Cyber Workout

Cyber Workout

I like to work out!

I got the bug when I was serving in the armed forces and it has stuck with me ever since.  I enjoy different and difficult types of exercise that challenge me physically and mentally.  It helps me think, makes me feel good, and over time I see the changes in my health that I value.  To be frank, exercise is critical to me personally.  I think it should be for everyone.

I know right now you are thinking, isn’t this a cyber security blog?  Why are we talking about exercising?

Well let me break that down.

My company deals with the fundamental issues that plague our customers.  The deeply entrenched, specific, inherent threats that they often ignore or don’t deal with over a period of time, is what we fix.  I think it’s kind of the same thing in taking care of my physical health.  I have to put the work in and deal with the really deep issues of my personal health needs or I never get better and ultimately my overall health collectively suffers.  Just like in cyberspace.

Think about these simple questions related to the basics of health.

How active are you on a daily basis?
How productive is your time at the gym?
How much water do you drink daily?
Do you sleep enough?
How much sugar do you eat?

Pretty basic questions but also very important ones for your health.  If you are sedentary 20 hours a day, joint problems and cardio issues are in your future.  If your time at the gym isn’t productive you wont keep going, it’s true.  You need more water per day than you are probably drinking for everything from digestion to muscle building.  Sleep literally helps keep you alive and “cleans” out the brain overnight, you probably need more.  Sugar is basically a form of poison, eating or drinking it is making you “sick”.

There are 24 hours in a day (that’s 168 hours in a week). During this time, the two largest activities are sleeping and going to work.

If you go to the gym or take part in a fitness class one hour per week you will be using less than 2% of your week. That’s not a lot, is it?  But it is often seen as “hard to do” or “don’t have the time”.  Even though you actually, physically, need some form of exercise and you spend more time sleeping than you ever would sweating.

If you went to the gym for just two hours that would equal around 3.5% and 3 sessions per week, or just 5% of your week!  In other words you can do this, you have the time.  By not engaging here you are ignoring a relatively simple, affordable fix for a problem that might keep you alive longer.  Yikes.

So, if you want to make a bigger difference to your health, what else do you need to do?

You will have to start making changes:

-Walk a little more, AKA move!
-Cut out bad eating habits
-Drink less alcohol
-Put an exercise plan into action
-Hire a trainer (maybe)

Those simple things will all accumulate and add up to a noticeable difference over time.

People say they hate to exercise or cancel their gym membership because they start their fitness journey and they often have goals that are not realistically achievable with their real level of effort.

It sounds obtuse but in cybersecurity it’s kind of the same thing if you think about it differently.

To get better in cyber requires a long term focus and a realization that it will take time and there will be small changes that add up over time.  You must focus on the basics that matter most and put a plan into action to gain any ground, if you do not you are choosing to be less effective in your approach.  Change isn’t easy, it takes time and commitment and the use of focused, often simple fixes, applied intelligently over time to actually “see” the change you want.  If you can adapt your thinking about these topics you can do better.

Think about these simple questions in relation to your cyber health.

-Do you have accurate and adequate segmentation?
-How about account management?
-Can an admin move laterally easily with no reporting?
-Is MFA configured?
-Have you secured your AD?

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