Annual Blog Round-Up – 2011

Here is my annual "Security Warrior" blog round-up of top 10 popular posts/topics in 2011. This list covers the posts most popular in 2011, not necessarily only those written in 2011.

Disclaimer: all this content was written before I joined Gartner on Aug 1, 2011 and is solely my personal view at the time of writing. For my current security blogging, go here.

1. “Simple Log Review Checklist Released!” was again the most popular this year. The checklist, a list of critical things to look for while reviewing  system, network and security logs when responding to a security incident
2. PCI DSS Log Review series of posts take the #2 spot; they are about planning and executing PCI DSS-driven log review at an organization
3. “On Free Log Management Tools” is another perma-popular post, presenting a companion resource to the log checklist above
4. “On Choosing SIEM” is about the least wrong way of choosing a SIEM tool – as well as why the right way is so unpopular.
5. “Log Management at $0 and 1hr/week?” is pretty much what it is. How to do log management under extreme budget AND time constraints?
6. “Top 10 Criteria for a SIEM?” is an EXAMPLE criteria list for choosing a SIEM.
7. “SIEM Resourcing or How Much the Friggin’ Thing Would REALLY Cost Me?” is a quick approach of planning SIEM costs
8. A humorous post “Top 10 Things Your Log Management Vendor Won't Tell You”
9. 2009 post called “Log Management + SIEM = ?” gives some quick architecture advice on combining SIEM and log management
10. Finally, “The Last Blog Post!” also made the top 10 list – it announced my departure from consulting (and blogging) in order to join Gartner.

Also see my past monthly and annual “Top Posts” – 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010.

Monthly Blog Round-Up – December 2011

Here is my next monthly "Security Warrior" blog round-up of top 5 popular posts/topics this month.

Disclaimer: all this content was written before I joined Gartner on Aug 1, 2011 and is solely my personal view at the time of writing. For my current security blogging, go here.

1. “On Free Log Management Tools” is a companion to the checklist below (updated version)
2. “Simple Log Review Checklist Released!” is often at the top; it is the case this month – the checklist is still a very useful tool for many people
3. “On Choosing SIEM” is about the least wrong way of choosing a SIEM tool – as well as why the right way is so unpopular.
4. “Log Management at $0 and 1hr/week?” is pretty much what it is. How to do log management under extreme budget AND time constraints?
5. “Top 10 Criteria for a SIEM?” is an EXAMPLE criteria list for choosing a SIEM.

In addition, I’d like to draw your attention to a few posts from my Gartner blog:

1. “On Vulnerability Prioritization and Scoring”
2. “On LARGE Scale Vulnerability Management”
3. “On Scanning “New” Environments”

Also see my past monthly and annual “Top Posts” – 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010.

• Monthly Blog Round-Up – November 2011