The Ashimmy Blog

Good News From Alert Logic

Image via CrunchBase

My friends at Alert Logic posted two press releases today containing good news for the company.  In the first release they announced that they had raised a Series E round of funding totaling 12.6 million dollars.

Besides existing investors, Updata Partners, Covera Ventures, DFJ Mercury, and Access Venture Partners, several members of the company’s management team invested as well.  It is always a good sign to see the management team putting skin in the game. The money will be used to expand all phases of the business.

In the second release, Alert Logic announced that they had broken through the 20 million dollar revenue run rate barrier. In the past I have taken private companies to task for releasing “another great record quarter” press releases. The reason I have is because they usually don’t include the actual numbers. But in this release Alert Logic announced 2.3 million in new ARR for the quarter, bringing the companies ARR to 20 million.

It would seem that Alert Logic’s SaaS delivery model and strategy of selling through cloud and hosting providers is working and paying dividends. The company has doubled revenue since 2009 when they began to pursue the service provider channel.

Very impressive news from Houston. Congratulations to Gray Hall, Misha Govshteyn, Urvish Vashi (an old Interliant friend) and the rest of the team there.

NASA - It’s a science thing

I was reading my friend Bill Brenner’s Salted Hash blog today on the disclosures of vulnerabilities in the NASA systems that could have endangered the space shuttle missions.

Bill remembers having discussions with a NASA official years ago that set off red flags with him regarding policies and processes (or rather the lack of them) on the NASA network.

I also had a chance to speak with folks from NASA a few years back. Actually I was not interviewing them for a press opp, but instead was looking at potential security business for StillSecure.  Also back then I spent a lot of time speaking to folks at the DOE Labs like Los Alamos and some of the people from DOI and US Geological Survey.

All of these folks had somewhat of a common view towards information security and data security. They viewed themselves and what they do as scientists doing science.  In their mind science is best done by sharing.  Therefore the idea of “locking up” the data and making it hard for people to access was anathema to them.

If they think the whole idea of restricting access to the data is wrong, you can imagine how they feel about security. Why do they need it? They want people to be able to share and help advance the science.

While it is a noble view and I understand how they feel, obviously it does not take into account how some people in the world operate.  The folks from NASA would never think that someone would actually want to blow up a shuttle.  The USGS wants everyone to see the data from the seismic monitors they have on the bottom of the ocean. The scientists at Los Alamos, well lets leave that alone for now.

So I am not surprised to hear about NASA’s vulnerabilities either. It is a cultural thing in an agency with a scientific culture.  It is up to the security folks there though to put the controls in place that will keep it all safe or science be damned.

Related articles

• Houston, We Have a Problem: Critical NASA Systems Vulnerable (pcworld.com)
• Security fails could put NASA missions at risk (zdnet.com)
• NASA spacecraft vulnerable to cyber-attack (blogs.nature.com)

It’s not that life is half over or that the glass is half-full, it is what is in the glass that counts

A few months ago I wrote a post about turning 50. I said I was still that wild and crazy young kid inside this 50 year old man.  My friend Brad Feld seems to been having his own little mid-life thing going on as well.  Brad turned 45 recently and came to the realization that he is probably in the 2nd half of his life now.

Since then Brad has done a lot of reading and thinking on how best to make sure that he enjoys an active 2nd half and doesn’t go on a straight descent to old age and then death.  Brad has great graphs for how he wants to keep physically fit over the long haul to 85 and beyond. 

 

I read Brad’s posts and had even sent him a private note a few weeks back. Generally I felt his pain and anguish, as well as the desire to make the best of it.  I guess we all go through it.

Today though I was listening to a concert I recorded this past weekend on DirectTV. It was a concert by Yes from about 5 or 7 years ago.  I love Yes. I have probably seen them perform live at least a dozen times over the years, maybe even more.  While listening to them play “And You and I” and then “Seen All Good People” I thought back to when I first saw them play those songs live.  It was around 1976/77 in Madison Square Garden. At that time both of those songs were already older songs from older Yes albums.  They are timeless and still great today.

