The Security Skeptic
Dave Piscitello's Personal Home Page
Skeptic (sceptic): a person inclined to question or doubt accepted opinions.
This is my informal home page at securityskeptic dot com.
If you are looking for my work web sites, please visit Core Competence and ICANN.
I write and podcast about my current activities, rants, musings, commentary, and informal reviews of security tools, reports, white papers, and more at The Security Skeptic's Weblog.
I am currently serving as Fellow to the ICANN Security and Stability Advisory Committee. I study incidents, reports of abuse, implementation and deployment issues related to the Domain Name System and the administration of the Internet's systems of identifiers (domain names, IP addresses, port and assigned number) and write advisories, reports and public comments on behalf of the committee. You can learn more about these activities at the ICANN SSAC Web Pages.
Resumes and Bios
An extended and somewhat recent resume (CV) is available at Core Competence.
You'll find brief biographies at conference archives and elsewhere, including these: ( 1 2 3 4 5 ). The footer of this page is current. Together, they provide a reasonably accurate chronology of my career and interests.
The biography chronicled by the IETF in RFC 1336 is autobiographical until circa 1992 (reproduced here). I've added current autobiographical material (1992-present) here as well.
Photo
Are looking for a "professional" photo? I don't often wear a jacket and tie, so take it or leave it. A casual and more recent photo can be found here.
Lists of Published Works (Online)
I've had many opportunities to write, and several hundred articles, columns, editorials and product evaluations I have authored or co-authored are online. Here's a list of publishers where you'll find some of my work:
Business Communications Review
Computer World Articles
CLEC-Planet
Information Security Magazine
Journal of the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA)
InfoWorld Product
Loop: The Online Voice of the IT Community
SC Magazine
Security Pipeline
TechTarget
TISC Insight Newsletter Archives
Wall Street Ticker Association
WatchGuard Live Security
Editorials
Windows Sources
xDSL.com
In 1993, I co-authored a book, Open Systems Networking: OSI and
TCP/IP, with A. Lyman Chapin.
Although it is now out of
print, you can download chapters here.
Editor and Webmaster Projects
TISC Insight Newsletter
Cornerstone Newsletter
The Hilton Head Wine Auction
The Bluffton, SC High School Wrestling Team Home Page
ICANN SSAC Web Pages
Industry Standards
The list of IETF Standards (RFCs) I've authored or co-authored, and of course, FOOBAR, voted the best acronym for an Internet Protocol Standard (declared, actually, by Stev Knowles, but no one dared argue with Stev).
I also authored and contributed to many ISO/IEC standards, including OSI's Connectionless Network Layer and Transport Layer protocols, and the connectionless Addendum to the OSI Reference Model. You can buy them at the ISO/IEC web site... but why would you do such a silly thing? Read my online book, for free: it's accurate and more amusing.
Papers, Conference Presentations, Workshops and Seminars
Nearly all my online publications, presentations, and workshops are posted or hyperlinked at Core Competence.
People I Have Been Privileged to Know and Call Colleague...and Friend
While I've been singularly fortunate to work with hundreds of remarkable people during my career, these folks have probably influenced and encouraged me more than any others:
Vint Cerf, Jon Postel, Lyman Chapin, Lisa Phifer, Dan Lynch, David Clarke, Christine Hemrick, Stephen Crocker, Marcus Ranum, Fred Avolio, Kim Maxwell, Peter Ford, John Taylor, Craig Mathias...
Still curious (still reading?)...
I don't seek quotes, but sometimes some unsuspecting columnist or beat writer stumbles across my name. To my knowledge, this is the Best of...:
September 2002.
Joanne Cummings reveals why my perspective on emerging
Intrusion Prevention technology is often jaded in
The
People Side of Prevention
June 2002. Years later (two constitutes "years"),
I revisited this quote in a Loop editorial
My fondness for Interdepartmental Firewalls is revealed in a BCR Briefing, Firewalls behind the Firewall. To set the record straight, Fred Knight identifies a product I used as an example (Watchguard Firebox) with the concept I was attempting to illustrate.<
May 2002. Fred Knight quoted from my May 2002 Business Communications Review article, and a survey I prepared for a May 5, 2002 Networld+Interop presentation in BCR eWeekly. According to Fred, my survey reveals that "while many organizations claim security is growing as a concern, there has not been a commensurate growth in spending. Moreover, even when spending's not necessary, enterprises often fail to take steps to secure their networks and their data."
January 2002. Predicting the future about IPv6 back in 1994, Johnna Till Johnson quotes me as having said "Deploying IPv6 is going to be an incredibly painful process, and it may not even succeed", in her column, Looking back on a few tech trends that weren't. What a tough call that was? Lest I sound like a sore loser, I don't think TUBA/CLNP would have been any further along.
April 2001. InfoSec News published a quote I made about Bill Cheswick's accomplishments prior to awarding him the TISC CLUE Award.
April 2001. InternetWeek.com ( Security Workers In Short Supply)
April 2001. SC Magazine ( Legislators Turn up the Heat on Cybercrime) quotes my perspective on the escalating rate of Internet attacks
December 2000. Help Net Security (TISC 2001 Press Release)
December 2000. InfoSec News, December 26, 2000
September 2000. Comments I made about selecting ASP's, ZDNet Tech Update, September 27, 2000).
