Phil Venables
@philvenables.bsky.social
Taking your established security program to the next level.
Preventative maintenance, risk quantification, navigating the uncanny valley, continuous assurance, architectural choices to reduce whole classes of risk and more.
www.philvenables.com/post/securit...
Preventative maintenance, risk quantification, navigating the uncanny valley, continuous assurance, architectural choices to reduce whole classes of risk and more.
www.philvenables.com/post/securit...
November 15, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Taking your established security program to the next level.
Preventative maintenance, risk quantification, navigating the uncanny valley, continuous assurance, architectural choices to reduce whole classes of risk and more.
www.philvenables.com/post/securit...
Preventative maintenance, risk quantification, navigating the uncanny valley, continuous assurance, architectural choices to reduce whole classes of risk and more.
www.philvenables.com/post/securit...
Security Leadership Master Class - Part 1: Leveling up your leadership
philvenables.com/post/securit...
philvenables.com/post/securit...
October 4, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Security Leadership Master Class - Part 1: Leveling up your leadership
philvenables.com/post/securit...
philvenables.com/post/securit...
The Don't Fire Me Chart
A lot of premature CISO turnover is caused by the security program uncovering previously unknown risks and issues. So, paradoxically, the best CISOs make the situation *seem* worse before it then *actually* gets better.
www.philvenables.com/post/career-...
A lot of premature CISO turnover is caused by the security program uncovering previously unknown risks and issues. So, paradoxically, the best CISOs make the situation *seem* worse before it then *actually* gets better.
www.philvenables.com/post/career-...
July 12, 2025 at 2:41 PM
The Don't Fire Me Chart
A lot of premature CISO turnover is caused by the security program uncovering previously unknown risks and issues. So, paradoxically, the best CISOs make the situation *seem* worse before it then *actually* gets better.
www.philvenables.com/post/career-...
A lot of premature CISO turnover is caused by the security program uncovering previously unknown risks and issues. So, paradoxically, the best CISOs make the situation *seem* worse before it then *actually* gets better.
www.philvenables.com/post/career-...
Cyber Insights Needed & Delivered
My analysis of the recent Cyentia Institute report. Things are getting worse in absolute terms but it’s not clear (my take) they are getting worse relative to what the situation might be.
www.philvenables.com/post/cyber-i...
My analysis of the recent Cyentia Institute report. Things are getting worse in absolute terms but it’s not clear (my take) they are getting worse relative to what the situation might be.
www.philvenables.com/post/cyber-i...
June 28, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Cyber Insights Needed & Delivered
My analysis of the recent Cyentia Institute report. Things are getting worse in absolute terms but it’s not clear (my take) they are getting worse relative to what the situation might be.
www.philvenables.com/post/cyber-i...
My analysis of the recent Cyentia Institute report. Things are getting worse in absolute terms but it’s not clear (my take) they are getting worse relative to what the situation might be.
www.philvenables.com/post/cyber-i...
Segmentation Technologies / Zero Trust
Thinking about doctrine vs. structure is a useful mental model to validate a technology’s adequacy for a particular task. In short, to know whether we are jamming a square peg into a round hole.
www.philvenables.com/post/segment...
Thinking about doctrine vs. structure is a useful mental model to validate a technology’s adequacy for a particular task. In short, to know whether we are jamming a square peg into a round hole.
www.philvenables.com/post/segment...
June 14, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Segmentation Technologies / Zero Trust
Thinking about doctrine vs. structure is a useful mental model to validate a technology’s adequacy for a particular task. In short, to know whether we are jamming a square peg into a round hole.
www.philvenables.com/post/segment...
Thinking about doctrine vs. structure is a useful mental model to validate a technology’s adequacy for a particular task. In short, to know whether we are jamming a square peg into a round hole.
www.philvenables.com/post/segment...
May 17, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Security Leaders’ Reading List
Not many security books. Security leader challenges are mostly, well, leadership along with a healthy dose of program mgmt, culture, attention to detail, risk mgmt and more.
www.philvenables.com/post/leaders...