Watching Yes perform those songs I started thinking about how they felt performing them.  They wrote and first did those songs probably 40 years ago! In many ways most of their best songs are 30 to 40 years old.  Here they were now approaching or in their 60’s, playing the same songs they played in their 20’s.

Though they are still performing, the fact is their greatest songs came to them very early in life. Since then they have tried to recapture that peak, while performing and living off of that work product.

That was the Eureka moment for me.  Brad it is not that the glass if half full and you only have half of your life left.  It is what you make with that time. It is more than how your physical condition fits on some graph.

God willing when you are 80 and you look back over the years, what did you accomplish when you were 45 to 80. Is it just that you managed to stay in good shape?  What did you do to make the world a better place? Family and friends, what did you to do influence them?  What did you put in that half empty glass besides calories and working out is what matters. What is your legacy?

Brad you more than I with the resources you have available have the opportunity to go do some special things with this half of your life. Don’t reflect back like Yes and realize that your greatest songs were written in your youth. 

Life is a book waiting to be written. The first chapters are just the beginning, the book doesn’t get good until the middle and gets better as it goes.  Go out and write the best chapters of your book.  More than graphs and charts that will show the true worth of your life.

I my friend am going to take my own advice and try to do the same.  Happy Birthday Brad, looking forward to discussing this with you in about 35 years as we play tennis down here in Florida!

Hey, it’s me in here

So today I turned 50 years old.  While I am thrilled to find out that I have lived this long, I am reminded of an old one liner I once heard. It goes something like this: “Inside of every old person is a young person asking, “How the F*#k did this happen?”  That just about exactly sums up where I am. Inside of this 50 year old is the same crazy kid I have been for a long time.

I don’t feel any different. I don’t act any differently. I still feel and act the same way I did 20 or 30 years ago.  I know that 50 is just a number and 50 is the new 40 or 30 or whatever. But it is milestone.

I remember turning 40 (that would be 10 years ago, good my memory still works) and thinking what was the big deal. I was still playing ball all the time, had was about to have have my 2nd son and felt younger than ever. Now at 50 I have an 11 and 9 year old who keep me running. I coach and play ball with them almost everyday. I still play basketball pretty regularly and though I could do more exercise, am pretty active.

I think back to my grandparents and parents and other relatives and how old I thought they were at 50. Was I just stupid or were they really that old?

Anyway, I have much to be thankful for at 50. My business, The CISO Group has afforded me a work-life balance that I have not enjoyed ever before. I am spending more time with Bonnie and the kids than ever. Watching them grow up every day is the joy of my life.

I also think I have a much more experienced, mature view on life. I am more tolerant than I used to be.  All in all, I would say I think I am definitely better now than I have ever been.

So please spare me the big 50 stuff, but I do appreciate the birthday wishes. And please remember that inside of this 50 year old there is still a little kid hiding out.

Only The Good Die Young, Tim Martin -A Great Project Manager and Greater Person

I received some shocking news yesterday. A friend of mine, Tim Martin from HP Networking (formerly HP ProCurve) passed away. With my birthday in just another 10 days or so, maybe I am thinking of my own mortality, but it just seems wrong that a good man like Tim would leave us so soon. It seems Tim developed brain cancer and in just a few short months he was gone.

I first met Tim about 5 or 6 years ago. He was the project manager for the ProCurve team for their NAC product. We had a partnership with ProCurve at StillSecure.  As a result I spent many hours with Tim, travelling out to Roseville and him coming to Colorado.

For a company as small as StillSecure dealing with a colossus like HP could be a daunting task.  There are many project managers and big companies who would not miss the opportunity to grind the smaller company into the dust.  They were clearly in position to call the shots if they wanted to. But that was not Tim’s style.

Tim was always above all else a gentlemen. He always thought about what HPs requirements would mean to us.  Repeatedly he would tell us that if what HP wanted didn’t make sense for us, this partnership would never work out. It was that kind of common sense, win-win mature way of looking at a relationship that is sorely lacking in many big company-small company partnerships. Thanks to Tim’s approach we were able to move forward and bring the product to market.

