Gut Check along the Guadalupe River

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So my sojourn to San Jose is over.

As I stood last night in an outrageously long airport security checkpoint line, I reflected on how much my work in information security has helped me in my daily life, including, of course, running. Before leaving the capitol of Silicon Valley, I did indeed run in Guadalupe River Park as planned. It turned out to be the coldest morning of the year (27 degrees), and I was underdressed with just my long-sleeved Tufts 10k shirt and thin running tights, but all but my ears felt fine as I crossed into the urban park anchored by a museum.

After a warm-up that included Discovery Meadows, with its unique Monopoly in the Park, I headed down a path leading to the riverbanks, which had a 2.4-mile trail. I saw no other runners or walkers at 6:30, perhaps because of the hour and the sudden cold. Still, something didn’t feel right and I kept startling myself by mistaking duck honks for human sneezes. About a half mile into it, I saw a shadow underneath a bridge and the red glow of a cigarette. He had no belongings to indicate he lived on the streets. In fact, he looked rather well groomed. He also pretended not to notice me as I approached. So I quickly turned and ran back up to street level to finish out the run.

During his keynote at RSA, Symantec CEO John Thompson discussed a “sixth sense” that needs to develop in the digital world. Specifically he said:

“In the physical world, it’s easy to walk into a store and get a sense of what kind of place it is. Does the sales person know what they are talking about? Are they trying to sell you an old floor model? You get a feeling about whether it’s smart to give them your business – much less your credit card. We have a sixth sense in the physical world. But, right now, we don’t have it in the online world.

So, it’s up to the business community to assess what’s safe, protect online interactions, and make sure data is secure and available. We need to help consumers develop their online sixth sense. That is the only way the digital lifestyle will continue to be embraced.”

I’m guessing many who read this blog regularly, or even occasionally, are starting to develop that sixth sense. The Internet is not a safe neighborhood. It’s riddled with criminals and hucksters, many masquerading as the loving husband and father who lives next door. But it’s also occupied by many, many well-intentioned individuals who want to do right by us. Run DMZ, now almost a year old, originally was created to help people understand the difference. The infosecurity industry will continue to produce technical solutions on the backend to save us from ourselves, but everyone needs to do his or her part and develop a stronger instinct of what just feels wrong.

Like that fellow sitting in that darkened underpass yesterday at Guadalupe River Park. He may have just been some average Joe stopping to have an early morning smoke in a favorite spot before heading to work. But he also might have robbed me of more than a run in a serene setting. I'll never know for sure. All I do know is this: I'm glad I listened to my gut.

[Photo of the Guadalupe River Park & Gardens courtesy of Steve Deitz’s yproductions.com. ]

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