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A few years ago on BBC2 in the UK there was a programme called Dave Gorman's Important Astrology Experiment. I don't know if you watched it but the concept behind the series was that Dave would follow exactly what was recommended for his star sign in a selection of horoscopes, and then see how that … read more

I've recently returned from a work trip which included my first ever visits to the Philippines and India. The purpose of the trip was to carry out a PCI DSS audit for one of my clients. As is the way these days my client has outsourced their call centre to a company in Manila, and have also … read more

I'm very busy on the work front at the moment, both in my day job and with the internet business. In my day job I'm involved in a major, very complex, government PKI project. PKI stands for Public Key Infrastructure and is basically a set of systems that can be used for issuing and signing digital … read more

I'm currently sat in the departure lounge at Canberra airport with a 3 hour wait for my flight. Luckily I'm sat at a table that's near a bar, and also has a power socket I can use, so the combination of my laptop and Crown Lager should see me through. It feels weird travelling home on a Saturday … read more

This week I've made my first visit to our nation's capital - Canberra - for a 6-day course in Hacker Techniques, Exploits and Incident Handling. Canberra is a strange little city. It seems to me to be a cross-between Washington and Milton Keynes, in that it's clearly a Government town; the Federal … read more

This week I've been in Sydney on a training course to become a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) for the Payment Cards Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS). The PCI-DSS is a standard jointly devised by VISA, Mastercard, American Express, JCB and Discover that details the security controls that … read more

On Wednesday I attended AusCERT 2008. AusCERT is an annual conference for the IT Security industry organised by the Australian Computer Emergency Response Team. Held at the plush surroundings of the Crown Plaza Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast, the event is a chance for vendors such as Check … read more

The last few weeks have been work, work, work unfortunately, hence the lack of blog posts. However, there's light at the end of the tunnel - this weekend sees the arrival of my parents for their first visit to Oz, and I've made sure to arrange plenty of leave so I can get back into holiday mode … read more

We moved into new offices today at work. The company I'm working for as outgrown our previous office so had to look for new premises. The problem is, because of a rise in rental prices the company could no longer afford the lovely CBD (Central Business District) location for the office capacity that … read more

I'm currently in Sydney for a couple of days meeting with a client - my first business trip of what I'm told will be many for my new employer. I flew up yesterday afternoon with a colleague who I'm taking over from on this particular client project as he's leaving next week. We're staying in the … read more

Today was my first day in a new job - what will hopefully be my last working for someone else. The role and work I've been given is much more like what I'm familiar with - security compliance. The first project I've been given is to help a client - a subsidiary of a well-known Japanese car … read more

The project I'm working on is running out of money so they've asked me if I'd mind only doing 4 days a week for the remaining two weeks. Too right I don't mind! So I'm already half-way through the working week. Well kind of, I'll be working on my business on Fridays but I don't count that as work … read more

I've been offered a new job and I've accepted. What's more, I've got them to agree to a 4-day week! The project I'm working on for my day job is due to hand over to Operations in November, meaning my involvement would end at that point. Last week my employer called me in for a chat to discuss the … read more

Two examples, in my view, of business stupidity: 1) The project I'm engaged on at work now has, get this, 5 project managers. There is: 1 x Principle Project Manager 1 x Project Manager 1 x Project Manager - Quality Control 1 x Project Manager - Risk, Issues and Finance 1 x Project Manager … read more

The weekend is here! I can't believe I've just completed my first full week of work in Oz and I've done absolutely nothing! The client I'm working for still hasn't sorted me out a PC or account to access the systems. Nor do I have a swipe card yet to get physical access to the building. I have to … read more

I must remember next time I move into a new house not to tell anyone that I work in IT. When someone asks me what I do I'll have to say Business Analyst or something - nobody knows what they do! Already I've had knocks on the door from 2 different neighbours to help them out with their PC. Our next … read more

Lauren visited The Gabba today while some of us had to work. The Gabba is Brisbane's cricket ground and home to the Brisbane Lions AFL (Aussie Rules) team. We're into the school Winter Holidays now and as we're both working we've had to put Lauren into Vacation Care with her school. It costs money … read more

People often tell me that I'm lucky. I'm starting to believe it may be true. Things just kind of work out for me. I have a completely laid back attitude to life - I very rarely get stressed or worry about things. I take the odd risk now and again and it near enough always works out well. Take this … read more

Here's an example of the kind of battle I have on a daily basis trying to get people into a security mindset: Me to Relationship Manager (RM): Can you please ask the client to complete the attached Business Impact Analysis (BIA) template so we can understand how valuable their data is in order to … read more