But beyond the project, I had a chance to hang out with Tim a bit. He went to UC-Chico, the same school Mike Grever on the StillSecure BD team did.  I used to listen in over dinner or beers as the two of them told Chico stories.

Tim had been out at the HP campus in Roseville for a number of years. Working in the printer division before ProCurve. He used to tell me that Roseville is where HP sent engineers to spawn.  Generally once they moved there, they never went back to Palo Alto or anywhere else.

He was the quintessential laid back California dude.  I don’t every remember Tim raising his voice or losing his cool. He just had a great attitude towards life, family and work. No matter the problem, Tim was always calm cool and collected.

Tim used to enjoy reading my blog. Often times he would email privately with his thoughts as commenting publicly was not his style. It is pretty ironic that I am writing this here now, Tim would be embarrassed I am sure by the kind words.

So another case of only the good die young. There must have been a big need for a top notch project manager in Heaven. They got a good one in Tim Martin and an even better person.

Goodbye and RIP Tim.

Cool new technology

My friend Brad Feld is always looking for the next big thing.  That is what VCs do I guess.  Being a techno/gadget boy I like to see what Brad is up to next. It keeps me up on what is happening.  Brad’s Foundry Group today announced a new investment in a new company called Sifteo. 

Sifteo comes out of the MIT media labs and is in the theme of Foundry’s Human Computer Interaction theme. I could try to explain what Sifteo does, but this video does a much better job than I ever could:

Good luck to Sifteo, Brad, Ryan, Seth and Jason. Looks like a really cool new technology!

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To Live and Die in a Socially Networked World

I got some bad news last night. A former co-worker and friend of mine, Ernie Ferraro passed away yesterday. Ernie and I worked together at Interliant. He was assistant general counsel, I was VP of business development. We did lots of deals together. 

Besides working together, Ernie and I had a good time and were friends. He was a true gentlemen. His first child, Olivia was born the same day as my oldest son Landon. They are both 10 years old now. We got them together a few times before I moved the family to Florida.

I stayed in touch with Ernie over the years. Mostly on Linked In or Facebook, not really seeing each other in person as much. He was always threatening to stop by when the family was in Florida, I saying next trip to NY, lets get together.

How many of you have been carrying on relationships like that with friends and colleagues? You may not call them on the phone or even email them, but seeing an update from them on a regular basis makes you feel like the connection is still strong. An occasional chat on line and you are caught up.

I just chatted with Ernie last week on Facebook. He said that he had no power in his house for days due to the weather. I told him to get away and come down here. He said that his parents were in Florida and so he and the family were staying at their house in NY. I said OK, but lets get together soon.

It seems Ernie came down with bacterial meningitis just a few days after we chatted and slipped into a coma this weekend. Yesterday the decision was made to remove him from life support.

I found out about Ernie’s plight while chatting with another former colleague of ours on Facebook. I was devastated by the news. I went over to Ernie’s Facebook page, numb and in shock.

There was such an outpouring of love on his page. Literally hundreds of people had left heartfelt messages. Each in their own way conveying their sympathy, support and love. I felt part of a community.

I left my own message to Ernie and his family. I read with tear filled eyes the message from Olivia to her daddy about not being sad about missing so many of her life accomplishments to come. Of course I couldn’t help but think of my own children and how much I want to see them accomplish and do. It both broke my heart and gave me strength to go on.

But moving beyond that, what a profound difference social networking has made in our day to day lives. Not just in living our lives, but in death as well. It is changing the way we grieve, how we express our grief and how we share our sorrow.

I thought back to just over a month ago. My good friend Mitchell Ashley was sitting bedside at a hospice in Colorado, as his wife Mary Ellen fought her final battle in a years long war with breast cancer.

I didn’t want to pester Mitchell for updates minute by minute. But Mitchell was brave enough to post a constant stream of updates on Facebook of what was going on, how Mary Ellen was doing, what he was feeling.

Though I was 1700 miles away, I felt like I was there with Mitchell. Not just myself either. From the posts and messages I know that many near and far to Mitchell were following his updates and sending good thoughts and prayers his way. I again felt like I was part of a community who was both supporting Mitchell and sharing in the trauma. There was a giving of support and a partaking in the moment.

