtymology. If you aren't familiar withEtymology, its history of how certain words came to be. What I like aboutEtymology is the stories behind certain words. This teacher was one the few teachers I actually liked in High School,and I hated English classes so I guess that says a lot. One word, and one his lessons has alwaysstuck with me. That word inSincere. Sincere is from the Latin wordsSin Cera. In Latin Sin is “without” andCera is “wax”.The story of SinCera dates back to ancient Roman times. The artistry from that time period was seen in statues and ornate marblepillars. What was significant about thattime period is that artists were appreciated for their perfection. An apprentice could work for most of theirlife in a specific craft, trade, or artistry…they’d only do that onething. An apprentice might spend yearslearning how to pick the right type of marble, or they'd spend years learninghow to carve a specific type of statue, or spend years learning how to polish astatue. The best artists were PERFECT.Whats interestingabout the best artists from Roman Times and the ones that sculpted Marble isthat they embodied perfection in their craft. They would carve perfect sculptures or perfect marble pillars. For All the otherartists trying to make a name for themselves, who cut corners in their tradeand lacked experience used wax to cover their mistakes. They would use wax to fill holes, cracks andmistakes. The nice thing about wax is itcould be smoothed and polished to look like marble. It could be plastered over and it could bepainted over. For most buyers they couldnot determine which was artificial Sin Cera or with out wax. And in some cases they’d never know until theartist was long gone. Today when we say weare Sincere, it generally means we’re honest. But origins of Sincere also means you are without wax and perfect inyour craft.The reason I bringthis up, it seems to be relevant as of late. I see more folks and companies trying to capitalize on the Securitymarket. I understand the push, it’scapitalism in full-swing. However, I seefolks working in the security space who are really confused and are grantedtrust because of a title, position, or certification. If you are in Security as a buyer orsupplier, whether inside your own company or a third party…and you claim to dosecurity, you need to actually do it. Let me clarify what I mean by that.What I mean by thatis you have an obligation to continuously learn because the threat landscape isconstantly shifting. I realize everysubject matter expert started with 0 experience. But what makes someone sincere in their craftisn’t the fact they have a job in the field, it’s the fact they’re a student ofthe craft and continually strive to be perfect. This means always learning and helping others bridge the securityknowledge gap. This means you can’t just dabble in security, it’s not a bulletitem on a website or on a resume. We cando this, but we all have to put in the work and make everyone better.We have anobligation to get this right, if not for us then for the future generation sothey have a solid foundation to make things better.
Pwned: The Information Security Podcast
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