So, what is risk? What does it mean? We can define risk as the possibility that bad, unplanned or unexpected things happen. It implies, most often, after the fact, that something could have been done about the “risk” to prevent the bad things. In many of the most disastrous events, there were clear warnings and a multitude of actions that should have been taken.

Risks can be mitigated. Risky activities can be reduced and safeguards can be implemented.  Why then do we continue to see disastrous events in the papers that could have been avoided? Simply put, Western societies seem to have forgotten about it. We ended the twentieth century with a growing belief that all of the critical issues of the world had been solved. Resources would be efficiently allocated through free competitive markets and social issues resolved by the … Read More »

…Applying a triad methodology for risk management.

Similar to the Dutch boys and their dike, securing the barrier between your IT infrastructure and the rest of the world, rely primarily on:

Plugging the known holes.
Posturing to plug holes based on historical data and not overreacting to an acute event.
Making educated guesses where to reinforce the infrastructure to minimize potential risk.

Risk awareness and risk analysis has become a central force in all aspects of information assurance and IT security yet our current treatment of risk continues to be ad hoc and reactive rather than rigorously considered.

There are three profound issues that we must resolve if we are to sustain a meaningful, credible and constructive campaign for better risk management. First, we have to drop the absurd notion of rational economic decision makers minimizing risk. Thinking Fast and Slow is the most contemporary catalog … Read More »

For anyone with roots along the Gulf Coast - if have learned anything through the years, it’s that the impacts of weather can frequently far exceed expectations. For those of us who have been impacted by these tropical systems, it is not uncommon to refer to the storms by name as a kind of mile stone. “Yeah, after Betsy we had to” … or “during Camille”… and all too frequently “well with Katrina ….”.  This year’s entry into the short hand will be Debbie.  Although barely a Tropical Storm, she has lingered along the northern Gulf of Mexico for the better part of a week, dumping record amounts of rainfall in Alabama and Florida – and that’s saying something. This flooding has had significant impact upon ground transport in the area; impeding the local distribution of commodities, freight deliveries, and … Read More »