Hagai Bar-El on Security

There are many IT security podcasts out there; too many, perhaps. Certainly too many to listen to. The challenge is to decide on which ones to follow on a regular basis. I became aware of a good candidate a couple of years ago, and since it retained its qualities (listed below) over time, I figured it is worth mentioning.

This podcast is called: “Security Now” and it is featured by Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte. Leo is a good host. He manages the show and its topics well, all in a healthy, joyful, spirit. Steve is a well-known security expert, and the creator of SpinRite — a disk maintenance and recovery tool.

Of the many IT security podcasts out there, I find Security Now worthwhile to mention because:

• It generally covers interesting topics, mostly following the press and listeners’ comments.
• It is not sales-driven. There in one short monologue in each episode about one product of which company supports the podcast. Even this short promotional speech discusses concrete advantages of the product, as a security person may appreciate, rather than just contain empty sales pitches that only rhyme well.
• Steve Gibson is a good teacher. He speaks slowly and clearly, obviously measuring his words carefully before speaking them out, and explains the tougher points from more than one angle. Truthfully, they do not discuss complex issues in this podcast, but whatever is discussed is well presented.

One final note: Security Now is an IT security podcast. It discusses security as it applies to IT systems, networks, PCs, web services, and such. It is not a security engineering podcast, and thus does not address issues of secure system design, software, hardware, and system engineering, etc.

The Security Now podcast is available in audio and in video at: http://twit.tv/sn. I personally use the audio version and it is good enough.