March 2000. My reasons for joining WatchGuard's Live Advisory Council
In Control, Change and the Internet, Patrick Maslen quotes my reasons for leaving the standards community, "wearied of 'wading through the obligatory political purgatory associated with each incremental change'"
Here is the preliminary version of an article that later appeared in Data Communications Magazine in November 1994, in which I and several others expressed reservations about IPv6. The author is Johna Till Johnson.
People you might find on the Web and mistake for me:
David Piscitello, an outstanding distance runner who apparently competes all over the Midwest (e.g., the results of the Watonga Cheese Festival Rat Race Run and Chili Day 5K).
Detective David Piscitello, who conducted an extensive investigation into the attempted murder of a security guard at the Penn Yan Truck Terminal located at 211 Scott Place that occurred on October 31st,1999.
I occasionally write about my alter-egoes in my weblog. Dave the runner's still running, and Dave the Detective is still fighting crime and solving cases.
Speaking of surname (we were speaking of surnames, no?), Piscitello is among the one million+ names collected and placed on a microchip aboard the STARDUST spacecraft,which will visit Comet Wild 2 in 2004.
Kind Words Published About Me
A Blog Worth Visiting... by Mitch Kabay
Villanova ECE Day, Synopsis of Presentation
Welcome to the Watchguard Live Security Advisory Board by Chris Slatt, CEO of WatchGuard:
A remarkable cause-effect conclusion by a newspaper: "Shares in Seattle Internet security company WatchGuard Technologies jumped about 9 percent yesterday to close at $103 after it named Internet security expert David Piscitello to its LiveSecurity Advisory Council. . . ." in Seattle P-I.com, March 14, 2000.
Evidence (I daren't presume proof positive..)
I once served on the Internet Engineering Steering Group (There is *no* evidence to corroborate the rumor that I attended teleconferences in my boxers.)
I participated in IP Next Generation (IPNG, IPv6) Development.
I was a Voting Member of the IEEE 802.1-F Committee on Management Information and LAN/MAN Management
FWIW, there is little online evidence I participated in ANSI and ISO OSI standards... if you have any doubts, however, ask Paul Mockapetris and Doug Comer, who never let me live it down.
Books I've Authored (and reviews)
In 1993, I co-authored a book, Open Systems Networking: OSI and
TCP/IP, with A. Lyman Chapin.
Although it is now out of
print, you can download chapters here.
Here are links to reviews of the book that can be found on the web:
| Open Systems Interconnection:TCP/IP and
OSI The Unofficial Internet Book List Simple Network Magic Dr. Dobb's Electronic Review of Computer Books Rob Slade's Networking Bookshelf |
|
In 2006, I co-authored a book, Understanding Voice over Internet Protocol Security, with Alan Johnston.
| Reviews by Dr. Anton Chuvakin, Lyman Chapin, Marcus Ranum, and Michael Julson at Amazon.com. | 
|
Ancient History
I am a 1970 Graduate of Westwood High School, New Jersey, where I participated in Varsity Wrestling (All League, Honorable Mention: All Suburban), the Jazz and concert band (tenor and baritone saxophones). I was also Drum Major for the WHS Marching Band that participated in the 1969 Cotton Bowl Parade.
I played Sax, Clarinet and Flute for a Jazz Band, the PassTymes, from 1969-1972. Laura and Bobby Thompson, who played piano and upright bass, went on to play professionally for 12 years, and recorded several Jazz albums and toured Europe.
I'm a 1974 Graduate of Villanova University. I was a Varsity Cheerleader (yeah, I tossed leggy girls in the air... and caught 'em!).
Current Events and & Miscellany
The answer to the questions I am asked all the time are, "Yes, I really live on Hilton Head Island", and, "no, I do not play golf". I do play tennis, bike, and enjoy weight training and spinning.
| I have a terrific family - a loving, compassionate and beautiful wife (Molly); a terrific teenaged son (Matt), and a delightful, energetic daughter Taylor). |  |
| I play tennis, weight train with my son, bicycle, roller blade, hike, camp, and occasionally ride horses |   |
| I coached the Hilton Head Middle School Wrestling Team for the 2002-2003 season. One of my young men won the SC Middle School State Champion at 147 pounds that season. In 2006, two of these young men took medals in the SC High School State Championships. |  |
| In July 2002 we lost our wonderful dog, Amber to bone cancer. | 
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| We adopted Jimmie in August 2002 to fill the terrible void. Jimmie is my best pal, office and soul mate, my running companion. It's impossible to spend time with Jimmie and remain angry. Jimmie "Jimmie the Bandit" is so gregarious and disarming he can even play with our local deer population. As he gets older, his bandit mask is fading, but he *smiles* so much that our neighbors call him "Smilin' Jim" |  |
| We also had a neurotic cat (Pickles, unwilling to be photographed), who died of a skin cancer April 2005. | |
| Every family has at least one member who's a character. Cookie The Cross-Eyed Kittie is a part-Siamese, part whatever. He's a master mole hunter; in fact, we are thinking of hiring him out since he's eliminated the mole population around our home. |  |
Paddy, our registered paint, doesn't live with us, but he's the love of my wife's life. Paddy's 16 hands, and like all our pets, he's a rescue. Molly nursed this lame and neglected gelding and literally loved him into shape. He's added about 200 pounds of muscle, and when healthy, he's a wonderful dressage horse. |
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