In speaking to Mitchell I know that it was a cathartic experience for him to share the experience in that way. After Mary Ellen passed away, Mitchell posted several poems and other thoughts about how he was feeling and dealing with the grieving process. It was a great outlet for him. Many of his friends and family post and comment on the page as well.

It is a great outlet and way to share for all of us. In death, maybe more than in life, I guess humans need to share. Social networking presents us with a new way of sharing. It makes you feel connected no matter the physical distance. It gives us strength. It also gives us unprecedented insight into what others are feeling and saying as well. It truly connects us.

I think that grief counselors, psychologists and mental health professionals should start using social networking as a way of helping those in need. It can be a great force for good at the worst of times.

So for those who say Twitter and Facebook are for people who feel compelled to tell everyone every move they make and they don’t care what plant you harvested or what plane you just got on, you are missing the point. Social networking is about socializing. It has changed our lives already in so many ways. From the cradle to the grave and beyond, nothing is the same. And that is not necessarily a bad thing.

To my friends Ernie and Mary Ellen, rest in peace with God. We left here on this earth will miss your smiles and warmth and sharing.

A new blogger for the SBN and Security.exe

The final member of The CISO Group who up till now has not blogged, has joined the blogosphere.  My partner and friend, Bobby Dominguez has posted the first post on his own personal blog, DrekkinVorn. It is an Icelandic word having something to do with dragons, but you will have to google it to find out more.

Bobby is the CISO at The CISO Group. He has been a CISO at a few different companies that you have probably heard of. Bobby has also been a finalist for SC Magazine’s CSO of the year award for two years running. He has a lot to say and I think the blogosphere will be enriched with his voice added.

His first post is also cross-posted to the security.exe blog. In the future, he will be posting to both.

Welcome Bobby and be sure to follow his writings, I guarantee you will learn something.

A refreshing voice back at the helm

I came across a Google alert today for network access control (I admit it, I still follow the NAC market). There was a link to an article interviewing the CTO of HP ProCurve, Paul Congdon. I assumed it was a link to an old article (as sometimes happens with Google Alerts), but clicked anyway. Was happy to see it was dated today and it was in fact a new interview with Paul.

Paul had been the CTO of ProCurve a few years back when I concluded a relationship between StillSecure and HP ProCurve. He had taken a quasi-leave of absence to continue his education and I have not spoken to Paul in a few years now. It would appear that he is back. If so what a great thing for ProCurve!

Paul was one of the brightest people I have dealt with in my many years in technology. A true visionary, he also is one of the nicest gentlemen you will ever meet as well. He is a big supporter of open standards and is always thinking of what is on the next horizon.

Now that I know he is back, I will have to reach out to Paul and see how things are with him. But keep your eyes out for what Paul says. I can guarantee you that you will learn something!

Welcome back Paul!

Is your CIO a Neanderthal?

I was talking to a friend tonight about his work situation. He is a very competent CSO. His most recent job is really getting to him though. He is there about a year now. He is the third CSO in the last three years at this organization. He knew about the other two before him, but he thought he would be different. I know you have heard that line before. Anyway here he is 12 months later. The CIO got the passing grade on the audit and now looks at my friend like he is the fifth wheel on a four wheel drive.

The company they work for is very successful and profitable. The attitude there about security from the top down is that it is a necessary evil. But only necessary enough to pass whatever minimum they have to for compliance sake and that is it.

My friend on the other hand is the eternal optimist. He is still trying to convince the CIO that security is important. That he needs to see the entire security plan through. Why privacy, risk management and security trump the compliance minimum.

I hate to be the one to burst a bubble. OK I like to pop a bubble. In any event I told my friend, forget it. He has a snowball’s chance in hell of changing the CIO’s attitude. At the end of the day the only thing that is going to change his mind is if they are unlucky enough to get bit. When they do, that CIO will get religion. Until then you are probably banging your head against a rock wall.  But that is fitting, because the CIO’s attitude is that of a caveman.