The Adventures of CISO Ed & Co.
The world of cybersecurity is full of stories, anecdotes, and insights. From the struggle of educating employees to use strong passwords, to the frustrations of getting visibility into your entire network, to the challenge of dealing with alert reports that are miles long, infosec folks have seen it all.
CISOs and CIOs especially have some of the toughest jobs in the world. They are tasked with securing an increasingly complex enterprise and at the same time, keeping the morale of their overworked team high.
Our new comic strip, The Adventures of CISO Ed & Co, attempts to highlight the everyday frustrations, heroism, and insights of ordinary infosec teams while bringing some levity to the serious business of cybersecurity.
We hope the strips bring a grin to your face as you go about your day. Read on to meet the cast of The Adventures of CISO Ed & Co.
Cast of Characters
CISO Ed
When he took the role of CISO, Ed knew that he would be challenged day in and day out. Cybersecurity has become a whole new ballgame with his current team and he sometimes wonders just how much longer he has before Owen gets phished, Kayla forgets a critical patch, or Donnie downloads malware.
Favorite book: Art of War by Sun Tzu
Ed’s Pearl of Wisdom: “Everyone brings joy to this office. Some when they enter. Others when they leave.”
Janet
Janet is the Big Boss, the CIO. She has perfected the art of busy-ness. With all the various areas under her purview, she is often seen moving from one meeting to the other. Her brain works a mile-a-minute and her words flow faster. She has a tight grip on everything, especially CISO Ed’s infosec team.
Favorite book: Fail Fast or Win Big by Bernhard Schroeder
Janet’s Pearl of Wisdom: “The closest a person ever comes to perfection is when they fill out their job application form.”
Tara
Who needs a threat intel feed when you have Tara? She knows every CVE and the devices most susceptible to them. Not only is she a smart cookie, but she doesn’t mind flaunting it. Her smartass attitude gets giggles from Owen throughout the day, but doesn’t always fly with CISO Ed, especially when there’s a code red.
Favorite book: Winning by Jack Welch
Tara’s Pearl of Wisdom: “Passwords are like underwear: make them personal, make them exotic, and change them on a regular basis.”
Donnie
Cybersecurity professionals are some of the smartest people on the planet. However, there are some exceptions. Donnie might not be the brightest, but he’s got a knack for creative ideas that work (sometimes).
Favorite book: How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Donnie’s Pearl of Wisdom: “I’ve got 99 passwords but 123456 ain’t one of them. I added a $ somewhere too.
Kayla
In every group project, there’s the team member that floats by without doing anything. That’s Kayla. She’s got a great smile, but has never really understood the concept of work. Lucky for her, everyone else is too consumed with their own tasks to notice.
Favorite book: Influence – The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
Kayla’s Pearl of Wisdom: “Sometime the best part of my job is that the chair swivels.”
Owen
The Tide pod challenge exists for people like Owen. A normal day involves him losing his pen multiple times, only to realize that it is behind his ear. Owen was brought onto the team for his extensive experience finding worms. By the time Ed realized that he had been referring to earthworms in his interview, it was too late. From time to time, he’ll gaze out the window and speculate how the clouds floating by store his data.
Favorite book: Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
Owen’s Pearl of Wisdom: “Patches are for pirates.”
Jasper
Jasper is the cybersecurity consultant CISO Ed hires from time to time. His cocky attitude and hubris can rub people the wrong way, especially when he describes himself as “an individual who does precise guess-work based on unreliable data.” But does Jasper care? Oh no! He continues to come up with “ground-breaking” solutions. That it’s your job to find the problems that they will solve, is besides the point.
Favorite book: Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss
Jasper’s Pearl of Wisdom: If at first you don’t succeed, try doing what your consultant told you to do the first time.
