Vancouver Chapter (sort of) series with VanTUG

[rslade]

I have been presented with an opportunity to give a whole series of presentations to a non-security group.  

We, as security people, always complain that nobody in tech ever wants to listen to us, so I am not about to turn down an opportunity for an eight-month gig to evangelize our non-security bretheren.

VanTUG used to be VaNTug, the Vancouver NT Users Group, and so has some pretty strong ties to Microsoft, but is now the Vancouver Technology Users Group. They haven't been meeting (at all, let alone in person) during the pandemic, so I think that possibly this invite to me is just to get themselves rolling again.  But it's still an opportunity.

The VanTUG President has said that they are open to co-meeting with, well, anybody, really, so we have an open invite to attend these meetings. (No charge to join or attend the meetings/lectures.) They are going to be held on MS Teams, so that's an opportunity to test out another platform.

The first of these presentations is going to be on this Tuesday, February 2nd, and the first and third Tuesdays of the month thereafter, currently slated to run until September. The meetings are from 7 pm to 8:30 pm.

I think this is a general invite to the group: https://teams.microsoft.com/join/r7slh6566c60

It isn't really necessary to join the group in order to attend the meetings, but it is an easier way to get the links for the "meetings" as we go along. If you don't want to join the "Team," I'll be posting updates and announcements here or on my Twitter feed at https://twitter.com/rslade.

VanTUG has a Website, and can be reached via email at 3c501c6a.VancouverTechnologyUserGrou.onmicrosoft.com@ca.teams.ms

However, if you send email to that, is tends to end up on the Teams chat, so, if you want a reply, better send your email address in the body of the message. The "From:" field tends not to be visible.

Past "meetings" should be available on my YouTube channel.

The proposed sched (and the list of topics/meetings that have already taken place) is something like:

VSS 1 - Security Frameworks

VSS 2 - Security Management Lessons from CoVID-19

The video recording of the VSS 2 meeting is on YouTube at:
https://youtu.be/x7ib1q19V_o

VSS 3 - Security Operations Lessons from CoVID-19

The video recording of the VSS 3 meeting is on YouTube at:
https://youtu.be/7okFCAdQFaI

VSS 4 - BCP/DRP and Privacy/Legal Lessons from CoVID-19

The video recording of the VSS 4 meeting is on YouTube at:

https://youtu.be/gJDJwdIf7C8

VSS 5 - Homomorphic Encryption
The video recording of the meeting is on YouTube at:

https://youtu.be/afFChIXfiIY

VSS 6 - Differential Privacy

YouTube video: https://youtu.be/mYOlAqGMDJw

VSS 7 - Infosec Ethics

sorry, no recording: yet another Teams bug

May 18th VSS 8 - Presenting Technical Evidence in Court

YouTube video: https://youtu.be/dWlyu7VNjDA

Next meeting: June 1st VSS 9 - NFTs (Bitcoins and blockchains and digital cash, oh my!)

meeting link

or

https://is.gd/9F9Nfn

June 15th Security Implications of Quantum Computing

(break for the summer)

Sept 14th Security Awareness Lessons from Dr. Bonnie
Sep 28th The BCP/IRP Cycle (with one-page handout)

So, if you are interested, or if you want to see "Teams" in action, or if you have any non-security friends that you want to be evangelized into security ...

[rslade]

OK, just had my first test on Microsoft Teams.

Boy, that was/is painful!  MS Teams is definitely the slowest and least responsive of all the videoconferencing systems I have tried so far.  It's hard to tell, when you select a function, whether it has actually "taken," because it can take 15 seconds or more to get any kind of response.  (Not just whether the function comes up: ANY kind of response, even a spinning "wait" circle.)  And it's not because it is so functional, either.  There are definitely some pretty basic functions that don't seem to be there.  Staring with the fact that, when you share content, like PowerPoint or other presentation slides, your view of the "meeting," and all controls, disappear.  (Oh, and it doesn't seem to like any non-Microsoft files, either.)

We're still going to give it a try, but there may be some modifications.

Starting with the time.  We may be meeting starting at 7 pm, rather than 6 pm.  Will try to keep this updated, but just be aware, for the moment.

