As I browse the aisles of Home Depot and Lowes, it’s quite impressive and, at the same time unsettling as an IT Security Professional to see the increasing amount of IoT (Internet of Things) devices being developed and offered to target the “Smart Home.”

The holiday season is here once again, but just like everything else in today’s digital-first world, technology is changing the way things are done. While there are still those that do their shopping at physical stores and send holiday cards via the US Postal Service, an increasing number of people are now using a more convenient, digital approach.

It’s almost Thanksgiving, which can only mean one thing; it’s time for some serious cybershopping! According to Adobe’s 2016 Holiday Online Shopping Predictions report, more than half of all online shopping will be done with mobile devices for the second straight year, accounting for approximately 53% of all online purchases. Online sales are also expected to top $91.6 billion across the US from November 1 through December 31, an all-time high for the holiday season. Clearly people enjoy getting to do the bulk of their holiday shopping without leaving their house or their Christmas ‘jammies! (For a hilarious distraction, check out Raleigh natives, The Holderness Family, in their Christmas 'Jammies Jingle!)

It’s the last day of October, and you all know what that means… it’s Halloween! And in addition to Halloween, it’s also the conclusion of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Coincidence? We think not, because losing your data is one of the scariest things that can happen after all, right?

Cybersecurity professionals need to be fairly agile to maintain the juggling act between preventing a breach, staying compliant and keeping cost manageable. Many organizations are challenged to focus on security or raise the maturity level of the existing security program as the frequency of attacks increase.

Practice makes perfect. There’s no greater example of this than the Olympics, where athletes like Simone Biles spent countless hours practicing to execute their craft perfectly. But even Simone Biles, who is arguably the greatest gymnast, didn’t receive a single perfect score and faltered on the balance beam. That’s because the phrase, no matter how motivating, is misleading.