Not many security books. Security leader challenges are mostly, well, leadership along with a healthy dose of program mgmt, culture, attention to detail, risk mgmt and more.
www.philvenables.com/post/leaders...
March 22, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Security Leaders’ Reading List
Not many security books. Security leader challenges are mostly, well, leadership along with a healthy dose of program mgmt, culture, attention to detail, risk mgmt and more.
www.philvenables.com/post/leaders...
Not many security books. Security leader challenges are mostly, well, leadership along with a healthy dose of program mgmt, culture, attention to detail, risk mgmt and more.
www.philvenables.com/post/leaders...
January 11, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Want to know more about cyber-physical resilience & why leading indicators like software reproducibility & cold-restart time are more effective than just focusing on lagging indicators?
Then take a listen to the 2024 season finale of the cloud security podcast.
cloud.withgoogle.com/cloudsecurit...
Then take a listen to the 2024 season finale of the cloud security podcast.
cloud.withgoogle.com/cloudsecurit...
December 24, 2024 at 2:46 PM
Want to know more about cyber-physical resilience & why leading indicators like software reproducibility & cold-restart time are more effective than just focusing on lagging indicators?
Then take a listen to the 2024 season finale of the cloud security podcast.
cloud.withgoogle.com/cloudsecurit...
Then take a listen to the 2024 season finale of the cloud security podcast.
cloud.withgoogle.com/cloudsecurit...
Remember, as security professionals we are defending the free flow of ideas and capital that are essential for human progress. Defending lives and livelihoods. That's the mission. Happy Holidays.
sketchplanations.com/the-three-br...
sketchplanations.com/the-three-br...
December 22, 2024 at 3:17 PM
Remember, as security professionals we are defending the free flow of ideas and capital that are essential for human progress. Defending lives and livelihoods. That's the mission. Happy Holidays.
sketchplanations.com/the-three-br...
sketchplanations.com/the-three-br...
December 14, 2024 at 3:36 PM
Lessons in Crisis Management - Top 10 Disaster Movies
Which ones am I missing?
www.philvenables.com/post/lessons...
Which ones am I missing?
www.philvenables.com/post/lessons...
November 16, 2024 at 3:35 PM
Lessons in Crisis Management - Top 10 Disaster Movies
Which ones am I missing?
www.philvenables.com/post/lessons...
Which ones am I missing?
www.philvenables.com/post/lessons...
Ethics and Computer Security Research
- Stakeholder Perspectives and Considerations
- Respect for Persons and Informed Consent
- Beneficence
- Justice
- Respect for Law and Public Interest
www.philvenables.com/post/ethics-...
- Stakeholder Perspectives and Considerations
- Respect for Persons and Informed Consent
- Beneficence
- Justice
- Respect for Law and Public Interest
www.philvenables.com/post/ethics-...
August 24, 2024 at 2:20 PM
Ethics and Computer Security Research
- Stakeholder Perspectives and Considerations
- Respect for Persons and Informed Consent
- Beneficence
- Justice
- Respect for Law and Public Interest
www.philvenables.com/post/ethics-...
- Stakeholder Perspectives and Considerations
- Respect for Persons and Informed Consent
- Beneficence
- Justice
- Respect for Law and Public Interest
www.philvenables.com/post/ethics-...
Going Faster: Isochrones and “Time to Hello World” We need more metrics to see if we're moving faster. Isochrones to watch for fast(er) paths to actions and measuring variants of Time to Hello World may well be useful.
www.philvenables.com/post/going-f...
www.philvenables.com/post/going-f...
June 15, 2024 at 3:37 PM
Going Faster: Isochrones and “Time to Hello World” We need more metrics to see if we're moving faster. Isochrones to watch for fast(er) paths to actions and measuring variants of Time to Hello World may well be useful.
www.philvenables.com/post/going-f...
www.philvenables.com/post/going-f...
Where the Wild Things Are: Second Order Risks of AI.
1. Human Misunderstanding Mediated by AI
2. Complex Agent Interactions
3. Deskilling
4. Everything Has an API
5. Augmented Reality
6. AI Replacement of Humans in Dual Control Situations
www.philvenables.com/post/where-t...