[denbesten]

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@rslade wrote:

They are going to be held on MS Teams, so that's an opportunity to test out another platform. (I haven't had a chance for a test on it yet.).

---

My company has gone all-in on Teams (not surprising for an O365 shop).   Everyone I ask strongly prefers it to our previous offerings.  

It does a really good job at cross platform; I can transfer video from PC to phone and back; move the audio between my car (bluetooth) to the conference phone (POTS), etc.   All the while remaining on the call.

Plus chat transcripts show up on all my devices and persist even over a reboot.

They also have special (pay) offerings designed for large "broadcast" gatherings, which we have used with great success for company-wide meetings with thousands of attendees, which works even when the presenters are in different houses (there is a back channel for coordination).  

My only gripes are that it imposes its own UI, rather than adopting the platform's standards and that I prefer specilalized purpose apps over "do-it-all" apps.  

[rslade]

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@denbesten wrote:

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@rslade wrote:

They are going to be held on MS Teams, so that's an opportunity to test out another platform. (I haven't had a chance for a test on it yet.).

---

My company has gone all-in on Teams (not surprising for an O365 shop).   Everyone I ask strongly prefers it to our previous offerings.  

---

You around tomorrow, at 11 am Pacific time?  Contact me on rmslade@shaw.ca, rslade@gmail.com, rmslade@outlook.com, or rslade@computercrime.org and I'll send you an invite to our test run.  We need help.

[rslade]

New invite for the first meeting on Tuesday:

You're invited to join a Microsoft Teams meeting

Title: Groundhog Day - Lets Do It All Again - Security Frameworks and Recuring Tasks

Join on your computer or mobile app
Click here to join the meeting

(Just in case, that's:

https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_MGNlNjNhMGItNzVjNC00NDk3LThmNDUtNDE3MjZlN2RmO... )

[rslade]

OK, to be fair, I have found some things about Teams that I like.

Unlike Zoom, the chat involved in Teams meetings doesn't disappear after the meeting.  It tends to be saved and available in the Team space, under Chats.  Also, the recording of the meeting isn't just stored on the recorders computer, but is available in the Team space.  (And, yes, we are planning to record these meetings/lectures, and make them available, possibly even outside the Team space.)

Chat does notify you of subsequent activity in a chat, but the interface can be confusing.

[rslade]

Another, well, actually, bug, in Teams is in regard to scheduled Meetings.  According to the help pages, after you have created, or scheduled, Meetings, they show up in an agenda view under the Meetings tab in Teams.  I did actually see this agenda view a couple of times when I created my first two meetings.  However, after I "attended" my first meeting, the agenda view disappeared, and I was just left with the options to "Meet Now" or "Schedule a meeting."  (Twice over, actually, once in the middle of the window, and once in the upper right hand corner.)

Admittedly, I haven't created any new Meetings since those first two.  I'll see if I get the agenda view back as I create more for the further VSS (VanTUG Security Series) meetings.

(Gloria says that this is proof that Teams was created by kids who never learned to plan anything, and do everything on an ad hoc basis at the last minute.  I don't have any evidence to indicate that she is incorrect in this assessment.)

[rslade]

OK, the next meeting (even before we have the first meeting) is:

VSS 2 - Security Management/Architecture Lessons from CoVID-19
Feb. 16, 2021, 7 PM

https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_NjQ0M2E4ZDEtNTg4My00OTVlLWJjYWItYjBlNmI3M2IwY...

[rslade]

OK, more, well, oddities, at least, in Teams.  We had a lot of trouble with "chat" and "conversation" during the "meeting."  Also, when I look at the "Chat" tab, one of the chats I see is the "Groundhog Day" chat from tonight's meeting, and that contains the chat part of tonight's session, as well as the earlier tests we did with it. However, it does not contain a "recording" of the presentation/meeting (at least, not yet), although it does contain the recording that was done earlier in the test runs.

[jrcalvert]

Just came across this tonight a little late for tonight's meeting.

I am up in the Sunshine Coast and became SSCP Certified in December.  Currently working towards my CISSP.