1. Human Misunderstanding Mediated by AI
2. Complex Agent Interactions
3. Deskilling
4. Everything Has an API
5. Augmented Reality
6. AI Replacement of Humans in Dual Control Situations
www.philvenables.com/post/where-t...
May 4, 2024 at 4:22 PM
Where the Wild Things Are: Second Order Risks of AI.
1. Human Misunderstanding Mediated by AI
2. Complex Agent Interactions
3. Deskilling
4. Everything Has an API
5. Augmented Reality
6. AI Replacement of Humans in Dual Control Situations
www.philvenables.com/post/where-t...
1. Human Misunderstanding Mediated by AI
2. Complex Agent Interactions
3. Deskilling
4. Everything Has an API
5. Augmented Reality
6. AI Replacement of Humans in Dual Control Situations
www.philvenables.com/post/where-t...
April 6, 2024 at 5:12 PM
DevOps and Security
DevOps practices drive organization performance and security. AI is showing early signs of performance increase. Looking at our DORA report through a security lens.
www.philvenables.com/post/devops-...
DevOps practices drive organization performance and security. AI is showing early signs of performance increase. Looking at our DORA report through a security lens.
www.philvenables.com/post/devops-...
March 9, 2024 at 3:25 PM
DevOps and Security
DevOps practices drive organization performance and security. AI is showing early signs of performance increase. Looking at our DORA report through a security lens.
www.philvenables.com/post/devops-...
DevOps practices drive organization performance and security. AI is showing early signs of performance increase. Looking at our DORA report through a security lens.
www.philvenables.com/post/devops-...
The 80/20 principle & security. Risk & security are full of 80/20’s where 20% of the issues represent 80% of the risk and 20% of the effort in other ways can yield 80% of the benefits. Find these predictable imbalances to drive better outcomes.
www.philvenables.com/post/the-80-...
www.philvenables.com/post/the-80-...
February 10, 2024 at 5:02 PM
The 80/20 principle & security. Risk & security are full of 80/20’s where 20% of the issues represent 80% of the risk and 20% of the effort in other ways can yield 80% of the benefits. Find these predictable imbalances to drive better outcomes.
www.philvenables.com/post/the-80-...
www.philvenables.com/post/the-80-...
Top Ideas and Posts from 2023 - Ceremonial Security and Cargo Cults - Work / Life Balance - You Only Get 3 Metrics - Confessions of a Public Speaker - Delivering Security at Scale - 6 Fundamental InfoSec Forces - Security Budgets - Attack Surface Mgt
www.philvenables.com/post/top-ide...
www.philvenables.com/post/top-ide...
December 30, 2023 at 3:54 PM
Top Ideas and Posts from 2023 - Ceremonial Security and Cargo Cults - Work / Life Balance - You Only Get 3 Metrics - Confessions of a Public Speaker - Delivering Security at Scale - 6 Fundamental InfoSec Forces - Security Budgets - Attack Surface Mgt
www.philvenables.com/post/top-ide...
www.philvenables.com/post/top-ide...
The Danger of Comparisons (and why there’s always another level).
Don’t overly focus on comparisons except in relation to how much progress you’ve made vs. your goals - look at inputs/context as well as outputs and adjust accordingly.
www.philvenables.com/post/the-dan...
Don’t overly focus on comparisons except in relation to how much progress you’ve made vs. your goals - look at inputs/context as well as outputs and adjust accordingly.
www.philvenables.com/post/the-dan...
December 2, 2023 at 6:10 AM
The Danger of Comparisons (and why there’s always another level).
Don’t overly focus on comparisons except in relation to how much progress you’ve made vs. your goals - look at inputs/context as well as outputs and adjust accordingly.
www.philvenables.com/post/the-dan...
Don’t overly focus on comparisons except in relation to how much progress you’ve made vs. your goals - look at inputs/context as well as outputs and adjust accordingly.
www.philvenables.com/post/the-dan...